LONDON — An audience with the Queen will highlight Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first full day in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, as he nears the end of a three-country tour that has already taken him to Peru and France.
The real work will come when the prime minister sits down with his British counterpart, Theresa May, as the two leaders look to compare notes on everything from Syria and Russia to Brexit and the Commonwealth.
Trudeau arrived in London on Tuesday night following a two-day stop in France where he and French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to strike up a solid political alliance aimed at advancing progressive policies on the world stage.
The U.K. is one of Canada’s most important allies, and Trudeau has been steadfast in supporting May’s criticism of Russia following the poisoning of a former Russian spy last month and last week’s airstrikes in Syria by British, French and U.S. forces.
However, Trudeau isn’t on the same wavelength with May the way he is with Macron, which suggests the tone and substance of the discussion could be very different.
The focus will be on laying the groundwork for a Canada-U.K. free trade agreement after Britain leaves the European Union, as well as mutual efforts to push back against Russian aggression and defending democracy in Europe.
Trudeau will also seek to get May to buy into Canada’s priorities for the G7, which includes stepping up the fight against climate change and advancing Trudeau’s push for progressive trade and gender equality.
Success would give Trudeau two key allies — May and Macron — at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has withdrawn from a key climate-change agreement and launched unprecedented attacks on free trade.
The prime minister is also expected to meet with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and representatives from various island states in advance of Thursday’s Commonwealth leaders’ summit.
Trade will top the summit’s agenda — particularly in the face of Britain’s imminent departure from the EU and a natural impulse to look to its former colonies as new trade partners.
Brexit is also being seen as a potential catalyst for re-energizing the Commonwealth, thanks to a newly engaged British government, following years of questions about the organization’s importance.
The meeting, whose participants include a number of African and Asian countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is also expected to tackle concerns about human rights and democracy.
One issue close to Trudeau’s heart that won’t get individual billing during the London meeting, however, will be LGBTQ rights; member states have taken it off the agenda.