Canada Investment Summit

My name is Peter Haines, and I'm the host of this monthly series where I speak to my colleague, the Honorable Frank McKenna about global geopolitical issues.

Frank, we got a lot to cover in this episode, including AI, midterms, a referendum vote in Alberta, the UN meetings, an election in Quebec that might lead to a separation vote, the Canada Investment Summit, and more.

I really hope for the time that we'll be able to turn to a topic other than tariffs as front and center, but that is where we're at today.

So Frank, can you bring our listeners up to speed on where things stand from your sources in terms of the trade discussions between Canada and the U.S., and when can we expect some form of breakthrough in the apparent stalemate?

Welcome to Drumbeats, the must-listen-to podcast which explains why Indigenous partnerships are the key to securing successful outcomes in natural resource and infrastructure investment in Canada.

Hey Mark, and welcome again back to Canada, and specifically Toronto, where we've been all week for the Canada Investment Summit.

It's been great to see you.

Thank

you, Rob.

It's been great to be here in person back in Canada.

I feel this is one of those moments that we'll be able to, our descendants will look back on us as we look back on our ancestors and they'll say, oh, Rob and Mark were there for the Canada Investment Summit because it's just been a nonstop week and it continues.

And, you know, Toronto has the Toronto Film Festival going on at the same time.

Human rights organisation Amnesty International Canada has warned that the Canadian government must not embrace a programme of race-to-the-bottom corporate tax cuts that threaten human rights and the environment.

The organisation made the statement in response to the Canadian government's proposed mega-deduction for corporations, announced at Prime Minister Mark Carney's Canada Investment Summit earlier this week.

If adopted, the changes would massively increase tax deductions businesses could claim for new investments in capital assets, such as buildings, vehicles, machinery, computer equipment and energy infrastructure.

The proposal includes add-on tax incentives for investments related to the production of liquefied natural gas .

It's easier for B.C. to sell wine overseas than within Canada.

Also, with this Canada Investment Summit that he brought about, he just found a way.

Independent News announced that the CPP investment in Buckfields are launching a $50 billion fund for a major Canadian investment.

Yeah, I saw

yeah yeah no i mean tiff is great no matter what genre you're in the mood for they have it so the festival by the time people hear this will be almost over but if you're thinking about coming to toronto for it next year or if you live in toronto it is accessible to the public the tip kids are not super cheap but if it's something that you're interested in attending the vibe is great and the movies are always interesting

Now to talk about another major event that was happening at the same time as the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto this week was Kearney's Canada Investment Summit.

Branded as the first of its kind, Kearney invited...

the rich and well-to-do from around the world to come to Toronto and basically held kind of a garage sale on Canadian public infrastructure.

I'm Clement Nokos, editor of Perspectives Journal and director of policy at the Broadband Institute.

That was Prime Minister Mark Carney on September 15th at the Canada Investment Summit, announcing his government's intention to privatize Canada's airports.

The investment summit hosted in Toronto convened CEOs and financiers from around the world to raise capital financing for so-called nation building major projects across Canada in commodities, trade and digital infrastructure.

Airport privatization was also one of the major announcements made at the summit, and it appears to have raised the eyebrows of many.

The kind of service that we would like to see improve will actually get worse because these for profit actors, their goal is not delivering quality air travel.

Their goal is extracting the most possible profit that they can out of this asset.

Now, some would argue that with this increased private investment, part of the whole goal of this Canada Investment Summit that was held in Toronto, in addition to all the other major projects that the Carney government is looking for investment in internationally, with the promise that these major projects would create jobs, you know, you'd think that if that was the equation, that privatization and more private investment into airports would create more airport-related jobs, be those, you know, for baggage handlers, for unionized workers that work in airlines.

You know, wouldn't this be something, nominally, you'd think, something that Canadian labor unions would support? So,

So straight into the first topic.

So this week, September 14th to 15th, Monday, Monday and Tuesday this week, Prime Minister Carney hosted the first ever Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, co-organized with CPP Investments and PSP Investments, drawing investors from nearly 30 countries that collectively manage over $100 trillion in assets.

Not an insignificant amount of money.

The outcome of this two-day conference, there's a long list of things we can talk about, but about 500 billion in commitments and financing capacity, 100 billion from pension funds and insurers, 325 billion in bank financing capacity, 40 billion plus from investment funds.