Adedokun Waliyu 
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to embark on an eight-day international tour immediately after Wednesday’s Remembrance Day commemoration in Ottawa.
Immediately after the commemoration at the National War Memorial, Carney will board CANFORCE ONE for a week of international summits across two continents.
Carney will arrive in Dublin, Ireland, late Wednesday afternoon to attend the European Political Community (EPC) summit, which kicks off Thursday.
Canada will be the only non-European country at the summit, which is aimed at strengthening European security in the wake of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Attending the summit also aligns with the Prime Minister’s push to move Canada’s trade and defence relationships away from the United States and towards Europe, aligning with the Prime Minister’s Office ambition to obtain so-called “associate” membership in the European Union.
From Europe To Asia — The Long Way
From there, CANFORCE ONE will backtrack across the Atlantic and cross the Pacific — a route that avoids overflying Russian airspace — to arrive in the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, scheduled to begin Sunday in Manila.
Canada is an invited guest of the 11-nation ASEAN bloc, where officials are expected to finalise a pair of trade deals.
Carney is scheduled to meet Filipino President Bongbong Marcos on Saturday before making a plenary address to leaders on the summit’s first day.
At the same time the ASEAN summit kicks off, the Francophonie summit will also open in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Carney is scheduled to attend early next week.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, Quebec’s new premier, is also expected to attend.
Next Stop: China
After Cambodia, the Prime Minister will depart for Shenzhen, China, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which begins next Wednesday.
Carney is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday. Xi is also scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the same summit.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to return to Ottawa next Thursday.
