2025 G7 Kananaskis Summit

The 2025 Canadian Presidency
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the first G7 Summit, Canada is proud to take up the 2025 G7 Presidency. This year will be an opportunity for Canada to demonstrate our leadership and advance meaningful dialogue, collective action and innovative solutions for the benefit of all peoples. The 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit will be held in Kananaskis, Alberta, from June 15 to 17, 2025. From international peace and security to global economic stability and growth, to the digital transition, today’s global challenges and opportunities require us to work together to find shared solutions.
The G7 summit is being held just outside Calgary. Here’s who will be there and what these meetings achieve

17 – 18 June
Kananaskis, Carney, and the Future of the G7
By Lisa Van Dusen
(Policy) If diplomacy, as influence impresario Henry Kissinger once said, is “the art of restraining power”, then Mark Carney’s first G7 was a success.
As host of the most bizarre gathering of the group in its half-century history based on the attendance of Donald Trump as an American president whose entire second term has been an homage to unrestrained power, Carney had two tactical jobs.
In the ongoing battle of systemic narratives, the first was to pre-empt any remotely credible spin portraying the G7 as dead based on a classic Trumpian catastrophe whose propaganda rollers would have blamed the guests rather than the skunk at the garden party.
Aside from the PR victory that would have delivered to the interests Trump serves as the America-degrading gift that keeps on giving, you really don’t want to be the new Canadian prime minister whose first diplomatic outing was to preside over the immolation of the G7 by Donald Trump.
G7 embraces ‘realpolitik’ to work around disruptive Trump
Allies couldn’t get the U.S. president on board with stronger measures against Russia — but at least they “live to fight another day.”

Mission accomplished-ish
(Politico) The U.S. president didn’t attack Carney on the way out the door. The prime minister launched the first stage of a Canada-India diplomatic reset — even if his diplomacy won’t mollify a rattled Sikh diaspora. And he saw through joint statements on AI, quantum technologies, migrant smuggling, transnational repression and critical minerals — as well as a wildfire charter that makes no mention of climate change.
G7 leaders agree to ‘charter’ on wildfires, pledging global co-operation

15-16 June
Trump to leave G7 summit early due to Middle East situation
Trump to leave G7 Summit in Canada a day early – White House
Macron says Trump leaving is positive given potential Middle East ceasefire
Trump says removing Russia from G8 in 2014 was a mistake
US and UK finalize trade deal; Canada says expects deal in 30 days
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is leaving the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early due to the situation in the Middle East, the White House said on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran
“Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X.
The G7 has struggled to find unity over conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Iran as Trump overtly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and has imposed tariffs on many of the allies present.
A U.S. official said Trump would not sign a draft statement calling for de-escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict.
Still, Macron said Trump’s departure was positive, given the objective to get a ceasefire.

Drama plagued Canada’s last G7 summit. Can Carney avoid repeating it? (audio)
(The Current CBC Radio) A lot is at stake at this week’s G7 summit in Alberta. Prime Minister Mark Carney will be looking for a deal on tariffs, and avoiding the kind of drama that roiled the meeting last time Canada hosted it. CBC journalist JP Tasker walks us through the challenges Carney faces at this meeting, while Peter MacKay and Bessma Momani assess whether world leaders can stay focused on economic issues while the Israel-Iran conflict continues to escalate.

G7 leaders in Canada to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, hope to avoid Trump clash
G7 Leaders’ Summit held Sunday to Tuesday
No comprehensive joint communique expected
German chancellor says Israel-Iran conflict high on agenda
(Reuters) – Group of Seven leaders will gather in the Canadian Rockies starting on Sunday with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be high on the agenda, while host Canada is striving to avoid clashes with President Donald Trump.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says his priorities are strengthening peace and security, building critical mineral supply chains and creating jobs. But issues such as U.S. tariffs and the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are expected to feature heavily during the summit.
14 June
Can the G7 leaders still find anything to agree about?
Lacking broad consensus, the onus falls on those still interested in co-operation
(CBC) … The ghost of Charlevoix
It’s unlikely that the 50th meeting of the G7 will produce an expansive communique. A senior Canadian official, speaking to reporters this week, suggested the leaders will sign off on some number of narrower statements on specific issues.
In that case, the results of the 2025 summit might resemble the output of the 2019 summit in France, which produced a succinct 259-word declaration agreed to by all leaders, alongside specific statements on gender equality and Africa, and a pair of chair “summaries” reviewing the discussions that were had.
The amount of work needed to get a consensus document “would really mean a race to the bottom” for what would be included, Peter Boehm, who was Trudeau’s top negotiator at the Charlevoix summit, said in a recent interview with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
This is also, of course, a summit that will be held amid a trade war being waged between some of the countries at the table.
The first goal for Carney — who has some experience with international summits as a former central bank governor and finance official — at next week’s meetings might simply be to avoid another blow-up. And that might mean aiming for a lower level of agreement, perhaps in line with the official priorities the prime minister announced last week — which included countering foreign interference and transnational crime, improving joint responses to wildfires, fortifying critical mineral supply chains and harnessing artificial intelligence.
“There is value in keeping the U.S. engaged by pursuing co-operation on a narrower set of priorities,” says Roland Paris, a professor of international affairs and a former adviser to Trudeau. …

10 June
Cardinal who worked closely with Pope Leo XIV travels to Canada to support G7 demonstrators
A Peruvian cardinal who worked closely with Pope Leo XIV for years will be stopping in Calgary to support demonstrators as world leaders gather next week for the G7 summit in Alberta.
Cardinal Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno, 81, hopes to help draw attention to what he calls an “ecological debt” crisis.
According to Barreto and organizers from Development and Peace and Caritas Canada, the group that invited the cardinal to Canada, ecological debt refers to the debt owed to poorer nations and Indigenous communities resulting from damage caused by some companies from developed countries like Canada. This damage includes oil spills and pollution from mines.

9 June
Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum says she will attend G7 summit next week in Alberta
She says her team is working to set up bilateral meetings with G7 leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump.
Mexico and Canada have both been targets of Trump’s punishing tariffs and the three countries are set to begin renegotiating the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade next year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have all been invited to attend the summit.

8 June
Prime Minister Carney announces Canada’s G7 priorities ahead of the Leaders’ Summit
Canada will seek agreements and co-ordinated action on three core missions:
Protecting our communities and the world – strengthening peace and security, countering foreign interference and transnational crime, and improving joint responses to wildfires.
Building energy security and accelerating the digital transition – fortifying critical mineral supply chains and using artificial intelligence and quantum to unleash economic growth.
Securing the partnerships of the future – catalyzing enormous private investment to build stronger infrastructure, create higher-paying jobs, and open dynamic markets where businesses can compete and succeed.
Other discussions will include a just and lasting peace for Ukraine and other areas of conflict around the world, and a forward-looking agenda that engages partners beyond the G7, recognizing that our long-term security and prosperity will depend on building coalitions with reliable partners and common values.
Carney lays out Canada’s G7 summit priorities while managing a complicated guest list
PM pushing for agreements and action on peace, energy security and new partnerships

7 June
Mark Carney prepares for G7 summit littered with potential landmines
(Toronto Star) Beyond the G7 group that includes European leaders Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, Carney has invited a slew of guests and stacked an agenda of talks around global economic security, Ukraine, the Middle East, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, as well as “wildfires” — a diplomatic entrée into discussions on the environment and climate change.
Most notably Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, blamed by Trump for prolonging, if not starting (a baseless assertion) the war with Russia, and Modi — who Carney says has agreed to a “law enforcement dialogue” with Canada on the role of Indian agents in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder — will attend. A source told the Toronto Star it was among “conditions” around the invitation.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and UN Secretary General António Guterres are coming.
… Carney has instructed officials to shepherd a short, crisp chair’s statement for the end, and there may be agreed-upon summaries of separate sessions, but sources who spoke on condition they not be identified said it’s all still in flux.

6 June
Can the G7 Survive Donald Trump?
Lawrence Herman
(Policy) Given the aggressiveness of Trump’s trade wars in attacking other G7 members and threatening their economic well-being. Canada and European leaders will want to use the opportunity express their views face-to-face with Trump, with the risk that this will precipitate a disruptive response.
There have been efforts to show a degree of collective spirit in separate, advance meetings these past weeks among G7 foreign, trade and finance ministers, where there was a downplaying of any discord in their various communiqués. However, when the leaders gather, it seems pretty certain they will use the chance of hammering Trump’s trade policies head-to-head.
The challenge for Prime Minister Carney — as well as for other G7 leaders — will be to try keep these exchanges behind closed doors as much as possible, hoping a public explosion by Trump can be avoided.
… None of this bodes well for Kananaskis. But assuming a disaster can be avoided, there could still be distant hope for consensus on a challenge facing all G7 governments — China and its aggressive, state sponsored export strategies, an area where Trump could find common ground with his counterparts.
The US ambassador to Canada said in a Globe and Mail interview this week that in Trump’s view, the number one challenge to US security, safety and prosperity is China. While Canada, the Europeans and Japan have nuanced positions, leaders could coalesce on fighting China’s massively subsidized exports, which not only cause significant trade and commercial distortions but also have long-term geopolitical implications.
India’s PM Modi says he will be attending the G7 summit in Alberta
Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 summit in Alberta this month despite strained ties with the South Asian country.
Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told The Globe and Mail that Canada looks forward to rebuilding ties with India as part of an effort to diversify trade away from the United States – even as the RCMP investigation into the killing of [Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent advocate for a separate state for Sikhs in the Indian state of Punjab] continues.

2 June
With U.S. science in crisis, G7 researchers mount a candid defence
(Globe & Mail) Alain Gagnon, president of the Royal Society of Canada,…recently hosted a G7 summit for the G7 Academies, where they all agreed on a joint statement that will be released in every language of the G7.
The one-page document was released on Monday by the national science academies of the G7.
For the first time, the academies – which are researcher-led organizations independent of the governments they advise – have found it necessary to remind the public and G7 political leaders in a statement that science is an important and beneficial activity for them to pursue.
“Together, we have established a system of science based on transparency, meritocracy and openness that has provided the normative framework for science around the globe,” the statement says.
While recognizing that “national circumstances” play a role in shaping science policy and international co-operation, the declaration calls on countries to maintain their commitment to academic freedom, research integrity and related values associated with scientific inquiry.
The Ottawa Declaration of the Science Academies of the G7

27-28 May
Mexico’s president noncommittal about coming to Canada for G7 summit
Canada invited Mexico to leaders’ meeting next month amid U.S tariff and trade dispute
Carney invites Mexico’s President to G7 summit, raising hopes for sideline tariff talks with Trump
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s inclusion in the three-day event would provide an opportunity for sideline talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on his protectionist tariffs and the future of North America’s trilateral trade agreement. It would be the first three-way meeting between the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States since Mr. Trump took office.

26 May
Who is My Neighbour?’ Kananaskis and the Clash of Worldviews
Jeremy Kinsman
(Policy) …a preparatory meeting this week of G7 finance ministers in Banff avoided substantive discussion of the divisive and toxic US tariff assault on the global economy. Their description of the meeting as “productive” was an evasion of reality to keep the US at least partially in the consensus tent at the ministerial level before its autocratic head of government arrives for the main event on June 15th.
The effect is to show the G7 as a club of rich countries trying to pretend that things remain as they were, while everybody knows that in reality everything has changed. One change is that the fortunes and fates of the world’s poorest are now not visibly high among current preoccupations of the G7.
Canadian public opinion and politics have rightly been focusing on the threat Trump has posed to Canada’s sovereignty and security. But Trump’s autocratic and anti-globalist worldview also undermines Canada’s international belief system. A retreat by major countries into isolated and competitive “fortresses,” each vying for strategic advantage in a global game of great power rivalry, would desert the principles of multilateralism and international cooperation that emerged from the wreckage of World War Two. Those principles have guided Canadian foreign policy for generations.

Bow Valley kids removing buffaloberry bushes to keep bears away from G7
Bears a cause for concern among summit organizers
(CBC) As many as 5,000 participants are set to descend on the area in a few weeks, and officials are already working to install security barriers and clear out the area of anything that might attract bears to keep both people and the animals safe.
Earlier this week more than 200 local kids began removing buffaloberry bushes from around Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge and its staff residences to detract(sic) bears from venturing into the area.
The students, along with a Scouts Canada group from Calgary, took three days this week pulling the bushes right down to their roots — as the berries haven’t bloomed yet. They have another four days of work lined up for next week, and another three days the first week of June.

22 May
G7 countries pledge to tackle ‘excessive imbalances’ in global economy
(Globe & Mail) Finance ministers and central bankers from Group of Seven countries took aim at unfair economic practices that generate “excessive imbalances” in the global trading system on Thursday, at the end of three days of meetings in Alberta. But they largely brushed aside the devastating effects of the trade war launched by the United States.
A group communiqué published Thursday did not mention China by name but appeared to be targeting Beijing’s practice of subsidizing industries that have been overproducing and dumping excess inventory on world markets, to the detriment of private-sector competitors.
“We recognize the need for a common understanding of how non-market policies and practices (NMPPs) aggravate imbalances, contribute to overcapacity, and impact the economic security of other countries.”
The Thursday communiqué made no mention of the disruption to the global economy caused by a worldwide trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump in March and April – measures that breach existing treaties and have damaged growth prospects in most countries, including G7 members.
Despite the absence of an official mention of China in the joint statement, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem told reporters that Beijing’s “unfair trading practices” were part of behind-closed-door conversations.
“There was also quite a bit of discussion around unsustainable global imbalances, unfair trading practices in China, state-sponsored exports that are impacting our economies,” he said, adding that the International Monetary Fund is taking on the task of identifying “unsustainable global imbalances.”

20 May
Top finance officials from G7 countries gather in Banff for three-day summit
(CTV) High-ranking officials from the world’s top economies are in Banff, Alta., this week for a three-day summit that will cover topics including the global economy, the war in Ukraine and artificial intelligence.
The meeting comes during a period of heightened instability as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his tariff-driven effort to bring industry to American soil, leading many countries to reconsider their trade relationships with the United States and other trading partners.
The gathering will also be a precursor to the meetings that will happen in Kananaskis, Alta., when North American, European and Japanese leaders gather for the G7 Leaders’ Summit from June 15 to 17.

6 May
Trump Says It’s a Bad Time to Let Russia Back Into G-7
(Summary by Bloomberg AI) US President Donald Trump says it’s not a good time to invite Russia to rejoin the Group of Seven major economies. Trump’s comments come as his effort to broker a quick peace agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine has hit roadblocks.
Trump previously stated that Moscow should be included in the G-7, suggesting that its membership could have discouraged Putin from invading Ukraine.

30 April
Mark Carney to install new cabinet, recall Parliament early to cut taxes and open U.S. trade talks
Robert Fife
… Mr. Carney and his government will also be focusing on the G7 summit with the U.S, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan on June 15-17 in Kananaskis, Alta.
It’s expected to be a fraught meeting, with allies annoyed at Mr. Trump for his trade war and at odds with him over what appears to be a favourable attitude toward Russia in its war with Ukraine. Mr. Carney has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the G7 summit in a sign of solidarity as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth year.

14 March
G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting: Mélanie Joly Holds Closing News Conference (CPAC video)
In Charlevoix, Que., Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly speaks with reporters as a three-day meeting of G7 foreign ministers comes to a close
G7 drops mention of ‘two-state solution’ from joint statement to get U.S. on board: source
(Globe & Mail) G7 foreign ministers left out any mention of a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from their final communiqué to get the United States to agree to language on Russia, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The communiqué released on Friday instead said there needs to be “a political horizon for the Palestinian people, achieved through a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Bloomberg first reported that the U.S. agreed to call for more sanctions on Russia in the communiqué if it does not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
The omission marks a major change in language from the G7 nations as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes ahead his post-war plan for Gaza Strip that would see the U.S. take over the territory.
It also stands in contrast with the communiqué released at the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in November, prior to Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

Joly tells Marco Rubio ‘Canada’s sovereignty is not up to debate, period’
Rubio says Trump’s 51st state comments reflect a ‘disagreement between the president’s position’ and Canada’s
At the G7 foreign ministers meeting in La Malbaie, Que., this week, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly says she told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ‘there’s no conversation about it, there’s no need to talk about’ President Donald Trump’s taunts that Canada should become the 51st state.
Despite the conflict between the two countries over sovereignty, Joly said the G7 ministers decided at the outset of the summit that they were not going to let the issues they did not agree on prevent them from working together in areas where they agree.
Rubio agreed with that sentiment in his press conference saying that often in foreign policy “you have disagreements with people you like” or find yourself “unaligned on an issue with a nation that you work with very closely on a bunch of other things.”
… Joly also said that Canada will seek to build stronger trading relationships with countries other than the U.S.
“Canada wants to foster new partnerships in the world, we want to be closer to Europe, we want to be closer to Britain,” she said. “We need to diversify our economy.”
On the issue of Ukraine, Joly said the G7 is united in supporting a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal for the country, which has been endorsed by Kyiv and is now awaiting a response from Russia.
In comments Friday morning, Joly said the international community is closely watching Moscow’s reaction.

12 March
Canada sounds alarm at G7: ‘Nobody is safe’ from Trump’s tactics
As U.S. joins foreign ministers’ gathering in Quebec, Mélanie Joly warns counterparts that they are next.
(Politico) Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly plans to welcome her G7 counterparts to Charlevoix, Quebec, with a warning: “If the U.S. can do this to us, their closest friend, then nobody is safe.”
On the official agenda this week as Canada hosts the G7 foreign ministers: Ukraine, the Middle East, Haiti and Venezuela, but nothing about President Donald Trump’s trade war or sovereignty threats. Yet Joly told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday that she plans to raise the issue with the European and British members, while advising them that “Canada is the canary in the coal mine.”
Rubio says Trump’s ‘51st state’ plan not on G7 summit agenda in Canada
Secretary of state’s visit has backdrop of trade war between US and allies and Trump’s threats to take over Canada
Rubio says he wants the G7 to be “constructive” but Trump’s unpredictable foreign policy has left Washington’s longtime allies scrambling. European countries descended further into a tit-for-tat trade war with the US on Wednesday after Trump’s tariffs on all US steel and aluminium imports took effect.
Canada calls for unity and pushes back on U.S. tariffs as G7 ministers gather in Quebec
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is welcoming her counterparts from some of the world’s most powerful countries to Quebec this week, as Ottawa works to maintain unity between Washington and its Group of Seven partners and pushes back on U.S. tariffs.
“We all need to band together in the best way that we can,” said Sen. Peter Boehm, a former diplomat who played a central role in Canada’s participation in the G7 for decades.
“Success is getting a statement out that is consensual, and that touches all of the bases.”
The foreign ministers of the G7 nations will meet from late Wednesday to Friday afternoon in the Charlevoix region of Quebec. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to attend, alongside representatives from the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union.
Joly said Wednesday morning that she also will use the meeting to push back on U.S. tariffs.
“In every single meeting, I will raise the issue of tariffs to co-ordinate our response with the Europeans and to put pressure on the Americans,” Joly said.
She added that Trump’s “unjustifiable trade war” is based on a series of pretexts and seems to be aimed at eventually annexing Canada.
Rubio, meanwhile, has said the G7 meeting will focus on Ukraine and North American security.
“It is not a meeting about how we’re going to take over Canada,” Rubio told reporters in Ireland, adding Trump’s tariffs are “policy decisions” and that Trump himself is putting forward the idea of Canada joining the U.S.

18 February
Canada’s G7 preppers
By Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Sue Allan
(Politico Ottawa Playbook) Trump wants Putin back in
Russia should rejoin G7, Trump says
Moscow never would have invaded Ukraine if it still had a seat at the table, the president insisted.
17 days until the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta.
Fill in the blanks: Ottawa’s ambition for Canada’s 2025 G7 presidency is still mostly a mystery. Seven years after the Trump outburst that capped the summit in Quebec, Canadians are in a moment of considerable flux.
For starters, it’s not clear who the prime minister will be when foreign leaders arrive in Canada. Plus, the state of Canada-U.S. relations in June is anybody’s guess.
But bureaucrats have been planning the calendar for months. Deputy ministers have been coordinating interdepartmental efforts since at least October.
G7 foreign ministers are set to meet March 12-14 in Charlevoix, Quebec.
A trail of briefing notes offers clues to what’s on tap — including a potential spotlight on energy affordability.
Cindy Termorshuizen is Trudeau’s sherpa, running point on G7 planning, working with high-ranking officials from the other six countries.
Sherpas typically meet a few times ahead of the summit. Termorshuizen kicked things off with a Vancouver check-in on Jan. 29-31.
Termorshuizen is also “conducting targeted engagement with government and industry representatives, Indigenous Peoples, academics, youth, women, and various experts,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.
On Feb. 4, she met with G7 “engagement groups” — non-government bodies that advise the member states.
Agenda pieces: Canada’s G7 website refers to issues ranging from “international peace and security to global economic stability and growth, to the digital transition.” In France last week, Trudeau added artificial intelligence to the agenda.

15 February
Joint G7 Foreign Ministers’ Statement – Meeting of G7 Foreign Ministers on the margins of the Munich Security Conference
The G7 members discussed Russia’s devasting war in Ukraine. They underscored their commitment to work together to help to achieve a durable peace and a strong and prosperous Ukraine and reaffirmed the need to develop robust security guarantees to ensure the war will not begin again.
The G7 members welcomed their discussion today with Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. They recalled the G7’s important contribution towards ending the war in Ukraine, including through measures pursuant to the G7 Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine, by supporting Ukraine financially through the use of extraordinary revenues stemming from Russian Sovereign Assets, by imposing further cost on Russia, if they do not negotiate in good faith, through caps on oil and gas prices, and by making sanctions against Russia more effective. Any new, additional sanctions after February should be linked to whether the Russian Federation enters into real, good-faith efforts to bring an enduring end to the war against Ukraine that provides Ukraine with long-term security and stability as a sovereign, independent country. The G7 members reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its freedom, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
The G7 members discussed the provision to Russia of dual-use assistance by China and of military assistance by DPRK and Iran. They condemned all such support.
The G7 members discussed political, security and humanitarian issues in the Middle East, including in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, and their commitment to advancing regional peace and stability. They underscored the importance of a durable, Israeli-Palestinian peace.

1 February
Policy Q&A: Former G7 Sherpa Sen. Peter Boehm on Trump, Charlevoix and Bracing for Kananaskis
As Canada prepares for Kananaskis, our seventh summit and the 51st in the series, there are a number of “known unknowns”. First, it is unclear who will be the prime ministerial host and in that context what Canada’s thematic priorities will be. A change in government will almost certainly cause some priorities to change. Second, there will only be time for some hastily arranged ministerial meetings supporting the process and the agenda before June. Foreign and finance ministers’ meetings will be key. Ditto on Sherpa meetings to plan the discussions.
In my view, given the politics, the timing crunch, the rise of the BRICS, and the ‘known unknowns’, Canada should plan for a ‘G7 Lite’ summit and agenda as a bid to strengthen if not save the institution.
But there is more. With Trump’s aversion to multilateral meetings, it is not clear whether he would even wish to attend or whether he would make the promise of his attendance contingent on some unknown concession on Canada’s part. Or a concession on the part of the collective. Invite Vladimir? Unlike in our system, it is highly unlikely that he will receive dispassionate, reasonable policy guidance from advisors he has favoured for their loyalty over any knowledge or judgment they may possess. Or would he simply wish to be present to draw attention and be a spoiler?
He is already upsetting us and the Europeans with his threats and statements. Will things get to a point where there might be a meeting of the G-6 with the number-one agenda item being a discussion on how to deal with the US? Will this venerable, informal global institution fall apart? Given Trump’s repeated statements and odd musings about Canada during the first days of his presidency, one could argue that anything is possible.
In a very short period of time, a new prime minister will need to rely heavily on the Sherpa and the senior public service for advice, guidance and counsel. Close coordination with the “like minded” (and working hard with the US) will be essential. This will require an investment in personal diplomacy at the very top that will be time consuming. To say nothing of luck.

29 January
The Road to Kananaskis: Making the G6 Great Again?
By Lisa Van Dusen
In a recent Policy Q & A, Peter Boehm, the independent Canadian senator, six-time G7 Sherpa and former career diplomat, made a number of recommendations as to how to Trump-proof (not in so many words) the upcoming Kananaskis G7. He also raised a possibility.
“Will things get to a point where there might be a meeting of the G6 with the number-one agenda item being a discussion on how to deal with the US?” Boehm said. “Given Trump’s repeated statements and odd musings about Canada during the first days of his presidency, one could argue that anything is possible.”
Indeed, given the early, autocratic course the Trump presidency has taken both domestically and internationally, the question of what to do about the Kananaskis G7, scheduled for June 15-17 will begin to loom larger, especially if he does impose falsely rationalized, illegal tariffs against the host country.
As with so many choices compelled by the 21st-century political and geopolitical domination tactics for which Donald Trump has become an unofficial, undiplomatic global ambassador, this one is extraordinary and replete with potential consequences, foreseeable and not.
Either the G7 refrains from the heretofore unimaginable act of suspending the United States and is subjected to another G-hijacking, complete with performative scene-stealing and a working lunch upstaged by trade-war talk over elk terrine; or, the G7 suspends the United States and is portrayed in the usual propaganda circles as weakened for being reduced to the G6 (cue comparisons to the lately expanded BRICs membership — absent the detail that the principal privilege of that membership is protected, protracted personal power — followed by a predictable if not preordained threat from Trump to join it).

Autocracy Without Borders: Hogue Report Highlights Need for Action on Transnational Repression
Kyle Matthews
(Policy) Canada’s presidency of the G7 in 2025 presents a pivotal opportunity to lead the global fight against transnational repression. While this leadership must begin at home by strengthening our domestic frameworks and extending protections to those at risk, it is also essential that we galvanize allied democracies to confront transnational repression collectively. …
The stakes of inaction are too great to ignore. Transnational repression not only endangers individual lives but also erodes the very foundations of democracy and trust in public institutions. In her recent book Autocracy Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, author Anne Applebaum explains how authoritarian regimes, most notably China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, are targeting the fabric of our societies, undermining security, and exploiting divisions to advance their agendas.
The Canadian government has a moral and strategic imperative to act. As Ottawa prepares to take the helm of the G7, it can lead by example, forging a path that defends democracy and human rights not just within our borders, but across the globe. Canada must rise to this challenge—for the safety of its citizens, the protection of its diaspora communities, and the preservation of democratic values worldwide.