Visit us online at www.waterloochronicle.ca ® Chronicle.WATERLOO $1.00 CONNECTED TO YOUR COMMUNITY WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA ® Chronicle.WATERLOO $1.00 CONNECTED TO YOUR COMMUNITY WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA Bill Jackson photo Dancing with a purpose Muhai nuwamanya, a member of the suubi Fusion troupe, a youth drum and dance group from Uganda, performs saturday as part of neruda arts' common Ground Earth Day event in uptown. the performance helped raise funds for a girls' school dorm in their home country. UW grads found AI company inspired by Iron Man technology Page 18 BUSINESS Comedian Gerry Dee brings his Canadian comedy tour to the Centre/Page 22 ARTS FOCUS Trudeau touts Canada first Trudeau praises local tech company for showing 'how great Canada is' By Samantha Beattie Chronicle Staff Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to local tech com-pany Vidyard was a long time coming. The Waterloo Region tech company's CEO Michael Litt went to a gathering at MP Raj Saini's office after the Liberals won the 2015 federal election. There, he expressed his hope that one day Trudeau would visit. A year and a half later, Litt was contacted by the Prime Minister's Office late last week -- Trudeau was planning on stopping by Vidyard's Ktichener office on Tuesday. "How did this happen? It's a mindblowing experi- ence," said Litt, after giving Trudeau a tour of Vidyard's open-concept, modern space and hosting a question and answer period in front of his 200 employees and national media. "I'm a big fan of his approach and what he wants for this country." Vidyard helps businesses use video in sales, marketing and internal communications. With the vast majority of Vidyards clients being located in the U.S., it has a vested interest in keeping people, goods and services flowing across Canada's border. "What we're really concerned about is the protec- tionist type of mentality seen in public movements and more recently in renegotiating NAFTA, specifically add- ing tariffs," said Litt to Trudeau during the question and answer session. "How should we be thinking about these changes, specifically for software as a service?" Trudeau said it's in the U.S.'s interests as much as Canada's to maintain interconnected economies. "You cannot thicken this border without hurting peo- ple on both sides of it," he said. Continued on page 7 THURSDAY APRIL 27 2017 EVERYTHING in the Store is ON SALE! · Living Rooms · Bedrooms · Dining Rooms · · Mattresses · Lighting · Home Decor · OPEN 7 DAYS · 30 Benjamin Rd., Waterloo (across from St. Jacobs Outlet Mall) · 519-746-0060 · FLYER SPECIALS www.furniturehouse.ca Contemporary style and low-maintenance living really comes together! Soft Nuvella performance fabric cleans up beautifully. Your choice of three colours! Available in 3 Durable colour fabrics: grey, blue or white $599 Sofa $549 Loveseat