Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe issued some social media posts this week about his U.K. tourism mission that raised questions because of a lack of specific details.
He spoke about a “major international event” and an “international health and medical conference” coming to Ottawa in “a few years” while introducing people often by first names only. These posts across the mayor’s social media channels did not include specifics about the events, but praised the “big wins” for the city’s economy.
Here’s what he was talking about.
“Tish and Nick are bringing their major international event to Ottawa in the next few years. It’s another big win for Ottawa Tourism and our city’s economy,” Sutcliffe said.
Tish and Nick are Tish Collins and Nick Newland. They are executive director and advocacy director, respectively, of Associated Country Women of the World. The organization, founded in 1929, aims to bring women from the rural areas of 82 countries together to discuss and address “the challenges they face as a result of the isolation of their communities, discrimination against women, and their lack of standing in political processes,” according to its website.
The group is bringing its next global conference to Ottawa in 2026. According to a presentation by Ottawa Tourism at the 2023 conference in Kuala Lumpur, it will be hosted at the Westin Hotel.
“It was great to meet with Caroline. Thanks to the hard work of Ottawa Tourism, Caroline is bringing an international health and medical conference to Ottawa in the next few years. It’s another win for our city’s economy,” said Sutcliffe.
Caroline MacKenzie is the executive director of the Hip Preservation Society, an international organization that is focused on hip preservation surgery.
It is hosting its annual scientific meeting in Ottawa in October 5 – 9, 2027.
Tourism Ottawa says this is the organization’s flagship event. It will bring worldwide arthroscopic and open hip surgeons, hip preservationists, sports physicians and rehabilitation professionals to the capital share the latest knowledge and experience in the field of hip preservation surgery and rehabilitation.
Both of these events had been previously announced.
“It was great to sit down with Danny Boutin, an entrepreneur in the UK who is working toward a deal to make a significant investment and partner with an Ottawa organization,” Sutcliffe said. “This will be a great opportunity for our city’s economic development.”
Invest Ottawa told CTV News that work on this deal is ongoing and more details would be announced in the coming weeks.
‘We made a lot of progress’: Mayor
Speaking to CTVNewsOttawa.ca by phone, Sutcliffe said his posts were meant not just for residents of Ottawa, but also for others in the U.K. to showcase what Ottawa can offer.
“We spoke with a lot of people, some of whom didn’t know anything about Ottawa,” he said. “They didn’t know about Ottawa Race Weekend or that we have a thriving tech sector or even that we were the national capital.”
Posts about previously announced events, such as the Associated Country Women of the World conference, were not meant to imply these were newly signed events, he said, but to point out that there are people in the U.K. who are already doing business with Ottawa, which could entice other organizations and businesses to look at the capital in a new light. He added that there are ongoing discussions that he couldn’t post about, as details had yet to be finalized.
Sutcliffe said he believes this trip has been successful, but he says courting the kind of business deals and events that Ottawa needs takes time and sensitivity.
“With Ottawa Tourism, the goal was to engage with a range of organizations who do business in Ottawa to enhance relationships, and also to meet with people who don’t know about Ottawa,” he said. “We made a lot of connections. It’s a long process to bring in events, but we made a lot of progress.”
On Monday, he met with airline industry executives in London, and he spoke at the SportsPro Live 2024 conference on Tuesday.
Sutcliffe stressed he continued to fulfill mayoral duties while in London. For example, he attended the Ottawa Police Services Board meeting on Monday virtually.
“That went to 11:30 here, but I attended, and I’ve done Zoom calls, so I’m still working as mayor while also promoting the city of Ottawa in the U.K.,” he said.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe connected from London to the Ottawa Police Services Board meeting on April 22, 2024. (YouTube)
Ottawa Tourism said that its focus for the trip is to highlight Ottawa’s strength as a destination to business and leisure travellers.
“This year’s mission to the U.K., Ottawa’s top overseas market, will last 4 days and 3 nights and aims to provide opportunities for our delegation to join forces and meet with new and existing contacts to encourage business in our destination, from meetings and conventions to major events, tour operators, and beyond,” Ottawa Tourism said.
Ottawa Tourism tells CTV News Ottawa it invited Sutcliffe on the trip, and is paying for his travel and accommodation expenses. Sutcliffe said his expenses related to running the London Marathon would be covered out of his own pocket.
–With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle and William Eltherington
