Carney, Quebec premier set first meeting for Cambodia

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon will hold their first meeting since the Oct. 5 election on the sidelines of the Francophonie summit in Cambodia, ending a week of back and forth over where and when to meet.

Officials in the premier’s office said the two leaders agreed to meet at the summit, which Radio-Canada reported will bring members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie to Phnom Penh from Nov. 12 to 17. The Montreal Gazette reported the first meeting would take place during the summit’s main days, Nov. 14 to 16. The exact time and place have not been disclosed.

A second meeting is expected in Quebec City before the end of the year, likely in December, the Gazette reported. Holding a meeting in the provincial capital was the premier’s condition when he accepted Carney’s invitation on Nov. 1. Radio-Canada reported that Carney’s office had said a Quebec City meeting would have to wait until December or the new year.

Radio-Canada reported that the two sides agreed an in-person meeting as soon as possible was better than a virtual one, citing a federal source. Carney’s office had earlier offered three dates in the Ottawa-Gatineau and Montreal regions, none of them in Quebec City. The dispute followed the premier’s decision to skip the Canada-EU summit in Montreal after a disagreement over a dinner invitation and speaking role.

The premier will attend the Francophonie summit with Dieudonné Ella Oyono, Quebec’s minister of international relations, la Francophonie and foreign trade, Radio-Canada reported. The trip is part of why the government pushed the National Assembly’s opening from Nov. 17 to Dec. 1.

Before that, St-Pierre Plamondon is scheduled to meet Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park in Toronto at 5 p.m. ET Friday, Radio-Canada reported. It will be the premier’s first trip outside Quebec since taking office. Quebec is a full member of the Francophonie, and the premier has also said he plans a trip to France after speaking with President Emmanuel Macron.

Neither office has said what the leaders will discuss. The Parti Québécois formed a minority government with 59 seats and has promised a referendum on sovereignty within its first term.

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