Francois Hollande in Canada to drum up trade

President Francois Hollande began the first visit to Canada by a French leader in a quarter of a century on Sunday, flying in to the country’s oil-rich west to drum up transatlantic trade.

A new trade pact between Canada and the European Union is due to come into effect in the coming years, eliminating 98 percent of tariffs on goods and services and potentially boosting commerce by a fifth.

France is keen to win its share of any new deals and to increase research ties with Canadian universities, as well as to pay tribute to a close ally in the struggle against violent extremism.

On Monday, Hollande will speak before Canada’s federal parliament in Ottawa, which less than two weeks ago was the scene of a shootout between police and a lone gunman with jihadist sympathies. Officials told AFP that this would be an ‘important moment’ for Hollande to show solidarity with a country that is fighting alongside France in a US-led coalition against jihadist militants in Iraq.

Then he will head to the French-speaking province of Quebec, which has traditionally had strong economic and cultural ties with France.

France is hoping to persuade the regional government to drop a plan to halt an arrangement that allows French students to pay the same as local people to attend Quebec universities.

But first, Hollande’s journey took him to Alberta, home of Canada’s vast oil reserves. Officials said he was keen to show that France is also interested in stronger ties with English-speaking Canada.The first French president to come to Canada since Francois Mitterrand in 1987 was welcomed to Calgary by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and headed to Banff in the foothills of the Rockies.

The presence of some 40 French business leaders in Hollande’s party was testament to the economic focus of his visit.Hollande and his party were to meet with the leaders of Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, mainly English-speaking provinces in the west with growing economic potential.