Canada's new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, heads to Paris and London for an alliance when dealing with Donald Trump's attack on Canada's sovereignty and economy.
Kearney is deliberately making his first foreign trip to the two nations' capitals, which shaped Canada's early existence. At the oath ceremony on Friday, Carney pointed out that the country was built on the bedrock of three people, French, English and indigenous people. He said Canada is fundamentally different from the US and “never in any way, in any way, it will become part of America.”
A senior government official explained reporters on a plane before picking up Carney in Montreal, saying the purpose of the trip was to double the partnership with two Canadian founding countries. Officials said Canada is “a close friend of the US, but we all know what's going on.”
Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, said: “Trump factors are the reason for their trip. The Trump Factor is heading for everything else that Carney has to deal with.”
Carney, a former central banker who turned 60 on Sunday, will meet with Paris French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday before traveling to London to sit with British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer to diversify trade and possibly adjust his response to Trump's tariffs.
He will also meet with Charles III, the head of state of Canada. A trip to England is a bit homecoming as Kearney is a former governor of the Bank of England and the first non-citizen to be appointed to a role for over 300 years.
Carney then moves to the edge of Canada's Arctic Circle and returns to Ottawa, where it is expected to call an election within a few days, before “reaffirming Canada's Arctic security and sovereignty.”
Carney said he is ready to meet Trump if he respects Canada's sovereignty. He said he wasn't planning on visiting Washington at the moment, but wanted to call the president soon.
Trump's story of wiping out 25% tariffs and making Canada the 51st state in the US has infuriated Canadians, with many avoiding buying American goods whenever possible.
The Carney government is considering purchasing a US-made F-35 fighter jet in light of Trump's trade war.
The government's Liberal Party was poised for a historic election defeat this year, until Trump declared an economic war and repeatedly stated that Canada should become its 51st state. Now the party and its new leader, Carney, can come to the top.
Robert Boswell, professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, said Carney would be wise not to visit Trump. “There's no point in going to Washington,” Boswell said. As “as ” [former prime minister Justin] Trudeau's treatment shows that what will result is a crude attempt by Trump to humiliate his guests. ”
Boswell said Trump demands “often on one side and asks others to put aside self-esteem that bends to their will.”
Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said diversification in Canada is absolutely essential amid the trade war with the US. Over 75% of Canada's exports go to the US.
Beland said Arctic sovereignty is also an important issue for Canada. “President Trump's aggressive talk about both Canada and Greenland, and the obvious reconciliation between Russia, the strong Arctic power and the United States under Trump have heightened anxiety over our control over this remote yet highly strategic region.”
