North American leaders gather in Ottawa away from reporters’ prying eyes

Over the weekend, some of North America’s most powerful people met in Ottawa.

The North American Forum, an annual meeting of leaders from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, brought together politicians, ambassadors, CEOs for major firms, and academics for a two-day series of panels to discuss key issues facing North America in the near future.

Of particular note was a panel on North America’s energy future, moderated by former environment minister – now senior executive vice president of CIBC – Jim Prentice. That panel included Dawn Farrell, the president and CEO of TransAlta, David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, and Juan José Suàrez Coppel, the CEO of Mexican state-owned petroleum company, PEMEX.

Another panel included each North American ambassador to discuss the key challenges and opportunities facing the continental partnership. Additionally, on Friday morning, Canada’s deputy minister of finance, Michael Horgan hosted a panel on the North American and global economy, featuring Gary Hufbauer of the Paterson Institute for International Economics, Jack Mintz of the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, and Pedro Aspe, the Mexico co-chair for the Forum.

On Friday night, Governor General David Johnston hosted Forum participants were at Rideau Hall, prior to dinner that featured opening remarks from Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

The following morning, National Defence Minister Peter MacKay gave a keynote address to the breakfast crowd, prior to a panel on new avenues in North American defence and security, featuring RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson and NORAD Commander General Charles Jacoby Jr. Following that, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence, Ashton Carter gave a keynote address.

Reporters were barred from entering the Forum’s events.

National Defence issued a press release over the weekend regarding MacKay’s remarks.

“Today, it is increasingly difficult for countries to face challenges to their defence and security alone,” MacKay’s statement read. “By virtue of our geography, our peoples and trading relationships, our three nations share many defence and security interests. The inter-connected nature of our defence and security makes initiatives like the North American Forum critical in our efforts to strengthen hemispheric defence.”

Below is the weekend’s full schedule of events.

Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Colin Horgan