Politicians, musicians and Canadian dignitaries will join Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau at a reception Friday night at the Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.
The “Two Michaels”, two ambassadors jailed by the Chinese regime in 2019 before being released two years later, will join them in taking their place. Michael Spawer and Michael Kovrik received warm receptions in the House of Commons earlier in the day.
The evening begins with Inuit throat singing and First Nations drumming to welcome guests.
Charlotte Cardin will perform a song called Next to You at the dinner, which will be on her next album, as well as Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
Several players from the economic community are on the guest list, including Patricia Gauthier, CEO of Moderna in Canada, and Marc-André Blanchard, vice president and global chief investment officer of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
Former Canadian and US ambassadors and members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Advisory Council have all confirmed their attendance.
See who will be joining them for the toast:
-Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada
-Joe Clark, former Prime Minister of Canada
– Pierre Poilievre, Chairman of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).
-Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois (BQ).
– Jagmeet Singh, New Democratic Party (NDP) leader
-Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada (PV)
-Charlotte Cordin, Quebec singer-songwriter
-Gregory Charles, Quebec singer-songwriter
– Alan Doyle, lead singer of the Celtic band Great Big Sea
-Jeffrey Remedios, President and CEO of Universal Music Canada
—Charles Lafortune, Quebec writer
-Mark Critch, actor, known for his role in the series This Hour Has 22 Minutes
-Gabriel LaBelle, Canadian-American actor
– Sarah Polley, Canadian filmmaker and director of Women Talking (2023 Oscar winner)
-Ben Proudfoot, Canadian filmmaker and Oscar-winning director (2021)
-Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival
-Wendy Nose, President of the Canadian Film Society
-Natalie Provost, Poly Soviant
-Michelle Douglas, Canadian human rights activist
– Helen Kennedy, Executive Director, Ekale Canada
-Doug Kerr, Executive Director of Dignity Network Canada
-Diana Mathison, Canadian soccer player, Olympian and CEO of Project 8
-Lana Payne, Unifor union president
-Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Associations
-Marissa West, CEO of GM Canada
-Tim Murphy, Chair of the Detroit-Windsor Bridge Commission
-Jonah Griffiths, CEO of Nix
-Patricia Gauthier, CEO of Moderna in Canada
