Economy and trade on the agenda: Legault and French PM Attal to meeting

Quebec Premier François Legault will meet with the Prime Minister of France, Gabriel Attal, at the National Assembly on Thursday.

The 21st Alternate Prime Ministers’ Meeting (RAPM) is an opportunity to strengthen the Quebec-France relationship and find ways to increase trade, according to the province’s Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon.

“It’s a bit paradoxical that France is Quebec’s second (economic) partner (in Europe), after Germany,” he said in a press scrum on Wednesday. “We’re culturally linked, we have a lot of affinities. We need to change that.”

Last year, merchandise trade between Quebec and France peaked at $5.8 billion.

Imports from France are worth $3.8 billion, while exports from Quebec to France account for $2 billion.

“Clearly, we want to increase,” said Fitzgibbon. “Personally, I don’t think there’s any reason why France shouldn’t be the first country with which Quebec will be doing business.”

Quebec Minister for International Relations Martine Biron said she was “very optimistic” that the Canada-Europe free trade agreement would continue to apply provisionally, despite its rejection by the French Senate three weeks ago.

“Yes, we’re definitely going to discuss it,” said Biron. “The vote really reflects what’s going on in the world. There’s a tug-of-war between free-trade and protectionist positions. Quebec is well positioned, because we have been in Europe for a very long time (…) I think we have to remember that, that we are friends, that we are reliable partners.”

In addition to the economy and trade, the premiers of France and Quebec are scheduled to discuss the French language, immigration, culture, and education at the RAPM.

Québec Solidaire’s (QS) Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said he expects Attal to confirm that his government still values the traditional policy of “non-interference, non-indifference” with Quebec.

In 2008, former president Nicolas Sarkozy broke the agreement of “non-interference, non-indifference” during a visit to Quebec, but his successor François Hollande revived the policy.

“The Sarkozy government’s retreat in 2008 on this historic French policy was a step backwards for the Quebec nation,” said Nadeau-Dubois at a press conference. “We regretted this change in France’s position at the time as independence fighters. We still regret it. We would certainly like the French government to return to this position, which I think was much closer to what Quebecers expect from this great fellow traveller.”

Attal is set to land at the Quebec City airport on Thursday afternoon, followed by a meeting with Legault.

He will also speak with the President of the National Assembly Nathalie Roy and will deliver a speech to the Quebec MNAs.

On Friday, Attal will visit a school in Quebec City and participate in a working session for RAPM, followed by a joint press briefing with Legault.

After a visit to the Salon international du livre de Québec, Attal will travel to Montreal, where he will attend a “high-level economic round table of the premiers of Quebec and France.”

He will conclude his visit by participating in an event organized by the Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain, which will focus on Franco-Quebec partnerships.

The RAPM, originally scheduled for 2020, has been postponed four times.

The COVID-19 pandemic and then elections in France forced the cancellation of the meeting in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The RAPM has been held since 1977, usually every two years.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews