Dismissing U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Canada “lives” because of the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney says the country he’s leading “thrives because we are Canadian.”
The line, delivered at the end of a national address in Quebec City on Thursday, was in reference to Trump’s latest comments about Canada, sparked by the prime minister’s World Economic Forum (WEF) speech interpreted by many to be directed at the U.S.
“Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” Trump said Wednesday, while delivering his own speech in Davos.
Rebuffing that assertion, Carney said “Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership in the economy, in security, and in rich cultural exchange. But Canada doesn’t live because of the United States.”
This line was not in the version of the prime minister’s prepared remarks provided to reporters in advance, indicating Carney opted to ad-lib it, after stating “when we’re kind, kindness grows. When we’re united, unity grows. When we’re Canadian – inclusive, fair, ambitious – Canada grows.”
The prime minister’s speech kicked off what the government’s calling a “cabinet planning forum,” preparing for Parliament’s return on Monday.
Carney refused to take any reporters’ questions after his address. In a later scrum, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne was asked whether he thought the prime minister’s push-back on the Americans may be short-sighted given the looming trade talks, and he said thinks Canada is “leading.”
“The prime minister said a lot of things that people thought, and he had the courage to say out loud,” he said.
Carney tailors message to Canadians
Carney’s Thursday speech echoed similar sentiments to his internationally lauded remarks at WEF earlier this week, in which he spoke about the “rupture in the world order,” and the need for “middle powers” to act together in the face of “great powers” using “economic intimidation.”
Also written in large part by the prime minister, the version he delivered to a domestic audience on Thursday was tailored to Canadians.
Stating that while Canada can’t solve all the world’s problems, Carney said he thinks the country can be “a beacon, an example to a world that’s at sea.”
“We can show that another way is possible. That the arc of history isn’t destined to be warped towards authoritarianism and exclusion, it can still bend towards progress and justice,” Carney said Thursday afternoon.
“In a time of rising populism and ethnic nationalism, Canada can show how diversity is a strength, not a weakness. In a time of democratic decline, we can show how rights can be protected, and equal freedoms endure,” he added.
In his continued push to diversify Canada’s economic and security relationships, Carney also committed that under his leadership, the government will form more, and deeper international partnerships.
“In a time of rising walls and thickening borders, we can demonstrate how a country can be both open and secure, welcoming and strong, principled and powerful,” the prime minister said.
The speech also included a pledge to protect child care, dental care and pharmacare, asserting that “a strong and united Canada stands up for families and workers, and protects those who are most vulnerable.”
Cabinet to talk economy, trade
How the federal Liberals intend to do that, will begin to be ironed out, behind closed doors over the next two days, in a location laden with symbolism.
The federal planning forum is taking place inside the Governor General’s second official residence at the Citadelle, a star-shaped fortress built by the British army to fend off an American attack that never came.
After an afternoon of meetings on Thursday, ministers are expected to dine together and then resume discussions on Friday. Over the course of the cabinet confab finance, government, tech and global affairs experts will present to the prime minister’s front bench, to help form their plans to diversify trade and find new partnerships to “build our strength at home.”
“Canada is an ambitious nation of builders and explorers. We mapped this continent before the Americans had even left St. Louis. We built a transcontinental railway in five years. The St. Lawrence Seaway in four. We created a health-care system that became a model for the world,” Carney said in his speech.
“This government, Canada’s new government, shares that ambition.”
Carney also heaped praise on progress made by past prime ministers, including William Lyon Mackenzie King, Brian Mulroney, as well as Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Justin Trudeau.
“Each generation of Canadians has built a modern, progressive, liberal state,” he said. “Institutions make up the body of that progressive state, but our values are at its heart.”
And, taking on a predominant criticism from the opposition – as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre put it in a new statement: “We need to do things, not just say them” – Carney vowed to execute on his myriad priorities “fairly, and fast.”
With files from CTV News’ Abigail Bimman
