St-Pierre Plamondon also missed a federal meeting with Indigenous leaders and premiers on Monday, an absence criticized by Carney.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the prime minister was “welcome” in Montreal, but that the summit was a federal meeting, with geopolitics being an area of federal responsibility. “With everything going on in the world, we just need to make sure we can come to an agreement with the European Union,” she said. “This is what Quebecers want.”
Despite public wrangling over summit logistics, operational officials described relations between different levels of government as constructive.
Hélène Drainville, Quebec’s general delegate in Brussels, told POLITICO on Monday that federal and provincial officials had established joint working groups to implement the summit’s results.
Quebec is also in talks with the European Investment Bank and DG GROW, the Commission’s industrial department, about the bank’s entry into Canada, she said.
“Right now, all the signals are green,” said Drainville. She stressed, however, that the province “must be at the table” if Ottawa and Brussels reach agreements in its areas of jurisdiction.
Mickey Djuric and Sue Allan contributed reporting from Ottawa.
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