The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Canada is the talk of Brussels, but until Mark Carney became Prime Minister, we barely registered with European Union and European Commission parliamentarians and officials. The Globe's Eric Reguly writes that today, the EU sees Canada as a potential strategic, economic and security partner as Mr. Carney's vision of middle powers joining forces shows tentative signs of coming together. Hundreds of EC and EU representatives, including about 10 EC commissioners for defence, digital sovereignty, trade, energy, financial markets and critical metals, are prepping for the Oct. 29 and 30 Canada-EU summit in Montreal. What the EU wants from Canada is in the ground: natural gas, specifically liquefied natural gas; critical metals such as copper, nickel and lithium to propel its electrification drive; and defence products as both sides rebuild their militaries. The European Investment Bank wants to set up an office in Canada. It could, say, finance a copper mine with Teck on the condition that the output goes to the EU. The EU fears being overly dependent on Chinese-controlled critical metals supply chains and sees Canada as a necessary diversification in this industry.