Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet again with France's prime minister Thursday morning on Parliament Hill, where the two are expected to discuss Canada-EU trade talks and sign agreements on research co-operation and youth mobility.
Jean-Marc Ayrault met with Harper on Wednesday afternoon, and the two attended a dinner for Ayrault that evening.
The Canadian Press is reporting France and Canada will sign a joint declaration Thursday on a research co-operation initiative that will focus on creating biofuels from seaweed in an attempt to burnish Canada's tarnished reputation in Europe on energy and the environment.
The co-operation deal is also important for the Harper government because Alberta oilsands crude faces the prospect of being labelled as "dirty oil" by a European Union committee.
Though separate from the ongoing and unresolved Canada-EU free trade negotiations, the issue has been a major irritant between Canada and a continent that views it as a laggard on the environment.
Harper said the two would discuss the ongoing Canada-EU free trade negotiations "and some of the economic challenges we have" and "peace and security issues."
Ayrault heralded the completion of the Canada-EU trade talks.
He said in his dinner speech Wednesday night that the deal would be "an even foundation on which to open a new chapter in this transatlantic relationship that will benefit both our countries."
Earlier in the day, International Trade Minister Ed Fast said a small set of difficult issues stood between the conclusion of a comprehensive free trade deal, one that Canada hoped to seal by the end of last year.
"I'm confident that if both parties bring a high level of goodwill to the final stretch of negotiations that we'll be able to get it done," Fast said in an interview with the Canadian Press.
The two leaders will also preside over the signing of a second memorandum — a youth mobility agreement, normally low-level standard fare during a visit of a foreign leader to Ottawa.
But with growing numbers of French young people coming to Canada to seek opportunities because of the high cost of living in recession-ravaged Europe, the deal will aim to increase the number of Canadian young people seeking opportunities in France.
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