Hello everyone, first of all, I really want to give special thanks to President Macron for his warm welcome. From the beginning, we’ve always gotten along very well. Emmanuel, your friendship and our partnership, both bilaterally and in the world, is extremely dear to me. Thank you for all you do and all we do together. We are, we share an ambitious vision of the France-Canada relationship, thanks to which we’ll be able to help build a better world together. We are both determined to increase our collaboration in order to create well-paid jobs for the middle class, reduce the gaps between rich and poor and stimulate economic growth that benefits as many people as possible. So it’s in that spirit of friendship that we have just concluded a productive meeting during which we talked about the environment, the economy, culture and artificial intelligence, among other things. The President and I first of all agreed to step up our collaboration in the fight against climate change. Since COP 21, our government is proud to have adopted numerous measures to reduce Canada’s carbon footprint and achieve the ambitious targets set by the Paris Agreement. France and Canada have committed today to redouble our efforts and increase our cooperation in the context of the Canada-France climate and environment partnership. This initiative will encourage and accelerate achievement of the Paris Agreement targets through concrete measures aimed at making this agreement-in-principle a reality. We are committing to working together within the G7 and the G20 as well as with the business community to promote sustainable development issues in international forums. We intend to mobilize other actors throughout the world, including the OECD, to promote carbon pricing, in addition to encouraging energy efficiency and reducing emissions from the international aviation, marine and surface transportation sectors.

We’re also working with developing countries and island nations to mitigate the risks of a changing climate, and help set up natural disaster early warning systems.  Just a few days ago I met with Caribbean leaders who reminded me of the difficult choice they face in trying to grow their economy while protecting the environment.  The France Canada climate partnership will make us their allies.

The leadership that we must continue to have on the environment is important for Canada, important for France and important for the world. We are going to continue working more ambitiously to demonstrate that our values, our aspirations and most especially our actions are aligned with the interests of the planet and generations to come. We also took advantage of this meeting to discuss a renewed economic partnership. The Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement came into force provisionally a few months ago, and we can already see benefits flowing to the middle class and those working hard to join it. In 2017, Canada’s imports from France climbed four percent from the previous year. Canadian investments in France increased 23 percent. We are already seeing, only four or five months into CETA coming into force last year, we’re already seeing results, and we’re continuing to see them every week throughout France, throughout Canada, all across Europe. This is a modern agreement that reflects a progressive trade agenda which provides for, among other things, workers’ rights, environmental protection, responsible investment, food security, consumer protection and management of natural resources. So CETA represents the future of our strengthened economic partnership. A partnership founded on common values and objectives, united in our ambition to pursue and strengthen our already strong cultural connections. The French Minister of Culture and the Minister of Canadian Heritage today signed a joint declaration on cultural diversity and digital space. Through that initiative, our respective governments seek to help promote and disseminate cultural content in digital space and increase their cooperation in UNESCO. The declaration will also promote direct and open dialogue between governments, the private sector and civil society around protecting and promoting cultural diversity in the digital era. Finally, the President and I share a keen interest in artificial intelligence. This new technology offers numerous opportunities for our businesses and our fellow citizens, but we still need to put in place a robust ethical framework and ensure that the labour market and workers especially are able to adapt to this new reality. So over the next few years, France and Canada intend to develop a joint initiative in that area to initiate and lead this important conversation. Once again, I want to thank Emmanuel sincerely for his warm welcome, his continuing partnership and especially his friendship. I am so happy about the prospect of working together in all areas and at all levels, as when he visits Canada at…. Just before the G7, at the G7, in Charlevoix, Quebec, and of course, that will continue the following year when France will preside over the G7. We have a lot to accomplish in terms of our engagement in the world to promote our values and priorities, and we’ll be doing that as friends, together.

Thank you very much!