Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has said the UK should “team up” with a proposed economic alliance between Canada and Europe.
“This is all about the substance, to build an alliance of the future,” Minister Champagne told the BBC. “The world has changed. America has changed. So we need to change.”
His comments come after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed “opening the door” to an associate EU membership for Canada, an unprecedented move for the EU.
Minister Champagne said the UK and Canada had shared values.
“We need to look at partnership in a different way and the great thing is that when you look at Canada – and I would say the United Kingdom – we share the same values. We are very aligned in our vision of the world. Why don’t we team up?” he said.
“We are independent and sovereign, but we are stronger together.”
BBC: UK should ‘team up’ with Canada in new Europe alliance, Canadian minister tells BBC