Awkward moment as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets PM Albanese at NATO summit

Canada’s prime minister had an awkward moment when he met Anthony Albanese for the first time, appearing to stumble over his words.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a bilateral meeting ahead of the NATO Leaders Summit in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, June 30, 2022. Picture: Supplied

It’s rule number one when it comes to winning friends and influencing people – remember their full name.

But that simple task appeared to escape Canadian leader Justin Trudeau who appeared to awkwardly forget Anthony Albanese’s name completely and then oddly referred to him as “Tony” when the two prime ministers met at a summit in Madrid on Thursday.

The pair came face-to-face for the first time since Labor’s election win in May at the NATO meeting in the Spanish capital.

Australia is not a member of NATO but was invited along with New Zealand, South Korea and Japan to the summit given rising tensions with China were one of the main items for discussion.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a bilateral meeting ahead of the NATO Leaders Summit in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, June 30, 2022. Picture: Supplied

Mr Trudeau and Mr Albanese met on the sidelines of the event and posed for cameras for a handshake.

That’s when things looked to fall apart.

After introducing Prime Minister Albanese, the Canadian then seemed to stumble over his counterpart’s first name.

“It’s a real pleasure to be meeting with, ah, ah, ah … a … great … progressive leader.

“We’re really, really excited to have … ah, a … friend in Australia.

“Australia has been a long-time friend.

“We’ll be talking lots with, ah …. with Tony and all our friends in Australia.”

Magnanimously, Mr Albanese didn’t flinch at the faux pas.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during the NATO Summit on June 29, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. The two-day summit will align the alliance's defence posture along its eastern edge, including ramping up troop levels and positioning heavy equipment, as Western leaders contemplate the next phase of the war in Ukraine. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

In May, the PM was so new to his role that he wore a special badge when he attended the Quad summit in Tokyo with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan.

The badge “denotes his seniority as a Prime Minister – just in case somebody at the venue doesn’t recognise him”, the ABC’s Stephen Dziedzic reported.

That was less of a problem for Mr Biden, Mr Modi and Mr Kishida, all of who felt they did not need to wear the blue accessory.

But as Mr Albanese was only sworn in the day before he attended the summit, the badge ensured no one mistakenly thought he was a mere member of staff.

Forgetting who Australian PMs are seems to be a common occurrence.

Last year President Biden forgot former PM Scott Morrison’s name referring to him instead as “that fella Down Under”.

Great to meet Canadian Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau. I look forward to working together and sharing knowledge, skills and experiences on issues including climate action, social inclusion including for First Nations people and supporting peace and security in our region.🇦🇺🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/gzNBW3KnMV

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 30, 2022

Mr Albanese is set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday, following the Madrid summit.

The pair are seeking to repair ties badly damaged by the ditching of a submarine contract, an official told AFP on Wednesday.

The talks at the Elysee will be the first such formal bilateral summit between the Australian and French leaders since former Mr Morrison in September 2021 ripped up a French contract to build a dozen diesel-powered submarines.

The scrapping of the contract led to an unprecedented crisis between Canberra and Paris and such bad blood that outgoing foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian applauded Mr Morrison’s loss in polls to Albanese, which he said “suits me fine”.

Albanese announced earlier this month that French submarine maker Naval Group had agreed to a “fair and an equitable settlement” of 555 million euros $A840 million) for Australia ending the decade-old multibillion-dollar submarine contract.

– with AFP.