Paul St-Pierre Plamondon to meet with Mark Carney after Canada-EU summit tension

Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has agreed to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney before the Francophonie Summit in November. 

St-Pierre Plamondon made the announcement in a social media post, and it comes after days of tension between the two leaders.

St-Pierre Plamondon did not attend the Canada-European Union Summit in Montreal last week after Ottawa refused to grant him official speaking rights. 

Carney told daily newspaper La Presse in an interview published Saturday that he wanted to meet St-Pierre Plamondon to set common goals and ensure good relations between Ottawa and Quebec. 

St-Pierre Plamondon, who became premier after his Parti Québécois won a minority government in last month's provincial election, thanked Carney for what he called his change of tone.

He said he was accepting the invitation as long as the meeting took place in Quebec City.

“Unsurprisingly, I simply ask that this meeting be held in accordance with Quebec law, specifically the Act Respecting the National Capital Commission, which stipulates that meetings of this nature must take place in Quebec City,” wrote St-Pierre Plamondon.

The Canada-EU summit, which took place on Thursday and Friday, brought together Canadian and European leaders including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

The federal government said that St-Pierre Plamondon had been invited to dinner with EU representatives, but had not been given a speaking role at the summit.

St-Pierre Plamondon accused Ottawa of muzzling him.

"The federal government would have us believe that giving the Quebec premier permission to serve shrimp cocktails at a reception constitutes an acceptable and sufficient form of influence in representing Quebec's interests," he wrote on social media on Tuesday.

He later announced he would not be attending the summit, sending newly-appointed chief diplomat Pascal Paradis in his place.

"He was invited to the dinner and he refused," Carney told reporters in Ottawa, also on Tuesday. "It's his decision to leave the chair empty."

In his post on Sunday, St-Pierre Plamandon looked back on the summit, writing that Quebec was "relegated to the status of an extra" and that the federal government had not recognized the province's “existence and right to be at the discussion table.”

St-Pierre Plamondon also did not attend the First Nations-First Ministers meeting in Ottawa early last week, saying he wanted to prioritize a different approach with Indigenous peoples.

The Francophonie Summit, scheduled for Nov. 14–16, will take place in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. St-Pierre Plamondon is set to lead the Quebec delegation there. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2026.

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