Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, during his visit to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, France.
Prime Minister Carney and President Macron reaffirmed the close ties between Canada and France, and the importance of their partnership in an increasingly dangerous and divided world. They underscored their shared commitment to further strengthening security, resilience, and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic.
The leaders discussed the opportunities associated with an alliance for the future between Canada and the European Union (EU) to strengthen collective resilience – an alliance anchored in common values and built on complementary strategic capabilities to enhance sovereignty and prosperity.
The Prime Minister and the President directed their space agencies, defence ministries, and industries to develop and share common space infrastructure, such as launch systems and ground reception and control infrastructure. They also highlighted the significant potential for collaboration among the industries of Canada, France, and the EU.
The leaders welcomed a new strategic partnership launched by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie en France (CCI France), aimed at deepening business ties, strengthening bilateral economic cooperation, and diversifying trade between Canada and France.
The Prime Minister and the President also agreed to deepen collaboration in other strategic sectors, including defence, aerospace, and wildfire management.
The leaders discussed major geopolitical issues, including the war in Ukraine, European and transatlantic security, the Middle East, and the Arctic. They also addressed the impact of international conflicts on energy supply and agreed to strengthen cooperation on energy security, as Canada accelerates its efforts to unlock its full potential as a superpower in clean and conventional energy.
Building on the discussions held at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Évian, France, the Prime Minister and the President emphasised that leading nations in artificial intelligence, of which Canada and France are two, must collaborate. The Prime Minister underscored Canada’s role as a reliable partner in the responsible development of emerging technologies.
As part of this first official visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Prime Minister Carney and President Macron emphasised the importance of the historical, people-to-people, cultural, and economic ties that bind the archipelago and Atlantic Canada. They also applauded the long-standing cooperation between local communities, and they tasked the Regional Joint Cooperation Commission with expanding its work in four priority areas: economic integration and trade diversification, energy transition and decarbonisation, climate resilience and early warning systems, and cross-border security.
The leaders then took part in a ceremony marking Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon’s rallying to Free France in 1941, paying tribute to those who defended freedom, democracy, and the shared values that continue to unite Canada and France. They reaffirmed the sovereignty of Canada and of this North American French territory, which makes France Canada’s neighbour and serves as a strategic link between Canada and Europe.
Prime Minister Carney and President Macron agreed to remain in close contact and to continue their discussions in New York City in the coming days, during the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Noah Note: Space and Sovereign Launch get another nod here. Pf course things are swemingly fairly early in this front as compared to others, but from our perspective here, it is by far the most substantial node. Of course, the sharing of infrastructure makes deeper sense now since MDAs acquisition attempt on France's CLS, which sets MDA to be a major, strategic-level partner in the French space ecosystem.
Ahould note that isn't closed yet, but with MDAs rapid explosion of offered capabilities, from Chrous, Midnight, Space Observation, and now a growing list (pushed on by the separate Blue Canyon Acquisition) of avialble buses, the company has a lot to offer allies under its banner.
So sharing that now unfiied infrastructure that could be in place across Canada and France, and the capacity that brings, makes sense given MDA is quickly growing as our strategic partner of choice when it comes to Space. Getting things worked out ahead of time is never a fault in any regards, can't hare on it.
Launch is the more curious one. Obviously more capacity is recognized as needed, and securing space will always be of national interest in an era where we expect for launch sites to not only be constrained, but potentially targetted by adverserial action. Redundency, in this case, is a matter of survival, and there is good reason to have launch sites spread out globally.
Could someone like MLS be a launch site for Maia in the future? Maybe, though Medium-Launch is in the plans we also need to recognize it is not the current priority for many folks. There certainly is the opportunity, and I know several folks will scream it out the gate, but I would be hesitant to believe this is a tease for that.
No matter what, Canada and France are becoming deeply interlocked on space whether we like it or not. We don't really have that choice, so better to look at avenues of cooperation now than later. The rest of the Defence stuff here is rather generic in itself.