The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, wrapped up a successful trip at the G7 Transport Ministers' Meeting in Milan, Italy, from April 11 to 13, 2024.
Minister Rodriguez highlighted the importance that Canada places on increasing supply chain resiliency to build a stronger middle class in Canada and building a cleaner economy. He also took the opportunity to share Canada's best practices and hear from other G7 countries on innovation, supply chain crisis management, and the energy transition.
As part of the G7 discussions, Canada proposed the creation of a new G7 Working Group on Transport Supply Chains to coordinate efforts of G7 countries. This will increase collaboration, share best practices and explore areas for cooperation to strengthen transportation resiliency and sustainability. Today, Ministers agreed to launch the Working Group.
During his visit, Minister Rodriguez met bilaterally with his counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, and the European Union, during which he discussed areas of cooperation between Canada and our allies to build resilient, secure, and sustainable supply chains for future generations across the G7, as well as the greening of the marine, air, and rail sectors.
Ministers concluded their meetings by issuing a joint declaration to reiterate the G7's shared goal of ensuring safety across all modes of transportation as well as to reaffirm the importance of:
- improving supply chain resilience and sustainability;
- improving accessibility;
- dealing with artificial intelligence and improving cyber security;
- recognizing the role of strategic infrastructure investments;
- mitigating the impacts of global crises on maritime connectivity; and
- engaging with emerging markets and developing countries.
Additionally, Minister Rodriguez highlighted the fourth-year anniversary of the downing of flight PS752 and reiterated the need to ensure the continued safety and security of international civil aviation passengers and crew with the Safer Skies Initiative, to enhance the level of safety and security for travellers in or near conflict zones, and to prevent future tragedies.
At a dedicated session on Ukraine with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, G7 Ministers expressed their concerns about the global impacts of Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression, and discussed G7 coordination on reconstruction of transportation infrastructure to help the Ukrainian people. Minister Rodriguez reiterated Canada's unwavering support for Ukraine. Canada unequivocally condemns Russia's ongoing war of aggression and is committed to Ukraine's recovery. As a founding member of the Common Interest Group for Ukraine (CIG4U), facilitated by the International Transport Forum (ITF), Canada helps co-ordinate support for Ukraine's immediate transport-related needs and long-term transport infrastructure plans.
This is also why Minister Rodriguez announced a new investment of $300,000 to the ITF, under the Clean Transportation System program, to help Ukraine's greener reconstruction of passenger road and rail transportation systems. This funding is a natural expansion of Phase 1 announced in March 2023. Phase 2 will focus on passenger road and rail inter-city and international travel. This important work will speed up recovery, giving the people of Ukraine the modern, well-connected, and sustainable rail and road infrastructure they need to secure a prosperous future.
This G7 meeting also gave Minister Rodriguez the opportunity to lay the groundwork for Canada's G7 presidency in 2025.
