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Guten Morgen, alle zusammen. Hello, everyone.
It is a privilege to be here in Berlin. Thank you to the Canadian Embassy for hosting us and to the German government for its hospitality over the last two days.
We gather at a moment of enormous consequence.
Germany is the economic anchor of Europe, a continent contending with its deadliest war since the Second World War - something many thought we would never see again. Meanwhile, Canada is experiencing a trade dispute with our closest and largest neighbour, re-shaping a relationship that has been the foundation of North America for over a century. In my portfolio as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, that means we are urgently rethinking how we develop, export and leverage our energy and natural resources.
Together, Canada and Germany also face the urgent tasks of securing our respective energy supplies, building resilient supply chains that do not depend on authoritarian actors and navigating the energy transition - all in a world that has become more volatile, more contested and more competitive.
Prime Minister Carney's meetings yesterday with Chancellor Merz, and my conversations with Minister Reiche, underscored this reality. Canada and Germany are entering a new phase of partnership - one that is about far more than trade. It is about security, sovereignty and the ability of democracies to provide for themselves and for each other.
A Shared Lesson: 2022
Let me start with a story that every German in this room remembers and that every Canadian needs to better understand.
In 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine unleashed not just a war on the battlefield but a war that used energy as a weapon. The intensification of the conflict plunged Europe into the worst energy crisis since the 1970s, and Germany faced the harshest energy shock in generations.
German households wondered if the heat would stay on. Industries from BASF's chemical plants in Ludwigshafen, to the steelworks in Duisburg, to Volkswagen's assembly lines in Wolfsburg had to reckon with skyrocketing energy prices and the uncertainty that brought.
It was a stark reminder that energy is not just about economics. It is about national security. It is core to the success of industry and manufacturing. And it is about sovereignty.
As a country built on the foundation of our energy industry, Canada inherently understands this reality. As such, the new Canadian federal government has made a conscious choice to re-centre energy and critical minerals in how we think not only about our domestic affairs but also about Canada's place in the world.
Therefore, my message today is simple: Canada can be the trusted partner Germany needs to ensure that 2022 never happens again for any resource.
Shared Values, Shared Interests
Why is Canada the right partner?
Because we share not just interests but values: we both believe in democracy and free markets; we both believe in the rules-based international order; and we both believe that the resources needed to defend borders, keep factory lights on and heat families' homes should never be used as political weapons.
These values matter, because the world is not standing still. Russia continues its aggression in Ukraine. China is using its global supply chain dominance in critical minerals as leverage, setting export restrictions on the critical minerals that countries require for defence. And authoritarian actors are testing the cohesion of democracies - in particular, G7 and NATO allies - everywhere.
This is why Canada and Germany must - and will - stand together.
Building on the Prime Minister's Visit
Yesterday, Prime Minister Carney and Chancellor Merz advanced our energy and critical minerals cooperation in concrete ways, building on the important work that has been done through the Canada-Germany Energy Partnership since 2021.
Through the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance, Canada announced at the G7 Leader's Meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, that Canada and our like-minded allies will co-fund projects, strengthen R&D and secure the minerals that power EVs, batteries, aerospace and defence from market manipulation and non-market-based competition.
Yesterday, Germany also announced the appointment of its Envoy to the Alliance, who will be a direct counterpart to our Envoy, Isabella Chan. Our two Envoys will work together over the next few months, especially leading up to the G7 Ministerial Meeting in the fall, to connect Canada and Germany on discussions and to work to stockpile and develop critical minerals needed for defence and technology.
We also saw the signing of three agreements between Canadian and German companies - material steps to advance the crucial work I am talking about:
- Troilus Gold Corporation, a Canadian mining company, reached a supply agreement for a significant portion of future copper concentrate production with Aurubis AG, a leading European smelting and recycling group headquartered in Hamburg.
- Torngat Metals, a Quebec-based rare earths development company, and Vacuumschmelze (VAC), a global leader in the production of rare earth permanent magnets, have signed an agreement for the long-term supply of Canadian rare earth oxides to VAC.
- Rock Tech Lithium, a Canadian-German cleantech company, signed a MOU with Enertrag to connect its lithium conversion plant in Guben, Germany, to Enertrag's solar and offshore wind farms, allowing Rock Tech to decarbonize its operations and offer more competitive pricing.
We also committed to explore deeper collaboration on energy, including a transatlantic hydrogen corridor that has long been a focus for our two countries, and an affirmation by Canada that we are indeed interested in supplying Germany with our LNG, should the demand and Canadian infrastructure exist.
I want to make it abundantly clear that the Prime Minister and I are not speaking in the abstract. This is about delivering real projects that strengthen German industry, create Canadian jobs and build transatlantic security. This is about selling Canadian resources to our allies, sooner rather than later.
Catalyzing Investment through the Building Canada Act
As someone who has spent much of my career allocating capital, I know what is on the minds of the business leaders in this room, German and Canadian alike: Can projects get approved on time? Will the rules stay stable after the investment decision is made? Can supply chains scale fast enough to meet the market window?
Can supply chains scale fast enough to meet the market window?
Everything I will cover today ties back to one question: How do we make Canada investable at scale to support our own industries and our closest allies?
The answer begins with a piece of legislation the new Canadian Parliament passed at the end of June, the Building Canada Act.
This is the most important reform to how Canada builds major projects in decades. It allows us to designate and quickly advance projects of national interest: energy, mining and infrastructure that drive GDP and diversify and open export markets. It encourages governments, departments, industry and Indigenous Peoples to work together instead of in silos. It creates decision timelines and accountability through a new Major Projects Office, launching later this week.
For too long, Canadians have relied on the U.S. to do our heavy lifting - industry, defence, manufacturing. With the Prime Minister's announcement on Friday, we are working to preserve that special relationship - for our workers, our businesses and the sake of our economy.
We are laser-focused on the future.
At home in North America, we are laying the groundwork to both successfully negotiate the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement and resolve the remaining trade issues around several strategic sectors, such as steel, aluminum, lumber and canola.
With our allies abroad, we are developing new and stronger partnerships around the world to support an industrial strategy based on catalyzing investment; enhancing and diversifying trade; shoring up national security and supply chains; creating high-paying careers; and making Canada a clean and conventional energy superpower.
With Germany, we are advancing our mutually beneficial economic and security partnership, including by leveraging pre-existing opportunities under CETA and partnering in areas from critical minerals to energy, defence and security.
As the Prime Minister likes to say, we can give ourselves more than any country can take away. It is time to build a stronger Canada and a stronger G7. But we need to rethink and retool our militaries, industries and trade relationships to do so. Building major new infrastructure that kick-starts this process and makes the most of our vast natural resource wealth is how we are choosing to do this.
In plain terms, we are shifting Canada from debating "whether" to build, to focusing on "how" to build. We are moving from delay to delivery - delivery to Canadians at home and to allies abroad.
For investors in this room, that means more certainty that once you commit capital, projects will actually get built. It means Canada is once again open for business.
Energy Security = Industrial Security
Nowhere is this more important than in energy.
Germany's competitiveness depends on reliable, affordable energy. Your chemical plants, your steel mills, your automakers all need a secure supply.
Canada can help. We are uniquely positioned to be both a conventional and a clean energy superpower. We have abundant natural gas reserves, top-tier LNG projects, vast renewable resources, strong hydrogen potential, a first-class nuclear industry and world-class carbon capture expertise.
Let's focus for a moment on LNG, as I know that is of interest to many of you in the room.
Canada has just recently become a global LNG exporter, with the first shipments from LNG Canada Phase I loaded onto ships headed for Asia last month. This is a new frontier for our energy industry, and Canadians are tremendously proud of this achievement.
Our LNG is the lowest-risk and the lowest-carbon in the world. Lowest-risk because - like Germany - Canada is a G7 democracy. That means when you buy Canadian LNG, you are buying supply that cannot be turned off by politics or coercion. And lowest-carbon because Canadian LNG has among the lowest upstream emissions globally, backed by strict methane rules and an 80 percent non-emitting electricity grid.
That matters, because German industry needs reliable supply that also meets Germany's climate goals. For our customers, Canadian LNG is an insurance policy: against volatility, against coercion and against rising carbon costs.
Canada's new government has opened the door to LNG exports. If the demand is here and the infrastructure is built, Canada will deliver. Potential projects are in the earliest of stages, and no route is mapped out for sure. But any proponent who comes forward with a project that features good economics and buy-in from their province and Indigenous people, we will take a good look at it.
At the same time, we are moving to deliver Germany clean Canadian hydrogen via the Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance. Canada has the renewable resources and infrastructure expertise to export hydrogen at scale, and projects are advancing. It is great to have Minister Boudreau here [the Honourable Trevor Boudreau, Nova Scotia Minister of Energy], representing a province that has done some of the most advanced work on hydrogen but also has natural gas reserves.
Canadian hydrogen will support your transition to clean energy and away from relying on Russian or other unreliable sources, and it will be produced in first-of-their-kind, low-emissions facilities on Canada's east coast - less than 3,000 nautical miles away from docking in German ports.
But energy alone is not enough. Germany's industries also need secure access to critical minerals. Your auto sector is electrifying. Your defence sector requires advanced materials. Your Energiewende depends on batteries and grid storage. Without a secure, reliable supply of critical minerals, progress on these goals is not assured, in Germany and beyond.
Right now, China dominates supply. That is a risk to German industries, German competitiveness and German sovereignty. It is a risk to ours in Canada, too.
But Canadian resources and mining can help Germany de-risk this situation. We have the minerals. We have environmental and labour standards a country like Germany prizes. And through the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance, which was advanced this trip, we are working with our partners to build secure, market-based supply chains, free from coercion.
I would expect to see more commercial agreements like the ones signed yesterday, across the energy and natural resource sectors, as an outcome of discussions begun between Canadians and Germans this week.
This is not just economic strategy. It goes beyond rocks in the ground and right to the heart of what a Canada-Germany partnership can do: catalyze a new era of industrial prosperity and national security at a time where it matters more than ever.
Diversification - Selling Canada
I would also like to speak to a point I know this room will appreciate: diversification. This is central to my role, and Germany - as Europe's largest economy - is core to our thinking on this topic.
Let me summarize Canada's pitch for partnership and investment in four words:
- Resources: Canada has the energy and minerals your industries need.
- Stability: A rules-based democracy, trusted globally.
- Responsibility: Best-in-class ESG and labour standards.
- Speed: My focus is getting products to market - your market - fast. And we are putting the full force of our government behind this with the Build Canada Act.
That is why Canada is investable at scale. That is why when you look to take your euros international or to sign an agreement with a partner, think Canada.
Closing
In closing, Germany's economy has shown resilience before - after reunification, after the 2022 shock. Canada has shown resilience too - building prosperity from resource wealth; navigating a neighbour with outsized influence; and modernizing and decarbonizing across one of the world's vastest land masses.
Now, together, we have the chance to write the next chapter.
Canada can supply the lowest-risk, lowest-carbon energy to fuel your industries today and tomorrow. We can provide the critical minerals that underpin your competitiveness, defence and technologies of tomorrow.
And we can do it all as a stable, values-based democracy - open for investment and determined to deliver at the speed today's geopolitics demand.
Our Prime Minister and your Chancellor are charting the course. And Canadian companies are here, ready to partner with you.
So let us seize this moment to build, secure and compete together - to show the world that countries like Canada and Germany punch above their weight and can lead the G7 as pillars of partnership and prosperity.
It may feel like we are living in a time of crisis - a world more chaotic, dangerous and stressful than we envisioned. But in this moment, I think of a quote from one of your greatest statesmen, Konrad Adenauer, who said "When everybody else thinks it's the end, we have to begin."
This is very much just the beginning - of an energy and security partnership that will steer our continents and partners forward for the next four years, and the next four decades.
Vielen Dank. Thank you very much.
