The Albany Gazette - Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies

The visit by Macron to Ottawa comes as the two leaders face hefty political challenges at home.

Before sitting down for talks, they made a public display of their close working relationship and outlined a common vision on many issues.

"France and Canada share a beautiful common language and shared values," declared Trudeau, saying it was important to spread their values and have "a positive impact in these times of great challenges."

"We have an extremely aligned agenda. We believe in open economies, we believe in the decarbonization of our economies," said Macron.

The two leaders also announced that they were strengthening their defense partnership and their support for Ukraine.

The meeting of the prime minister, 52, and his guest, 46, who both embodied a new generation of young, optimistic leaders, comes as both are now experiencing political headwinds.

At a 2017 G7 summit in Italy, shortly after Macron's election, their chumminess -- dubbed a diplomatic "bromance" -- spurred global headlines.

But seven years later, Macron is in a weakened position, having lost legislative elections that he himself called, forcing him to share power with a right-wing prime minister.

Trudeau, abandoned by his main leftist ally and unpopular after nine years in office, survived a motion of no confidence on Wednesday, hours before Macron landed.

The two beleaguered leaders emphasized the strategic partnership between their two countries, focusing on their French-language ties and joint approaches to artificial intelligence.

- Defend French language -

Thursday morning, Macron discussed the revival of the French language and culture in Canada -- where it is in decline -- with stakeholders, a week before a Francophone summit in France.

"You are the bearers of the Francophonie in a minority environment, of a language, of what it carries with it," Macron told them.

"It is not enough that French simply resists but that we can continue to inoculate the younger generations with it."

Canada is a bilingual country but Quebec is the only province with a French-speaking majority. That is where Macron will make his next stop, joined by Trudeau for a joint press conference in Montreal.

Macron will also tout "the attractiveness of France" to Canadian investors, as he did on Tuesday in New York during discussions with big names in finance, the Elysee said.

The French president will also meet with the premier of Quebec, Francois Legault in Montreal, which has a large French community of nearly 200,000 people.

(F.Allen--TAG)