Carney says he’s ‘pleased’ with Stephen Harper’s support during investor summit

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said he is “pleased” with former prime minister Stephen Harper’s support during his government’s inaugural Canada Investment Summit in Toronto.

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“I’ve taken advice from Mr. Harper, I’ve taken advice from Mr. Chrétien, Mr. Trudeau, as I should in this role,” said Carney, during a press conference at the summit on Tuesday. “I’m pleased that he’s here supporting…this effort.”

Harper will deliver the keynote closing speech of the summit on Tuesday evening. The former Conservative prime minister currently serves as chairman of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation and is co-founder of the investment fund Vision-One Management.

Carney said like other former prime ministers, Harper is a Canadian patriot and is well positioned in the global investment landscape.

“I’m aware that…in his current role, he’s influential, and he’s influential with a number of investors and businesses around world, and it’s helpful for Canada,” said Carney. “So, I thank him for those contributions.”

Just over year ago during the 2025 federal election, Harper endorsed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for prime minister and took aim at Carney’s record, particularly his role in the global financial crisis as the governor of the Bank of Canada.

Still, Harper’s presence at Carney’s investment summit could be interpreted as an endorsement of the prime minister’s strategy to attract more global capital investment in Canada.

The two-day summit will wrap up Tuesday with several announcements, including the government’s intention to privatize operations at Canada’s four largest airports, a decrease in the marginal effective tax rate on new business investment from 13 per cent to 6.4 per cent, a $50-billion investment by Bell Canada to expand its AI data centre project in Saskatchewan and a $50-billion “Maple Fund” partnership between the CPP Investments and Brookfield Asset Management.

More to come.

National Post

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