Though it’s been pegged as an informal meeting, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were expected to keep free-trade discussions on the table when they met for dinner on Wednesday evening.
Harper hosted the German Chancellor at his Harrington Lake retreat in Gatineau, Que. for a two-hour long meeting that doesn’t involve aides or an agenda.
Fresh off of a summer holiday, Merkel is visiting as part of her first bilateral trip to Canada, though she was present at the G8 and G20 summits in Ontario two years ago.
She landed in Ottawa Wednesday afternoon and was greeted by a large delegation of dignitaries, including Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
CTV News Channel’s Mercedes Stephenson noted that both Harper and Merkel are expected to approach the meeting with different priorities, albeit similar interests.
Harper has indicated that he will raise the issue of a possible free-trade pact between Canada and the European Union. Merkel, on the other hand, faces a battle for re-election in late 2013 and mounting pressure over the Eurozone debt crisis.
Though their chief concerns differ, the two conservatives share common ground when it comes to the economy -- championing austerity, not government spending.
“Exactly how they see going about particular policies might differ, but the big picture here is that they have the same interests on the agenda,” Stephenson said.
Harper has made it clear that before the end of the year he would like to see a trade deal between Canada and the 27-country trading bloc in place. It’s estimated that such an agreement could mean a $12 billion boost to Canada’s economy each year.
Stakeholders have suggested that talks on the subject are nearing a fragile, final round and Merkel is being careful to temper her public comments, or risk scuttling the deal.
A German official who spoke to the Canadian Press on the condition of anonymity noted that any cautiousness on Merkel’s part shouldn’t be mistaken for disinterest.
"We are very much interested in having success. We are in sort of an endgame," the German official told CP. "Our interest is big."
Speaking to News Channel on Wednesday, Stephenson noted that while Merkel doesn’t have the final say on a possible EU free-trade pact, she has considerable sway.
“Germany really is having to become the backbone financially for a lot of Europe,” said Stephenson. “She is very influential, given how much the Germans are having to contribute to make sure that this crisis doesn’t become worse.”
While Harper can stand to benefit from Merkel’s support, compromises might be in order when the two politicians come together on Wednesday evening.
Tensions were palpable last November when Harper indicated that Canada will not pony up any money to assist with a European bailout plan. At the time, Harper said that Europe was equipped with plenty of resources to deal with its own debt problems.
But John Johnston, Chief Strategist at Davis-Rea Ltd., says that Harper might have to change his tune or risk undoing progress on the free-trade pact.
“There’s going to have to be compromise on key issues and providing some financial support for the Eurozone will be key,” he told News Channel on Wednesday.
Such concessions, suggested Johnston, are in Canada’s own interest.
“Canada has to realize that if the European economy blows up, we’re going to get torn apart by shrapnel,” he said.
Observers, meanwhile, are calling for Harper and Merkel to use their meeting to address Iran’s nuclear program and condemn the state for “inciting genocide.”
Inciting genocide is a crime under the United Nations Genocide Convention, designed in the late 1940s to prevent atrocities such as ones seen in Srebrenica and Rwanda.
“It calls on state parties, like Canada and Germany, to hold Iran to account,” Former justice minister Irwin Cotler told News Channel on Wednesday.
The informal dinner between Harper and Merkel will be followed by a more traditional meeting on Thursday morning in Harper’s Parliament Hill office.
The chief executives of 10 companies, including Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Canada's CAE Inc., which manufactures defence simulators, will also attend a business luncheon with Merkel and Harper.
Before she heads back to Germany on Thursday, Merkel also plans to visit Dalhousie University in Halifax where she’s scheduled to host a roundtable meeting on oceans research.
The visit is expected to bolster ties between the Marine Research Institute at Dalhousie and the Helmholtz Association in Berlin.
