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Prime Minister Mark Carney and Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon met for the first time since the provincial election at the Francophonie Summit in Cambodia — a 30-minute meeting that St-Pierre Plamondon called “very agreeable, very funny.”
“From a personal standpoint, I think it went well,” said St-Pierre Plamondon in a news conference following the meeting. “We laughed on several occasions, we had fun.”
The two men met at a hotel in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, during the summit of the international body of French-speaking states and governments.
Previously, the premier had insisted that their first meeting take place in Quebec City, which the PM’s schedule had reportedly not been able to accomodate.
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at a summit event in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
The premier said that the meeting yielded tangible results, including federal support for the province’s plan to tackle the homelessness crisis and the exchange of personal phone numbers to keep the lines of communication between the two open.
The premier also celebrated Carney for helping to cement Quebec’s deal to host an international economic summit in Quebec in 2027, which would help to diversify the province’s trade.
He also said it was the first of many meetings the two would have.
“What is evident for the two of us, I think, is that we share some of the same objectives,” said Carney, emphasizing his desire to put an end to homelessness nationally and make life more affordable in all provinces.
St-Pierre Plamondon said that several issues were left outstanding that couldn’t be tackled in their half-hour meeting — namely: immigration, housing, the Alto high-speed rail project and a fulsome discussion on U.S. trade.
“We agreed that we needed to talk to each other on a regular basis,” he said of how the province would collaborate with the federal government on U.S. relations.
“Historically, Quebec has been very active diplomatically in the U.S. So we’re going to do that.”
When asked if the premier regretted the tone of his first interactions with the prime minister after being sworn in, where he accused Carney of muzzling him during an EU summit that took place in Montreal in October, St-Pierre Plamondon said: “I will never regret defending the interests of Quebec.”
The premier said that over the course of the summit, he has been treated like and considered as a head of state by other countries, which has led to meetings that produced fruitful results for Quebec’s economy.
“The truth is here, we are treated as a full nation,” he said. “That recognition leads us to very practical conversations about what we can do from an economic standpoint.”
He explained that bilateral meetings he has had at the summit generated business opportunities for the next years with countries who want to diversify their economic structures.
“In terms of a first visit abroad, we’re very happy.”