German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be greeted upon his arrival in the country on Sunday evening at Montreal-Trudeau airport by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
But just hours before arriving in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing fresh calls from Ukraine to revoke a permit to ship repaired turbines in Montreal to a Russian energy giant, representing a exemption from economic sanctions imposed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
Scholz, who took over from Angela Merkel last December, will begin a three-day visit to Canada, which includes stops in Toronto and Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador.
He will be accompanied by Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, responsible for Germany’s energy dossier.
Passing through the Magdalen Islands on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has accentuated the need to make an energy transition and to help Europe so that it is less dependent on Russia for energy.
Ukraine, however, criticized Trudeau and his government for deciding last month to accept a request from Germany to exempt Siemens Canada from Russia sanctions so it could return a turbine destined for the pipeline. Nord Stream 1 which supplies natural gas to Germany.
The turbine was being repaired at the Siemens facility in Montreal, the only place in the world capable of repairing and maintaining the equipment. The turbine was delivered to Germany and was to be transported to Russia, but the Russian authorities have so far refused to accept it.
Russia has also reduced gas flow through the pipeline to 20% of capacity and recently announced it will completely shut down the line for three days at the end of the month, citing the need for unscheduled maintenance.
The permit from the federal authorities also allows Siemens to import, repair and return five other turbines used in Nord Stream 1, according to their maintenance schedule, until the end of 2024.
In an interview, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada, Yulia Kovaliv, again asked Siemens to revoke this license.
She said it is clear that Russia will not accept the turbine that Siemens delivered to Germany, and accused Russia of using the gas supply as a means to terrorize Europe.
“Our position is very clear: we believe this exemption should be rescinded immediately,” she said.
Orest Zakydalsky of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress said the chancellor’s visit “will be an opportunity for them to reverse the policy and cancel the permit.”
The ministers, however, defended this decision as necessary to secure gas supplies for Germany. They argue the Kremlin may have used Canada’s refusal to return the turbine to blame international sanctions for power shortages in Europe, which could undermine public support for Ukraine.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in an interview that Canada will continue to “evaluate” its decision to allow the turbine to return to Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy giant. which operates Nord Stream 1.
“It was obviously a tough decision and we made it on the basis that we believe not sending the turbine back would have given Putin an excuse,” he argued.
“This would have potentially had the effect of undermining the support that Ukraine enjoys from certain European populations. »
Mr Wilkinson believes that Russia’s game has now been exposed and there is growing pressure on Gazprom and the Russian government.
“We hope that the turbine will return to Gazprom and that it will eventually enter service,” he said.
He added that the government stands by its decision and believes it is too early to consider changing its exemption.
“We will have to see what will evolve over the next few months […] We will obviously continue to dialogue with our European partners and our German partners,” he said.
Scholz and Trudeau intend to discuss energy security and the transition to clean energy, “including through secure access to key resources like clean hydrogen and critical minerals,” according to the Prime Minister’s office. minister.
In Stephenville, leaders are expected to sign a pact that will set ambitious timelines and targets for the export of hydrogen to Germany, though some experts warn the deal will hurt Canada’s climate commitments and is not a solution to the energy crisis in Europe.
A four-partner consortium called World Energy GH2 plans to build a zero-emissions plant in the Newfoundland community that will use wind power to produce hydrogen and ammonia for export.
If approved, the project will be the first of its kind in Canada.
The consortium said the first phase of the proposal calls for building up to 164 onshore wind turbines to power a hydrogen production facility at a deep-water port. Long-term plans call for tripling the size of the project.