Canada wants to “maintain the most positive possible” relationship with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said as he kicked off his first international trip since taking office.
Carney is in France, where he is meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron before leaving for the United Kingdom later on Monday.
In joint opening remarks before their meeting in Paris, Carney stressed that Canada and France shared values of sovereignty, solidarity and sustainability and must strengthen their ties.
“With you Mr. President, I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States,” Carney said in English.
“Canada is a reliable, trustworthy, and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action during this age of economic and geopolitical crises.”
Carney also said Canada and France know that economic co-operation, not confrontation, will help build strong economies.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
This is Carney’s first in-person meeting with an international leader as prime minister.
Macron called Canada a “unique friend” with a shared vision of freedom. He also underscored a deep strategic partnership for trade, defence, protecting the environment and creating new technologies.
“We believe that fair trade that respects international rules is a good thing for everyone’s prosperity and it is far more effective than tariffs that simply create inflation and destroy the integration of our economies and our supply chain,” he said.
Carney’s Europe trip comes just days after he was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister Friday.
Later on Monday, Carney is travelling to the U.K., where he will have an audience with King Charles III and meet with Prime Minister Keir Starmer before travelling to Canada’s north on Tuesday.
The meetings are taking place amid global trade uncertainty as U.S. President Donald Trump has slapped tariffs on America’s allies, including Canada and European nations, with more threatened to come.
Carney said on Friday that he currently has no plans to go to the U.S., but he looks forward to speaking to Trump at the “appropriate moment.”
On Sunday, Carney spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he “reaffirmed Canada’s steadfast support for Ukraine” in its fight against Russia’s invasion, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Carney also formally invited Zelenskyy to the G7 Summit that will take place in Alberta in June.
— with files from The Canadian Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
