By John Irish
The two leaders’ visit to the territory, the first by a French president since 2014 and the first by a Canadian prime minister, followed just weeks after US President Donald Trump posted an image showing the islands, as well as all of Canada and other countries in North America, covered by the US flag.
“Our societies are being shaken by new storms: the upheavals, caused by climate change, the erosion of democratic norms, and new threats to our sovereignty,” Carney said in a statement alongside Macron. “The time has come to strengthen our ties.”
Paris hopes Canada will broaden its exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe rather than primarily to Asia. “Canadian liquefied natural gas projects can help.
Macron, whose government is facing increased pressure at home over rising fuel prices, said the talks had opened the door for bilateral discussions aimed at sealing concrete deals. They are important for Europe,” Macron said. The two leaders also discussed Canada’s relationship with the EU after the bloc opened the door to Ottawa becoming its first associate member, something Macron said France supported.
“We both believe in democracy, the rule of law, respect for international law, respect for free and fair trade, science as the basis for our decisions, and the strategic autonomy that we defend,” he said. Diplomats said the visit by Macron, who was en route to the annual United Nations General Assembly of world leaders, had a symbolic weight following Trump’s social media post. Responding to questions on Trump’s post, Macron dismissed any notion that the territories could not be French and said he did not need to reaffirm that point every day just because “people have strange ideas or say strange things.”
