Statement By The Prime Minister Of Canada

June 04, 2010

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today made the following remarks at the conclusion of his meetings with François Fillon, Prime Minister of the French Republic, and Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic.
 
“Thank you François.  Thank you ladies and gentleman.  It is always a pleasure to be here in France, one of our closest friends in the world.  We had good discussions today with Prime Minister Fillon and President Sarkozy.  I look forward to welcoming President Sarkozy to Muskoka and Toronto. 
 
“On the G-20, we discussed the importance of restoring the health of the global economy by entrenching our recovery and laying the foundations for sustainable and balanced growth according to the framework that we agreed to in Pittsburgh. Positive signs of recovery are out there, but we are not out of the woods.  As I mentioned before, European financial developments are a concern, but we do welcome the measures that have been taken to address the situation. 
 
“We need to follow through on the existing G-20 commitments we have made at three successive summits now, Washington, London and Pittsburgh, including our commitment to stimulus.  These measures have to be undertaken to avoid backsliding into recession, but as stimulus expires, the next challenge will be the restoration of public finances, including the implementation of clear and realistic plans for reducing deficits, and returning to balanced budgets, and this will be an additional focus in Toronto.  We also discussed other areas, developing global growth strategies, the need for financial sector reform and of course the importance of continuing to resist protectionism.
 
“On the G-8, we discussed the maternal and child health initiative.  France is a strong supporter of these ideas.  We agreed on the importance for the G-8 to work with the United Nations and to support UN-led processes focussing on maternal, newborn and child health.  We also discussed the G-8’s leading role on issues like peace and security, for example in Afghanistan, terrorism, organized crime and other such issues.  A major theme of our G-8 will be accountability, ensuring that the G-8 lives up to its past commitments.  We are working closely with France and our other G-8 and G-20 partners in the lead-up to these summits. 
 
“We are of course also working with France on the historic negotiations of free trade that are taking place these days between Canada and the European Union, and I look very much forward to hosting President Sarkozy.  France is, as I have said before, always one of the most important voices at the tables of these international summits.  I look forward to seeing President Sarkozy again, and, also, I am very aware of the fact that at the end of 2010, both the G-8 presidency and the G-20 presidency will be passed to France for 2011.”