Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans for deeper cooperation in defence, energy and business on Sunday, setting out a broader partnership between the two countries as relations with the United States come under strain.
Meeting in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, a small French territory off Canada’s Atlantic coast that is home to about 5,800 people, the leaders discussed cooperation across aerospace, energy, critical minerals and advanced technologies. The agenda included quantum computing, satellites and supercomputing, as well as telecommunications, climate resilience and economic development.
The two governments also agreed that Carney and France’s space agencies and defence ministries would develop and share infrastructure. This would include launch systems and ground-based reception facilities. No timetable for the work, or details of any binding agreements, was announced.
Macron said the location reflected the historic closeness of France and Canada. He presented the meeting as part of a wider effort to strengthen the independence of both countries while building closer links across the Atlantic.
“We both believe that our countries are two great, independent nations who want to remain so,” Macron said. He added: “We both believe in democracy, the rule of law, respect for free and fair trade, the science on which our decisions are based, and the strategic autonomy that we defend.”
The energy element of the talks was particularly prominent. Macron said the leaders wanted to “secure more liquefied natural gas that can be shipped to Europe’s Atlantic coast”. He said France was seeking to secure oil and gas supplies as the Iran war disrupted global energy markets.
Macron described Canada as “a country with significant resources of critical minerals and rare earths” and “also a major oil and natural gas producer”. The brief announcement did not set out potential volumes, prices or terms for liquefied natural gas supplies.
For Canada, the initiative forms part of an effort to reduce dependence on the United States as an escalating trade dispute damages a relationship that has been deteriorating. France is also experiencing strained relations with the US. The meeting marked another step in Canada’s accelerating turn towards Europe.
Carney embraced the prospect of Canada becoming the European Union’s first associate member. The EU made the offer during his visit to Brussels before the meeting with Macron. The status remains subject to further negotiations, and neither side gave a timetable for any decision.
Carney had also addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday preceding the announcement. In Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, he said: “The time has come to tighten our links between Canada and France, between Canada and the European Union — links based on the values we share.”
Carney further proposed cooperation on artificial intelligence involving France, Canada, the United States and China. The leaders did not provide details on how such an arrangement might operate.
The announcements point to a wider strategic convergence. Europe is seeking more diverse energy supplies as the Iran war disrupts markets, while Canada is seeking partners beyond the US for trade, technology and security cooperation. The plans announced on Sunday leave the terms and implementation of that partnership to be settled.
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