NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand opened a meeting of the Group of Seven countries Tuesday by calling for continued collaboration on many of the world’s problems, from Russia’s war in Ukraine to the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.
“Meeting global challenges requires global partnerships,” Anand said.
Anand welcomed G7 foreign ministers to Ontario’s freshly snow-covered Niagara region for a two-day gathering to discuss shared economic and security challenges.
In a world shaken by volatile geopolitics and U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies, Anand is making a push for multilateralism as Canada closes out its presidency of the G7.
“The beauty of the G7 is that it allows multilateralism to do its work,” she said.
Foreign ministers from the other G7 states — France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the European Union — were to take part in a working dinner Tuesday focused on global peace and stability.
Anand also invited foreign ministers from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Ukraine to the gathering.
“The issues we are facing transcend the G7 and our borders,” Anand said. “And this is why it is absolutely vital that we have diverse geographic representation around the table.”
Anand and Prime Minister Mark Carney have been working to diversify Canada’s trade to lessen dependency on the United States in the face of Trump’s tariffs.
Ottawa’s efforts to reset relations with India have offended some Canadians still angry over the 2023 murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. India’s invitation to the foreign ministers’ meeting also received pushback, with the advocacy organization Sikhs For Justice holding a picket near the G7 meetings.
While they are not expressly on the agenda, Trump’s isolationist agenda and widespread use of tariffs are certain to cast a shadow over the gathering.
Trump has long expressed skepticism of multilateral co-operation. Citing his America First agenda, he cut funding to the United Nations and withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change and the World Health Organization.
The president also hit other G7 nations — America’s close allies — with unprecedented tariffs.
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, Anand did not say whether she will talk to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the G7 gathering about bilateral trade negotiations. Trump suspended those negotiations last month after Ontario sponsored a TV ad that featured former American president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
Fen Osler Hampson, an international affairs professor at Carleton University, said “this meeting is a snapshot of a broader challenge facing democracies.”
“How do you build collective security, collective economic security, when your most powerful member sees economic policy primarily through a narrow nationalist lens?” Hampson said.
The G7 still works because it focuses on “narrow, practical co-operation where interests align,” he added.
“Leaders are still meeting. And at the worst of times, perhaps that’s the best you can hope for.”
The G7 gathering on Wednesday will include a discussion with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. Anand said the meeting will reaffirm “our collective support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.”
Russia and Ukraine have been trading almost daily assaults on each other’s energy infrastructure, and U.S.-led diplomatic efforts remain at a standstill.
Rubio has long been a policy hawk on Russia but Trump himself remains inconsistent in his messaging about the war.
Hampson said he will be watching to see whether the G7 issues a strong affirmation of support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity or if Rubio is “reined in by his boss.”
The G7 meeting will also look to the ceasefire in Gaza, which both Hamas and the Israeli military have accused each other of violating.
“Canada certainly welcomes the peace plan and President Trump’s work to end the war in Gaza,” Anand said.
Maritime security is also on the agenda as Canada prepares to open a new consulate in Greenland. Anand said Canada is an Arctic nation and it’s important to have greater engagement with others in the region.
During the March G7 meeting in Quebec, foreign ministers supported a task force to tackle Russia’s shadow fleet of oil-carrying tankers, something for which Canada had lobbied. Hampson said hundreds of shadow fleet vessels have since been sanctioned.
Another key area of discussion will be how G7 nations can collaborate to push back on Chinese dominance of critical minerals and processing.
Trump just negotiated a one-year deal with China to suspend its rare-earth export controls in exchange for lowering tariffs. It’s unclear if Trump’s team will want softer language on China in any joint statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2025.
— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington and The Associated Press
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