Camera: financial and diplomatic bigwigs hobnob at the Canadian International Council gala

By Bronwen Jervis | Photography by George Pimentel

Ritz-Carlton, October 25. Masters of the financial and diplomatic universes took part in the gala for the Canadian International Council, the global affairs think tank funded by ex–RIM boss Jim Balsillie. This year the Globalist of the Year award—past honourees include Egyptian telecom titan Naguib Sawiris and super-investor George Soros—went to International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, for keeping the eurozone intact post–Greek meltdown. After a meeting where they conspired to solve the world’s problems, the VIPs broke for cocktails and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney dotingly ushered Lagarde around the room. She lauded Canada’s financial soundness and called Carney a fantastic central banker; he evoked a 2009 Financial Times article that ranked Lagarde the best minister of finance in the eurozone, then paused before delivering the punch line: “and that was back when that meant something.”