On the evening of Sept. 14, hundreds gathered in Nathan Phillips Square to protest the Canada Investment Summit, hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Described by the federal government as “a first-of-its-kind gathering,” the summit sought to encourage investment in the Canadian economy. The two-day event brought together global investors, Canadian CEOs and public-sector representatives, including BlackRock CEO and chairman Larry Fink as well as representatives of sovereign wealth reserves from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Norway, and Singapore.
The summit came amid strained economic relations between Canada and the United States, brought on by President Donald Trump. Carney’s government has set a goal of catalyzing $1 trillion worth of investments over the next five years in order to build a stronger economy
The protesters included groups such as World BEYOND War and 8th Fire Rising, who rallied under the banner “Crash Carney’s CEO Summit.” Rachel Small, the Canada Organizer of World BEYOND War and a York University alum, spoke to the crowd. “Toronto is not a city of billionaires, it’s a city of solidarity,” Small says. “Now we need to show the world that.” Following Small’s speech, protesters marched toward the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), where the summit’s opening gala was being held, with the aim to disrupt the gala. However, protesters were stopped by a police barricade near the AGO, with an estimated 200 to 300 Toronto police officers stationed in the area. Sharmeen Khan, a protester and financial coordinator of York’s CUPE 3903, was disappointed by the blockade. “I was hoping to disrupt the meeting itself. I wanted them to hear us,” she explains. Despite her frustrations, Khan felt the police presence reflected the impact of the protest and its message. “It’s very telling that you need to unleash [this] many cops to have a comfortable, expensive dinner.”
Khan attended the protest to challenge the idea that private investors should determine the nation’s economic direction. “There’s no representation from Indigenous people, renters, environmentalists, or labourers,” states Khan. “If [Carney] wants to have a discussion about how to make Canada strong, those are the people who he should be talking to.”
Khan also believes some of the money being discussed could instead be used to fund post-secondary education. “Right now the amount of fees and how much debt students go into is totally immoral.” During her time at York, Khan says she has seen how an emphasis on capitalist measures of success affects students’ educational goals and career aspirations. “Students are interested in studying literature or philosophy, [but] they’re being told to ‘get a job where you can make money.’ That’s not the point of education,” she remarks. “Hopefully students will be part of the resistance.”
Rolf Gerstenberger, former president and member of United Steelworkers Local 1005, voices concerns on where these major investments would be going. “[Carney] wants a trillion dollars in Canadian investments, and half of it’s going to be for war production,” he states. According to a news release from the Prime Minister’s office, “the federal government will deploy $700 million in new funding to accelerate growth in Canadian defence and dual-use technologies” through the Business Development Bank of Canada. TD, BMO, and CIBC also committed a total of $222 billion in financing that is in part being put towards the defence sector.
Gerstenberger also raises concerns about the summit’s inclusion of major American investors, which he sees as conflicting with Carney’s “elbows-up” approach towards Trump’s hostility. “Canada doesn’t have a self-reliant economy,” he explains. “And by bringing in these people, you’re not going to create a self-reliant economy.”
For both Gerstenberger and Khan, the goal of attending was to raise awareness of opposition to the summit and Carney’s economic strategy. “The main thing is that we’re reflecting that people are opposed to it,” explains Gerstenberger. “I’m a steelworker from Hamilton, so I can say [first-hand] that there are steelworkers from Hamilton who are opposed to what he’s doing.”
Though turnout at the march was significant, Khan acknowledges Carney’s mainstream appeal. “He seems to have a lot of support, from the public and the media.” To World BEYOND War, it’s possible for this support to sway. The organization released a statement on September 18 celebrating the protest’s “wall to wall” coverage from major news outlets. “These were definitely not the headlines Carney was hoping for,” they proclaimed.
Regardless of popular opinion and beyond the summit’s conclusion, Khan says she will continue to challenge the government’s approach. “I want to be part of a group of folks who were opposing it.” While the protest did not reach the gala itself, Canadians were able to march together through the streets of the nation’s most populated city and voice their truths.
