Former President Barack Obama is speaking in Toronto today, and the event has had a few notable guests, including Toronto's own Jessie Reyez. 

Nice way to tee up @BarackObama! Great performance by @Jessiereyez at the @economicclubca pic.twitter.com/22QzBvSb6x

— Melicent Lavers (@MelicentLavers) January 23, 2020

The Economic Club of Canada and the Global Institute for Conscious Economics hosted the event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where crowds started filling in earlier this morning. 

“We do not hear enough stories of what was denied to boys & men. What was buried or lost as a consequence of conditioning and all the expectations our society puts on them.” - Sophie Trudeau

This 🙌🏿🙌🏾🙌🏾@economicclubca @PwC @monaghiami @DianeKazarian #createfate #wakeup pic.twitter.com/6At6mkdLOK

— Emotions Are Data. Use it wisely... (@KarlynPercil) January 23, 2020

Before Obama took to the stage, hip hop singer Jessie Reyez performed a few songs, and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau shared some remarks as well.

The event entitled "Future Skills: A Conversation with President Barack Obama" was set to focus on new economic dialogue that promotes equality and inclusion.

. @BarackObama on the importance of creating a culture of respect and collaboration in organizations at @economicclubca #stayup #createfate pic.twitter.com/mMxvdd8Wtn

— Debora Jesus (@dbrjesus) January 23, 2020

The idea of the event was to get as many young voices in the room as possible, so every ticket purchased provided an opportunity for a young leader under 30 to attend. 

Obama sat down with CEO of The Economic Club of Canada and Co- Founder of The Global Institute for Conscious Economics, Rhiannon Rosalind for the keynote conversation.

Obama’s favourite thing about #Canada: We’re so reasonable! 🇨🇦

“Although there are political divisions in Canada, this is still a society where you can have a reasoned argument and facts still matter — this is something you should preserve.” — @BarackObama #WakeUp pic.twitter.com/lnX4yqzSfm

— Daniel Francavilla ✪ (@Francavilla) January 23, 2020

One Twitter user wrote that when asked his favourite part about Canada, Obama responded by saying how reasonable Canadians are.

Mannn @BARACKOBAMA is dropping GEMS @ #WakeUp
- best/effective team
- best data
- not hide the obama#711theory #Obama #6ix #Orisha pic.twitter.com/rn2iUjoXzF

— 7️⃣1️⃣1️⃣ ♅ NEW 🔥🎵 IN FEB🦉🇿🇲🇿🇦🇿🇼🧬🔮🚀🛸 (@EveryNine) January 23, 2020

People in attendance were estimating that the event hosted a few thousand people today, and it was completly sold out.