OTTAWA –
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will accompany German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on a brief visit to Canada later this month that will include stops in Montréal, Toronto and Stephenville in western Newfoundland, his office announced Saturday. .
Details of the visit were outlined in a statement shared by the PMO, which said the August 21-23 visit begins in Montreal, where meetings with German and Canadian business leaders will take place. . A tour is also scheduled at a local artificial intelligence institute.
Trudeau and his government have faced criticism over its decision earlier this year to grant Siemens Canada a sanctions-free license for Russia allowing it to return a turbine for use in the pipeline. supplies natural gas to Germany.
The turbine was being repaired at a Siemens facility in Montreal and the government defended the move as necessary to secure gas supplies to Europe.
The statement announcing Scholz’s visit noted that the two leaders’ visit to Montreal will advance common priorities between Canada and Germany “including our unwavering support for Ukraine, the defense of peace, peace and security in Europe and around the world, while addressing the broader global effects of Russia’s illegal and illegitimate invasion.
“The leaders will also continue to work together on ways the two countries can work together to protect energy security and accelerate the global transition to clean energy, including access to energy.” safe with vital resources such as clean hydrogen and vital minerals,” the statement read.
The two leaders will then travel to Toronto, where Trudeau will participate in a virtual summit on Russia’s annexation of Crimea, followed by an appearance at the Canada-Germany Business Forum.
The trip will end with a stop in Stephenville, NL, where Trudeau and Scholz will attend a hydrogen trade show. The statement noted that the two countries also intend to “officially deepen” their shared goal of promoting a clean economy, but gave no other details.
“Germany and Canada are close friends on the world stage. We are bound together by our shared commitments to democracy, peace and security, including our support for Ukraine, a future future. a clean, healthy future and an economy that works for everyone,” Trudeau said in the statement.
The statement said the two would also talk about the automotive sector and climate change.
The prime minister and prime minister last met in June at the G7 Summit in Germany.
While the government’s initial explanation for returning the turbines to Russian energy giant Gazprom was about gas supplies, a newly released document by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly shows that Employment and global inflation are also factors to consider.
The government has filed a “memorandum of action” and the license itself in the Federal Court in response to a legal challenge to the turbine decision submitted by the Ukraine World Congress.
The memo notes that the dedicated Montreal facility that works on the turbines employs more than 400 “skilled” employees and is the only facility in the world certified to maintain equipment.
It also warned that failure to return the turbines could ultimately undermine support for Western allies’ strong stance towards Russia. Without the turbine, they said, Russia could blame Western sanctions for limiting the Nord pipeline’s ability to operate, and that would likely add to world energy prices and inflation. Global.
This report by the Canadian Press was first published on August 13, 2022.
