G7: Mark Carney’s Moment of History

G7: Mark Carney’s Moment of History

Deepak Razdan

Tuesday, 10 June, 2025

Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney will have a moment of history when the next G7 Leaders Summit takes place in Kananaskis under Canada’s Presidency in the country’s Alberta State from 15 to 17 June.

The G7 leaders meet each year at a Summit to discuss pressing issues and build consensus on coordinated actions. This is the seventh time that Canada has held the Presidency of the G7.

The coming Summit is taking place when the world faces such tricky issues as it has not encountered since the end of World War II in 1945. As the Chair, Canada will set the agenda and speak on behalf of the G7.

The G7 comprises France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, besides the European Union (EU) which attends the G7 Summits but does not host them like the individual members.

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi will be a special invitee at the Summit. Prime Minister Carney extended an invitation to Mr Modi to attend Canada’s 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit which Mr Modi has accepted.

At present, most rich nations of the world, from Canada to Japan are worried about their security and refurbishing their defence capabilities, while making plans to allocate up to five per cent of their GDPs for defence expenditure.

The UK, France, Germany and the European Union consider themselves vulnerable to Russian attack any day, as they have been supporting Ukraine in its current war with Russia.

UK, France and German leaders even visited Kyiv to personally assure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of their support. Achieving just and lasting peace in Ukraine is on the G7 agenda.

The situation of EU nations’ insecurity particularly arose as US President Donald Trump called them freeloaders, saying they were not contributing sufficiently to their military alliance NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) defence fund and should not expect the US to come to their aid, in case there was a Russian attack.

Mr Trump’s statement sent a shiver across the European Continent. The UK and the EU members were already in a state of shock as Mr Trump in April last unilaterally announced steep hikes in US import tariffs covering products from all US trading partners.

The high tariffs upended the rules-based international trading system and gave a big blow to the major economies. These economies had no choice but to stop their export consignments to the US as the new tariffs could make their products costlier and un-buyable for US consumers. Some countries like Canada saw citizens boycotting US goods in retaliation.

As world economies, including China, began talking to the US officials for bilateral trade agreements under pressure, stock markets remained in a state of flux. The instability and uncertainty of the economic system brought all fresh investments to a halt, leading to closure of production facilities and businesses and loss of jobs in many countries.

The EU put together a European Political Community to devise a response to the Ukraine war, but its real objective was how to face a Russian threat to any EU country. The UK reset its relations with the EU, undoing a part of the Brexit, again, with the purpose of aligning with the EU for security considerations.

Defence Ministers of NATO members met in Brussels on 5 June amid calls for raising defence expenditure by every member to five per cent of the GDP; 3.5 per cent on core defence areas and 1.5 per cent on infrastructure.

The NATO Summit at The Hague on 24-25 June is expected to focus on the “growing security challenges” and expand on the theme.

Neither the economic crisis caused by the tariffs nor the ambiguity over Europe’s security is resolved when the G7 meets. The G7 may have an opportunity to clarify the situation and give a valuable direction to the member-nations.

The US has concluded a trade agreement with the United Kingdom and US talks are going on with China, the EU, Japan and other countries.

Japan and Germany were particularly assured of their defence by the US at the end of the Second Great War. As such, the two countries paid low attention to raising of security systems or forces.

Considering the present security situation, Germany is going ahead with a massive defence budget, while Japan is buying expensive weapon systems from the US and developing its own laser system to shoot down drones, should the Russian ally China create any defence threats.

For Canada, King Charles III in his Throne Speech in Canadian Parliament on 27 May spoke of the need to be vigilant on security. He said “We must be clear-eyed: the world is a more dangerous and uncertain place than at any point since the Second World War. Canada is facing challenges that are unprecedented in our lifetimes.”

No wonder, the Canadian Prime Minister on 9th June announced his government’s programme of “rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces.”

“With this increase, Canada will achieve NATO’s 2 per cent target this year – half a decade ahead of schedule – and further accelerate our investments in years to follow, consistent with our security imperatives. The investment for 2025-26 will be over $9 billion,” he said.

The Canadian defence priorities are better pay for Canadian Armed Forces, new aircraft, armed vehicles, and ammunition, as well as support for projects currently underway and developing new drones and sensors to monitor the seafloor and the Arctic.

Mr Carney said “Canada requires these capabilities to uphold and assert its sovereignty and ensure our defence never becomes dependent on others again.”

The Canadian Prime Minister’s statement concerning sovereignty assumes significance in view of the Canadian citizens’ reaction to Mr Trump’s remarks that Canada should join the United States as its 51st State.

Mr Trump made the remarks before Mr Carney’s election and repeated them during a joint media interaction with Mr Carney at the White House. Mr Carney emphatically said Canada is not for sale.

The Ukraine-Russia war rages on in all its intensity for over three years and threatens to disrupt peace in Europe, making its nations scurrying for security assurance either from the US, or from a defence group of their own.

Mr Trump committed himself publicly to bring peace in Ukraine at the earliest but there is no sign of his extensive efforts producing any result in the near future. After a talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said it would be okay to let the two boys fight for some time as they were not interested in being pulled away.

The G7 is meeting under the shadow of many other international developments of significance. A major international fund-giver, the US under Mr Trump’s leadership distanced itself not just from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but also the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council.

In a Presidential order on 4th February, Mr Trump said the United States helped found the United Nations (UN) after World War II to prevent future global conflicts and promote international peace and security. 

“But some of the UN’s agencies and bodies have drifted from this mission and instead act contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism,” Mr Trump said.  

The US Administration is blocking funds to Ivy League universities, particularly Harvard. These universities attract students from all over the world, including G7 members. 

Never before such a crisis has afflicted the world’s most noted educational and research centres. The G7 may consider the issue.

 “Canada has what the world wants and the values to which others aspire. The G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis is a moment for Canada to work with reliable partners to meet challenges with unity, purpose, and force. Canada is ready to lead.” 

— The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada