Carney's offer to grant me the right to sit at his head table as a spectator, without speaking rights or the right to negotiate on behalf of Quebec

As premier, I will always refuse to see Quebec reduced to the role of spectator when it comes to representing and protecting the economic and political interests of Quebecers.

The reality is that we are facing a strategy of marginalizing Quebec on the international stage and subordinating Quebec's areas of jurisdiction to the will of the federal government. In this regard, I note that all the party leaders in the National Assembly indicated yesterday that if they were in the position of premier and faced with such a summit on Quebec territory, they would expect to take the floor and participate fully. In Ottawa, the leader of the Official Opposition as well as the leader of the Bloc Québécois have also supported our request.

I therefore took up my pen and wrote to the representatives of the European Union to remind them that agreements involving Europe and Quebec must necessarily go through the Government of Quebec, and all the more so if the summit is held on our territory. The refusal to give us the floor as host to welcome our guests is also mentioned there.

I therefore extend the invitation for a bilateral discussion in a better context that would allow Quebec not to be excluded. In this regard, I will send Quebec's chief diplomat, Pascal Paradis, to open these channels of discussion for the future.

News from around the world