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Prime Minister Mark Carney hosts Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi at a state dinner in Ottawa on Monday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is courting wealthy Gulf investors, hosted a dinner in Ottawa on Monday for Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich heart of the United Arab Emirates.
A guest list of nearly 120 names obtained by The Globe and Mail shows many in Canada’s corporate elite were invited to dine with Sheikh Khaled and senior members of Abu Dhabi’s ruling circle.
The dinner capped the first day of a two-day visit to Canada by the Crown Prince, whose father is the president of the UAE.
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The blossoming relationship between Canada and the UAE has included the inking of a free trade agreement in July and an investment protection treaty that went into force in May. Mr. Carney came back from a visit to the country last fall touting a UAE commitment to invest $70-billion in Canada.
Ottawa is deepening ties with the UAE and other foreign trade partners as part of a push by the Prime Minister to lessen Canada’s economic reliance on the United States.
One of the most prominent invitees to the dinner was former prime minister Stephen Harper. The list leaned toward companies and investors with stakes in defence and security, energy, critical minerals, infrastructure, international development, space, advanced communications, quantum computing and artificial intelligence – all areas in which the Prime Minister’s Office has said the two countries will expand relations.
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The invitees also included lawyers, consultants and lobbyists representing business interests in Ottawa, as well as provincial representatives, hospital and university leaders, museum administrators and representatives of Indigenous communities.
Members of the Desmarais family, long synonymous with Power Corporation of Canada, were on the list. André Desmarais, deputy chairman of Power Corporation of Canada, and Paul Desmarais III, a senior vice-president, were both listed, along with executives from Power Sustainable, a Power Corp. investment arm.
Also among the invitees were representatives of several large industrial companies, including Gregory Ebel, chief executive of Enbridge Inc.; Ian Edwards of engineering firm AtkinsRéalis; Alexandre L’Heureux of WSP Global; Kieran Hawe of construction company EllisDon; Bruce Power’s chief operating officer, James Scongack; and Eric Desaulniers, head of graphite developer Nouveau Monde Graphite.
Victor Dodig, recently appointed chief executive of Telus Corp., was also listed, as was Éric Martel, chief executive of Bombardier Inc.
Members of the tech industry were invited, including Joelle Pineau, chief AI officer at Cohere, and Valérie Pisano, chief executive of Mila.
Big investors and lenders were also on the list, including Deborah Orida, chief executive of PSP Investments; Alison Nankivell of Export Development Canada; and Geneviève Bouthillier, an executive vice-president at BDC Capital. So were government-relations heads from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, HOOPP and Sun Life, and venture investor Chris Arsenault of Inovia. Gurinder Grewal, named chief executive of Invest in Canada on Aug. 31, was also on the list.
Many members of Mr. Carney’s inner circle were listed, including Marc-André Blanchard, his chief of staff; Michael Sabia, Clerk of the Privy Council; David Morrison, a senior diplomatic adviser; Scott Gilmore, principal secretary; and Jennifer MacIntyre, a deputy chief of staff. The ambassadors to the United States and the UAE, Mark Wiseman and Angad Dhillon, were also on the list. So was Sébastien Carrière, Global Affairs Canada’s chief of protocol.
Many of the Emiratis who were invited work for the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court. Sheikh Khalifa bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, the court’s chairman, and Saif Ghobash, chairman of the Crown Prince’s Office and secretary-general of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, were listed, as was Sultan Al Jaber, who is both the UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology and chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
Among the rest of the Emirati contingent on the list were representatives of DP World, a Dubai-based port operator that on Monday announced a memorandum of understanding with the owner of Manitoba’s Port of Churchill to explore further development of an expanded northern shipping corridor. Douglas Smith, chief executive officer of the company’s operations in Canada, was invited, as was Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, chairman of Dubai Chambers, who also sits on DP World’s board.
The full list obtained by The Globe is below.
- Michael Sabia, Privy Council Office, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet of Canada
- Ibrahim Ismail Mohamed Alhosani, UAE Investments, Director
- Omar Alghabra, Bechtel, VP, Public Infrastructure Canada and Former Minister of Transport
- Shafqat Ali, Government of Canada, President of the Treasury Board
- Anita Anand, Government of Canada, Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Jean-François Bélisle, National Gallery of Canada, Director and CEO
- Peter Bethlenfalvy, Government of Ontario, Minister of Finance
- Marc-André Blanchard, Prime Minister’s Office, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada
- Kody Blois, House of Commons, MP
- Tabatha Bull, Canadian Council for Indigenous Business, President and CEO
- Eloge Butera, Power Sustainable, Director of Policy and Stakeholder Engagement
- François-Philippe Champagne, Government of Canada, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
- Eric Desaulniers, Nouveau Monde Graphite, President and CEO
- André Desmarais, Power Corporation of Canada, Deputy Chairman
- Paul Desmarais III, Power Corporation of Canada, Senior Vice-President
- Victor Dodig, Telus, CEO
- Gregory L. Ebel, Enbridge Inc., President and CEO
- Ian Edwards, AtkinsRéalis, President and CEO
- Victor Fedeli, Government of Ontario, Minister of Economic Development
- Mona Fortier, House of Commons, MP
- Sean Fraser, Government of Canada, Minister of Justice
- Stephen Fuhr, House of Commons, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)
- Mathieu Gaudreault, DP World, Senior Director, Government Relations and Public Affairs
- Nick Geale, DP World, Vice President, Government Relations and Public Affairs for the Americas
- Scott Gilmore, PMO, Principal Secretary
- Gurinder Grewal, Invest in Canada, CEO
- Stephen Harper, Government of Canada, Former Prime Minister of Canada
- Bruce Hartley, Prospectus, Senior Partner
- Kieran Hawe, EllisDon, President and CEO
- Tim Hodgson, Government of Canada, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
- Ahmed Hussen, House of Commons, MP
- Vikram Khurana, Prudential Consulting Inc., Founder
- Sally Lamie, CAE, General Manager – UAE
- David Lederhendler, Yeji Data Lab, Founder and CEO
- Alexandre L’Heureux, WSP Global, President and CEO
- Connor Lyons, Power Sustainable, Partner and Head of Strategic Initiatives
- Jennifer MacIntyre, PMO, Deputy Chief of Staff
- Elder Marques, Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, Partner
- Eric Martel, Bombardier, President and CEO
- David McGuinty, Government of Canada, Minister of National Defence
- David Morrison, PCO, Senior Diplomatic and International Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister
- Alison Nankivell, Export Development Canada, President and CEO
- Taleeb Noormohamed, House of Commons, MP
- Ray Novak, Harper & Associates, Managing Director
- Deborah Orida, PSP Investments, President and CEO
- Zubair Patel, no title
- Jean-Claude Piedboeuf, Canadian Space Agency, Acting President
- Valérie Pisano, Mila, President and CEO
- Tim Ross, no title
- Karim Sabbagh, Space42, Managing Director
- Harjit Sajjan, Government of Canada, Former Minister
- Randeep Sarai, Government of Canada, Minister
- Imran Shaikh, Campus Developments, CEO
- Maninder Sidhu, Government of Canada, Minister of International Trade
- Evan Solomon, Government of Canada, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation
- Julie Soloway, Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, Co-Chair of the Competition/Antitrust and Foreign Investment Group
- Jenna Sudds, House of Commons, MPs
- Karl Tabbakh, McCarthy Tétrault, Partner
- Mark Wiseman, Global Affairs Canada, Ambassador of Canada to the United States
- Cindy Woodhouse, Assembly of First Nations (AFN), National Chief
- Mark Carney, Government of Canada, Prime Minister of Canada
- Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Delegation, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council
- Khalifa Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, UAE Delegation, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court
- Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, UAE Delegation, Minister of State For International Cooperation
- Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Delegation, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Managing Director and Group CEO – ADNOC
- Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Delegation, Minister Of Foreign Trade
- Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, UAE Delegation, Minister of State for Defense Affairs
- Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Delegation, Chairman of Dubai Chambers
- Ghanem Sultan AlSuwaidi, UAE Delegation, Assistant Deputy National Security Advisor / Advisor of Security Affairs at Crown Prince Court
- Saif Saeed Ghobash, UAE Delegation, Chairman of the Crown Prince’s Office
- Maryam Eid Al Mheiri, UAE Delegation, Advisor of Strategic Relations at the Crown Prince Court
- Abdulrahman Ali Almur Al Neyadi, UAE Delegation, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Canada
- Hamad Salem Belhabala Al Ketbi, UAE Delegation, Director General of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Protocol Office
- Ridha Chilmeran, Vector Institute, Government Relations Lead
- Nazim Benhadid, TELUS, Executive Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer
- Rabih Abouchakra, UAE Presidential Court, Executive Director, Office of Development Affairs
- Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia, Senate of Canada, Senator
- Mina Mitry, Kepler Communications, Co-Founder and CEO
- Julian Ovens, Crestview Strategy, Partner
- Chris Eaton, Aga Khan Museum, Acting CEO
- Kevin Smith, University Health Network, President and CEO
- Ted Wagstaff, North45, President
- Ronald D. Cohn, SickKids Hospital, President & CEO
- Glenn Cowan, ONE9, Founder & Managing Director
- Mark Fisher, Canada Water Agency, President
- R. Scott Jolliffe, Canada Arab Business Council, Chair
- Vera Etches, CHEO, President and CEO
- David Hutton, Former Ambassador of Canada to the UAE
- Masud Husain, Former Ambassador of Canada to the UAE
- Tia Tariq, Dangote Group, Senior Advisor
- Jeffrey Steiner, Canada-Saudi Business Council, JD Chair & CEO
- Chris Arsenault, Inovia, Partner
- Sébastien Carrière, Global Affairs Canada, Chief of Protocol
- Phil Kurtz, BlackBerry, General Counsel and Head of Government Affairs
- Douglas Smith, DP World, CEO of DP World’s operations in Canada
- James Scongack, Bruce Power, Chief Operating Officer
- Gary Anandasangaree, Government of Canada, Minister of Public Safety
- Farouk Adatia, Delegation of the Ismaili to Canada, Interim Diplomatic Representative
- Angad Dhillon, Global Affairs Canada, Canadian Ambassador to UAE
- Ali Salam, Sun Life, VP and Head, Global Government Affairs and Public Policy, Canada and Corporate
- Marc Dupont, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Global Head, Government and Public Affairs
- Jennifer Rook, HOOPP, VP, Government, Regulatory & Stakeholder Affairs
- Marc Weinstein, McGill University, VP University Advancement
- Deep Saini, McGill University, President
- Mohammad Al Zaibak, Former Senator and former Chair of the Canada Arab Business Council
- Todd Burke, Gowling WLG, Partner
- Joelle Pineau, Cohere, Chief AI Officer
- Geneviève Bouthillier, BDC Capital, executive vice-president
- Aalya Alshehhi, UAE Embassy, Minister plenipotentiary
- Khalifa Buhazza, UAE Embassy, Head of Support Services
- Saeed Al Suwaidi, UAE Embassy, UAE permanent representative to ICAO
- Khaled Almarzooqi, UAE Embassy, Defense, Military, Naval and Air Attaché
- France Chretien Desmarais, no title
- Yasir Naqvi, House of Commons Canada, Member of Parliament
- Regan Watts, FrattonPark, no title
- Maryam Saleem, Al Barakah Dates, no title
- Alexandre Lévêque, Global Affairs Canada, no title
- Sheikha Mohamed Alsayed, UAE Trade Ministers Office, no title
- Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, UAE Official delegation, N/A