Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Paris and London in search of allies in the wake of Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada’s sovereignty and economy.
Carney is deliberately making his first foreign trip to the capitals of the two countries that defined the beginning of Canada’s existence.
At his swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Carney said the country was built on the foundations of three nations: the French, English and Indigenous. He also said Canada is fundamentally different from the United States and “will never, in any form, become part of the United States.”
A senior government official briefed reporters on the plane before meeting Carney in Montreal and said the purpose of the trip was to strengthen the partnership with Canada’s two founding countries. The official said Canada is “a good friend of the United States, but we all know what’s going on.”
Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, said:
“The reason for the trip is the Trump factor. The Trump factor overrides everything else that Carney has to deal with.”
Mark Carney, the former central bank governor who turned 60 on Sunday, will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday before travelling to London to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in an effort to diversify trade and possibly coordinate a response to Trump’s tariffs.
The trip to England is a homecoming of sorts, as Carney is a former governor of the Bank of England, the first British non-citizen to be appointed to the position in the bank’s more than 300 years of operation.
Carney will then travel to the edge of the Canadian Arctic to “reaffirm Canada’s security and sovereignty in the Arctic” before returning to Ottawa, where he is expected to call an election in the coming days.
Meeting with Trump
Carney has said he is willing to meet with Trump if he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty. He said he has no plans to visit Washington at this time, but hopes to have a phone conversation with the US president soon.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs of 25 per cent and talk of Canada becoming the 51st US state have infuriated Canadians, with many avoiding buying American goods whenever possible. The Carney government is considering buying US-made F-35 fighter jets in light of Trump’s trade war.
The ruling Liberal Party seemed poised for a historic defeat in this year’s election until Trump declared economic warfare and repeatedly said Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. Now the party and its new leader Carney could come out on top.
Robert Botwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, said Carney was wise to decline a visit from Trump. He also noted:
“There was no point in going to Washington. As former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s address shows, all it comes down to is Trump’s crude attempt to humiliate his guests.”
Bothwell said Trump demands respect, “but it’s often a one-way street when he asks others to set aside self-respect to bend to his will.”
Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said it is absolutely essential for Canada to diversify trade in the face of a trade war with the United States. More than 75 per cent of Canadian exports go to the United States.
Beland said Arctic sovereignty is also a key issue for Canada. He claimed:
“President Trump’s aggressive remarks about Canada and Greenland and the apparent rapprochement between Russia, a strong Arctic power, and the United States under Trump have heightened concerns about our control over this remote but very strategic region.”
