Mark Carney in Davos. Photo courtesy the World Economic Forum/Flickr.

As Mark Carney prepares to welcome the world’s most powerful investors to Toronto, opposition to the prime minister’s CEO summit is beginning to coalesce.

On September 14-15, a who’s who of global finance will meet at a luxury hotel in downtown Toronto for an invitation-only event.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone CEO Jonathan Gray, and Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan have confirmed their attendance at the first-ever Canada Investment Summit.

Representatives from the trillion-dollar sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are also expected. The government will summon “the world’s largest investors” to Toronto in September to discuss, among other things, “the government’s capital investments and incentives in support of third parties, totalling about $280 billion.” Reportedly, top officials at firms managing over $120 trillion will be on hand—a remarkable concentration of economic power for one hotel ballroom.

The summit is part of a government push to attract $1 trillion in new investment over the next five years, while reversing what the Royal Bank of Canada has called the “most significant capital exodus in modern Canadian history.”

Some of Canada’s most influential business leaders are also expected. According to a Toronto Star report, “the buzz” on Bay Street “mostly seems positive” about the summit.

That reaction is hardly surprising.

Reports indicate airport privatization could be among the summit’s headline announcements. The selloff of other public assets, such as ports, toll roads, power grids, and water systems, may also be on........

© Canadian Dimension