The Japan Society and Bennett Jones co-hosted a networking cocktail reception in celebration to mark the conferral of the Order of the Rising Sun on former Canadian Ambassador Jonathan Fried at Bennett Jones Toronto Office on April 13, 2023.
Mr. Stephen Bowman, Vice Chair and Managing Partner of Bennett Jones & a founding member of the Japan Society provided an opening remark welcoming 50-business executives from Canada-Japan business community as well as other international dignitaries.
In Ambassador Fried’s keynote speech, he highlighted historical events starting from the first recorded Japanese person in Canada, Manzo Nagano and Canadian Ranald MacDonald, a Hudson’s Bay trader in Japan to the Japanese Emperor’s visit to Canada for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, all the way to modern days bilateral relations in business, politics, and grass-roots level an so on. Ambassador Fried also talked about our common values and common cause that we share between Canada and Japan. The Japan Society is very honoured to have such a supporter and promoter of the bilateral relations.
