Prime Minister Mark Carney says it would take time for Canadians to see the outcomes of efforts to develop and diversify the economic system, however insists “we’ve got to keep on this track.”
In a year-end interview with World Nationwide anchor and govt editor Dawna Friesen, Carney mentioned Canada is already in a greater place than it was when he first grew to become prime minister 9 months in the past, attributable to a renewed concentrate on strengthening worldwide relationships and rising home trade.
But he acknowledged there’s extra work to be accomplished to handle Canadians’ affordability considerations, and {that a} “relentless” development agenda is critical.
“We’re making progress,” he mentioned.
“We’re in a stronger position than we were nine months ago and at the start of this year, but we’ve got to keep going. And we will keep going.”
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Carney added the “core” of his authorities’s agenda is to continue to grow the economic system and transferring away from reliance on the USA, which has hammered Canada with tariffs on a number of sectors.
Uncertainty across the upcoming assessment of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Settlement on free commerce (CUSMA) provides additional urgency to that challenge.
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“We’re an increasingly confident nation that has ambition. So people want to deal with us now. That’s good for the economy, it’s good for jobs, it’s good for the future, it’s good for our independence from the United States. But it also brings an opportunity to help shape a world that is more dangerous, more divided.”
Carney campaigned promising decisive motion in his management and basic election campaigns this yr, and was requested about how he plans to method challenges together with efforts in the direction of a brand new pipeline and the conflict in Ukraine.
“I’m a politician, but I’m still a pragmatist,” he mentioned.
On the subject of MPs crossing the ground from the Conservatives to the Liberals, Carney famous that “they came to us” and that he didn’t “lure” anybody from the opposition within the hopes of constructing a majority authorities, which voters denied him in April.
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“This is a positive vote for the government, supporting the government at a crucial time for our country,” he mentioned.
2:53‘They came to us,’ Carney says on Conservative MPs crossing the ground
Carney additionally expressed optimism that main items of presidency laws on border safety, hate crimes, and bail and sentencing reforms will probably be handed rapidly within the new yr, after these payments stalled at committee.
“We’re doing everything we can at the federal level to address the challenges in our communities,” he mentioned, including Ottawa is “building out momentum for more progress to be made.”
Canada received’t ‘rush into a bad deal’ on commerce
After vowing to succeed in a brand new commerce and safety relationship with the U.S. this summer time, Carney says he’s now waiting for the CUSMA assessment scheduled for subsequent July.
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Within the meantime, he mentioned Canada will be capable of additional advance different worldwide relationships and develop its home economic system.
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“Certainly a strategy is not to rush into a bad deal,” he mentioned. “That’s what we’ve been very disciplined about. And every week that goes by, the more that we’re developing our economic strategy at home, the more were developing those relationships abroad, the stronger we get.”
That method has Carney feeling assured concerning the CUSMA negotiations, even when they outcome within the North American economic system turning into much less built-in.
“We are in a stronger position than we were at the start of the year relative to the U.S.,” he mentioned. “However, the U.S. position is that much clearer … they’re less interested, for many sectors, for us to have free trade — with us or with anyone.”
He mentioned he continues to make the case to U.S. President Donald Trump that the easiest way for the U.S. to be extra aggressive with China in areas from auto manufacturing to synthetic intelligence and demanding minerals is with assist from Canada and Mexico.
“You would think that that is something of interest,” he mentioned.
“They care (about that) sometimes, but at the same time they’re tariffing exactly those industries (autos and steel). So there’s an inconsistency in terms of objective.”
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0:31Canada, U.S. set to fulfill in January to assessment CUSMA
Carney mentioned regardless of the end result of the assessment, questions on the way forward for North American commerce “are going to be answered” by this time subsequent yr.
Requested what he has realized from Trump, Carney mentioned it’s largely what to not do as a rustic much less highly effective than the U.S.
“We have to be a reliable partner,” he mentioned. “We have to be straight up: ‘There’s our objectives, this is what we’re going to do. If we sign a deal, we’ll respect a deal.’”
‘Investment alongside’ regulation wanted
The closing months of 2025 has seen specific concentrate on the memorandum of understanding signed between Ottawa and Alberta on vitality coverage, together with setting the stage for a possible new oil pipeline to the West Coast.
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Carney was requested about political criticisms that he’s supporting extra oil manufacturing and export after spending years warning concerning the risks of local weather change, which he mentioned stays an essential concern for his authorities to handle.
He mentioned the memorandum makes clear the necessity to decarbonize that oil, whereas additionally containing commitments from Alberta to cut back methane emissions and signal onto the nationwide clear electrical energy technique.
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That mixture, Carney argued, will higher assist Canada meet emissions discount targets that each the nation and the world are on observe to overlook.
“Globally, we’re off track,” he mentioned. “The flexibility to maintain temperatures under one-and-a-half levels is slipping away.
“The policies I inherited were not sufficient to meet our 2035 targets, in part because regulation in and of itself isn’t sufficient; you need the investment alongside it. So part of the shift of the government is to really focus on those investments at scale.”
1:56Majority of Canadians help constructing new oil pipeline by way of northern BC: Ipsos
Carney mentioned that method doesn’t imply Ottawa will push a pipeline challenge over the objections of British Columbia’s authorities and First Nations.
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“There’s fundamentally a duty to consult, and we’ve been absolutely clear about this from the start,” he mentioned, whereas noting no pipeline challenge proposal has been introduced but.
“You can’t consult about something that doesn’t exist, so you have to create the possibility for it to even exist before you begin the consultations,” he added. “This isn’t the federal government constructing a pipeline.
“I’m a firm believer and practitioner in cooperative federalism. So it’s not just what we build, it’s how we build it: building it inclusively, building it sustainably, building it in solidarity.”
Carney mentioned there are “other options” obtainable if these consultations finish with out settlement on a pipeline to the West Coast. That features the doable revival of the Keystone XL pipeline to the U.S., although the prime minister mentioned that will be “less advantageous” for Canada’s economic system and efforts to make it each extra unbiased and various.
Is Canada ‘more vulnerable’ than in 1812?
Carney mentioned Canada is “more vulnerable” and “under greater threat now than we have been” since 1812, citing threats from Russia, terrorism and non-state actors as examples.
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He mentioned a specific focus of his is reasserting Canada’s sovereignty within the Arctic: not simply by increasing army presence there to “every day of the year” throughout land, sea and air, but in addition by increase group infrastructure and improvement.
0:49Canada to strengthen Arctic army communications
He pointed to main boosts in army spending, together with pay raises for Canadian troops, as examples of his dedication to shoring up Canada’s defences and repositioning itself as a robust NATO ally.
As Canada asserts itself on the world stage, Carney mentioned it would even have a bigger presence in worldwide negotiations, together with efforts to finish the conflict in Ukraine.
Canada, as a member of the coalition of the keen alongside European and different international allies, could have a job in preserving Ukraine’s safety as a part of a future peace settlement, he added.
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“Ukraine would be in a very weak position in this negotiation between two large powers (Russia and the U.S.) if it weren’t for the coalition helping to provide the backstop,” Carney mentioned.
“It’s one of the reasons why, in my role as prime minister, I speak frequently to President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, with our European partners, the U.S.: it’s another way to have influence for things we believe in. We believe in democracy, we believe in sovereignty of nations, territorial integrity. That’s what we’re supporting.”
Carney mentioned it’s more and more essential for Canada to face up for these beliefs in a rapidly-changing world.
“It’s a very fluid situation internationally,” he mentioned.
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