Canada and France have a shared language, history, and values. There are strong ties between our populations and our economies. And today, we had the opportunity to work together on a number of issues that are priorities for our two countries, like fighting climate change, creating good jobs for the middle class, and security. 

On climate change, a few minutes ago, our two countries signed the renewal of the Canada-France Partnership on Climate and Environment. The goal of this partnership is to strengthen our cooperation on things like ambitious carbon neutrality targets, clean technology, biodiversity loss, plastic pollution, and much, much more. Canada also welcomes France as the most recent partner to join the Global Carbon Pricing Challenge. Carbon pricing is one of the most effective and efficient ways to reduce emissions and, by working together, we can encourage more countries to adopt this proven approach.

One of the effects of climate change is that forest fires are becoming increasingly frequent and increasingly devastating. With France, we have just signed an agreement to better collaborate when it comes to dealing with forest fires. France will also acquire two air tankers built here in Canada. Last year, there were French firefighters who came to support us. We are very appreciative of your help; thank you for being there for us. And yesterday, here in Canada, we announced that we are doubling the tax credits for volunteer firefighters. We will also be investing to help First Nations protect their communities when facing natural disasters. 

Another partnership we’re renewing is the agreement between the Business Development Bank of Canada and the French Investment Bank Bpifrance. Through this partnership, we will keep supporting SMEs and entrepreneurs by helping them access new markets, investors, and opportunities.

During our meeting, Prime Minister Attal and I both reaffirmed the importance of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. In 2023, trade between our two countries was almost $13 billion. The trade agreement with the European Union is a big reason why Canada’s investments in France and France’s investments in Canada have reached record levels. We will continue working to create good jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. 

This morning, Prime Minister Attal and I also talked about what’s going on in the world right now. Our two countries are both steadfast in our support of Ukraine. We discussed the ongoing humanitarian, security, and political crises in Haiti. For Gaza, we stressed the importance of ensuring safe and unimpeded access to life-saving humanitarian aid for civilians, and we’ll continue to call for the immediate release of all remaining hostages by Hamas.

As NATO allies, Canada and France will always be there to defend our shared values: freedom, democracy, the rule of law. 

Gabriel, thank you so much for being here, it’s a pleasure to welcome you. Canada will always be able to… France will always be able to count on Canada as a partner, as an ally, and especially as a friend.