The high economic officials of the G7 have been locked up for a full day of discussions behind closed doors at Banff, Alta., To examine pressing issues, including the global economy and war in Ukraine.
The meeting between the group’s finance ministers and the governors of the Central Bank in the Rocosas Mountains is a prelude to the G7 leaders summit in June in the nearby Kananaskis, Alta.
It comes following the global tariffs initiated in early April by the United States, which has caused many countries to reconsider their commercial relations.
With the slopes of Monte Rundle as a backdrop, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and the governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, set their hands and put themselves in a photo with the group on Wednesday morning.
“We brought the sun for you, Minister – Sunshine Canadian,” said Champagne, flanked by two mountains, to Japanese Minister of Finance, Katsunobu Kato, in the courtyard of the Rimrock Resort hotel.
The leaders of the organizations, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Board, are also at the meeting.
“We have a lot of financial reform on the agenda,” Macklem told Klaas Knot, president of the Financial Stability Board.
“I love financial stability, today and tomorrow,” Knot replied.
The Secretary of the United States Treasury, Scott Besent, one of the key architects behind the radical tariffs of President Donald Trump, is also in Banff, along with Jerome Powell, president of the United States Federal Reserve, whom Trump has threatened to shoot several times in recent months.
Besent and Champagne exchanged a friendly handshake at the opportunity of photos. “It’s great to have you here,” Champagne said.
In a previous statement, Besent’s office said he plans to use the meeting to “focus on the need to address global economic imbalances and non -market practices.”
Champagne said on Tuesday that the “spirit around the table is constructive”, when it comes to its discussions with the United States.
The ministers did not take questions from the media and are not expected to comment on the meeting until it will be wrapped on Thursday.
After photos broke, the officials marched to the doors of the hotel in pairs.
“We are going to work,” Champagne said as he directed them inside.
The G7 comprises Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union as a “not listed member.”
