Meetings in Germany
On his visit to Germany on August 26, Prime Minister Mark Carney met with the Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, "to promote stronger economic co-operation and address pressing global security challenges," Global Affairs Canada reported. Carney is also said to have met "with senior corporate leaders to encourage new investment opportunities and secure resilient supply chains in energy and natural resources -- especially critical minerals."
Carney
was accompanied by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Tim
Hodgson, the Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for
Canada
Economic Development for Quebec Regions, Mélanie Joly, and the
Minister of National Defence, David J. McGuinty.
A "new partnership between Canada and Germany on critical minerals and energy" was announced in a statement from the Prime Minister's office on August 26. It announces "a Joint Declaration of Intent to deepen co-operation to secure critical mineral supply chains, increase collaboration on research and development, and co-fund new critical mineral projects that contribute to a range of industries -- from electric vehicle manufacturing to defence and aerospace." It states, "Today's announcement builds on commitments from the 2025 G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, where leaders announced the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan and welcomed the Critical Minerals Production Alliance."
Each country named a Special Envoy "to advance this partnership." For Canada this is Isabella Chan, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the Lands and Minerals Sector at Natural Resources Canada, and for Germany, Matthias Koehler, Deputy Director General of Raw Materials Policy in the German government.
Several agreements between Canadian and German companies were announced in the statement.
Carney and Chancellor Merz reaffirmed their support for the U.S./NATO proxy war in Ukraine. Reiterating the wording from Poland, the statement says that they underlined that "no decisions about Ukraine should be taken without Ukraine, and no decisions about Europe should be taken without Europe."
They also discussed collaboration on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen via the Canada-Germany Energy Partnership (an initiative of National Resources Canada and Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy established in March 2021) and the Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance (Joint Declaration of Intent to establish this was signed on August 23, 2022 in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador) "to develop a transatlantic hydrogen trade corridor that supports the clean energy transition and strengthens energy security."
On August 25 the Canadian government had announced that it has narrowed the list of contenders for the contract to build the navy's new submarines to two bidders -- Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and south Korea's Hanwha Ocean Ltd. Carney was asked in Germany whether Canada would negotiate with a preferred bidder or have a full competition, to which he answered only that the process would be "fair and transparent." Apparently so fair and transparent that the people are to know nothing about it. Carney did visit the TKMS shipyard on August 26 and said he would visit the Hanwha yard in south Korea this fall.
Energy Minister's Speech to Canadian and German Businesses
On August 27 Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson, accompanying Carney in Germany, delivered a speech at the Canadian Embassy in Berlin entitled "Securing the Future: Advancing Canada–Germany Cooperation on Transatlantic Energy Security." He opened his remarks with the statement that "Germany is the economic anchor of Europe, a continent contending with its deadliest war since the Second World War," and that Canada is experiencing a trade dispute with the U.S. and that, in his capacity as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, "that means we are urgently rethinking how we develop, export and leverage our energy and natural resources."
Hodgson's focus was how to present Canada as a desirable market that is wide open for German businesses to invest in, citing his expertise working in private finance capital as his credentials. He said:
"As someone who has spent much of my career allocating capital, I know what is on the minds of the business leaders in this room, German and Canadian alike: Can projects get approved on time? Will the rules stay stable after the investment decision is made? Can supply chains scale fast enough to meet the market window?
"Can supply chains scale fast enough to meet the market window? [i.e., being able to meet periods of high demand and thus make maximum profits.]
"Everything I will cover today ties back to one question: How do we make Canada investable at scale to support our own industries and our closest allies?
"The answer begins with a piece of legislation the new Canadian Parliament passed at the end of June, the Building Canada Act.
"This is the most important reform to how Canada builds major projects in decades. It allows us to designate and quickly advance projects of national interest: energy, mining and infrastructure that drive GDP and diversify and open export markets. It encourages governments, departments, industry and Indigenous Peoples to work together instead of in silos. It creates decision timelines and accountability through a new Major Projects Office, launching later this week." As salesmen for energy and war monopolies, Carney does not mention that the Building Canada Act continues to be widely opposed and rejected by Indigenous Peoples and the peoples of Canada and Quebec.
He went on to say that Canada is diversifying its trade relations to reduce reliance on the U.S. He said:
"With our allies abroad, we are developing new and stronger partnerships around the world to support an industrial strategy based on catalyzing investment; enhancing and diversifying trade; shoring up national security and supply chains; creating high-paying careers; and making Canada a clean and conventional energy superpower.
"With Germany, we are advancing our mutually beneficial economic and security partnership, including by leveraging pre-existing opportunities under CETA and partnering in areas from critical minerals to energy, defence and security."
He argued that Russia has used "energy as a weapon in its military action in Ukraine launched in 2022," what he called a reminder that energy is not just about economics. "It is about national security. It is core to the success of industry and manufacturing. And it is about sovereignty." Hodgson said that Canada can be the partner for Germany so that "2022 never happens again for any resource because Canada and Germany have shared interests and shared values."
Hodgson said, "We both believe in democracy and free markets; we both believe in the rules-based international order; and we both believe that the resources needed to defend borders, keep factory lights on and heat families' homes should never be used as political weapons."
"In plain terms, we are shifting Canada from debating 'whether' to build, to focusing on 'how' to build. We are moving from delay to delivery -- delivery to Canadians at home and to allies abroad. For investors in this room, that means more certainty that once you commit capital, projects will actually get built. It means Canada is once again open for business," Hodgson said.
Saying that Canada can provide Germany with a secure supply of energy, he focused on LNG. When Germany buys Canadian LNG it is a supply that "cannot be turned off by politics or coercion" and will meet Germany's climate goals. He also touted clean Canadian hydrogen and that projects to deliver it to Germany are advancing.
On critical minerals, Hodgson emphasized that China dominates supply which is a risk to German and Canadian industries, competitiveness and sovereignty.
He ended his speech with a quote from Konrad Adenauer who he called one of Germany's greatest statesmen. "When everybody else thinks it's the end, we have to begin" This is "the beginning of an energy and security partnership that will steer our continents forward for the next four years and the next four decades," he said.
Konrad Adenauer served as the first chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is known for having waylaid the process of de-Nazification in West Germany in the name of economic recovery.
This article was published in
Volume 55 Number 10 - October 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/M5501014.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca