Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper will deliver the closing speech at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first Canada Investment Summit, taking place Monday and Tuesday in Toronto, according to a senior government source who confirmed the long-rumoured appearance to National Post.
The summit is billed as Carney’s flagship effort to court foreign and domestic investors into backing Canadian projects. The federal government has circulated a list of more than 160 projects seeking funding, with individual asks ranging from $25 million to hundreds of millions of dollars.
A Cross-Partisan Message
According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Harper’s involvement is designed to signal that drawing foreign capital into Canada is not a partisan project but one that spans the political spectrum. Harper is currently chairman of the Alberta Investment Management Corp, the Alberta pension plan that oversees more than $200 billion in assets, and the source noted he speaks regularly with Carney since Carney’s election as prime minister last spring.
Harper has largely stayed out of the public eye since leaving office more than a decade ago, but he remains a well-regarded figure in conservative circles. His decision to take part in Carney’s summit is expected to be widely viewed as a tacit nod of support for the Liberal government’s push to attract foreign investment and reduce Canada’s economic reliance on the United States. His remarks are expected to be open to media, which the source described as unusual given how few public speeches Harper has given since leaving politics.
Pension Funds and Global Investors in Attendance
Pension investment organizations are expected to feature prominently at the summit. Carney will open the event Monday evening, with Harper delivering the closing address. John Graham, president and chief executive of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, is also slated to give a keynote speech.
The invitation-only gathering is expected to draw roughly 250 guests from more than 25 countries, including BlackRock Inc. chairman Larry Fink and Barclays PLC chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan, along with senior representatives from major pension funds and sovereign wealth funds such as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management.
A complete guest list has not been made public. However, a high-level program shared by the government indicates the summit will include panel discussions on critical minerals, defence, energy, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technology sectors.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.
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