‘No games, nothing like that’: Carney urges national unity, details next steps on trade and Trump
Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Washington to talk trade and security with Donald Trump at the White House Tuesday as he tries to negotiate a new relationship with a protectionist President who is waging a damaging trade war against Canada while insisting he’s serious about making this country the 51st state.
It will be the first meeting with the U.S. leader since Mr. Carney won the federal election on an anti-Trump campaign platform that said the response to tariffs and annexation threats should be an ambitious effort to diversify Canadian trade away from the United States.
“Our old relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over,” Mr. Carney said of the United States during a Friday press conference − his first since the Liberal Party’s victory four days earlier.
“The questions now are how our nations will co-operate in the future, and where we in Canada will move on,” he said, meaning in what areas Canadians will decide to instead build strong partnerships with other countries instead of the U.S.
In late March, Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump had agreed that after the election, leaders of the two countries would begin negotiations on a new economic and security relationship.
The Prime Minister announced that he would unveil a new cabinet the week of May 12 and convene Parliament May 27, with a Speech from the Throne outlining his government’s priorities.
King Charles III, Canada’s monarch, has agreed to deliver that speech, Mr. Carney said, describing this as an important gesture to show support for Canada that sends “a clear message to other countries.”
The last time this country’s monarch read the Throne Speech was Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.
Separately, Mr. Carney said he will set a rapid date for a by-election to enable Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre to return to the House of Commons after losing his seat in the April 28 election. “No games, nothing like that,” he said when asked how long he would wait. The Prime Minister has six months to set a byelection.
Mr. Carney ruled out pursuing a formal pact with the NDP in order to pass legislation.
He also said his government would enact a promised income-tax cut by July 1. During the campaign, the Liberals promised to reduce the marginal tax rate for the lowest tax bracket by 1 percentage point. The party had said this would save individuals up to $412 per year or $825 for two-income families.
Mr. Carney did not say whether he expected the United States to lift tariffs on Canada before negotiations began with Mr. Trump on a new economic and security deal. Mr. Trump, who wants to use tariffs to force manufacturers to relocate to the U.S., has already caused economic damage and job losses in Canada.
“I don’t want to negotiate in public,” the Prime Minister said.
The current U.S. levies on Canada, which remain in effect, include 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian-made vehicles, which applies only to the non-U.S. content in those cars and light trucks. There is also a 25-per-cent tariff – which drops to 10 per cent on critical minerals, energy and potash – for goods that don’t comply with United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) rules of origin.
The Prime Minister said the focus of his Washington talk with Mr. Trump will be “on immediate trade pressures and the broader economic and security relationship between our two sovereign countries”
He played down expectations for the May 6 White House get-together. “Do not expect white smoke out of that meeting,” Mr. Carney said. He was referring to the chimney smoke that alerts the world when cardinals at the Vatican have succeeded in selecting a new pope.
Mr. Carney called for national unity Friday in comments that appeared to be aimed at parties in the House as well as Canadians in general.
“Canadians play and cheer for different teams. Now that election is over and we are in a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, it’s time to come together to put on our Team Canada sweaters and win big.”
He also appealed to expatriate Canadians to come home and help Canada refashion its economy, and Ottawa seeks to remove barriers to internal trade and find new export markets other than the United States for its goods and resources.
“For Canadians abroad, thinking about returning to build their lives in our nation, there’s never been a better time to come home.”
It’s not clear where Canada-U.S. negotiations will lead, but Mr. Carney in March said that Mr. Trump’s tariffs and threatened levies “have called into question the validity” of USMCA, which was supposed to safeguard free trade between the three countries. The USMCA is already scheduled to be up for renewal in 2026, at which point renegotiations were expected.
It remains to be seen whether the Trump-Carney talks result in a one-on-one trade deal with the U.S., another trilateral deal involving Mexico or any changes to the NORAD defence agreement between Canada and the U.S.
“It’s the preference of Canada that Mexico would be part of the discussions,” Mr. Carney said last month of future trade talks with the U.S.
During the campaign, Mr. Carney ruled out making changes to Canada’s protectionist supply-management system for dairy, poultry and eggs as part of future negotiations.
Mr. Carney declined to give any hints about the makeup of his coming cabinet, including whether Liberal MP François-Philippe Champagne will be reappointed as Finance Minister.
“Did he ask you to ask that question?” the Prime Minister said with a smile after a reporter’s question on the Quebec MP’s future. Mr. Champagne will have to wait for his decision, Mr. Carney said.
He said he would rein in federal government spending growth.
“The government’s operating budget has been growing by an unsustainable 9 per cent every year. We will bring that down to 2 per cent − less than half the average nominal growth rate of the economy.”
Mr. Carney said the Liberals would not cut any transfers to provinces, territories or individuals. “Instead, we will balance our operating budget over the next three years by cutting waste, capping the public service, ending duplicative programs, and deploying technology to boost public-sector productivity.”
Responding to Mr. Carney, the separatist Bloc Québécois objected to the invitation of the King to read the government’s Throne Speech.
In a statement Friday, the Bloc said having a “foreign monarch” open Parliament was irreconcilable with the values of Quebeckers who “reject this institution and are attached to the values of democracy and modernity.”
In the last days of the campaign, Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said that as an MP, he sits in a “foreign parliament” in Ottawa and called Canada an “artificial country with very little meaning.”
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
