Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly speaks at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15.THOMAS KIENZLE/AFP/Getty Images
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she told off a bipartisan group of U.S. senators after they cracked jokes about Canada becoming the 51st state.
Ms. Joly met with a group of U.S. senators, led by Republican Lindsey Graham, at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend to discuss possible U.S. tariffs against Canada, as well as the war in Ukraine and international security issues.
In the course of the conversation, some senators – whom Ms. Joly did not name – joked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of Canada becoming the 51st state.
“What I said to the American delegation, when some senators were making jokes about it, I said it’s not funny. This is a question of respect of our country, respect of our leaders and respect of our people,” she told reporters in a video conference call Tuesday.
She said she told them that Canada will always be the best neighbour and ally, but “we will never be a state. We will never be a colony.”
Ms. Joly also met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but she said he did not raise the issue of Canadian sovereignty.
When she was asked why so few of Canada’s allies have come to its defence as Mr. Trump keeps pushing the idea of the United States swallowing up Canada, she said that, in her conversations with European leaders, few of them were aware of Mr. Trump’s desire to take over Canada. He has made similar comments about Greenland.
“It was a wake-up call for Europe to hear what we are going through,” she said. “It was necessary for me to, in Europe, to tell them exactly what is going on.”
She said Canada and European Union agreed to co-ordinate countermeasures if Mr. Trump goes ahead with hefty tariffs on Canadian and European goods.
“We would co-ordinate on any form of response to tariffs and we would be together in defending our national security and sovereignty.”
Ms. Joly said talks, in Munich and earlier in Paris, also focused on increasing trade, including buying more defence equipment from Europe.
In September, Canada formally began the procurement process for as many as 12 new under-ice capable submarines – part of an effort to demonstrate to its NATO allies that Ottawa is boosting defence spending.
A joint German-Norwegian project to build new diesel-electric submarines is pitching Canada to join the program. Under that proposal, Canada would get early access to the subs on the initial production line, so it could meet its spending targets by acquiring those new vessels.
The Department of National Defence has said it anticipates awarding a contract by 2028 and delivery of the first submarine “no later than” 2035. Possible suppliers for new subs include companies from Germany, Sweden, France, Spain and South Korea.
At the Munich conference and during her video news conference Tuesday, Ms. Joly pushed back against the idea of Russia joining the Group of Seven industrialized countries.
Canada is chairing the G7 this year and will play host to the leaders in Kananaskis, Alta., from June 15 to 17. Ms. Joly will also will host her counterparts in Charlevoix, Que., on March 12 to 14.
Russia used to be part of what was known as the Group of Eight – until it was kicked out in 2014 over its military takeover of the Crimean Peninsula.
“When it comes to the proposal of having Russia part of the G7, I said: No way,” Ms. Joly said.
Mr. Trump suggested last week that Russia should have stayed in the group, arguing that its presence could have prevented the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.
Ms. Joly said Canada, Britain and the European Union are committed to supporting Ukraine, even as the Trump administration seeks to end the war on terms that many analysts suspect will be favourable to Moscow.