Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's encouraged by pledges made Friday by his fellow Group of Seven leaders in Japan, on both their renewed vow to stop paying ransoms for hostages and their approach to boosting the global economy.
But the PM's push to encourage leaders of all the G7 advanced economies to commit to boosting government investment as a way to help the stagnant global economy did not yield across-the-board support.
Instead, the G7 leaders pledged to implement their own 'country-specific' strategies. The countries vowed to use a more-balanced response to lift growth. They also agreed that monetary policy cannot alone create stronger, sustainable growth.
Regarding specific measures to foster economic growth, the PM said he was eager to "move forward on getting the Canada-Europe free trade agreement signed and ratified as quickly as possible."
The 32-page declaration from the summit did commit to fight protectionism and called the potential United Kingdom exit from the European Union a serious risk to growth — two positions Trudeau had publicly supported in recent days.
