Saturday June 14, 2025 | OTTAWA, ON [Reporting from VICTORIA, BC]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Prime Minister Mark Carney will ramp up for hosting the G7 Summit starting Sunday, with a series of meetings first in Ottawa, then Calgary, then after arriving at the summit in Kananaskis (southwest of Calgary, one hour from Banff).
International media will be set up at Banff. Also in Banff will be a designated area for peaceful protests.
Sunday travel and meetings:
At 11 am Ottawa local time (ET) Carney will first meet with UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer together with the CEO of Cohere, Aidan Gomez on the third floor of West Block at Parliament Hill.
Karmer arrived in Ottawa today and was shown on national TV arriving at Rideau Cottage which is now Mark Carney’s official residence. They joked lightly about success for the Edmonton Oilers hockey team as well as the G7 Summi
After the 11 am meeting, then Carney and Starmer will hold a quick photo-op at 11:15 am ET at the West Block at Parliament Hill before heading into a meeting.
Carney’s itinerary shows that he will leave Ottawa for Calgary at 1 pm ET.
When in Calgary:
Fast forward to 3:30 pm MT, Carney will arrive in Calgary. His first meeting will be with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at 4:30 pm MT.
At 5:30 pm MT Carney will meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphonsa.
Carney will then head to Kananaskis for his first meet there, with representatives of the Treaty 7 First Nations. At 8:30 pm MT, Carney will meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
G7 plus:
Technically speaking, the G7 is a meeting of heads of state of the seven leaders of advanced democracies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union.
Canada assumed the presidency of the G7 for the seventh time on January 1, 2025, and will host the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta from June 15 to 17, 2025.
For this meeting (for which the location in Canada has been set for several years), Carney has also invited the leaders of Ukraine, Mexico and India as part of Carney’s vision for working cooperatively with with expanding economies of growing democratic nations.
As the invitations rolled out to countries that are not officially members of the G7, there has been political debate. But it’s clear that Carney would want Ukraine’s president at the table in the context of the financial support that G7 and other nations have given to the fight for democracy in their country against the Russian invasion. It’s also obvious why Mexico should be there, as that country currently being one of the trilateral partners in the CUSMA agreement with Canada and the USA (even though the US administration is not recognizing the agreement at this time).
As well, the sheer size of India as a fast-growing democratic country makes it an obvious participant, though there’s been pushback on Carney for not appearing to adequately recognize the seriousness of the killing of an Indo-Canadian here in Canada. However, in the case of both India and not barring Trump from the G7 this year, Canada is fortunate to have a leader who recognizes the power of inclusion to to diffuse barriers and soften tensions.
“This high-level event will be an opportunity for G7 members and invited guests to discuss the world’s most pressing issues from international peace and security to global economic stability and the digital transition,” states the Government of Canada.
French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump will be welcomed to the G7 by Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon.
Three priorities:
Canada’s G7 Presidency in 2025 is focused on three priorities:
- Protecting our communities and the world;
- Building energy security and accelerating the digital transition;
- Securing the partnerships of the future.
To develop an agenda that resonates with Canadians, the Government of Canada engaged with domestic stakeholders and partners, including Indigenous partners, provinces and territories, business, civil society, academia and international organizations. Canada also conducted outreach with international partners.
As part of its presidency year, Canada hosted a G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec from March 12-14, 2025 (chaired by then Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly), and a G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting in Banff, Alberta from May 20-22, 2025 (chaired by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne).
===== RELATED:
- Governor General Mary Simon to welcome Macron & Trump to the G7 (June 15, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: CANADA-NATIONAL | CANADA-USA