Canada invites CARICOM leaders to G7 Summit

Canada has invited the current and former heads of the regional trade and integration bloc CARICOM to the powerful G7 Summit in Quebec, Canada in June.

The Group of Seven (G7) consist of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

“…for me it was extremely important to bring forward leadership from the Caribbean,” Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister said at a meeting with some CARICOM Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers at the Hilton hotel in Lima.

“…we view the opportunity to use Canada’s voice on the world stage to bring forward issues that matter to our friends,” Trudeau added.

The G7 Summit takes place in Charlevoix, Quebec from June 8-9, 2018.

Trudeau’s meeting with the CARICOM leaders in Lima was one of several meetings being held on the margins of the VIII Summit of the Americas which opens Friday evening.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, who is heading Guyana’s delegation to the Summit, attending the meeting with Trudeau and will address the Summit on Saturday morning.

On Friday morning, Greenidge met with his Canadian counterpart ahead of s scheduled meeting between President David Granger and Trudeau in London at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting next week.

Trudeau said his lunch meeting with CARICOM leaders in Lima was an opportunity to continue and deepen “the tremendous friendship” that has defined relations between Canada and countries of the Caribbean.

“Over the past decades Canada has always been very close to in working with our Caribbean friends and partners on a broad range of issues,” Trudeau stated.