Ottawa confident it can secure deals, MOUs at investment summit, Joly says

Ottawa confident it can secure deals, MOUs at Canada Investment Summit, Joly says BILL CURRY DEPUTY OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF TORONTO PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO UPDATED 16 MINUTES AGO Open this photo in gallery: Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly said Ottawa can protect national security while also giving potential investors a better sense of the rules that will apply. JUSTIN TANG/THE CANADIAN PRESS COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says she expects that large foreign-investment funds will announce deals at this week’s high-level summit in Toronto. In an interview with The Globe and Mail Sunday afternoon, she said that many of the people involved have already been in discussions leading up to the two-day event. “I’m confident that we can be able to reach deals. There’s lots of interest,” she said. “There’s been a lot of conversations about potential deals before the summit. Many of the projects that are on the table, we’ve been discussing with many investors for months now. “Now I’m confident that we can get to MOUs, so intent of investment. Of course, then there will be work to be done on the due-diligence side, which makes sense.” The Canada Investment Summit will take place Monday and Tuesday at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel, where the heads of major investment funds from around the world will gather to hear pitches about Canadian projects. Everything we know about Carney’s investment summit Prime Minister Mark Carney first announced plans for the summit in April, saying it will focus on attracting new investment for nation-building projects. It is part of his stated effort to broaden Canada’s economic ties in order to reduce dependence on trade with the United States. The federal government is playing host to the summit in partnership with two of Canada’s largest pension funds, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. The guest list includes investors from the United Arab Emirates and the wider Persian Gulf region who Mr. Carney has been courting. The China International Capital Corporation and China Investment Corporation are also expected to attend. As Industry Minister, Ms. Joly is responsible for the Investment Canada Act. The legislation allows the federal government to review significant foreign investments. This includes applying a “net benefit” test to review an…