Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor highlight guest list for Trudeau-Biden gala dinner | CBC News

Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor will be among the many guests attending Friday night’s gala dinner welcoming U.S. President Joe Biden to Canada.

The president and his wife Jill Biden are set to be the guests of honour at a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau at the Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

Bloomberg News was the first to report that Kovrig and Spavor were invited to the dinner. Their attendance was later confirmed by CBC News with a senior government source.

Kovrig and Spavor were detained by Chinese officials in December 2018 — not long after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on behalf of U.S. authorities. The two men spent more than 1,000 days in prison before being released in September 2021. The two were given a standing ovation in the House of Commons just before Biden’s parliamentary address on Friday afternoon.

Kovrig and Spavor join a guest list that includes former prime ministers, ambassadors and Canadian celebrities.

A guest list provided by the Prime Minister’s Office [PMO] said all former prime ministers were invited but only Jean Chrétien and Joe Clark are expected to attend.

Former U.S. ambassadors to Canada Bruce Heyman, James Blanchard, Gordon Giffin and David Jacobson and former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton will be in attendance.

All current opposition leaders are expected to attend. There was some uncertainty earlier in the day over whether Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would be at tonight’s event; his office confirmed his attendance Friday afternoon.

The PMO said all opposition leaders received an invitation but Poilievre didn’t respond to his. Poilievre’s office later said he hadn’t received an invitation.

The PMO provided CBC with a screen shot of the invitation sent to Poilievre’s personal parliamentary email account, but the Tory leader’s team said the account is defunct and questioned why an invitation wasn’t passed along through staff members.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s schedule for Friday

• 11:20 a.m.: Meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
• 11:45 a.m.: Trudeau and Biden participate in expanded bilateral meeting
• 2:00 p.m.: Biden addresses Parliament
• 3:45 p.m.: Biden and Trudeau speak to the press
• 6:30 p.m.: Biden, Trudeau and dignitaries attend a gala dinner at Ottawa’s Aviation Museum

Watch and listen to U.S. President Joe Biden’s first official visit to Canada on CBC News: Special live coverage starts Friday at 1 p.m. ET on CBC TV, CBC News Network, CBC Gem, the CBC News App and YouTube, and at 1:30 p.m. ET on CBC Radio and the CBC Listen app.

The guest list appears to put an emphasis on the importance of trade between the two countries — especially the CUSMA deal that came into effect in the summer of 2020. Members of Trudeau’s advisory council during the CUSMA negotiations — including former Conservative cabinet ministers Rona Ambrose and James Moore — will attend.

Métis dancers, Inuit throat singers, and an Algonquin drum group will provide entertainment at the reception.

Among the celebrity guests invited are comedians Eugene Levy of Schitt’s Creek fame and Mark Critch of CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Musical talents such as Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea and Charlotte Cardin will also be in attendance.

The catering team from the National Arts Centre plans to take the president on a cross-country culinary tour this evening.

The meal, put together by executive chef Kenton Leier, features ingredients such as East Coast yellowfin tuna, Alberta beef, flaxseed, Quebec maple syrup and Yukon gold potatoes.

The three courses also include a cabernet sauvignon jus made with wine from Pelee Island Winery in Kingsville, Ont., and a rum caramel made from Newfoundland’s famous Screech rum.

Because this isn’t an official state dinner, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and her husband, Whit Fraser, are relieved of hosting duties — though both will be in attendance.