Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Kingston on Tuesday.
He was accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The two world leaders discussed the ongoing commitment to supporting Ukraine in its battle to resist the Russian invasion, along with strengthening economic ties.
“We’re here at Canadian Forces Base Kingston to meet the women and men supporting operations in Europe,” says Trudeau.
The visit by Trudeau and von der Leyen came with words of praise for Canada’s support of Ukraine in its war resisting the Russian invasion.
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“I was deeply impressed when in April last year, many Canadian men and women went from here in Kingston, from Edmonton or other Canadian bases, all the way to Poland,” says von der Leyen.
With that praise came a pledge from the prime minister to extend Canadian military training for Ukrainian troops.
“We are extending our engineering training as part of Operation Unifier until at least the fall, and deploying CAF medical trainers to help Ukrainian forces with combat medical skills,” says Trudeau.
The pair also talked about strengthening economic ties, particularly in green energy.
One recent example of that is Belguim-based Umicore’s $1.5-billion investment to build a battery materials plant in Loyalist Township.
Green energy is at the centre of a local business, Li-Cycle, that the pair visited while in Kingston.
The Kingston company recycles lithium-ion batteries.
“I think 96 per cent of the battery and its components get recycled, and they go into new lithium batteries,” says Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen.
Li-Cycle is expanding not only in Kingston, but in the European market as well.
“They’re expanding and building a new facility on Cloggs Road in Kingston that is supposed to be 20 times the size, they were telling me this morning,” says Gerretsen.
“In addition to that, they’re looking into Germany as well.”
The German plant is expected to be operational in the second half of 2023.
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