Stephen Harper to serve as moderator at Calgary’s BB Dinner honouring Conrad Black & Barbara Amiel

By Irena Karshenbaum

(AJNews) – February marked the twentieth anniversary of the election of Stephen Harper as prime minister of Canada and the milestone resulted in the former federal leader once again being in the spotlight.

February 3rd saw the unveiling of the official portrait, in Ottawa, of the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, followed by a gala dinner hosted in his honour the next day in the nation’s capital. His alma mater, the University of Calgary, featured him on a cover story of Alumni News in their February 10th online edition, which also announced the launch of the Harper Scholarships in economics, the area of study he credits in the article for giving him a “remarkable career,” and Canadians being the beneficiaries of an unprecedented prosperity as a result of the fiscal policies he implemented.

While serving as prime minister, Harper even found time to write a book, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey.

Maintaining a busy schedule still, Harper who was born in Toronto and served as the country’s prime minister from 2006 to 2015 representing Calgary electoral districts, has accepted an invitation to act as special guest moderator at the 73rd Annual B’nai Brith Calgary Dinner, having already been honoured at the 66th Annual B’nai Brith Calgary Dinner in 2017, which was a sold-out event.

This year’s gala will be held on Thursday, April 23rd, and will honour both Conrad Black and his wife, Barbara Amiel, as the couple is known to be inseparable.

A scion of a prominent family with roots in Winnipeg, Black was born in Montreal and converted to Catholicism in his forties. He founded The National Post in 1998 as a challenge to The Globe and Mail, at the time the only other national newspaper in Canada. He remains its frequent contributor and often writes columns shedding light on anti-Semitic and anti-Israel biases in society.

Black first began acquiring newspapers while still a student in university eventually buying The Jerusalem Post in 1989. By the last decade of the 20th century, his companies controlled over 400 news publications across North America. Among his many accomplishments, Black was co-host of The Zoomer, a television talk show, which ran weekly for two years starting in 2013, where he interviewed Donald J. Trump, Justin Trudeau and Boris Johnson, all of whom went on to become leaders of their respective countries.

Amiel, born into a Jewish family in Watford, a town north of London, England, is the author of five books, served as a columnist for numerous top-tier news publications in Britain and Canada, including Maclean’s Magazine, and is know for being a fierce supporter of Israel. In 2001, she famously exposed the antisemitism of then French Ambassador to the United Kingdom who called Israel, “that shitty little country,” at an event she hosted.

The conversation between Harper, Black and Amiel — towering figures in politics, business and journalism — promises to make Calgary’s oldest fundraising dinner a fascinating event.

The dinner is B’nai Brith Calgary’s largest fundraiser and its proceeds will go towards funding programs and services in the Jewish and broader Calgary community. Among its many traditions, since 1993, B’nai Brith Calgary has bestowed the Ben Docktor Award of Excellence on a worthy individual who has contributed to the growth and development of the city’s Jewish and broader community.

This year’s recipient, Bill Lister, agrees that it is an exciting line-up of honourees, which will also welcome Jason Kenney, former Premier of Alberta and the 2016 B’nai Brith Calgary Dinner co-honouree, and the city’s new mayor, Jeromy Farkas.

Lister has a long history with B’nai Brith Calgary going back to when he was a teenager and played hockey with his father and uncle on the B’nai Brith Men’s Hockey League. He explains that he got involved because it brought Jewish youth together from all over western Canada.

That early experience led Lister to become a supporter of B’nai Brith Calgary by being a “large” ticket seller for the dinners and by, as he explains, “Bringing awareness to the general community of the organization’s attributes and charitable causes.”

Born in Calgary, Lister describes himself as, “A true devoted Calgarian,” and adds that his mother, Rose Lister who lived to be 100-years-old, was also born in Calgary. His father, Jack, originally from Winnipeg, met his mother in Calgary while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Both sets of Lister’s grandparents arrived in Canada from Eastern Europe before the First World War.

Lister had a one-year stint at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, then returned to Canada where he completed degrees in business and law before he “stole my future wife (Lily Burstyn of Edmonton) from another boyfriend,” and married her 1980. The couple has two children and two grandchildren.

Appointed a Governor of Tel Aviv University in 2024, Israel’s largest university, Lister has served many other Israeli-based charitable organizations as well as being an innovator and co-founder of The Westman School of Real Estate in the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.

A fellow B’nai Brith Men’s Hockey League alumni, Stacy Shaikin, who in 2025 stepped into the role of Calgary Lodge president, commented about “all the enthusiasm” he is hearing about the dinner. He added, “I am looking forward to meeting our guest speaker Conrad Black and his wife, Barbara Amiel, and of course, Stephen Harper. I couldn’t be happier honouring Bill Lister.”

At press time, the 73rd Annual B’nai Brith Calgary Dinner, to be held Thursday, April 23, 2026, is SOLD OUT. To add your name to the waitlist or make a donationplease email the B’nai Brith Calgary office at bbcalgary@telus.net.

Irena Karshenbaum is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter