HAMILTON, Canada

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly reaffirmed Friday the country's sovereignty during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' summit in Quebec's Charlevoix.

Describing her meeting with Rubio as "very long," Joly said at a closing news conference following the three-day G7 meeting. "I wanted to be able to have a frank conversation with him. Of course, Canada's sovereignty is not up for debate, and we had a long conversation on tariffs and trade."

Emphasizing Canada's firm stance in discussions with Rubio, she noted that Canada's approach with the US on tariffs is that the government intends to apply "maximum pressure" on Washington while also exploring alternative solutions.

Joly stressed that the US President Donald Trump's tariffs would ultimately harm American interests, reinforcing Canada's solid stance on the issue.

She further noted Canada's sovereignty in her discussion with Rubio, saying, "What I said to the secretary is 'Canada sovereignty is not up to debate. Period. There's no argument, there's no conversation about it. There's no need to talk about it, you're here, you respect us, you respect our sovereignty, you're in our country, you respect our people, period'."

Asked about Canadian Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney's upcoming first official visit to the European Union, Joly highlighted the importance of strengthening ties with Europe amid economic uncertainties, including potential US tariffs.

"Canada wants to foster new partnerships in the world," she said, adding that "We want to be closer to Europe. We want to be closer to the UK."

She reaffirmed Canada's need to "diversify" its economy.

On G7 talks, Joly said the foreign ministers were able to find strong G7 unity on a variety of issues that were discussed."

"I would like to highlight in particular is the one linked to Ukraine," she said, adding that all G7 ministers agreed to US-proposed ceasefire deal.

A three-day G7 foreign ministers meeting began Wednesday in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, with "peace and stability" topping its agenda.

The G7 is an informal forum that brings together Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US.