The music was thumping, the glasses were clinking and François-Philippe Champagne was in the garden talking passionately about critical minerals.
Champagne — Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry — visited Washington in recent days for a series of meetings that spanned the festivities of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. His trip was not entirely recreational: One of the senior-most members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, Champagne is a leader of the “Team Canada” task force that is preparing for the American presidential election in November.