Carney lays out Canada's G7 summit priorities while managing a complicated guest list

With one week to go until G7 leaders gather in Alberta, Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced his priorities for the meeting and is managing a guest list that lays bare fault lines in some of Canada's international relationships.

The G7 leaders summit will be held in Kananaskis from June 15 to 17. On Saturday, Carney said Canada will "seek agreements and co-ordinated action" on three core missions.

The first is protecting Canadian communities and the world by strengthening peace and security, countering foreign interference as well as transnational crime and improving joint responses to wildfires.

The second is "building energy security and accelerating the digital transition" through fortifying critical mineral supply chains and using artificial intelligence to boost economic growth.

Finally, Carney said Canada will push to secure new partnerships that will catalyze "enormous private investment to build stronger infrastructure, create higher-paying jobs and open dynamic markets where businesses can compete and succeed."

Those international goals tie closely to Carney's domestic agenda. 

Earlier this week, the Liberal government tabled the One Canadian Economy Act — a bill it says will eliminate federal barriers to internal trade and explain how nation-building infrastructure projects will be identified and approved faster.

Many provinces are eager to take Carney up on nation-building plans, especially provinces ready to extract more critical minerals for their regions.

B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix said one project on his mind is the North Coast Transmission Line, which would expand the province's electricity system and could unlock more critical mineral extraction in B.C.'s northwest.

"It's a project that exists. We're working with First Nations on [it] right now. That's a significant project," Dix said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is pushing to use powers in his government's recently passed Bill 5 to designate the mineral-rich Ring of Fire as a special economic zone, where cabinet can exempt companies and projects from having to comply with any provincial law, provincial regulation or municipal bylaw.

Ford put the Ring of Fire at the top of his list presented to Prime Minister Mark Carney for consideration as a potential nation-building project.

Carney came under fire earlier this week when it was announced he'd invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit just months after the RCMP accused his government of acts of murder, extortion and coercion.

The prime minister defended the move and said on Friday that India and Canada "have now agreed importantly to continued law enforcement dialogue. So there's been some progress on that."