TORONTO — Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette formally asked Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to grant Quebec special status inside a planned Canada-European Union alliance, insisting the province cannot be treated as a spectator while Ottawa rewrites its trade and foreign policy.Fréchette said Quebec needs “a formal seat at the table and direct participation in discussions concerning our own areas of competence and our interests,” citing the province’s existing roles at the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and UNESCO.Carney welcomed the “ambition” of Canada becoming the European Union’s first associate member in an address Thursday to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, calling it an “alliance for the future” amid a trade war with the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has already warned that a Canada-EU pact he views as hostile could trigger heavy tariffs or a broader rupture, and Carney has said Canada is not seeking full EU membership and that any deal would go to Parliament for a vote.Fréchette said she supports closer ties with Europe to diversify markets, but argued Quebec is “a distinct nation” and a strategic partner in energy, critical minerals, aerospace, defence and artificial intelligence..WATCH: Poilievre warns of EU taxes after surprise Canada ‘associate member’ pitch.La Presse reported Quebec already has representatives at six Canada-EU sectoral tables set up to define the new status, with a Canada-EU summit scheduled for Montreal on October 29 and 30.The request raises a familiar problem for Western Canada. If Quebec obtains a formal seat on energy and minerals files inside a European partnership, Alberta and Saskatchewan will ask why oil, gas, uranium and potash would not receive the same direct voice. Special status for one province would be a Quebec exception dressed up as national policy, and any new EU-facing bureaucracy or market-access spend would still come from the federal treasury.Ottawa has not put a price on the alliance, and Carney has not answered Fréchette’s demand.
