 "Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada. Source: Reuters")
Canada is hosting foreign ministers of leading Western democracies in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie starting Thursday (March 13). Leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the EU, are gathering at a time when tensions between American allies and President Donald Trump’s administration are at a peak over tariffs and security.
Washington’s partners are prioritising a debriefing on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s talks with Kyiv, which took place on Tuesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During the discussions, Ukraine expressed readiness to support a 30-day ceasefire deal, a key topic in ongoing diplomatic efforts.
Apart from Ukraine, issues like Hamas, Haiti and Venezuela were also expected to be brought up. At least officially, G7 nations don’t plan to talk about Trump’s trade war or sovereignty threats.
But host Mélanie Joly, the foreign minister of Canada, has different plans. Warning EU and Western allies, she said Wednesday that “Canada is the canary in the coal mine.”
On Thursday, she met with Marco Rubio in an effort to apply “maximum pressure” over the protection of Canada’s sovereignty and way of living. “We have done nothing to justify Trump’s attacks on our country, on our economy and our identity,” Joly said. “Canada is your best friend, best neighbour and best ally.”
On Wednesday, Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminium, adding to a series of ongoing tariff measures.
In response, Mélanie Joly delivered a blistering speech in Ottawa, accusing Trump of using tariffs as a pretext for economic dominance over Canada. Canada has retaliated by introducing counter-tariffs on $20 billion worth of U.S. imports in an escalating trade dispute.
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More Shorts“The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trump’s talks of annexing our country through economic coercion,” Joly said. “He called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric. Well, Canadians have made it very clear that we will not back down, and we will not give in to this coercion.”
Even for the incoming prime minister, Mark Carney, tensions with the US over trade remain a top concern.
Carney has criticised Trump’s trade policies, calling them an “economic and sovereign crisis”. He has pledged to resist any US efforts to expand its influence over Canada and Greenland.
Mélanie Joly attempts to rally other G7 partners to corner US
The Canadian minister then revealed what will be her priorities to tackle the Trump challenge.
Joly stated that during the G7 meetings, she aims to strengthen defence cooperation with Europe, including joint military exercises and weapons procurement.
Joly understands that Europe also stands at the receiving end, just like her own nation.
The G7 meeting started Thursday just minutes after Trump threatened to impose 200 per cent tariffs on European wine and other alcohol.
Earlier this week, Canada and the European Union (EU) slapped retaliatory tariffs after the US imposed 25 per cent duties on global aluminium and steel imports.
Canada’s tariffs, covering $30 billion worth of US goods, take effect today.
The EU’s tariffs, covering $28 billion, will roll out in two phases by April 13.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc remains open to talks for “better solutions” instead of more tariffs.
As Canada faces a tremendous Trump threat, Joly now seems to be relying on Ottawa’s alliances with European partners to ease the pain. Using the G7 platform, she is looking to rally nations disgruntled with Trump’s jingoistic policies for a collective pushback.