Quebec Premier François Legault met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for about 20 minutes Saturday.
The two men are in Djerba, Tunisia, to attend the 18th Francophonie Summit. It is the first time they have met since Mr. Legault was re-elected on Oct. 3.
They spoke briefly to the media, with Trudeau saying he wanted to discuss with Legault how best to promote French in the world and "our shared values."
"Obviously, we're also going to talk about the protection of the French language, not just in Quebec, in Canada, but all over the world," he said. "This is a great time to come together to be aligned and to work together on the issues that are important to us."
The Quebec premier agreed, saying there was much work to be done to protect French around the world and on Canadian soil.
"There is a decline in French, including in Montreal. We have to take action together to stop (...) the decline of French (...) so that a greater percentage of Montrealers are French-speaking," he said.
At the end of the meeting, Legault said that he took stock with Trudeau "on the decline of French in Montreal and the means to remedy it."
"We also talked about health transfers. We agreed to meet again in December," he added.
TUNISIAN PRESIDENT MEETING
Earlier, Legault attended the official opening ceremony of the Francophonie Summit.
He is also scheduled to meet with Swiss President Ignazio Cassis and Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed on Saturday.
Trudeau does not intend to meet with Said.
On Friday, Legault had indicated in a press scrum that he wanted to remind the controversial Tunisian president of the importance of democratic values.
Legault's day will end with a press scrum at the Lalla Hadria Museum and a visit to the Quebec booth at the Village de la Francophonie.
On Sunday, the prime minister is expected to speak at the Francophone Economic Forum.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 19, 2022.
