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Lisa Wright Business Reporter
It's not every day that Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Elton John breeze into Toronto in the dead of winter, or that you're serenaded by Norah Jones over a dinner of Arctic char, Lac Brome duck and organic beef tenderloin, followed by a hilarious stand-up routine by funny man Robin Williams.
And all in the name of the grubby mining game.
The wine was flowing while a convoy of stretch limos arrived at the Harbour Castle Westin Saturday night as Hollywood's A-list and a select crowd of 1,200 mining industry types and Bay St. bigwigs attended a splashy fundraising gala at the invitation of former U.S. president Bill Clinton and his pal, Vancouver mining mogul Frank Giustra.
The duo is raising big bucks for the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative, whose mission is to provide foreign aid to developing countries, particularly in Latin America, affected by mining.
"I don't know the mining business so I did my own research and rented Coal Miner's Daughter," quipped Canadian comedian Eugene Levy, the evening's emcee.
"There's a lot of money in this room. I'm thinking of getting into the mining business," hip hop recording artist Wyclef Jean told the audience after singing "Wyclef for President."
Amazingly the raft of entertainers donated their time for the schmooze fest, which also featured Elton John singing "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me," and Colombian pop star Shakira shaking her assets to her hit "Hips Don't Lie" as the business crowd cheered and waved their hands in the air to the music.
At one point, the navel-baring Latina songstress shared the stage with Clinton as he announced $5 million in aid toward impoverished regions of her country.
The former president also shook hands with Greg Wilkins, chief executive of Toronto miner Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. vice president Carlos Santa Cruz as he announced joint spending of $6 million toward child nutrition programs in Peru, where both gold giants have operations.
Burton Cummings added some Canadian content to the proceedings, singing the old Guess Who pop anthems "Undun" and "Share the Land" while Robin Williams poked fun at U.S. President George Bush and referred fondly to Canada as "the apartment over a crazy tenant."
Among those in attendance were Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, MP Belinda Stronach, former Newfoundland premier Brian Tobin, David Letterman's Canadian musical sidekick Paul Shaffer and Argos QB Damon Allen. Actor Mark Wahlberg was seen chilling at the bar during the cocktail reception before dinner with retired Toronto Maple Leaf tough guy Tie Domi.
Cruise and scientologist pal Travolta, who brought wife Kelly Preston, implored the audience to dig deep into their hearts and wallets for the Clinton Giustra init
Gold PLUMMETED, the day after this meeting, and KEPT plummeting. Toronto is INDIAN for the meeting place. Hmmm. G20 is there today.