A sold-out crowd of 600 guests, including a veritable who's who of Canadian business, government and industry leaders, joined with St. Francis Xavier University in Toronto on Nov. 13 to celebrate Canadian leadership, StFX, and its distinguished alumnus, former Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, as StFX hosted its National Dinner at Toronto's historic Carlu.

Mr. Mulroney, who delivered the night's keynote address, was welcomed to the podium with a standing ovation. More...His speech opened and closed with references to Moses Coady and the values he and other StFX students were exposed to while at StFX – values of thinking of others first, of serving society, and how that influenced their life course.

The event itself received extraordinary national media coverage.

The 2007 National Dinner followed on the success of last year's event that celebrated the "Codfathers" phenomena (the story of the many important leaders with Atlantic Canadian roots). This year's gathering toasted Canadian leadership.

Mr. Mulroney delivered the keynote address on the value of leadership in the preservation of democracy.

Also in attendance were other great Canadian leaders like Frank McKenna, former Canadian Ambassador to the United States and Premier of New Brunswick, Ellen Costello, CEO of Harris Bankcorp (part of BMO Financial Group), and Guy Savard, vice-chairman of Merrill Lynch Canada.

CTV's Seamus O'Regan emceed the event at the Carlu, a renowned event space formerly known as ‘Eaton's Seventh Floor' in the cultural heart of downtown Toronto.