By Enyichukwu Enemanna
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was received on Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron during his first overseas trip since taking office. He sought support from one of his country’s oldest allies in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada a U.S. state and his attacks on its economy.
“In the current international context, we want to be able to develop our most strategic projects with our closest, most loyal partners,” Macron said, adding, “We are stronger together, better able to ensure the respect of our interests, the full exercise of our sovereignty.”
Macron and Carney did not take questions from journalists before their talks. An official familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the Canadians proposed a press conference, but the French declined.
Carney was sworn in on Friday. After Paris, he is expected to visit London, where he is due to hold talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III, Canada’s head of state.
Both Starmer and King Charles III have not spoken in Canada’s defence amid Trump’s attacks, a sign they are reluctant to antagonise him as he prepares to impose tariffs on all trading partners on 2 April.
However, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the House of Commons on Monday that it was “a pleasure to be back in Canada, a proud sovereign nation” when he attended a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Quebec last week.
Carney will also travel to the edge of Canada’s Arctic on Tuesday to reaffirm the country’s security and sovereignty.
Carney has chosen two European capitals that shaped Canada’s early history. During his swearing-in, he emphasised that the country was built on the foundation of three peoples, French, English, and Indigenous. He stressed that Canada is fundamentally different from America and will “never, ever, in any way, shape, or form, be part of the United States.”
“I want to ensure that France, and the whole of Europe, works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, and at the same time resolutely North American, determined, like you, to maintain the most positive relations possible with the United States,” Carney said Monday.
Since Trump came to office, he has imposed whopping tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium and repeatedly commented on turning Canada into the 51st state, infuriating Canadians and sparking calls to boycott US products across the country.
Macron said fair trade “is certainly more effective than tariffs, which create inflation and damage supply chains and our economic integration.”
