Former U.S. president Bill Clinton considers Mark Carney a longtime friend and called the prime minister “about the most well qualified leader in the world.”
Clinton made the remarks Tuesday evening during a campaign event in Florida for David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for governor.
“I’m tired of treating our allies like they’re dirt,” he said, a reference to recent rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump against Canada.
“The prime minster of Canada has been a friend of mine for a long time … He’s about the most well-qualified leader in the world. He’s been head of the (central) bank both in the U.K. and Canada,” said Clinton.
“And we have the gall to suggest that they should become the 51st state?”
Trump has mused about turning Canada into a U.S. state for more than a year and has suggested his administration could use economic force to do so. He repeated the comment as recently as last week, during a rally in Bullhead City, Ariz.
“They’ll be doing something just like Greenland,” he said, adding that it “just adds to our beautiful plate,” referring to the U.S. Last January, the American leader ignited anxiety across NATO by demanding control over the Arctic Island of 55,000.
His tone toward Canada and its prime minister – whom he sometimes calls a governor – has ebbed and flowed as the two countries maneuver a trade war that has resulted in tariffs on a wide range of goods and layoffs, as companies north of the border move operations south.
On Wednesday, Carney announced a $9-billion joint plan with the government of Ontario to help industries hit by the trade war. It includes a $5-billion fund for the steel industry, $2.5 billion for the automotive sector and $1 billion for the Ring of Fire mining development in northern Ontario.
Clinton did not provide details regarding how he and Carney became friends, only saying “we got to know each other having virtually nothing to do with politics.”
Clinton’s presidency lasted from 1993 to 2001. At the time, Carney was working at Goldman Sachs. He moved to become the deputy governor of Canada’s central bank in 2003.
With files from the Canadian Press.
