Photo: At the G7 summit on June 17, 2025, in Kananaskis, Alberta, Prime Minister Carney and President Sheinbaum “agreed to deepen bilateral collaboration at the ministerial level, with a focus on trade, energy, agriculture, and security.”
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum will be meeting on September 18-19 in Mexico City.
Media reports highlight that Carney and Sheinbaum could discuss:
-the second-phase expansion of the LNG Canada export terminal (that would be supplied with fracked gas via the Coastal GasLink pipeline built without consent on Wet’suwet’en territory; over a three-year period, 74 people were arrested and detained, included among others, legal observers and members of the media),
-the TC Energy Southeast Gateway pipeline (opposed by campesina, Indigenous peoples and environmental groups, including Greenpeace Mexico),
-the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (that has been linked to 226 attacks against defenders and the militarization of Indigenous territory),
-increased agricultural exports to Canada (avocado production has been linked to drug cartels and deforestation),
-Mexico importing oil from the Trans Mountain pipeline (built without consent on Secwepemc territory in northern British Columbia),
-an expanded CPKC rail network (that could possibly involve the controversial Mayan Train and Interoceanic Corridor megaprojects),
-mining (Mexico reportedly had 58 cases of mining conflicts in 2021, of which 29 were related to Canadian mining projects, according to the Observatory of Mining Conflicts of Latin America),
-a range of other issues.
Land defenders, journalists killed in Mexico
More than 203 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Mexico between 2012 and 2023. Global Witness will be releasing on Wednesday, the day before Carney departs for Mexico City, their latest annual report noting the number of defenders killed in Mexico.
According to Article 19, 163 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, and another 32 are missing. In addition to murders and disappearances, journalists are victims of verbal attacks, espionage and bogus lawsuits.
The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime comments: “Article 19 found that 42 per cent of the attacks are committed by government officials, followed by criminal actors and private entities, but it is the state itself that poses the greatest threat to journalists.”
Issues to be discussed by Carney and Sheinbaum
The Globe and Mail now reports: “Mark Carney heads to Mexico this Thursday [September 18 for a two-day trip where he will meet] with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the National Palace in Mexico City…”
The article continues:
“Business Council of Canada chief executive Goldy Hyder [says] natural gas exports are one way Canada and Mexico could deepen two-way trade through the second-phase expansion at the LNG Canada export terminal.”
“Canadian companies such as TC Energy Corp. and Bombardier Inc. have a significant presence in Mexico. TC Energy built the Southeast Gateway pipeline, a US$3.9-billion, 715-kilometre offshore pipeline that will deliver natural gas to power plants in Mexico’s southeast region. Bombardier has significant manufacturing operations in Mexico.”
“A Mexican official, speaking on background, said Mexico is eager to attract Canadian investment as it modernizes six of its ports and assembles a new shipping route with its Interoceanic corridor that runs a railway line between the Pacific port of Salina Cruz and the Atlantic port of Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf of Mexico.”
“A second Mexican official, also speaking on background, said Mexico would like to boost agricultural sales to Canada, increase two-way tourism and raise the amount of Canadian business investment in the country. The Globe is not identifying the officials because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.”
Last month, Toronto Star business columnist David Olive commented: “Under Sheinbaum’s six-year ‘Plan México’ industrial strategy, Mexico aims to attract about $100 billion (U.S.) in additional annual FDI [foreign direct investment].”
Olive highlights that Alberta is interested in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Mexico and the refining of Trans Mountain pipeline crude oil into diesel and aviation fuels in Mexico.
Olive suggests that talks could lead to TC Energy building more pipelines like their recently completed Southeast Gateway gas pipeline in southern Mexico, an expanded Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railway network in Mexico, and increased Canadian investment in Mexico (the public pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec already holds $9 billion worth of Mexican assets).
And when President Sheinbaum met with Prime Minister Carney at the G7 summit in Kananaskis this past June, Mexico News Daily reported she also met with senior executives from companies such as TC Energy, WestJet Airlines, Palliser Furniture, ATCO [that appear to have built workforce housing to enable the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Haisla territory], BRP [manufacturing] and Element Fleet Management, all with established operations in Mexico.”
Joint statement expected on Friday
The Globe and Mail article notes: “Mr. Carney and Ms. Sheinbaum are expected to issue a statement expressing their interest in mutual investment and policy priorities such as energy, mining, mitigating climate change and mobility between the two countries, although this has not been finalized, two sources say.”
Mexican HRDs in Canada
The day after the prime minister returns from Mexico, two human rights defenders from Mexico will arrive in Ottawa to meet with Government of Canada officials, Members of Parliament, and social movement and civil society allies, to raise awareness of the situation of human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico and to find ways to support them.
Both Hugo and Elizabeth are members of the Civil Society Space of Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC).
Stay tuned for updates about their visit.
