New PM Carney says Canada will never be part of US
Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney launched his term in office wholeheartedly rejecting US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to annex his northern neighbor.
Shortly after being sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister, replacing Justin Trudeau, who has been in office since 2015, Carney said confronting Trump’s tariffs would be a top priority.
Canada “will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States,” he added, voicing hope his government could one day work together with Washington to advance both countries’ interests.
Officials said they wanted to schedule a call between Trump and Carney in the coming days.
Ottawa has been rattled by collapsing cross-border relations since Trump returned to power in January, launching a trade war and demanding that Canada surrender its independence to become the 51st US state.
Ottawa has retaliated against Trump’s tariffs, while Canadian public opinion has been outraged as the US president insists the border separating the countries should be erased.
Carney has characterized the Trump administration as Canada’s greatest challenge in a generation, and US tariffs on Canadian goods are unjustified.
He became prime minister after overwhelmingly winning a Liberal Party vote to replace Trudeau as leader.
But the former central banker, who turns 60 on Sunday, is a political novice who has never won an elected public office.
Carney’s campaign skills may be tested soon with government sources telling AFP that Canada is headed for a general election in weeks.
He said he would fly to Paris and London next week to reinforce Canada’s overseas alliances as ties with the United States unraveled. Those talks will include trade and security.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen — who said Canada-EU relations were now “more crucial than ever” — and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Carney on Friday.
Carney was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before serving as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and also led the Bank of England through the turmoil surrounding the Brexit vote.
He has sought to present himself as purpose-built to lead a country through a trade war with the US, once Canada’s closest ally but now a country that Carney says Canada can “no longer trust.”
But he may not be prime minister for long.
Polls ahead of the upcoming vote show a tight race against the opposition Conservatives, who have sought to portray Carney as an elitist and out of touch with the struggles of ordinary Canadians.
He has countered that his global experience, including in the private sector, has equipped him to drive the Canadian economy forward as it faces a rupture with its most important trading partner.
“Carney is arriving at a good time. He has emerged as a figure people seem to trust to take on Donald Trump,” University of Winnipeg politics professor Felix Mathieu said.
On the week Trump’s sweeping 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports came into force, Carney visited a steel plant in Hamilton, an industrial city near the US border in Ontario.
Wearing a hard hat and goggles, Carney said he was ready to work out a trade deal with Trump.
But he insisted there must be “respect for Canadian sovereignty” in any negotiation.
Carney has also made clear efforts to distance himself from Trudeau with moves to attract more centrist voters.
He has said addressing climate change will be a top priority but his first action on Friday was to sign an order scrapping Trudeau’s “divisive” carbon tax on individuals and families while pledging to advance market-led solutions.
The cabinet sworn in alongside Carney keeps much of Trudeau’s team in place, including those working closely on trade talks with the US.