Key points
- Carney faces threats on three fronts
- Carney says his trip to France and the UK will strengthen defence relations
- Opinion polls show majority of Canadians reject Trump’s argument on “51st state of US”
ISLAMABAD: With Canada’s economy under unprecedented threat from its southern neighbour the United States, its new leader has embarked on a trans-Atlantic visit to strengthen relations with traditional friends France and Britain.
AFP reported that just days into his mandate, Prime Minister Mark Carney faces threats on three fronts: A trade war with the Washington, US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex his country, and looming domestic elections.
But, despite the tension at home, he is expecting warm welcomes on three days of visits to Paris, London and Iqaluit in Canada’s northernmost territory, Nunavut.
“Canada was built upon a union of peoples –- indigenous, French, and British,” Carney said, in a statement released before he set off from Ottawa on Sunday, according to local media reports.
“My trip to France and the United Kingdom will strengthen trade, commercial, and defence relations with two of our strongest and most reliable partners, and my visit to Nunavut will be an opportunity to bolster Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and security, and our plan to unlock the North’s full economic potential.”
The trade war
Opinion polls show a large majority of Canadian voters reject Trump’s argument that their country would be better off as the “51st state of the United States,” but the trade war is a threat to the economy of the vast country of 41 million people, which has long enjoyed a close US partnership, AFP reported.
On Monday, Carney will be in Paris for a working dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and discuss how to, according to the Canadian leader’s office, “build stronger economic, commercial, and defence ties.”
In his first speech as prime minister, Carney said: “Security is a priority for this government, reinforcing our security, as is diversifying our trading and commercial relationships, of course, with both Europe and the United Kingdom.”
