Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance at the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Niigata, Japan

May 13, 2023

Hello everyone. I’d like to start by recognizing the state of emergency and the wildfires in Alberta. I would like to thank the first responders who are working so hard. I also wanted to say that I’ve been hearing this week from friends in the Peace Country, and they asked me to specifically recognize and thank all the farmers who have been taking time off from seeding to plough fire guards for their neighbours and using their water trucks to help with containment.

Just to say to everyone in Alberta: we are there to support and we’re thinking of you.

Hello to everyone at home—and hello from Japan. This week I’ve been attending the meeting of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors held here in Niigata, Japan. And during this meeting I’ve been discussing with our closest allies:

• Our work to friendshore our economies, to make our supply chains more resilient, and to create good jobs for people in Canada and around the world—specifically working together to respond to economic coercion by authoritarian regimes;
• Our determination to continue supporting the people of Ukraine in their heroic fight against Putin’s illegal and criminal war, including discussions about ways to use frozen Russian assets to pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine.

I’d like to underscore that Sergii Marchenko, the Ukrainian Minister of Finance, joined our conversations virtually for the first session, and in fact, his virtual remarks were the opening remarks of this meeting. I think that’s really important.

We talked about ensuring that our efforts to build our clean economies are complementary rather than in conflict. We talked about the need to take action to tackle the existential threat of climate change; the impact of global inflation on people around the world; building a more resilient global financial system; and working with our partners in the Global South who joined us for part of the meeting.

Here in Japan, I have also had productive meetings with:

• Paschal Donohoe, the President of the Eurogroup, and Ireland’s Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform;
• Christian Lindner, Germany’s Minister of Finance;
• Paolo Gentiloni, the EU’s Commissioner for Economy;
• Mathias Cormann, Secretary General of the OECD;
• Sri Mulyani, Indonesia’s Minister of Finance;
• And I will be meeting later today with Jeremy Hunt, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.

This is a consequential moment for the global economy and for democracy around the world.

Whether it is on our response to Putin’s illegal war, making our economies more resilient and defending ourselves against economic coercion, or building clean economies that create good jobs for people around the world, close collaboration on the part of the G7—the world’s leading economies—is more important than ever.

I would like to formally thank Japan’s Minister Suzuki and the Japanese government for their remarkable hospitality this week, and I am looking forward to continuing to work together on the many challenges and opportunities we have been discussing.

Finally, I would like to highlight some very good news.

Yesterday, Bill C-46 received Royal Assent, which means the new one-time Grocery Rebate will provide targeted inflation relief to the Canadians who need it most, starting on July 5, and a $2 billion top-up to the Canada Health Transfer will assist provinces and territories in addressing backlogs and supporting emergency rooms and paediatric hospitals.

This is our government delivering on our plan in the budget to support Canadians and strengthen public health care in Canada, and I want to thank all of the parliamentarians—across party lines—who worked with us to ensure its swift passage.

Thank you very much, and I am happy to answer your questions.