National News

President Donald Trump, left, shares a moment with Prime Minister Mark Carney during a summit to support ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

AP Photo/Amr Nabil

Carney talked trade with Gulf countries at Egypt peace summit

By The Canadian Press

Published 12:36 PDT, Wed October 15, 2025

Last Updated: 2:26 PDT, Wed October 15, 2025

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Prime Minister Mark Carney used a hastily convened meeting with world leaders at U.S. President Donald Trump's peace summit in Egypt on Monday to push for deeper trade ties with several countries in the Middle East.

A senior government official, speaking on background due to the sensitivity of diplomatic talks, told The Canadian Press the meeting led to both productive talks on postwar plans for Gaza and helpful discussions on deepening Canada's economic and diplomatic relationships in the Persian Gulf region.

The source said when Trump was hours late for the gathering, world leaders, who were stuck in the same room without the standard diplomatic formalities and intermediaries, took part in discussions that were more frank and personal than the usual exchanges at these events.

As Canada looks to pivot from over-dependence on trade with the United States to more diverse trade ties with other nations, Europe has been Ottawa's number 1 target. But the Gulf region, where Canada has had little presence in the past, is emerging as a close second, the official said.

On the margins of the trip, Carney spoke with top officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

The official said these discussions were part of ongoing conversations about foreign investment, trade agreements and closer co-operation.

The source said Carney's team scrambled to make it to the hastily organized summit and was forced to charter a private flight to Egypt, since Canadian military aircraft — the standard mode of travel for a prime minister — were all tied up elsewhere.

The Canadian journalists who normally attend every foreign trip made by the prime minister were left behind entirely, preventing them from keeping up with Carney on the ground or posing questions at the time.

That led the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa to release a statement criticizing the omission of journalists from the trip.

The prime minister stood alongside other world leaders in Egypt on Monday for the signing of a peace plan to end the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war. Carney described it as an "historic moment."

"The Summit for Peace marked the start of a new chapter for Israelis, Palestinians and the world," Carney said in a post on social media Tuesday.

Canada is looking at unlocking more humanitarian aid and expanding existing work on Palestinian security reform — part of Operation Proteus, Canada’s military task force in Jerusalem, which is helping to train the Palestinian Authority Security Forces.

While Ottawa is looking to assist a stabilization task force, it's not likely to put any troops on the ground in a peacekeeping role because Indonesia has already committed up to 20,000.

– Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press