Macron withholds Montreal support as Christine Fréchette presses bid

christine fréchette left the Élysée Palace on Monday saying Emmanuel Macron had not committed to backing Montreal’s bid for the headquarters of the Banque de la défense, de la sécurité et de la résilience. The Quebec minister had gone to Paris to make Montreal’s case, but she said Macron “ne s’est pas avancé, ne s’est pas engagé.”

Fréchette also said she had not asked Macron for formal support. She told reporters that “c’est une décision qui se prend à l’échelle du Canada et donc c’est le premier ministre Carney qui va choisir ultimement ce lieu,” putting the final decision with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney rather than with the French president.

Élysée Palace meeting

Fréchette met Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Monday and presented Montreal’s advantages as a headquarters location. She also handed him a Montreal Canadiens jersey, a gesture that came during a meeting focused on a bid that would place a new international defense-financing organization in Canada.

The Banque DSR is meant to finance defense projects among NATO member countries and their allies, and four Canadian cities are in the running: Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. That competition makes the Paris visit part of a broader effort by Quebec to argue for Montreal inside a Canadian decision now resting with Carney.

France, Quebec and AI

Macron said France can help Quebec in “beaucoup de domaines,” including “la recherche et l’IA.” Fréchette has said she plans to launch new pilot projects to bring more artificial intelligence into the Quebec public service, and she later met French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu at Matignon on Monday.

According to notes consulted by La Presse, Lecornu had been advised to address using AI to strengthen state efficiency. The France trip therefore linked Montreal’s headquarters bid with a separate policy file: Quebec’s push to expand AI use in government, and France’s willingness to cooperate in that field.

For Montreal, the immediate next step sits in Canada, not France. Fréchette has already put the city forward; Macron did not take the extra step of lending his backing; and the choice now belongs to Carney as the four-city contest for the Banque DSR headquarters moves toward a Canadian decision.