Eugene Levy, Sarah Polley, Jean Chretien, the two Michaels among guests at Biden gala dinner
Eugene Levy, Sarah Polley, Jean Chretien, the two Michaels among guests at Biden gala dinner
Eugene Levy? Check. Sarah Polley? Check. Jean Chretien? Check.
These are just a few of the guests confirmed to attend Friday night’s gala dinner with U.S. President Joe Biden, hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.
The gala is set to welcome a plethora of notable people, and include several performances to go along with a very Canadian dinner.
Perhaps the most famous people on the guest list not named Trudeau or Biden are Canadian film and television icon Eugene Levy—star of the wildly popular “Schitt’s Creek” and Toronto’s very own Sarah Polley, who recently took home Oscar gold at Hollywood’s biggest night for her film “Women Talking.”
Two former Canadian prime ministers—Jean Chretien and Joe Clark—as well as every major opposition party leader will attend. Multiple former U.S. ambassadors to Canada and Canadian ambassadors to the U.S., as well as all of cabinet were invited, however, not all of them can make it.
The two Michaels, Kovrig and Spavor, are also both invited guests to the gala and to Biden’s afternoon address to Parliament, CTV News has confirmed. The two men were imprisoned in China from 2018 to 2021.
Diana Matheson, Canadian soccer player, Olympic bronze medalist and CEO of Project 8 will be there, along with actors Charles Lafortune, Mark Critch (“Son of a Critch” and “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”), Gabriel LaBelle (“The Fabelmans”), Oscar winning directors Ben Proudfoot and Daniel Roher, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey and President of the Motion Picture Association of Canada Wendy Noss.
Toronto’s Eric McCormack, best known for playing Will on the seminal TV series “Will and Grace,” will also be in attendance. In a 2012 interview with “Meet the Press,” Biden described “Will and Grace” as having done “more to educate the American public (about LGBTQ2S+ people) than almost anything anybody has ever done.”
Montreal natives and solo artists Charlotte Cardin and Gregory Charles will attend, as well as Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle. Doyle and Cardin are also set to perform before and after dinner service, respectively.
As guests arrive, they will be treated to performances from Métis Jiggers Jaime Morse, Riley McKenzie and Jacob McKenzie—the same group that performed at Trudeau’s first swearing in ceremony at Rideau Hall when he became prime minister in 2015. Inuit throat singers Grace Metuq and Tia Qaqaqsiq, Algonquin drum group Eagle River from Kitigan Zibi and Barrier Lake, Que., featuring Yancey Thusky, Jordon Jacko, Awema Tendesi and Steve Wawtie as well as guitarist and pianist Tyler Shaw are also set to perform during reception.
Indigenous Elder Claudette Commanda, an Algonquin Anishinaabe from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, will lead a prayer and blessing after the arrival of Trudeau, Biden, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and their spouses.
Chief NAFTA negotiator Steve Verheul will be there, and all members of the prime minister’s NAFTA Advisory Council were invited, however some cannot attend. Jeffrey Remedios, CEO of Universal Music Canada will also be in the building.
Other notable guests include:
Michelle Douglas, Canadian human rights activist
Helen Kennedy, Executive Director of Egale Canada
Doug Kerr, Executive Director of Dignity Network Canada
Lana Payne, President of UNIFOR
Linda Silas, President of Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
Nathalie Provost, PolySeSouvient
Marissa West, CEO of GM Canada
Tim Murphy, Chair of Detroit-Windsor Bridge Commission
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Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
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A U.S. and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the U.S. Navy said, in a rare joint mission in the sensitive waterway at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington over Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
Four children were killed and one man is missing after they were swept away by the tide while fishing in Portneuf-sur-Mer, a riverside community in Quebec's Côte-Nord region.
The U.S. Ambassador to Canada says America 'absolutely wants to have it both ways' when it comes to fighting climate change while pursuing fossil fuel projects.
New study finds increase in antipsychotic drugs use in long-term care homes across Canada, despite no significant increase in behavioural symptoms – something that may expose a potential area of concern for quality of care, researchers say.
Concerns around civilian safety spiked in Ukraine on Saturday, as officials announced that an inspection had found nearly a quarter of the country's air-raid shelters locked or unusable, just days after a woman in Kyiv allegedly died waiting outside a shuttered shelter during a Russian missile barrage.
Pope Francis warned the Vatican's missionary fundraisers on Saturday not to allow financial corruption to creep into their work, insisting that spirituality and spreading the Gospel must drive their operations, not mere entrepreneurship.
Canada is open to the idea of including a requirement to cut back on the production of plastic in a new global treaty to eliminate plastic pollution, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Friday.
A U.S. and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the U.S. Navy said, in a rare joint mission in the sensitive waterway at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington over Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi submitted his paperwork on Friday to enter the Ontario Liberal leadership race, a campaign spokesperson told CTV News Ottawa.
Four children were killed and one man is missing after they were swept away by the tide while fishing in Portneuf-sur-Mer, a riverside community in Quebec's Côte-Nord region.
A marine conservation charity and Inuit hunters are praising cruise operators for agreeing to avoid a Nunavut waterway where thousands of narwhal migrate each summer.
Concerns around civilian safety spiked in Ukraine on Saturday, as officials announced that an inspection had found nearly a quarter of the country's air-raid shelters locked or unusable, just days after a woman in Kyiv allegedly died waiting outside a shuttered shelter during a Russian missile barrage.
Hong Kong police detained eight people, including activists and artists, on the eve of the 34th anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown, a move that signals the city's shrinking freedom of expression.
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Serbia's capital on Saturday for a fifth time in a month, following two mass shootings that shook the nation, even as the country's populist president rejected any responsibility for the crisis and ignored the protesters' demands to step down.
Despite a dire warning from the United Nations chief that the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees "is on the verge of financial collapse," donors at a pledging conference on Friday provided just US$107 million in new funds -- significantly less than the US$300 million it needs to keep helping millions of people.
With just two days to spare, President Joe Biden signed legislation on Saturday that lifts the nation's debt ceiling, averting an unprecedented default on the federal government's debt.
Pope Francis warned the Vatican's missionary fundraisers on Saturday not to allow financial corruption to creep into their work, insisting that spirituality and spreading the Gospel must drive their operations, not mere entrepreneurship.
Canada is open to the idea of including a requirement to cut back on the production of plastic in a new global treaty to eliminate plastic pollution, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Friday.
Defence Minister Anita Anand says Canada is committed to the support of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, and is reinforcing its military presence in the region.
The U.S. Ambassador to Canada says America 'absolutely wants to have it both ways' when it comes to fighting climate change while pursuing fossil fuel projects.
New study finds increase in antipsychotic drugs use in long-term care homes across Canada, despite no significant increase in behavioural symptoms – something that may expose a potential area of concern for quality of care, researchers say.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Racial bias built into a common medical test for lung function is likely leading to fewer Black patients getting care for breathing problems, a study published Thursday suggests.
Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told Reuters on Thursday that she has resigned from the social media company, which has faced criticism for lax protections against harmful content since billionaire Elon Musk acquired it in October.
Deep in an open coal mine in southern Greece, researchers have discovered the antiquities-rich country's oldest archaeological site, which dates to 700,000 years ago and is associated with modern humans' hominin ancestors. The find announced Thursday would drag the dawn of Greek archaeology back by as much as a quarter of a million years, although older hominin sites have been discovered elsewhere in Europe. The oldest, in Spain, dates to more than a million years ago.
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, director Christopher Nolan offers a guide to his favourite formats, explaining why it matters and even where he likes to sit so that audiences don't feel like they need a film school degree (or one in theoretical physics) before settling on a theatre.
Walt Disney's Pixar Animation Studios has eliminated 75 positions including those of two executives behind box office disappointment 'Lightyear,' sources said on Saturday, the first significant job cuts at the studio in a decade.
Air Canada says travellers should be prepared for further flight disruptions as it works to return service to normal following a technical malfunction Thursday.
Bianca Andreescu was eliminated from the French Open after losing to Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, in the third round on Saturday.
Rafael Nadal is expected to need about five months to recover from arthroscopic surgery on his left hip, a timeline that likely would keep him out for the rest of this season.
Max Verstappen stormed his way to pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday while his top rivals struggled on the damp track and will start well behind the two-time defending champion.
America apparently needs more car seats. So, when Volkswagen unveiled the ID. Buzz, a retro-styled electric van, last year, it noted that the version for the North American market would be longer and would have three rows of seats.
