Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Paris Monday to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, seeking support from one of Canada’s oldest allies as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to attack Canada’s sovereignty and economy.
This is Carney’s first official foreign trip since he was sworn in on March 14. He will next land in London where he will sit down with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles.
Why Paris and London?
Carney has deliberately chosen the two European capital cities that shaped Canada’s early existence. During his swearing-in ceremony, he noted the country was built on the bedrock of three peoples, French, English and Indigenous, and said Canada is fundamentally different from America and will “never, ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States.”
Since Trump came to office, he has imposed whopping tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and repeatedly commented on turning Canada into the 51st state, infuriating Canadians and sparking a call to boycott U.S. products across the country. He is threatening to impose tariffs on all Canadian products on April 2.
On Monday, a senior Canadian government official briefed reporters on the plane before picking up Carney in Montreal, saying the purpose of the trip is to double down on partnerships with London and Paris. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to speak publicly, said Canada is a “good friend of the United States but we all know what is going on.”
Carney will visit the Notre-Dame Cathedral before meeting with Macron at the Palais de l’Élysée. However, Macron isn’t expected to hold a joint news conference with Carney, a sign the French president might not want to upset Trump by siding with Canada.
Before returning to Ottawa on Tuesday, Carney will travel to Iqaluit to “reaffirm Canada’s Arctic security and sovereignty.”
“The choice of this itinerary for Prime Minister Carney’s first official trip emphasizes the strong connection of Canada with the Arctic as well as with the two former colonial powers Canada remains attached to, through the Commonwealth on the U.K. side and La Francophonie on the France side,” said Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
“The fact that Canada never broke away from the U.K. in a violent fashion is a key historical and institutional difference between the United States and Canada, a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic that has adopted and retained a U.K.-style parliamentary system.”
The trip to London will be a bit of a homecoming, as Carney became the first non-British governor in the Bank of England’s 319-year history when he took over the top job on July 1, 2013. He served until March 15, 2020.
No Washington trip planned
Carney, a former central banker who turned 60 on Sunday, has said he’s ready to meet with Trump if he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty. He said he doesn’t plan to visit Washington at the moment but hopes to have a phone call with the president soon. His government is also reviewing the purchase of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets in light of Trump’s trade war.
Meanwhile, Macron has been ramping up efforts to persuade France’s allies to move away from purchases of American military hardware, which dovetails with Canada’s rethink on F-35s and also coincides with mounting questions and concerns in Europe that European defences are overly dependent on U.S. weaponry, technical support and goodwill.
Carney spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a call late Sunday and invited him to the G7 summit this summer, which Canada is hosting. Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as he pushes to end the war in Ukraine.
Carney is expected to call an election by the end of the week, to take place in late April or early May. The Liberal Party had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared economic war. Now, the party and its new leader could come out on top.
