Canada and France to deepen intelligence exchange, said Carney in Paris – National
Canada and France will deepen their defense and industrial cooperation through a new general information security agreement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a visit to Paris on Friday.
Carney made the announcement in a joint statement with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Elysée.
“Businesses in both our countries are doing a lot together, in energy, defense, precious minerals and now (in artificial intelligence),” Carney said.
“What this means is the ability to exchange classified information between our defense, our space, our AI and our aerospace sectors.”
Macron said he and Carney discussed trade, defense and security in a closed-door meeting, and praised Canada as a friend of Europe and France.
This meeting, which comes before the G7 meeting next week, may be the last between these world leaders. Macron's second term in office will end next spring.
France, which is the host of the G7 this year, says that the priorities of this year's summit include addressing the country's major problems and the G7's support for Ukraine.
Sen. Peter Boehm, who represented prime ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau at six G7 summits, said Carney's visit before the summit with Macron gives the two leaders an opportunity to plan strategies.
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He also added that Carney is expected to show “pragmatic diplomacy” at the international event, given that his speech in Davos has attracted international attention.
In that speech at the World Economic Forum in January, Carney said the world has entered a dangerous new era of major energy conflicts and that Canada is working to increase non-US trade in the face of US President Donald Trump's trade war.
Boehm said the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains will be Macron's tenth and last G7 summit as president.
Macron also said on Friday that he and Carney discussed how to protect children online, adding that the two countries have common goals.
Earlier this year, French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under the age of 15. The idea of setting a minimum age for the use of platforms has gained momentum across Europe.
The Liberal government introduced its own cyber security legislation this week. If passed, it would require social media companies to block access to children under 16, although platforms would be able to get an exemption if they put in place adequate safeguards.
Bill C-34, introduced Wednesday in the House of Commons, would also regulate companies that adopt AI chatbots by committing to act responsibly. That includes measures to reduce the risk of chatbots communicating harmful content and putting in place stricter intervention policies for cases involving self-harm, suicide or violence.
Macron applauded the move on social media on Thursday, saying, “Thank you for joining the movement.”
Looking ahead to the conference, Boehm said there are always things going on from previous years.
“Kananaskis discussions about artificial intelligence, for example, and the global economy will have an impact on Évian discussions,” he said.
A Canadian government official said this week there likely won't be a full report from leaders at the end of the summit.
They predicted that the joint leaders would issue statements specific to the entire event.
Boehm said the decision to publish several announcements, rather than one, may have been due to Trump.
“I think that's a very big factor, because what's the point of trying to find a consensus when what you're doing is watering down what you have and not being reliable,” he said, adding that individual statements could deal with the harm of the Internet, AI or various other global problems.
Boehm said the broader political situation will be discussed at the conference, as war continues in the Middle East and the world is still grappling with the Trump administration's intervention in foreign aid.
France is Canada's third largest market in the European Union and its fifth largest source of foreign investment.
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