A home away from home: Resetting the Canada-Australia relationship

By Jamileh Hargreaves

Source: Young Diplomats of Canada

An interview with Jaclyn Hiebert, Canadian Youth G7 2025 Delegate, discussing policy decisions that reflect young people’s needs, values and priorities at the G7.

Intro:

America under President Trump poses the greatest challenge to the rules based post-War era. Other major economies and nations are seeking to manage the consequences of his “America First” agenda...and this became clearly apparent at the Kalanaskis G7. 

Mark Carney’s Speech in Davos, Switzerland, stated that the world was "in the midst of a rupture, not a transition." He said the world had long "participated in the rituals" of "American hegemony”, but "the bargain no longer works." "Middle power" countries, of which Canada and Australia are two, "must act together because, if we're not at the table, we're on the menu.” 

Last November, Australia, Canada and India signed a trilateral "technology and innovation partnership", pledging to work together on areas including critical minerals, AI and net-zero carbon emissions targets.

I have enjoyed a long relationship with Canada and was fortunate enough to live in British Columbia from 2011 to 2014, as well as revisiting in 2017 and again in early 2020. 

It is easy to fall in love with a city like Vancouver, with its sublime views of the Rocky Mountains and ocean walks adjacent to Stanley Park’s forest. Beautiful neighbourhoods hold distinctive charms, whilst other parts of town reflect the harsh realities of a major North American port city in the lower mainland, afflicted by homelessness, poverty and major addictions as the starting point for fentanyl in Canada. 

Earlier this year I was privileged to attend the Global Peace Forum at the Canadian Center for Cultural Diplomacy. Afterwards, I was able to meet with G7 policy makers in Calgary, as well as engage the young leaders involved in the Summit.

In 2011 France, as President of the Group of Eight, designed an engagement group specifically for young people primarily from the G7 (former G8) countries who wish to engage with global governance issues.An important feature of Canadian diplomatic engagement with the world has been its capacity to empower young people to engage with the Youth G7 and fostering opportunities for cultural diplomacy.  

Speaking to Jaclyn Hiebert on behalf of Australia’s Young Diplomats Society, there is a significant opportunity for learning from Canadian leadership on key areas highlighted in the Youth Communique as well as her lived experience growing up in, ‘wildrose country,’ in Alberta, Canada. Now completing her PhD in Management at the University of Exeter in the UK, Jaclyn delivers a unique perspective on the importance of youth perspectives in policy development. 

Disclaimer: The views I will be expressing are my own and do not represent the official position of Young Diplomats of Canada (YDC), the Government of Canada, or the G7.

Tell us about where you grew up and why it’s special? 

I grew up in Calgary, as well as the surrounding Calgary area. The city is well-known for hosting the world’s largest rodeo, the Calgary Stampede, and I consider it to be my hometown. But I also lived in the nearby town of Okotoks for 10 years, and it is still a place I love to visit. It’s name comes from the Blackfoot word for “rock,” which is ohkotok. It’s home to a large glacial erratic that the First Nations people of the area used as a marker to find the Sheep River. In addition to being an important historical and spiritual place, it’s also a wonderful place to meditate and take some incredible photographs.

How would you describe your current role? 

I’m currently a PhD student at the University of Exeter., where I am conducting research into how heritage brands are marketing sustainability. This is a wonderful opportunity to explore and research my passions in international business, marketing, and the environment simultaneously.

Alberta is a unique part of Canada, why is it important to showcase Alberta to the world? 

I was so glad to learn that this year’s G7 summit was taking place in Alberta. After all, many call it the “heart of the West,” and for good reason! The Alberta economy is shaped by many different and notable industries, such as oil and gas, a growing tech sector, and even filmmaking. Recent movies such as The Revenant and Ghostbusters were filmed in Alberta, and parts of Calgary were transformed for filming The Last of Us. Many students arrived at their campus one day to find it surprisingly outfitted for the zombie apocalypse! This comes as no surprise as Alberta has some of Canada’s most beautiful nature. With popular hiking trails in Banff, crystal clear waters in Lake Louise, and golden prairie fields, there is something for everyone.

Can you tell Young Diplomats Society Magazine about your role at the Youth G7?

This year’s Y7 was centred on four topics: AI & Digital Technology, Economy & Supply Chains Resilience, Peace & Security, and Energy & Environment. Given my international business background, I represented Canadian youth in the Economy & Supply Chain Resilience track. This role involved the creation of a nationwide survey in collaboration with the Y20 delegation in order to engage directly with Canadian youth and better inform our proposals. Additionally, the Canadian team spoke with key stakeholders across a variety of industries and sectors to prepare for the weekly virtual multilateral discussions held with our international counterparts. In these discussions, the different tracks discussed and negotiated key issues important to G7 youth in order to build a final communique that we all agreed on. This communique was then completed during the Y7 Summit and handed directly to the Canadian G7 Sherpa for our world leaders to hear from G7 youth voices as they themselves discuss and shape global policies.  

In addition to this role, I was also the Communications Coordinator for our delegation, given my professional marketing background. This entailed content creation in the form of long and short form multilingual video content to be shared on social media, photo-taking and social media posting, as well as managing the Young Diplomats of Canada social media channels during the week of the Y7 Summit.

How did you get engaged with this type of work to represent Canada?

I had previously been a delegate for the Canada Mexico Youth Lab, which involved collaborating alongside youth delegates from across Canada and Mexico to create a communique with our recommendations about further enhancing our well-established bilateral relations. I also had the honour of presenting our recommendations at the Canada Mexico Partnership, in which we had the opportunity to engage with government representatives to have our recommendations put into action.

This was a truly inspiring experience, and after this experience was completed, I began to look for new opportunities for advocacy work to continue making a real difference and putting the opinions of young Canadians at the forefront of policy decision-making. When the Y7 delegation position came up at Young Diplomats of Canada (YDC), I knew that I found the perfect fit! YDC is a national non-profit, non-partisan organization run entirely by youth volunteers for young leaders in Canada. They recruit, prepare, and send delegations of young leaders from Canada to international summits and multilateral fora. 

Why is it important to engage Youth G7 with the process of policy recommendations? 

Many people consider youth to be the future, but I’ve come to the conclusion that this is false. Youth are both the future and the present. G7 youth are in school, starting careers, paying taxes, starting families, and are active consumers, among the countless ways in which they impact their communities. However, despite their importance, youth opinions are often dismissed, overlooked, and neglected in the formation of policies, and this is especially true for minority and marginalized communities. Finding and creating avenues to advocate for youth is therefore extremely important, and I encourage all G7 youth to look for ways to share their voice with their leaders, as they do matter.

Which policy area did you find most pivotal to the 2025 G7?

Given my involvement in economic negotiations at the Y7, I found talks related to trade and tariffs to be the most pivotal. Given that the word “tariff” often feels like the elephant in the room in negotiations, it was encouraging to see conducive discussions held between Canada and the U.S. about trade, as well as follow Prime Minister Carney’s progress with other world leaders to diversify our trade relations, especially since he has stated his intent to make Canada’s economy the strongest in the G7.

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End of interview. 

Conclusion: 

“Leadership is the acceptance of responsibility rather than the assumption of power.” - ‘Values,’ Mark Carney,  Prime Minister of Canada. 

As the world continues to redefine areas of collaboration during American isolationism, leadership from Canada as the host of the G7 and Y7 2025 should not be underestimated.

During the 2025 G7, Carney underscored the many areas of close co-operation between Canada and Australia - particularly in trade, defence, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific as values based, rule based order, with Canada now centre for global negotiations. 

Jaclyn is a wonderful example of excellence in Canadian leadership and diplomacy. Her PhD in Management program at the University of Exeter provides a fruitful opportunity for her on-going engagement with consulting in sustainability, international business and policy-making in multilingual environments. 

Leaving Calgary, I had the opportunity to pass through Montreal, Quebec and fulfill my own lifelong dream of visiting French Canada. The quaint streets of Quebec and historic architecture are a reminder of the colonial past and legacy of the French settlements in ‘Mount Royal.’, Quebec’s legacy towards separatism is being rewritten as interprovincial trade reshapes the economy, and Canada finds new trade opportunities abroad. English-French bilingualism in Government strengthens Canada’s role as global leaders, with French-speakers from across the globe eager to find education and business opportunities in Canada. 

As France in 2026 will host the G7 and Y7 at Evian-les-Bains, Canada will be at the centre of discussions. For the future of global peace and security, free trade and navigating policy decisions, Australia continues to reaffirm strong ties to the UK and Canada as a stable partner, whilst Macron emphasised France and Australia's strategic partnership, their shared war history in Europe and their joint interests in having stability in the Indo-Pacific. 

In September, the progress made in June was further enhanced at the 2025 Global Progress Action Summit in London. There, Prime Minister Carney met again on a panel discussion with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, highlighting key policy areas for governments, defence partnerships and trade. 

Nurturing opportunities for young people to engage as policy-makers on an international level enhances these higher level relationships occurring between nations, with Canada being a global leader in this space. As the beauty of Canada and its resilience in leadership cannot be underestimated, so too must we see the opportunity to work together through values-based leadership to build a better world for all.

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