Canada's Carney to meet with European allies as tensions with the Trump
administration persist
[March 17, 2025]
By ROB GILLIES
PARIS (AP) — New Canadian 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 III, the head of state in
Canada.
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 the edge of
Canada’s Arctic 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 Béland, a political science professor at McGill
University in Montreal.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney departs Montreal, on route to
Paris, France, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian
Press via AP)
“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
defenses 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. Canada's governing 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.
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Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris and Danica Kirka in
London contributed this report.
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