Today's Date:

Ladies and gentlemen,

Pierre Pettigrew and I have just had a particularly warm, friendly meeting, which is normal between our two countries. (...)

FRANCE/CANADA

Firstly, our bilateral relations are excellent and very long-standing; I’m not going to go back over their history, celebrated by the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the first French settlement in North America. (...)

HAITI

Pierre Pettigrew and I (...) talked about the major issues of concern to both our countries: stability and peace in the world. I want, for example, to talk about the work we can and want to do together for Haiti’s political and economic reconstruction.

Haiti has close ties with Canada. Many Haitians live in Canada. Haiti has close ties with France not just linguistic but also geographical ones with our Overseas Departments and Territories. In that country’s period of fragile stability, I think that, in the United Nations framework, with other countries of South and Central America, we can play a part in Haiti’s political and economic reconstruction.

AFRICA/DARFUR/IRAQ/MIDDLE EAST

We also talked about the major Africa issues. I’m thinking particularly of the efforts – which we have to step up – to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur. We talked, too, about Iraq and the Middle East.

I want to say that I had a feeling of complete harmony at a personal and political level during this meeting and with our colleagues. I’d also like to tell you that we’re delighted about Prime Minister Paul Martin’s visit here to Paris on 13 and 14 October. It will be the opportunity, at head-of-State-and-government level, to continue these relations and make them even better. (...)./.