 "Canada vs US: How will Carney take on Donald Trump?")
Mark Carney’s Liberal Party is set to form the next government in Canada. In an election steered by United States President Donald Trump’s threats, the Liberals – who were projected to lose just a few months back – will return to power for a fourth term.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will continue to hold the post. In a victory speech early on Tuesday (April 29) morning, he said the “American betrayal” was a tragedy, “but it is also our new reality”.
The former central banker claimed Trump wanted to “break us, so that America can own us”. He added, “That will never, ever happen.”
As Carney gets ready to take on Trump, will he do better than his predecessor, Justin Trudeau? Let’s take a look.
Mark Carney on Trump
Mark Carney, a political novice, focused his election campaign on countering US President Trump by making “Canada strong”.
He capitalised on Canadians’ patriotism and growing anger against Trump’s annexation threats and tariffs. The Liberal leader talked tough on the US president, saying Trump wanted to “break us”.
“We are over the shock of the betrayal. But we should never forget the lessons,” he told a crowd in Hamilton earlier this month.
As Trump’s tariffs threatened the Canadian economy, voters picked Carney, a 60-year-old economist, to lead them.
The Liberal leader reiterated his warning that Trump wanted to “break” Canada in his victory speech.
“Who’s ready to stand up for Canada with me?” he asked jubilant supporters at a victory rally in Ottawa.
“One of the responsibilities of government is to prepare for the worst, not the best,” he said. “President Trump is trying to break us, so America can own us.”
“We are once again at one of those hinge moments of history,” Carney said, adding: “Our old relationship with the US, one based on steady integration, is over.”
He told the supporters, “America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. These are not idle threats.”
Mark Carney’s possible approach towards Trump
The Liberal Party appears set to lead a minority government with the help of smaller parties.
The former Goldman Sachs executive has Trump to thank for his party’s turnaround, which was headed to a defeat at the hands of the Pierre Poilievre-led Conservative Party just months back.
After the election win, Carney is poised for a global leadership role against Trump, as per Reuters.
During the campaign, he promised to expand Canada’s trade in Asia and Europe to diversify the country’s economy and reduce over-reliance on the US.
“Canada is ready to take a leadership role in building a coalition of like-minded countries who share our values. We believe in international cooperation. We believe in the free and open exchange of goods, services and ideas. And if the United States no longer wants to lead, Canada will,” Carney said on April 3 in Ottawa.
Some experts believe the Canadian PM will have to walk a tightrope while dealing with the US president.
Carney, who heads the smallest G7 nation, will need to rally his global coalition “without waving a giant red flag in front of Donald Trump,” Roland Paris, a former adviser to ex-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and now professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa, told Reuters.
“It will be a difficult tightrope or balancing act for him,” Paris said. “He and Canada have an interest in coordinating with other like-minded countries, but without necessarily setting up Canada as the organiser of an opposition. Why turn Canada into that kind of target?”
Carney will host the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta province, in June, which Trump is expected to attend.
The US president, who slapped 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian auto, aluminium and steel sectors, has been wary in his tone towards Carney. He calls the former head of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada the “prime minister” rather than the belittling “governor” he used for Trudeau.
Speaking to Reuters, former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson said he expected Carney to work together with Trump, and the Canadian leader could also organise a trade meeting with Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in June during the G7 Leaders’ Summit.
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Justin Trudeau’s disastrous relations with Trump
Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, had a dislike for Trump, and the feeling was mutual. Their rift became very public towards the end of the Canadian leader’s tenure.
The US Republican threatened to annexe Canada and make it America’s 51st state when he met the then Prime Minister Trudeau in December. He also referred to the Canadian leader as “governor” rather than PM.
Trudeau, who initially took the jibe in stride, started calling Trump by his first name. “I’ve been having conversations and working with Donald for over eight years now. And a lot of it is rolling with it, a lot of it is figuring out how to move forward constructively despite certain unpredictabilities that often come in,” he told reporters last month.
Trudeau also called Trump’s tariffs on Canada “a dumb move”, further irking the US administration.
Trump did not have a good relationship with Trudeau during his first term either. In 2018, Trudeau rebuked US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium, saying Canada would retaliate.
Trump, who was on his way to a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, tweeted from Air Force One, describing Trudeau as “very dishonest & weak.”
As per a Wall Street Journal report, the US president also said to his aides he would not sign the Canada-hosted G7 Summit’s final communiqué.
After Trudeau’s unpopularity grew and he announced he would be stepping down as Canada PM, Trump, who is now in his second term, said in February that the Canadian leader “destroyed” his country.
“Justin’s a loser, always has been,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio. He welcomed Trudeau’s decision not to run in this year’s elections in Canada, and said: “That’s a smart move, because he wouldn’t have a chance of winning.”
Asked about the American national anthem being booed at ice hockey games with Canada, Trump said, “we have a good relationship with Canada, not with Justin. Because Justin, he’s too far radical left.”
“He’s killing Canada. Canada is doing terribly right now,” the US president said, claiming that the Trudeau government’s policies “have absolutely destroyed Canada.”
With inputs from agencies
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