Canada must secure concrete results at EU summit in Montreal, former envoy Dion says

Canada is set to host European Union leaders in Montreal this week for a two day summit, and a former top envoy says the federal government needs to come away with measurable outcomes rather than another round of vague promises.

Ahead of the meetings, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a written statement on Sunday that the two sides are working toward what he called a "new, ambitious alliance," building on his pledge last month to deepen ties with Europe. He described it as an alliance that builds resilience for citizens, one "strong enough so that no one can dictate our choices, and an alliance open enough that others can join."

Stéphane Dion, the former Liberal leader who served as Canada's special envoy to the EU from 2017 to 2025, made clear that expectations for the gathering are high. "What we need to see now is concrete results in all these files: trade, science, defence and security, artificial intelligence, concrete results of this partnership we have with the EU," Dion told CBC's David Common on Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday morning.

Dion warned against a repeat of past gatherings that produced only words. If the summit ends with "a kind of a communiqué at the end that would say 'we will continue to continue,' that would be very depressing," he said.

He also pointed to student and professional mobility between Canada and the EU as an area ripe for improvement. Carney signaled interest in that direction during his speech to the European Parliament last month, when he showed clear enthusiasm for Erasmus+, the popular European exchange program that covers both students and workers.

Another priority for Dion is bringing the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, known as CETA, into full effect. The free trade deal was signed in 2016, and most of it, apart from its investment chapter, has applied provisionally since 2017. Full implementation requires approval from every EU member state, and nine have yet to ratify the treaty in their legislatures: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and Poland.

In the run up to the summit, Canada and the EU are also negotiating a digital trade agreement intended to ease cross border business. The talks cover smoothing frictions around e-signatures and e-contracts, paperless trade, secure cross border data flows, duties on electronic transmissions and e-commerce.

The broader shape of the relationship remains unsettled. Last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted to open the door for Canada to become the bloc's first "associate member." Carney welcomed the proposal's ambition but opted for the term "alliance of the future" when he addressed the European Parliament a day later. Dion expressed skepticism, saying, "I'm not sure that this expression of an associate membership will fly," noting resistance on both sides of the Atlantic. In Canada, he said, it sounds as though the country would send part of its sovereignty to Brussels, while Europeans see Canada gaining the union's advantages without its obligations on financing and regulatory alignment.

As alternatives, Dion suggested Canada could become an "official observer," a limited status offering reciprocity without a vote or elected positions, and pursue full membership in the European Political Community, a forum where European countries beyond the EU's member states meet twice a year. He said the community would welcome Carney as leader of "the most European of non-European countries," and that Canada could take part without commitments on financing or regulatory alignment.