Confronted with a mercurial U.S. president, manifold meetings, and even the prospect of unwelcome grizzly bears, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney presided over a relatively harmonious G7 summit this week in Kananaskis, Alberta, featuring delegations and media from around the world.
Set in the Rockies, the three-day event was Carney’s first test of summitry and an opportunity for Canada to present itself to the world, in the prime minister’s words, as a “bold, ambitious, and innovative country.”
Unlike past years, G7 leaders did not endorse a final joint communique, opting to release shorter, specific statements on critical minerals, artificial intelligence, transnational repression, and more.
Meeting with Modi
This week was Carney’s first time holding formal, face-to-face meetings with leaders from India, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.
His meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led to a diplomatic breakthrough, with both sides agreeing to reinstate high commissioners. An Indian readout of the meeting said the leaders also discussed restarting stalled trade talks.
Carney said the meeting was “foundational... a necessary first step.” He said they agreed to “rebuild the relationship based on mutual respect, sovereignty, and trust.” Modi said the meeting was “excellent.”
Indian media suggested veteran diplomat Dinesh Patnaik would be tapped as India’s new high commissioner to Canada.
Diplomatic speed-dating
Carney’s Sunday meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese featured talk of trade and defence, including co-operation on projects such as Canada’s incoming over-the-horizon radar, a C$6-billion project announcedwith Canberra in March to strengthen Canada’s “domain awareness” in the North.
Albanese noted in a press conference that “Canada is the eighth-largest investor in Australia ... and there is potential, I believe, for that to grow.” His Kananaskis trip marked the first visit of an Australian prime minister to Canada since 2014.
Meanwhile, in a 20-minute meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, Carney emphasized co-operation on trade, defence, critical minerals, and batteries. Ishiba pushed for the signing, “at an early date,” of the Canada-Japan Security of Information Agreement, which would allow Ottawa and Tokyo to more easily share classified information. Days before the meeting, Mitsubishi, in a first for a Japanese company, announced that it would start importing Canadian liquefied natural gas as soon as July.
Carney also met with newly elected South Korean president Lee Jae-myung. Lee, in his first presidential trip abroad, proposed deepening bilateral defence and security ties, while Carney noted the “immense potential” of the relationship.
Lee said, “now is the time for South Korea to pay back what it owes to the world, including Canada,” according to the Korea Herald.
Trump proves most vocal, volatile guest
U.S. President Donald Trump, who left the G7 summit early due to “what's going in the Middle East," seemed to play hardball with most of the leaders in attendance, delaying a tariff deal with Ishiba, forgoing any meeting with Modi, Lee, or Albanese, and, on his way out, publicly criticizing French President Emmanuel Macron. During a press conference with Carney, Trump also entertained the possibility of allowing China to join the G7.
Australia, for one, seems to have danced out of Trump’s crosshairs. The Pentagon recently launched a review of the trilateral AUKUS partnership, a nuclear submarine-focused security and defence pact between Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.
Albanese played down any concerns about the pact's future, saying in Kananaskis that he was "confident all three nations will continue to provide support for it.”
Trump seemed to agree with a similar statement from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who also scored a rare summit win with Trump by formally signing a U.K.-U.S. trade deal.
