The Honourable Peter MacKay, Foreign Affairs Minister and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, will attend the G8 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Potsdam, Germany, on May 30, 2007.

The Foreign Ministers Meeting will provide an important forum to discuss this year’s G8 regional and foreign policy themes and issues, including Afghanistan, Iran, Kosovo, the Middle East, Sudan/Darfur and North Korea. Minister MacKay will take this opportunity to advance Canada’s values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law around the globe. He will also hold bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers from Afghanistan and Pakistan to discuss current issues of interest and areas of cooperation.

Minister MacKay will also travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland, from May 31 to June 2, 2007, where he will meet the Right Honourable Dr. Ian Paisley, First Minister to the Northern Ireland Executive, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. He will also meet Canadian business leaders and key actors in the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

On May 31, Minister MacKay will host a reception on HMCS St. John’s for her visit to Northern Ireland. The city of St. John’s—for which this ship is named—has ties with the Irish people that go back hundreds of years.