Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly hosted her G7 counterparts last week for a three-day meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, where top diplomats managed to agree on a joint statement that was as noteworthy for its insertions as it was for its omissions.
The 1,600-word statement was a modest diplomatic accomplishment for Canada — the G7 chair for 2025 — and for Joly, who was keen to showcase G7 unity in the face of taunts and tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The missive condemned North Korea’s military assistance to Russia, called Beijing “a decisive enabler of Russia’s war” and supported Taiwan’s “meaningful participation” in select international organizations. The foreign ministers’ language on China and the Indo-Pacific was more forceful than in the sections on Ukraine and the Middle East.
The statement was significantly shorter than last year’s 13,855-word statement, and, at times, departed from — or omitted entirely — ‘boilerplate’ G7 language. Unlike past statements, this year, there was no mention of ‘ASEAN centrality,’ China’s reported human rights abuses in Xinjiang, or Hong Kong.
And unlike a 2024 statement, foreign ministers made no reference to Ukraine’s “internationally recognized borders,” but did support Ukraine in “defending its territorial integrity... freedom, sovereignty, and independence.”
Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday and invited him to attend the G7 leaders’ meeting in June.
On the margins of the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Canada and Japan announced the agreement in principle of the Japan-Canada Information Security Agreement, a significant step that will ease information-sharing between the two countries’ militaries.
Maritime security emerges as key theme
G7 ministers also issued a separate, more substantive declaration on maritime issues, indicating one of Canada’s G7 priorities.
The “G7 Foreign Ministers’ Declaration on Maritime Security and Prosperity” focused heavily on the Indo-Pacific, touching on freedom of navigation, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, undersea communications cables, and other issues, while labelling elements of China’s maritime behaviour as “illicit, provocative, coercive and dangerous.” Beijing objected to both statements.
Canada, with the world’s longest coastline, has a clear incentive to prioritize ‘maritime security and prosperity’ in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans.
Joly presses ahead
Carney and his new cabinet were sworn in in Ottawa as Joly finished up in Charlevoix.
Joly, who was named foreign minister in 2021 by Justin Trudeau, was one of only five cabinet ministers to retain their position (although many were shuffled), a list that includes defence minister Bill Blair and public safety minister David McGuinty. Dominic LeBlanc replaced Mary Ng as trade minister.
This week, Carney visited France and the U.K., two G7 allies, in his first (and possibly only) trip abroad in advance of a rumoured election call on Sunday. Carney also visited Iqaluit, Nunavut, and announced a C$6-billion project with Australia to build an early-warning radar system in the Arctic.
