Prime minister Mark Carney said the British government’s decision to invite the American president Donald Trump During a second state visit was their decision to be made, but the Canadians had not “been impressed” due to the current rhetoric “51st state” at the time.
“They were not impressed by this gesture, simply, taking into account the circumstances,” said Carney in the United Kingdom Sky News broadcaster in a sit-down interview After his new cabinet was sworn in. “It was at a time when we were quite clear, some of us were clear about the problems of sovereignty.”
Carney acknowledged that he was not yet the Prime Minister at the time that the invitation was issued, being in the Liberal Party leadership race, but said that the United Kingdom’s decision “crosses” the position of the Canadian government.
At their first oval office meeting in February, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer presented Trump an invitation from King Charles III for a second state visit to the United Kingdom, a rarity for an American president.
At the time, Trump threatened prices on several industries in Canada and generalized tasks on a certain number of products, while saying that he wanted to make Canada the 51st state.
These comments from Trump continued for weeks, although they seemed to occur less frequently after the start of the federal electoral campaign. However, about two weeks before election day, as well as election day, Trump repeated the feeling.
Trump and his trade war were a major objective for Canadians in recent elections, with surveys carried out exclusively by Ipsos for world news showing that it was one of the main concerns that shape the spirit of voters.
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While Carney would no longer weigh his opinion on the invitation itself during the interview with Sky News, he said that even if it was an “unprecedented” state visit, Trump’s own presidency is also unprecedented because it is both the 45th and 47th president and there are “many unique factors”.
Carney has not commented on to Canadian media so far.
Asked about Carney’s comments, British Minister Pat McFadden told Sky News that each country was to decide how to lead his relations with other countries.
The existence of Canada “not at stake”
Carney met Trump at the Oval Office last week, his first trip to Washington since he became Prime Minister.
Trump has not mentioned rhetoric since then, although his prices on Canada remain in place.
Carney was asked in the interview if the existence of Canada was still “at stake”, which the Prime Minister denied.
“Existence is not at stake,” he said. “It is the most important economic crisis, it has a heavy element of national security that accompanies it, the extent to which we will cooperate with others on our national security, in particular the United States. The scale of the crisis is therefore the economic crisis and the fact that the fundamental nature, in my opinion, in our judgment, of the world economy changes.
According to Carney, the 51st rhetoric of Trump’s state had “moved from the expectation to a desire that this happens”.
“He also came from a place where he admitted that it was not going to happen, I clearly made him the question in this context,” he said.
King “very receptive” at the opening of the Parliament: Carney
The King will have his first visit to Canada since his crown in two weeks when he opened the new session of Parliament on May 27.
The Prime Minister said that he had extended the invitation to the king earlier this year when he visited the United Kingdom and said Charles was “very receptive” to the idea. Carney confirmed Charles’s planned visit to his first press conference after his electoral victory, and said in the interview with Sky News that the visit sends a message.
“I think His Majesty to come send a message above all to Canadians,” he said. “It is clear that it is a message of sovereignty, and I think that one of the points I raised from the start when I became Prime Minister is to emphasize that Canada is an incredible country, the best country in the world.”
When he was asked if the king’s visit had something to do with Trump, Carney said that if the desire to strengthen sovereignty problems had been “accentuated” by the president’s comments, it is more “reaffirming” for Canadians.
– With reuters files
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