The City of Surrey has announced the speaker's list for its sixth Regional Economic Summit, which will be held February 27, 2014.
One of the speakers is oil tycoon and billionaire philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, who has spoken out about decreasing dependency on OPEC oil and is an advocate of alternative energy.
An international panel on world economics will be made up of former prime ministers from Australia (Julia Gillard), Greece (George Papandreou) and Israel (Ehud Barak).
The event will also feature a Canadian panel and a discussion on the Canada-European Union free trade agreement.
In addition, the summit’s economic panel will feature Ken Peacock, chief economist of the Business Council of British Columbia, Michael Goldberg, dean emeritus of UBC’s Sauder School of Business, and Andrew Ramlo, executive director of Urban Futures.
Usually held in the fall, the city had to postpone the 2013 event to the spring of 2014 due to trouble finding speakers.
“We had originally been looking at Hillary Clinton, but she’s not doing government speaking roles for probably her own political (reasons),” said summit chair Councillor Linda Hepner.
Hepner said it’s a challenge to top previous summits after exhausting many world leaders. Past summit speakers have included former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Sir Richard Branson and former British prime minister Tony Blair.
“It’s tough to keep raising the bar because we’ve set the bar so high,” Hepner said.
This year’s panellists will give a wide range of perspectives, Hepner said, particularly because they will look at the different economies of Australia, Israel and Greece.
“I’m also looking forward to hearing from Mr. Pickens on his high profile ‘Pickens Plan’ for America’s energy future, as well as his support of Canada’s energy sector,” Hepner said. “As an authoritative voice on a wide variety of energy issues, including oil, gas and alternative energy, his comments and insight are of particular interest as we tap into our own energy prospects and potential.”
In 2012, the City of Surrey apparently spent roughly $420,000 for Branson’s appearance. The city’s 2012 Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) report revealed Surrey paid the London Speakers Bureau $419,767 for the rebel billionaire to speak for one hour.
In 2011, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton spoke at the summit, and the city’s SOFI report said the price tag for the two was more than $300,000.
Donna Jones, Surrey’s manager of economic development, has said that booking fees are paid for with taxpayer dollars ahead of time, but they are recouped through ticket sales and sponsorships.
Tickets to the 2012 summit were about $650 a pop.
In a letter to the editor to the Now in 2012, Mayor Dianne Watts said that the economic summit has grown into “one of the most significant business and economic conferences in Canada and is a big part of our city's brand as we work to attract jobs, investment and business to our city to ensure continued prosperity.”
