Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Business leaders from around the world are in Toronto for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s long-awaited Canada Investment Summit, set to kick into high gear Tuesday with events that include an address by former prime minister Stephen Harper.
Harper, a Conservative, is to deliver a speech titled Capturing Canada’s Moment, concluding an event central to the policies of his successor, a Liberal.
(In 2007, Harper, then prime minister, appointed Carney governor of the Bank of Canada. He later said Carney had been a “valued partner” as his government worked to steer Canada away from the worst impacts of the 2008 financial crisis.)
“The world’s come to Canada this week to see what we can do, what we can build and to partner with us,” Carney told an event today announcing that BCE Inc. will expand its artificial-intelligence data centre operations in Saskatchewan.
The company plans to quadruple the capacity of those operations, with ambitions to provide as much as 1.2 gigawatts of compute power across three new facilities with a series of investments that could top $5-billion.
Irene Galea reports that the company made the announcement at the Invest in Saskatchewan Forum in Toronto with chief executive officer Mirko Bibic, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Carney.
There are live updates here on events ahead of the summit, which has an opening-night gala dinner today.
Tuesday’s events include an opening keynote address by Carney, followed by a fireside chat.
This afternoon, the Prime Minister’s Office released a list of six power brokers Carney met with today ahead of the conference.
They included Larry Fink, the CEO of American multinational investment corporation BlackRock; Shemara Wikramanayake, the managing director and CEO of the Macquarie Group Ltd., an Australian investment banking and financial services group; Jonathan Gray, the president and chief operating officer of the New York-based alternative asset manager Blackstone Group; and Sheikh Saoud Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, a board member and managing director of the Kuwait Investment Authority.
Capital Power CEO Avik Dey cautioned that transforming the enthusiasm of business and political leaders into final investment decisions will be the real challenge at the summit.
Emma Graney reports that Dey said the business community is on board with Carney’s ambition to broaden Canada’s economic ties in order to reduce its dependence on trade with the United States.
But he noted that catalyzing it into shovels in the ground means busting through Canada’s multiple layers of bureaucracy and regulation.
Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers remarks to Canadian business leaders at the Canada Investment Summit welcome reception, in Toronto, on Sunday.Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
European Parliament to open office in Ottawa: Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, says a new office in Ottawa will help facilitate exchanges with Canadian MPs and senators.
Online harms place substantial cost on Canada’s health and justice systems, report says: The cost could be as high as $4.8-billion per year, according to an analysis compiled by a policy consultancy run by Tyler Meredith, a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.
Former B.C. Conservative joins Milobar’s new party: The new party led by former B.C. Conservative legislator Peter Milobar has gained a seventh member. Donegal Wilson announced her move today after discussions with residents of her riding.
Defence Investment Agency head informs staff he’s staying: Former banker Doug Guzman told staff in a mass e-mail Sunday that he remains chief executive officer of the agency and has no intention of quitting, despite reports he was frustrated and ready to leave.
Quebec party leaders prepare for two debates this week: The first debate, hosted by TVA, is scheduled for Tuesday evening. The second, held by Noovo and Crave, is set for Wednesday.
At TIFF, and in Washington, Quebec’s film industry finds itself in the hot seat: It is an industry that thrives inside its own provincial borders, rarely makes a dent outside of them and has now become crucial to the tremulous, fraught and existential battle for Canadian cultural sovereignty writ large.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: Mark Carney is in Toronto for his government’s investment summit, which begins with a gala dinner tonight and runs through Tuesday. Today, he held an event on data sovereignty with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.
Carney’s office has announced he will travel to France and the United Kingdom from Tuesday through Thursday. In Strasbourg, he will address the European Parliament and attend European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union. In Liverpool, Carney will meet with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham for the first time.
The Prime Minister will also be visiting Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon on Sept. 20 to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss deepening the Canada-France partnership in strategic sectors. Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is a French overseas collectivity located approximately 25 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Party Leaders: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended a community meeting on Pender Island in British Columbia. No schedules available for other party leaders.
Ministers on the Road:
In Mississauga, Rechie Valdez, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality, announced a $60-million investment advancing menstrual equity and improving affordability through access to essential menstrual products across Canada.
In Toronto, Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller, with representatives from Great Britain and Spain, signed modernized audiovisual co-production treaties with representatives of the governments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and Spain to make it easier for Canadian producers to collaborate with British and Spanish producers.
In London, Ont., Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald announced the launch of Farm Credit Canada’s $1-billion Agri‑food Project Finance Fund and $150-million to Velocity Agri-Capital Partners through FCC Capital’s $2-billion investment commitment.
Quote of the Day
“I’m shrinking in this role.” - Mark Carney to Dilhan Pillay, the CEO of Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, a multinational investment firm, as the two posed for the media before meeting in Toronto. Carney had remarked that Pillay seemed taller than in past.
Question period
Prime Minister Mark Carney will be visiting the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, on Sept. 20. Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is said to be the only location in North America where a particular form of capital punishment was used in a case that inspired a feature film in 2000. What was the form of punishment?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
With five weeks to go before Alberta’s referendum vote, where is the pro-Canada campaign?
On Oct. 19, every separatist in the province is going to get down to their local polling station and vote. This is a do-or-die moment for them. They need a win in order to force a second vote on the question they really want asked, which is a clear yes-or-no question on secession. And while they’re not performing too well in the polls, they’re passionate, they’re engaged and they’re going to make sure their votes count.
— Tyler Dawson, Content Editor, Opinion
We’re selling Canada to big foreign investors. Why not sell to Canadians, too?
But the summit also gives Ottawa considerable leverage over what gets built and how. If taxpayers are going to help finance the next generation of Canadian businesses, we should think about whether they should have the opportunity to own them.
— Darcy Morris is chief executive and co-founder of Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd.
Mark Carney brings John A. Macdonald back to the Canadian story
But no prime minister makes historical allusions without calculation, and invoking Sir John A.’s name was a bold move with a message beyond railways and the National Policy. Mr. Carney was telling Canadians that we are a country mature enough to be able to recognize that historical achievements have a role to play in the success of a nation, even if they happened a long time ago and were accomplished by leaders whose actions may not always have aligned with the values we hold today.
— J.D.M. Stewart is a historian and the author of The Prime Ministers.
Go deeper
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Get the latest insight and analysis from our political opinion writers
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The answer to today’s question: The guillotine. It was used on convicted killer Joseph Néel in August, 1889. The case was chronicled in the film The Widow of Saint-Pierre, starring Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil. Emir Kusturica played Néel.