Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada is firmly opposed to Russia’s reinstatement in the G7 as President Donald Trump suggested.
At a press conference at an international security conference in Munich, Germany on Saturday, Joly was asked if she and her international colleagues discussed Russia’s readmission to the group.
“No, we didn’t do it, and I say the position of Canada: no way that it happens,” she said.
The meeting of foreign ministers at the Munich security conference was the first under the chairmanship of Canada in 2025. Joly also announced that it would organize its counterparts in Charlevoix, Quebec, March 12 to 14.
Russia was part of what was known as the group of eight until other members suspended Moscow in 2014 about the invasion of Ukraine who made Russia took control of the Crimea .
Trump argued Thursday that Russia should have retained its members to the group and suggested that it could have prevented the large -scale invasion that Moscow launched in February 2022.
“It is not a question of loving Russia or not to love Russia,” said Trump. “I would love to recover them. I think it was a mistake to throw them away.
The leader of the Federal Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre said that Russia should not be released.
“The exclusion of G7 Russia is just as justifiable today,” he posted on X, arguing that the Conservatives led the push to exclude Moscow in 2014.
Joly said that the G7 was determined to support Ukraine and that Ukraine and European allies must have a seat at the table so that the peace talks put an end to the war.
During a round table on the Munich Conference Trade, Joly said that Canada’s plan to retaliate if Trump holds the threat of slapming Canadian goods with increasing prices for the Liberal Party.
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Joly told European leaders that they could learn from Canada’s experiences dealing with Trump.
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“So my point of view for all of you is that we are the canary of the coal mine,” she told the public. “If the American administration does this in Canada, you are next.”
The minister said that there was a “big change” when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Trump’s initial threats by saying Canada would impose 25% of reprisal rates out of $ 155 billion in American goods and would answer Quickly taxes on the import of steel and aluminum if they are imposed in Canada.
The US government immediately noticed when the stock markets began to “tanking” and American consumers began to worry about the price of gas, said Joly.
“In the end, none of us will change the perceptions of President Trump,” she said. “The only people in the world who will ensure that the prices are not imposed are the American people themselves. When they understand that this affects the (price) of the gas to the pump and the grocery store – they will say: “enough!” »»
Joly said that the proposed American prices represent an “existential threat” for Canada because they could lead to the elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs. She said Canada and the European Union should coordinate efforts to respond to Trump’s threats.
Meanwhile, Trump has already pointed out his intention to impose prices on the EU, suggesting that the economic union continues to take advantage of an unbalanced negotiation relationship.
In Munich, Joly suggested that Canadians have responded favorably to the liberal government measures, saying that the result was a significant leap in public opinion polls which greatly erased the great advance that the Conservatives appreciated during the two last years.
“I think our people in Canada reacted so strongly to the fact that we were so strong,” said the minister. “In a week, we are almost tied with the opposition because the Canadians are afraid, are anxious and love the fact that we hold strong.”
During the round table, the American Democratic Senator Andy Kim said that Trump had sold voters on the idea that the American prices will be “paid by other people, not by the American people”. Kim said Trump capitalizes on polls suggesting that 73% of Americans think that the United States loses more than it wins by international trade.
Trump remains vulnerable in the wrongs because 64% of Americans think that prices will increase internal prices, said Kim, adding that 60% of Americans disapprove of prices in European countries.
Kim told the public that European leaders should articulate the damage prices would bring to Europe, but also to the United States.
“The person who will eventually make the decision on this subject is not ideological on this subject,” said the New Jersey senator, referring to Trump. “He thinks of a political position, (but) it is deeply unpopular among the American people, and it is perhaps an extraordinary vulnerability on his part.”
With Dylan Robertson files in Ottawa.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press