European Commission president set to address Canadian Parliament

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to address Parliament this evening, rounding out her two-day visit to Canada.

Von der Leyen’s trip to Kingston, Ont. and Ottawa has focused on clean energy, trade, and support for Ukraine, all themes she’s expected to speak to Members of Parliament and senators about this evening when she delivers her remarks.

CTVNews.ca will be providing up-to-the-minute special live coverage of her address from inside the House of Commons. Our live blog is at the bottom of this article.

Ahead of her remarks, von der Leyen and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured the Canadian Forces Base Kingston Tuesday, where during a joint press conference she called Canada “one of the European Union’s most trusted partners.”

“We share the same vision of the world, the same democratic values,” von der Leyen said. “We believe in the power of co-operation, solidarity and multilateralism.”

In the speech it’s likely that von der Leyen will restate her calls for Canada to export more clean hydrogen to Europe, as the block of countries tries to wean itself off Russian energy.

“It is as close friends that we worked together through this last year, that we co-ordinated our support, for example, to the brave people of Ukraine, united in a common purpose,” she said.

The last foreign dignitary to address Canada’s House of Commons was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in March 2022.