The G7’s foreign ministers are huddling in Quebec’s Charlevoix region today, and Canada’s Mélanie Joly is turning up the heat. With U.S. tariffs hammering the border, she’s urging allies to slap back at Washington’s “coercion”—a not-so-subtle dig at Donald Trump’s dream of swallowing Canada whole. The Liberals are hosting heavyweights from the U.S., Japan, and Europe, and Joly’s wasting no time, meeting EU, U.K., and French reps last night before facing off with U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio this morning.
Rubio’s sidestepping Trump’s statehood chatter, sticking to global crises like Haiti and Sudan. Ukraine’s ceasefire pitch—tied to Russian concessions—hangs heavy over the talks. Allies? Mum so far. Germany’s Annalena Baerbock preached calm, dubbing the G7 a beacon of peace, while Italy’s Antonio Tajani shot down annexation talk: “Canada stays Canada.” Joly’s betting on solidarity to keep Trump’s ambitions in check.