By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-17 12:31:41 | Updated at 2025-03-18 01:17:02
12 hours ago
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, seeking support from one of Canada’s oldest allies as US 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 UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III, the head of state in Canada.
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”.
“I want to ensure that France, and the whole of Europe, works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, and at the same time resolutely North American, determined, like you, to maintain the most positive relations possible with the United States,” Carney said on Monday, standing next to Macron.
Macron and Carney appeared in front of reporters before the talks but did not take questions, a sign the French president might not want to upset Trump by siding with Canada.
Macron said tariffs only bring inflation but did not address Trump’s attacks on Canada.
