Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama will address thousands of eager Montrealer’s at the city’s Palais de congrès convention centre tonight as part of a speaker’s series that also brought her husband to Montreal last year.
The sold-out event is organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, which also hosted former U.S. president Barack Obama in June.
Obama is speaking as part of the Chamber’s Bell International Leaders series and following her speech will take part in a discussion with Sévrine Labelle, president and CEO of Femmessor Québec, an organization that supports female entrepreneurs.
- Barack Obama to address sold-out Montreal crowd of more than 6,000
- Trudeau and Obama continue their ‘bromance’ with dinner at Montreal eatery
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not attend Obama’s speech in Montreal, his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau will be there and will be giving opening remarks, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Monday.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also spoke in the city last year as part of a promotional tour for her book, “What Happened.”
Tickets for the event ranged from about $60 for the most distant seats to more than $1,255 for those willing to pay for the chance of getting a table closer to the stage.
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (L) reacts as she arrives to harvest vegetables from the White House kitchen garden with schoolchildren in Washington October 14, 2014. Also pictured is Let’s Move Executive Director Sam Kass (R). Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
The former first lady left her mark with four key initiatives during her husband’s eight years in power.
She launched Let’s Move!, a public health initiative aimed at addressing the challenge of childhood obesity; Joining Forces, an initiative to support veterans, service members, and their families; Reach Higher, a program to inspire young people to seek higher education; and Let Girls Learn, to help adolescent girls around the world go to school.
Since leaving the White House, Michelle Obama has worked with her husband at their Chicago-based Obama Foundation, which aims to help citizens get engaged and network with like-minded individuals seeking to change the society for better.
With files from The Canadian Press
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.