NewsDarina Boykova is a 1L at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (CA).
Last week, after a six-hour drive, I arrived in Charlevoix, Quebec, where G7 Foreign Ministers met from March 12 to 14. Hosted by Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly, the meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of the UK, Germany, the US, Italy, Japan and the European Union (EU).
When I arrived at the hotel where the meeting took place, I was promptly directed to the media centre, where my belongings were searched by a swarm of police officers and sniffed by a military dog.
The media was divided into groups – some of us were issued standard media badges and had general access to the event. Some members of the media were given additional access to cover events that were inaccessible to the rest of us. We were provided a general schedule of the meeting, with the group photo, Joly’s opening remarks, and press conference being listed. All other interviews with the press by ministers were happening spontaneously and were only known ahead of time by a limited number of members of the press. Maintaining communication with other members of the press, especially those associated with the diplomatic groups, to stay informed of upcoming interviews and changes to the schedule was one of the main challenges.
Chilly Thursday morning began with a family photo of the foreign ministers overlooking the beautiful St. Lawrence River. Soon after, Mélanie Joly prefaced her opening remarks by thanking the Charlevoix region and people of La Malbaie for the warm welcome. She took the time to recap on all the issues that the G7 was planning to discuss. Joly declared that peace and stability are at the top of the agenda, with Russian illegal aggression towards Ukraine being the focal point of the meeting. Other items on the agenda were discussions of fostering long term resiliency and stability in the Middle East region, Indo-Pacific region, Haiti, Venezuela, Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Additionally, Joly stated that the meeting will address some of the challenges linked to the maritime dimension.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy’s interview
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, held an interview Thursday afternoon. A large portion of the interview focused on Russian aggression. EU foreign policy chief informed the press that she met with United Nations that week, where she gauged that countries around the world are immensely worried about the outcome of the war. Kallas shared that countries expect this outcome to be pattern-defining: if it is shown that states with enough power can take over their neighbour’s territory, “then there are many countries in the world that are at risk and that is why we need to avoid that”. EU foreign policy chief reported that Ukrainians are standing strong, and that the EU continues to consult with each other to determine how to supply ammunition to Ukraine and help them be in a stronger position.
Kallas highlighted that Ukraine is the first frontline of European security and that European side is massively increasing their defense investments as:
“…Russia has invested over 9% of its GDP on military, so they would want to use it if there is a piece [of land] that actually grants them what they want, then they definitely want to continue [conquering] and then it is a question for us — how strong we are to really deter these types of attacks.”
And:
“NATO needs to be stronger, that is very clear. NATO is stronger if only the armies of NATO are stronger.”
At the time, US officials were in communication with Russia concerning a ceasefire agreement approved by the Ukraine. Kallas, when asked about that, reminded the press that the Russians have not kept their promises regarding previous ceasefire agreements and that “we need to be very firm that any kind of ceasefire cannot be coming with conditions because all these conditions just blur the picture. Either you want to end this war, or you don’t want to end this war.”
EU foreign policy chief also took the time to make a statement about humanitarian aid in Gaza:
“The European position is that any humanitarian aid cannot be politicized. It has to reach the people in need in Gaza and we are constantly in contact with our counterparts in Israel to stress this. We are supporting the two-state solution, but we are also supporting Palestinian authority so that they can provide the services to the people and right now it is extremely important that the aid is reaching the people, and the humanitarian aid is not politicized.”
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs’ Interview
Joly delivered closing statements Friday morning, reflecting on the “strong G7 unity” that was achieved through discussion on the issues. As an example, Joly highlighted that all G7 foreign ministers agreed with the US’s proposal of the ceasefire that is supported by Ukraine and stated that it was up to Russia now.
When asked about Canadian American relationship, Joly declared that the Trump administration is engaging in a trade war against Canada, EU, and many trading partners. She also acknowledged Canadian anxiety and fear of losing jobs as a consequence of tariffs and assured the press that she, alongside with her team, feel the urgency to put maximum pressure on the Trump administration. She pointed out that the American people are the only ones that can ultimately make President Trump change course. Addressing the US media, Joly emphasized her message: “Trump tariffs are bad for American people”. On a positive note, Joly shared that there are many things that can be done within Canada, including East to West trade, to offset the negative impacts of the Trump tariffs.
Joly informed the press that many of her colleagues coming to the meeting believed the issue of Trump’s claims of annexation of Canada was a joke, but Joly categorically refused to take it as such. Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs defended Canadians, who she called “proud people”, and stated that she had a long and frank conversation with US Secretary of State:
“What I said to the Secretary is Canada’s sovereignty is not for debate. Period. There is no argument, there is no conversation about it, there is no need to talk about it. You are here. You respect us. You respect our sovereignty. You are in our country. You respect our people. Period.”
Joly clarified that things that Canada and US does not agree on will not stop the two countries from working on things they agree on and that she is looking forward to supporting the new prime minister, Mark Carney, and his work on the relationship with the US. Joly informed the press that she mentioned to Rubio that it was important to organize a call between the two leaders soon.
Touching on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs restated Canada’s belief in a two-state solution and that both nations can only exist side by side if their rights to self-determination are respected.
EU and Germany Solidarity with Canada
Kallas mentioned during her interview on Thursday that she and the German Minster for Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, were joking that they are wearing Canadian colours for solidarity. Kallas wore a red dress with a maple leaf pin during the interview and Baerbock wore a white outfit, matching white and red colours of the Canadian flag.
That same day, Baerbock posted a picture of herself with Kallas on X with a statement “We’ve got your back, @melaniejoly [Canadian flag and European flag emojis]. #Canada #Solidarity @kajakallas.”
During her closing statement on Friday, Mélanie Joly called Kallas and Baerbock’s choice of clothing as a brave fashion statement and shared that she was happy to see it.
Baerbock, after being asked about supporting Canada through clothing during a press conference Friday afternoon, stated that “it’s not only about sentences, it’s about emotions, it’s about feelings — and sometimes, colors may say more than words.”
US Secretary of State’s Interview
US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, held a talk with the press Friday afternoon. Rubio opened his address with “I’m sure you’re dying to get home,” followed by thanking Canada for hosting the meeting at such a beautiful location.
Rubio made some remarks on cooperation with other states, stressing that foreign policy is not about trusting — it is about actions. He echoed Joly’s statement that ministers are not going to allow the things they disagree on to keep them from working closely on the things they agree on. Rubio also reflected on the fact that foreign policy forces collaboration with people that one might not like:
“Sometimes you will have to figure out how to work together with nations that are not aligned with you on most issues. And in other cases, you may find yourself unaligned on an issue with a nation that you work with very closely on a bunch of other things.”
Rubio encouraged the media to not treat the foreign relationships as a reality show and to not focus on personalities.
When asked about Russian aggression onto Ukraine, the Secretary declared that there is no end in sight to the war without Trump’s intervention. He also informed the press that President Putin agreed with the concept of the ceasefire agreement, dismissed Putin’s public statements concerning reservations to the agreement, and insisted that he will not discuss the “position of U.S. policy on the basis of what someone said at a press conference.” Rubio assured the press that there are reasons for “cautious optimism” and repeated his negative opinion of taking nation leaders’ statements made during press conferences into consideration.
When asked about making agreements with Hamas to release hostages, the Secretary expressed his outrage of the ridiculousness of the trades that are being made and voiced that all hostages, including bodies, should be released. He also called Hamas’s actions ridiculous, sick, disgusting and called Hamas members “some savages”.
Canadian journalists continuously swayed US Secretary of State’s press address to discussion of Canadian American relationship. When asked about tariffs, Rubio assured the press that implemented tariffs should not be characterized as a hostile move against allies, and that they were put into force because international trade was found to be unfair to the US. The goal, Rubio indicated, is to set up a more sustainable and fair long-term trade arrangements. The Secretary also stated that some EU countries might see it as hostile to change the status-quo and to make the trading relationship “fair to both sides”, but Trump is simply looking out for the US.
After multiple attempts by the Canadian media to direct the conversation to country-wide concern of US’s claims of making Canada the “51st state”, Rubio refused to discuss Trump’s seriousness in annexing Canada to the US, but noted that Trump loves Canada and believes that “Canada would be better off joining the United States from an economic perspective”. Rubio claimed that Trump’s argument “stands for itself”.
G7 Foreign Ministers’ Joint Statement and Declaration
On Friday, a Joint statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and G7 Foreign Ministers’ Declaration on Maritime Security and Prosperity was released to the public.
