For thirty-eight seasons the Canadian Club and National Post have commenced each New Year with a forecast luncheon with an expert panel discussion on the economy, the markets and political issues that will affect Canadians in the year ahead.

Frédéric Oudéa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Société Générale discusses adapting the banking model to the 21st century followed by a conversation with Victor G. Dodig, President and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC.

A leading European bank, Société Générale is headquartered in Paris with operations in 76 countries and counting over 148,300 employees. Société Générale services over 32 million clients worldwide and its universal banking model is based on 3 complementary pillars: French Retail Banking, International Retail Banking and Financial Services and Global Banking and Investor Solutions. Société Générale is best known for its expertise in equity derivatives, natural resource financing, commodity trading, export and project financing with expanding roles over the past 5 years in Debt Capital Markets and Infrastructure.

Société Générale is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2014 and the 40th year of its presence in Canada. The bank recently concluded the purchase of Newedge, a futures and options broker, making it one of the most active participants in the TMX derivatives market.

Frédéric Oudéa has served as Chairman and CEO since May of 2009. His remarks will focus on European economic recovery, the ongoing and expanding role of the European banking union, managing in a time of increased regulatory scrutiny and, imagining the banking industry in an increasingly digitized world.

Mark your schedule and enjoy an update on Europe from one of Europe’s top business leaders.

Bio

Born in 1963. Frédéric Oudéa is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration.

From 1987 to 1995, Frédéric Oudéa held various positions in the French senior civil service, Audit department of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Budget Ministry, Private Office of the Minister of Budget and Communication. In 1995, he joined Societe Generale and in 1996 he was appointed Deputy Head then Head of the bank’s Corporate Banking arm in London. In 1998, he became Head of Global Supervisory and Development of the Equities division. In May 2002, he was named Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Societe Generale Group. He became Chief Financial Officer of the Group in January 2003. In 2008 he was appointed CEO of the Group. In May 2009, he was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Societe Generale Group. In 2010 he was named Chairman of the Steering Committee on Regulatory Capital, SCRC at the Institute of International Finance, IIF. In January 2013, he was named Vice President of the Federation of European Banks, EBF. In January 2013, he was named President of the Institut International d’Etudes Bancaires, IIEB.

Please join Toronto’s financial community on Thursday, December 18, when Frédéric Oudéa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Société Générale discusses adapting the banking model to the 21st century followed by a conversation with Victor G. Dodig, President and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC.

A leading European bank, Société Générale is headquartered in Paris with operations in 76 countries and counting over 148,300 employees. Société Générale services over 32 million clients worldwide and its universal banking model is based on 3 complementary pillars: French Retail Banking, International Retail Banking & Financial Services and Global Banking & Investor Solutions. Société Générale is best known for its expertise in equity derivatives, natural resource financing, commodity trading, export and project financing with expanding roles over the past 5 years in Debt Capital Markets and Infrastructure.

Société Générale is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2014 and the 40th year of its presence in Canada. The bank recently concluded the purchase of Newedge , a futures and options broker, making it one of the most active participants in the TMX derivatives market.

Frédéric Oudéa has served as Chairman and CEO since May of 2009. His remarks will focus on European economic recovery, the ongoing and expanding role of the European banking union, managing in a time of increased regulatory scrutiny and, imagining the banking industry in an increasingly digitized world.

Mark your schedule and enjoy an update on Europe from one of Europe’s top business leaders.

Ian Black, General Manager of Uber Toronto, discusses the advent of new on demand transportation and ridesharing companies in conversation with the CBC's Peter Armstrong. Mr. Black will share his insights on new innovations in urban transportation and the impact this is having on city and economic life. The open discussion will also explore what regulatory solutions should be considered and adopted here in Canada to welcome new transportation network companies.

Uber is evolving the way the world moves. By seamlessly connecting riders to drivers through its mobile application, the company is making cities more accessible, opening up more possibilities for riders and more business for drivers. From its founding in 2009 to its launches in over 250 cities today, Uber's rapidly expanding global presence continues to bring people and their cities closer.

Ian Black has served as General Manager for Uber’s Toronto operations since May of 2014. His remarks will focus on how transportation network companies operate and the impact they can have here in Canada. Mr. Black will also address the need to find progressive regulatory solutions that help ensure public safety and expand urban transportation options.

Ian Black Bio:

Ian Black is the General Manager, Toronto of Uber, a technology company that is reinventing urban transportation in Toronto and around the globe. Not only has Uber transformed the traditional taxi and limo industry in just 4 years, it has pioneered inexpensive on demand transportation with uberX ridesharing and uberPOOL. Before Uber, Mr. Black developed his business and startup acumen at Bain and Co, Google, INSEAD and Helios Solar Energy.

Peter Armstrong Bio:

Peter Armstrong is the economics reporter for CBC News.

Armstrong was previously the host of World Report on CBC Radio. He has been a foreign correspondent for CBC Television and CBC Newsworld, based in Jerusalem. He covered the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Armstrong was a parliamentary correspondent based on Parliament Hill. An award winning journalist, he has covered three wars and reported in French and English from four continents.

Armstrong has reported from the frontlines in Afghanistan, embedded with Canadian, U.S. and British Troops. He has traveled extensively through the Middle East, reporting from Israel, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian Territories. He also reported live from Barack Obama's ancestral village in Kenya the night of the American presidential election in 2008.

Armstrong has worked in CBC locations across Canada, beginning in Quebec City with stops in Saint John, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. He has covered some of the biggest events of the last two decades including the tsunami and ensuing nuclear disaster in Japan, three federal elections and the Sochi Olympics.

Originally from Oakville, Ont., Armstrong is bilingual in French and English, and speaks some Arabic. He is a graduate of Acadia University in Nova Scotia and completed his journalism studies at l'Universite Laval in Quebec City.

Armstrong is married to Canadian journalist Piya Chattopadhyay.

Please join Toronto’s business community on Tuesday, December 16, when Ian Black, General

Manager of Uber Toronto, discusses the advent of new on-demand transportation

and ridesharing companies in conversation with the CBC’s Peter Armstrong. Mr. Black will share his insights on new innovations

in urban transportation and the impact this is having on city and economic

life. The open discussion will also explore what regulatory solutions should be considered and

adopted here in Canada to welcome new transportation network companies.

Uber is evolving the way the world moves. By seamlessly connecting riders to drivers

through its mobile application, the company is making cities more accessible,

opening up more possibilities for riders and more business for drivers. From

its founding in 2009 to its launches in over 250 cities today, Uber’s rapidly

expanding global presence continues to bring people and their cities closer.

Ian Black has served as General Manager for Uber’s Toronto operations since May of

2014. His remarks will focus on how transportation network companies operate

and the impact they can have here in Canada. Mr. Black will also address the

need to find progressive regulatory solutions that help ensure public safety

and expand urban transportation options.

Mark your calendars and join this timely conversation on the convergence of

technology and transportation.

Michael Sabia is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Caisse since March 2009. In this capacity, he is responsible for the strategic direction of the institution and determines the necessary course of action to fulfill its mission. Mr. Sabia leads the Executive Committee and sits on the Board of Directors.

Prior to joining the Caisse, Mr. Sabia worked for BCE, Canada's largest telecommunications company. Between 2002 and 2008, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of BCE. Earlier, from 1999 to 2002, he was successively Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada International and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of BCE.

From 1993 to 1999, Mr. Sabia occupied various roles with Canadian National Railway, including Chief Financial Officer. He spent the preceding decade working as a senior official with the Government of Canada.

Mr. Sabia obtained a Bachelor of Arts in economics and politics from the University of Toronto and holds graduate degrees in economics and politics from Yale University.

Mr. Sabia is a member of the governing council of Finance Montréal. He was also a member of the North American Competitiveness Council from 2005 to 2008. Mr. Sabia has been very active in the community over the past few years; some of his endeavours have notably included serving as the Honorary Chairman of the Bal du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, chairing the fundraising campaign for Maison Saint Gabriel and co chairing the campaign for the Montréal Heart Institute Foundation. In 2006, he co chaired the campaign for Centraide du Grand Montréal.

Since 1992, The Canadian Club of Toronto has presented its Canadians of the Year Award to distinguished Canadians whose efforts and example have improved the lives of others and benefited us as a nation. Canada’s podium of record is proud to recognize Milos Raonic, Canada's top ranking professional tennis player, as our 2014 Canadian of the Year award recipient.

Milos Raonic is the highest ranked Canadian tennis player in the Open Era after becoming the first from his country to break the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 12th August 2013.

Born in Podgorica, Montenegro in 1990, Milos and his family relocated to Toronto in 1994. He currently resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Parents are Dusan and Vesna, both engineers; sister, Jelena and brother, Momir.

Milos began playing tennis at age nine and played his first tennis tournament at age 10 in Toronto. When he was 16, he grew into one of Canada’s top juniors and was invited to be one of the first to join Tennis Canada’s National Training Centre in Montreal.

Milos spent three years training with Canada’s top juniors in Montreal. He became one of three Canadians to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam championship when he reached the last 16 as a qualifier at the 2011 Australian Open, when he was just 20 years old. He was named as Newcomer of the Year in the 2011 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët and Chandon after jumping from No. 156 in the Emirates ATP Rankings at the start of the season to No. 31 on 14 November 2011.

Milos has won six ATP World Tour titles and became the first homegrown finalist at the Canadian Masters since Robert Bedard in 1958 when he finished runner up to Rafael Nadal in August 2013.

He is coached by former World No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic and Riccardo Piatti and works with trainer Dalibor Sirola and physio Claudio Zimaglia

Michael Sabia is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Caisse since March 2009. In this capacity, he is responsible for the strategic direction of the institution and determines the necessary course of action to fulfill its mission. Mr. Sabia leads the Executive Committee and sits on the Board of Directors.

Prior to joining the Caisse, Mr. Sabia worked for BCE, Canada’s largest telecommunications company. Between 2002 and 2008, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of BCE. Earlier, from 1999 to 2002, he was successively Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada International and Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of BCE.

From 1993 to 1999, Mr. Sabia occupied various roles with Canadian National Railway, including Chief Financial Officer. He spent the preceding decade working as a senior official with the Government of Canada.

Mr. Sabia obtained a Bachelor of Arts in economics and politics from the University of Toronto and holds graduate degrees in economics and politics from Yale University.

Mr. Sabia is a member of the governing council of Finance Montréal. He was also a member of the North American Competitiveness Council from 2005 to 2008. Mr. Sabia has been very active in the community over the past few years; some of his endeavours have notably included serving as the Honorary Chairman of the Bal du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, chairing the fundraising campaign for Maison Saint-Gabriel and co-chairing the campaign for the Montréal Heart Institute Foundation. In 2006, he co-chaired the campaign for Centraide du Grand Montréal.

Since 1992, The Canadian Club of Toronto has presented its Canadian(s) of the Year Award to distinguished Canadians whose efforts and example have improved the lives of others and benefited us as a nation. On Wednesday, November 26th, Canada’s podium of record is proud to recognize Milos Raonic, Canada’s top ranking professional tennis player, as our 2014 Canadian of the Year award recipient.

Milos Raonic is the highest-ranked Canadian tennis player in the Open Era after becoming the first from his country to break the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 12th August 2013.

Born in Podgorica, Montenegro in 1990, Milos and his family relocated to Toronto in 1994. He currently resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Parents are Dusan and Vesna (both engineers); sister, Jelena and brother, Momir.

Milos began playing tennis at age nine and played his first tennis tournament at age 10 in Toronto. When he was 16, he grew into one of Canada’s top juniors and was invited to be one of the first to join Tennis Canada’s National Training Centre in Montreal.

Milos spent three years training with Canada’s top juniors in Montreal. He became one of three Canadians to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam championship when he reached the last 16 as a qualifier at the 2011 Australian Open (l. to Ferrer), when he was just 20 years old. He was named as Newcomer of the Year in the 2011 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon after jumping from No. 156 in the Emirates ATP Rankings at the start of the season to No. 31 on 14 November 2011.

Milos has won six ATP World Tour titles and became the first homegrown finalist at the Canadian Masters since Robert Bedard in 1958 when he finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal in August 2013.

He is coached by former World No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic and Riccardo Piatti and works with trainer Dalibor Sirola and physio Claudio Zimaglia.

Finance Minister Joe Oliver delivers the Government of Canada's Economic and Fiscal Update.