Parliamentary Secretary Oliphant to visit Tallinn, Estonia

News release

The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced today that the Honourable Robert Oliphant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, will visit Tallinn, Estonia, from September 5 to 7, 2023.

While in Estonia – a key NATO Ally –, Parliamentary Secretary Oliphant will attend the Tallinn Digital Summit, which brings together leaders from the public and private sectors to discuss important digital issues societies face amid the global challenges of the 21st century - including strengthening democracies, cybersecurity, and the increasing impact of artificial intelligence. As part of the Summit, he will participate in a discussion on rethinking and reshaping resilience of our digital societies as the world increasingly experiences unpredictability, uncertainty and geopolitical disruption.

As part of his bilateral engagement, Parliamentary Secretary Oliphant will meet with elected and senior officials of Estonia, including Marko Mihkelson, Chair of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Kalev Stoicescu, Chair of the Parliamentary National Defence Committee, to exchange on a broad range of common interests, such as support to Ukraine and the expansion of Canada’s diplomatic network in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

Quotes

“Canada and Estonia are close NATO Allies, partners and friends. Together, we share a commitment to security in Eastern Europe and to support Ukraine against Russia’s brutal and illegal war of aggression, as well as to strengthen our digital cooperation. Our recent decision to upgrade Canada’s office in Tallin to a full embassy with a resident ambassador, as part of our expansion of diplomatic presence and capacity in the region, is representative of the warm and growing relations between our two countries.”

- Robert Oliphant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Quick facts

Canada and Estonia, along with Denmark, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and Uruguay, are members of Digital Nations, a group of governments seeking to use technology to improve service delivery.
As part of the expansion of Canada’s diplomatic presence in Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus announced by Minister Joly last year, Canada has converted its office in Estonia—formerly under the purview of the ambassador to Latvia—into a full embassy with a resident ambassador in Tallinn. Canada appointed its first ambassador to Estonia in July.

Associated links

Contacts

Emily Williams
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Emily.Williams@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
media@international.gc.ca

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Date modified:: 2023-09-05