Prime Minister Mark Carney says his recent overseas trips are key to advancing his government’s agenda on trade, security, and investment.
Carney made the comments while on a four-day trip to London, England, his 13th foreign visit since becoming prime minister in March. The London trip came a few days after his trip to New York for the UN General Assembly.
He told reporters during a news conference on Sept. 27 that his trips were “necessary to help translate the agreements in June with the European Union, the framework agreements for opening up further market access in Europe.”
“It’s not just you sign a nice agreement and then something happens. No, you actually have to do the work to meet with the leaders to make sure the work’s being done. You have to mark progress as it’s being done, which is what we’re doing with the various European leaders,” Carney said.
The prime minister also said that Canada was going to spend “hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars” over the next 10 years to create jobs for Canadians.
“Part of the money for that investment is going to come from abroad. And so it’s one thing to have the strategy. It’s another thing to have these deepening trade relationships,” he told reporters at the news conference.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized Carney’s trips overseas, saying they are nothing more than “Liberal showbusiness.”
“These trips are nothing but Liberal showbusiness to distract from spiralling debt, costs, crime, immigration and job loss,” he said in the post.
During his trip, Carney met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other world leaders, and attended the Global Progress Action Summit, which is a global gathering of progressive politicians and thinkers.
He said he also met with business and investment leaders, as well as had discussions with the prime ministers of Australia, Spain, and Iceland over security issues.
Gaza, Ukraine
Carney said he discussed the war in Gaza with Prime Minister Starmer, saying that “progress is being made.”“I don’t want to overstate it, but [there is] a coming together of a number of very influential countries, ourselves included, in a way that is increasing ... the possibility of success,” he said, adding that “one has to always be very cautious in any comments about that conflict.”
Carney said the “next few weeks could be decisive.”
He also told reporters that he “welcomed” comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that signal a change in the president’s position on the war in Ukraine.
He added that with support from Europe and NATO, Ukraine could drive out Russian forces and restore its borders.
“Why not?” Trump wrote. “Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.’”
Carney told reporters “We have welcomed [Trump’s] engagement from the start in this conflict,” saying the U.S. president has played a “decisive” role in “shaping potential outcomes.”
The prime minister added that Canada would “do our bit” and that a security guarantee of Ukraine provided by the “coalition of the willing” will be necessary.
Carney said his government supported a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict.
“It’s been the position of every Canadian government since 1947 to support a two-state solution consistent with the principles of the United Nations of self determination and human rights,” he said, adding that there would not be a “durable peace for Israel” unless Palestinians’ “rights of self determination are respected.”
Carney’s final stop on Sept. 27 was to see the Women’s Rugby World Cup finals where Canada took on England.
He said he was “very excited” about the match, calling it a “match for the ages.”
