Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands before meeting on Parliament Hill, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

By Canadian Press

Trudeau, French president Macron meet in Ottawa as trade deal challenges continue

Sep 26, 2024 | 12:31 PM

French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have signed a statement aimed at collaborating more on issues ranging from Ukraine to foreign interference.

The joint statement comes as Macron makes a brief visit to Ottawa and Montreal.

Macron arrived last night from New York and had an informal dinner at Trudeau’s home at Rideau Cottage.

The two summarized the meeting this morning in Trudeau’s office, saying they discussed “the extremely difficult situation in Lebanon” and a joint call for a three-week ceasefire that has been supported by some Arab countries.

After the formal meeting on Parliament Hill, Macron flew to Montreal, where he is scheduled to meet Quebec Premier François Legault and discuss artificial intelligence.

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The visit follows a March vote by France’s senate to reject the European Union’s trade deal with Canada, against Macron’s wishes.

It comes as both leaders face a rise in populist movements and discontent that has challenged each country’s policies on climate change and immigration.

“In these troubled times, we have an agenda that is extremely aligned,” Macron said in French during his visit on the Hill, thanking Trudeau for “the hospitality and especially the shared vision.”

The two leaders discussed a slew of issues ranging from the French language and ocean protection to the crisis in Haiti and defence.

For two years, Trudeau has been calling on countries like France to sanction some of Haiti’s political and economic elites, whom Canada and the U.S. have barred from financial transactions on the basis of support for gangs that are terrorizing the country.

Macron praised “the key role that Canada is playing” in Haiti, which has involved training police officers and helping fund an international mission aimed at clearing out the gangs. “We will be at your side even more,” Macron promised Thursday morning.

The new statement on a “stronger defence and security partnership” builds on work dating back to the D-Day landings 80 years ago, and pledges to “fight against foreign interference and information manipulation.”

It pledges to “strengthen our co-operation in the area of military equipment support to Ukraine and training” and stick with ongoing work to bring home children abducted by Russia.

“Canada and France will support Ukraine for as long as it takes to thwart Russia’s war of aggression,” reads the statement, which unlike some previous Canadian statements does not mention outright victory for Ukraine.

In the Indo-Pacific, both countries will beef up “strategic and military analysis” and “study opportunities” for joint patrol missions, such as possibly integrating Canadian support in the deployment of a French aircraft carrier.

The two countries will also “increase communication” to better respond to “foreign interference operations and information manipulation.”

Macron and Trudeau were in New York earlier this week for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, and they will meet again next week, this time in France, for the Francophonie summit.

Macron last visited Canada in 2018 for a meeting of the G7 leaders, but a French president hasn’t made an official, standalone visit to Canada in a decade.