Prime Minister Mark Carney’s summit urging global investors to “Choose Canada” was produced by an American events firm — despite Carney recently pledging that Ottawa would contract Canadian companies and hire Canadian workers.
The inaugural Canada Investment Summit in Toronto brought together investors who manage more than $100 trillion in assets from nearly 30 countries as part of Carney’s push to catalyze $1 trillion in investment over five years.
But the summit’s producer was E2K Events x Entertainment, operated by California-based Olmstead Productions Inc.
E2K’s own privacy notice identifies the American company as the summit’s producer. It also says E2K and its subcontractors provided services including event production, delegate services, staffing, transportation, printing, photography and video.
The revelation was first reported by the Toronto Sun.
E2K has previously worked on major events including former U.S. president Barack Obama’s inauguration, the 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear and NFL events, according to the Sun.
The cost of E2K’s work and how it was selected remain unclear. The Sun reported it found no public request for proposals, tender or open competition for the summit on CanadaBuys.
Juno News contacted the Prime Minister’s Office for comment but did not receive a response by publication.
This choice has drawn criticism given Carney’s recent push to prioritize Canadian businesses.
Just 11 days before the summit, Carney said Canada was becoming its “own best customer” by “contracting Canadian companies, hiring Canadian workers.”
“For too long, Canada has relied on other countries to build what we have the talent, expertise and capacity to build ourselves,” Carney said.
Canadian Taxpayers Federation federal director Franco Terrazzano questioned why an American company was needed to help produce the event.
“The government added tens of thousands of bureaucrats over the decade and it still needs help from an American company to host a conference?” Terrazzano told Juno News.
“Those extra bureaucrats couldn’t help host a conference?”
Terrazzano notes this is a “serious issue” for taxpayers because “not only are we paying for way too many in-house bureaucrats, but we’re also paying way more for consultants and outsourcing.”
In his statement, he renewed calls for Carney and his government to cut the “bloated bureaucracy” and cut spending on consultants now.
Deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman also criticized the decision, arguing Canadian companies were capable of producing the summit.
“Canada’s events and production industry isn’t some mom-and-pop operation; it’s hundreds of thousands of jobs and firms that already have the contracts to prove it,” Lantsman told the Sun.
“If Ottawa can’t find a Canadian company to run its own investment summit, that’s a tough one to explain to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians whose small businesses are already bracing for tariff pain.”
The summit was convened by Carney in partnership with CPP Investments and PSP Investments as part of Ottawa’s push to attract investment into Canadian energy, infrastructure and other major projects.
While Ottawa urged global investors to “Choose Canada. Invest in Canada,” the summit’s producer was based south of the border.