OTTAWA: French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau laid out their shared vision on Thursday, from working towards “open and decarbonised” economies and promoting the French language to calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon. The French president’s visit, his second since coming to power, was also an opportunity for the two leaders to put aside their respective domestic political challenges. “France and Canada share a beautiful common language and shared values,” Trudeau said, adding that it is important to spread those values and have “a positive impact in these times of great challenge.” “We have an extremely aligned agenda. We believe in open economies, we believe in decarbonizing our economies,” Macron said. The two countries also announced that they would strengthen their defense partnership and support for Ukraine. The meeting between the prime minister, 52, and his guest, 46, who both epitomized a new generation of young, optimistic leaders, comes at a time when both are now experiencing political headwinds. At the G7 summit in Italy in 2017, shortly after Macron’s election, their friendship – dubbed a diplomatic “bromance” – made global headlines. But seven years later, Macron is in a weakened position, having lost a parliamentary election he called, forcing him to share power with a right-wing prime minister. Abandoned by his main left-wing ally and unpopular after nine years in office, Trudeau survived a no-confidence vote on Wednesday, hours before Macron landed. At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Macron and Trudeau called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. “Israel must stop its strikes and Hezbollah must stop retaliation,” the French president said, adding that he did not want Lebanon to become “the new Gaza.” It would be a “mistake” if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the ceasefire and had to take “responsibility for regional escalation,” he added. “We need to reach a ceasefire immediately,” Trudeau added, pointing to “devastating” images from Lebanon. Earlier in the day, Macron discussed with stakeholders the revival of the French language and culture in Canada – where it is in decline. French must not only “resist” but “we can continue to inoculate it to the younger generations,” he told francophones from the English-speaking provinces. Canada is a bilingual country, but Quebec is the only province with a French-speaking majority. In Montreal, the French president also met with major Canadian players in artificial intelligence, a technology of great interest to Paris, months ahead of an AI summit in France in February. Before heading home, the French president met in Montreal with the premier of Quebec, which has a French community of nearly 200,000.
