Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not need to cross the Atlantic to meet Emmanuel Macron on French soil over the weekend. Instead, he joined the French president in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, just 25 kilometres off Newfoundland.

It was the first official visit to the archipelago by a Canadian prime minister.

The visit brought together a contentious shared history, Canada’s rapprochement with Europe and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon’s search for new development opportunities.

Covering 242 square kilometres and home to around 6,000 people, the archipelago rarely attracts international attention. Yet its location gave the weekend meeting particular significance as France and Canada seek closer ties amid growing tensions with the United States.

After repeatedly threatening to make Canada a 51st state, U.S. President Donald Trump recently posted a map depicting an expanded U.S. encompassing Canada, Greenland and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.

From fishing disputes to common ground

Evidence of Indigenous presence in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon dates back nearly 5,000 years. It later attracted European explorers, including Frenchman Jacques Cartier in 1536.

Fiercely contested by France and Great Britain, the islands changed hands repeatedly before returning permanently to French control in 1816.

Fishing drove their strategic value. Even as France lost most of its North American possessions, international treaties preserved French fishing rights off Newfoundland, with Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon serving as a fishing outpost. These privileges later fuelled Franco-Canadian disputes over........

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