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
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to assure Canadians that his government is adequately addressing the threat of foreign interference took a hit on Wednesday, when the majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside,' a call Johnston quickly rejected.
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
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.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
A U.S. federal court unsealed an indictment against Donald Trump on Friday detailing 37 charges against the former president for retaining classified government documents after he left office in 2021.
Air Canada has rejected compensation claims from some travellers who were among the thousands affected by flight delays caused by computer problems in recent weeks -- a response it now calls 'erroneous,' with cash offers en route.
Amid raging wildfires in western and eastern provinces, vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, Craig Stewart, shares what residents need to know about wildfire policy coverage.
Environment Canada has been advising people to check the Air Quality Health Index as wildfire smoke blanketed large swaths of Canada in recent days, but even without wildfires, the index can be a useful tool to monitor air pollution.
Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis is not your typical 12-year-old. She is a child prodigy who's about to become the youngest Canadian to ever graduate from university.
The father of Tori Stafford, an Ontario girl who was murdered in 2009, says the latest decision to transfer convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison is a 'slap in the face' to all murder victims' families.
Two years after two statues were knocked down and damaged at the Manitoba Legislature, one is now back up and Indigenous leaders are upset by the decision.
Air Canada has rejected compensation claims from some travellers who were among the thousands affected by flight delays caused by computer problems in recent weeks -- a response it now calls 'erroneous,' with cash offers en route.
The father of Tori Stafford, an Ontario girl who was murdered in 2009, says the latest decision to transfer convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison is a 'slap in the face' to all murder victims' families.
Canada's unemployment rate ticked up in May for the first time in nine months, but forecasters say the Bank of Canada will have to see more softening in the economy before it takes it takes a step back from raising interest rates.
The number of active wildfires in northern Ontario has grown, but more of them are under control as the fight continues. Here is what you need to know.
France is calling him "the backpack hero," a young Catholic pilgrim on a walking tour of cathedrals who came face to face with the man who stabbed several children in a park in Annecy.
Philippine troops, police and rescue workers began forcibly evacuating residents near Mayon Volcano on Friday as its increasing unrest indicated a violent eruption of one of the country's most active volcanoes is possible within weeks or days.
Ukraine's domestic security service said on Friday it had intercepted a telephone call proving a Russian 'sabotage group' blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric station and dam in southern Ukraine.
France's president travelled Friday to the side of families traumatized by the savage stabbings of four very young children, all said to be in stable condition after emergency surgery, while investigators worked to unravel the motives of a Syrian man taken into custody.
Pope Francis was "progressively improving" and sitting in an armchair working Friday, following surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, the Vatican said.
Canada requested use of the European Union's compound in Kabul to help with tasks such as fingerprinting for those fleeing Afghanistan, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press.
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
A little white pill has given Syrian President Bashar Assad powerful leverage with his Arab neighbours, who have been willing to bring him out of pariah status in hopes he will stop the flow of highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria.
Canadians who make content online are to be excluded from future regulations that the Liberal government is imposing on digital giants, a new draft policy shows.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms on Thursday gave employees a sneak peek at a series of AI tools it was building, including ChatGPT-like chatbots planned for Messenger and WhatsApp that could converse using different personas.
Scientists have documented the first-known instance of a 'virgin birth' by a crocodile, which had been living in isolation for 16 years at Costa Rican zoo, according to a study published Wednesday.
Daily U.S. sign-ups for Netflix have jumped in the first few days after the streaming giant's password-sharing crackdown came into effect on May 23, data from research firm Antenna showed.
A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Friday to helping two other men charged with fatally shooting rapper Young Dolph in a daytime ambush at a Memphis bakery.
Air Canada has rejected compensation claims from some travellers who were among the thousands affected by flight delays caused by computer problems in recent weeks -- a response it now calls 'erroneous,' with cash offers en route.
Canada's unemployment rate ticked up in May for the first time in nine months, but forecasters say the Bank of Canada will have to see more softening in the economy before it takes it takes a step back from raising interest rates.
Rescuers in Washington state are praising the resourcefulness of a 10-year-old girl who survived on her own for more than 24 hours in the rugged terrain of the Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family.
The April Facebook post hardly seemed like national news at the time for Deptford Little League president Don Bozzuffi. He'd lost patience when two umpires resigned in the wake of persistent spectator abuse. So he wrote an updated code of conduct.
Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer "into the racing business."
A group of climate activists claimed responsibility on Wednesday for deflating the tires of sport utility vehicles in Denmark's capital. More than 100 vehicles were vandalized, police said.
