You are a senior economist working for the Government of Canada and have been asked to brief a federal minister (you will need to choose the most appropriate minister to address) on the correlation between economic prosperity and international cooperation. According to the OECD, "Trust is the foundation upon which the legitimacy of democratic institutions rest. Trust is crucial for ensuring the success of a wide range of public policies that depend on behavioural responses from the public." In this case, the briefing note will focus on whether Canada should be responding, in full, to requests for more energy exports from some of its allies. This is an "Information Only" briefing note, so you are not to make any recommendations, but rather inform the minister that broad support for the principles of cooperation and institutional trust can be strained or can wane by the amount of political inaction. Your task is to develop your briefing note "Issue" after reading the article below. You should address the key points found in the article. You will need to research the issue further. Keep in mind that the article is insufficient, on its own, to develop a well-informed briefing note. Remember that you are an unbiased senior economist applying principles of institutional economics

Find the article below:

OTTAWA - Japan has "high expectations" for getting natural gas from Canada, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made no new commitments to increase exports during meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday.

Kishida came to Ottawa Thursday, as part of a five-nation tour, as Japan is set to host the G7 in Hiroshima in May. The island nation is looking to replace Russian natural gas, which made up 10 per cent of its imports with other sources. Some of Kishida's staff who spoke with the National Post in advance of the two leaders press conference said they have "high expectations," Canada can help supply Japan. LNG Canada, an export terminal being built in Kitimat, British Columbia, is set to go online in 2025 and export 14 million tonnes to Asia, a proposed second phase would double those export levels. The facility cools natural gas down to -162 C, turning it into a liquid that can be then transported overseas on specialized ships. The first phase was budgeted to cost $40 billion, making it the largest ever private sector project in Canada. The second phase of the project has not been approved by either regulators or by the consortium of companies, which includes Japanese firm Mitsubishi, as well as Chinese and Korean firms. There are several other proposals for exporting LNG from British Columbia to Asia, but none are currently under construction. Trudeau said Canada takes seriously its responsibility to supply energy to allies, but the world is also looking to decarbonize and Canada has to be prepared for that. "We know that being a reliable supplier of energy is important and we're going to continue to look for ways to be that reliable supply of energy," he said. "We know the world is moving aggressively, meaningfully towards decarbonization, towards diversifying." Speaking through a translator, Kishida made it clear that his nation wants Canada's LNG. "The world is having an energy crisis," he said. "We also want to have a closer relationship with Canada in the area of energy." Trudeau announced that the government would be leading a Team Canada trade mission to Japan in the fall and that several Japanese firms would be visiting Canada this spring to talk about opportunities in critical minerals and other sectors. "We talked a lot about how Canada can be a reliable supplier not just of energy but of critical minerals, of commodities and resources, including agricultural resources that the world is going to need." Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sent Trudeau a letter in advance of Kishida's visit calling for the Liberals to speed up regulatory barriers and help ensure more natural gas is shipped from Canada. "We can be the supplier of choice for our global allies," Smith wrote in the letter to Trudeau. "Our unparalleled energy resources, commitment to emissions reduction and historical connection with Japan position us to be a key contributor to Japan's efforts to diversify." Smith said Canada should do everything it can to supply LNG to allies. "It is critical that Canada maintain a strong presence on the world energy stage, preventing despotic rulers with little concern for the environment and human impacts of their energy production to fill the vacuum." Kishida has broken with decades of Japanese policy with a massive increase in defence spending, essentially doubling the country's defence budget. Japan has a pacifist constitution and the change doesn't mean the military will be used more, but that it is beefing up its ability to defend the country. He said the change is in part a response to Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. "Such a unilateral attempt to change the status quo is something that should never happen, including in Asia," he said. He said all countries need to look at their defence spending in the wake of Russia's actions, but he said his country also faces other threats. "More than 50 ballistic missiles in total were launched in Asia by North Korea and some of them transited over Japanese territory," he said. "To protect the lives of the Japanese people we have taken this policy." Trudeau cited his government's long-awaited decision to purchase F-35 fighter jets, which was finalized last week. He said Canada is responding to the same challenges. "The world changed when Russia chose to invade a peaceful neighbour and we understand that persistent threats caused by unstable or authoritarian states around the world are going to require us unfortunately to continue to step up."