Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has warned that his country’s “former strengths” based on close ties to the United States have become its “weaknesses” and must be corrected.
Carney made this statement in a nearly 10-minute-long video address posted on social media. He also made it clear this will be the first of such videos.
The world, he said, has become “more dangerous and divided”.
“The US has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression. Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses, weaknesses that we must correct,” he stressed, adding, “The US has changed, and we must respond.”
The address echoed Carney’s speech at Davos in January, which targeted the Administration of American President Donald Trump and earned the latter’s disapproval. The new video comes prior to renegotiating the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement this summer.
Among the solutions, he noted, was “striking new partnerships abroad, so we can sell into new markets”. Canada is already working on such measures and among them is the comprehensive economic partnership agreement or CEPA with India.
Carney met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in March and they announced the launch of fresh negotiations towards the trade deal. Negotiations have commenced and are expected to conclude before the end of the year. Trade relations are expected to receive further impetus when Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visits Canada in the weeks ahead, accompanied by a large delegation.
Carney warned against the sentiment that relations with the United States will return to normal, saying that “hope isn’t a plan, and nostalgia is not a strategy”.
“We can’t control the disruption coming from our neighbours. We can’t bet our future on the hope that it will suddenly stop,” he underscored.
The address just after the Liberal Party secured a majority in the House of Commons after sweeping three by-elections last week.
Carney defined the address as “forward guidance” a term he coined while Governor of the Bank of Canada during the global economic crisis that began in 20007 and lasted till 2010.
He said he developed it “to assure people that however difficult the situation seemed on any given day, that we were acting, and importantly, that we would continue to act with overwhelming force against our problems until they were solved.”
🚨 BREAKING: Watch the full clip here ➤
