Two Liberal cabinet ministers are slated to speak today at a conference hosted by an organization with close ties to their party.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains and Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly are expected to address an event on fostering innovation, put on by Canada 2020.
A self-described 鈥減rogressive think tank,鈥� Canada 2020 is run by Tom Pitfield, a close childhood friend of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the husband of Anna Gainey, president of the Liberal Party of Canada.
The organization includes numerous corporate heavyweights as sponsors, including Air Canada, CIBC and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers -- all corporations that actively lobby the federal government on various files.
Last week, Liberal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr also spoke at a Canada 2020 event on global energy in Ottawa.
that Canada 2020 received federal support for a conference on open government that included several Liberal politicians, including Treasury Board president Scott Brison.
Canada 2020 says it received no money from the federal government for today鈥檚 event with Bains and Joly.
The group made headlines earlier this year when it threw an exclusive party in Washington, D.C, attended by celebrities such as The Weeknd along with Trudeau and many of his closest aides, the night before his state dinner at the White House.
