Promotion of an “open and carbon-free” economy, defense of French and demand for a ceasefire in Lebanon: Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau insisted Thursday in Canada on their proximity and their common vision on numerous issues.
This visit by the French president, the second since he came to power, is also an opportunity for the two men to escape from their own difficulties in matters of domestic politics.
“France and Canada share a beautiful common language and values,” declared Justin Trudeau, deeming it important to share them in the world to have a “positive impact in these times of great challenges”. The two countries also announced that they were strengthening their defense partnership and their support for Ukraine.
“We have an extremely aligned agenda. We believe in open economies, we believe in the decarbonization of our economies,” added Emmanuel Macron, reaffirming his support for CETA, the free trade treaty between the EU and Canada, and evoking his “happiness” to be there.
Echoing a remark made shortly before during an exchange with French-speaking personalities wondering if France was “happy”.
The two men’s domestic political difficulties were not far behind. The Prime Minister and his presidential host, who both embodied a new generation of leaders, are today experiencing the same disappointments.
At the G7 summit in Italy, shortly after the election of Emmanuel Macron in May 2017, their displayed complicity caused a lot of ink to flow. A bromance (sibling romance), according to commentators at the time.
Seven years later, Emmanuel Macron lost the legislative elections that he himself had called and now shares power with a right-wing prime minister.
Justin Trudeau, abandoned by his main left-wing ally, is extremely weakened, unpopular and remains at the mercy of motions of censure, the last of which was tabled Thursday morning by conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Just like his French counterpart, Michel Barnier, at Matignon.
“New Gaza”
The two men insisted during a joint press conference on the situation in Lebanon calling for an immediate ceasefire. “Israel must stop its strikes and Hezbollah must abandon its logic of reprisals,” said the French president, who does not want to see Lebanon become “the new Gaza.”
It would be “a mistake” on the part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refuse the ceasefire and he would take “responsibility” for a regional escalation, added Emmanuel Macron in Montreal.
“We absolutely must achieve a ceasefire immediately,” added the Canadian Prime Minister, referring to “horrible images” and “women and children” trapped.
Previously, the two men had praised the Francophonie and the defenders of the language of Molière, a major issue in Canada where French is in decline.
“It is not simply necessary that French resist but that we can continue to inoculate it among the younger generations,” he said in front of French-speaking personalities from English-speaking provinces. Canada is a bilingual country but only Quebec is French-speaking.
In Montreal, the French president also came to meet major players in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), very present in Canada, which interests Paris, a few months before a summit on the subject in February in France .
An unmissable event, the French president must also meet at the end of the day with the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault.
The meeting will take place in Montreal, which has nearly 200,000 French people, and not in Quebec, which has caused some French-speakers to cringe, attached to the symbol of the Quebec capital.
They will perhaps have the opportunity to discuss the question of immigration, a subject which has taken a prominent place in Quebec in recent months.
“When we listen to the debates in France, people have the feeling that they are becoming a minority, that they are being pushed around by immigration, that we are coming to find them in their own language, and they find suddenly the passion for a language,” declared the French president in the morning.