Yasin Gungor
19 April 2026•Update: 19 April 2026
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that Canada’s historically close ties to the US have turned into “weaknesses” that Canberra must now urgently address.
“The US has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression,” Carney said in a video address titled “Forward Guidance.”
“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses, weaknesses that we must correct.”
Carney dismissed any hope that Washington would return to its previous trade posture.
“Hope isn’t a plan, and nostalgia is not a strategy,” he said, adding that Canada could not afford to bet its future on disruptions from the US suddenly stopping.
He unveiled an ambitious economic and national security strategy aimed at drastically reducing Canadian dependence on its southern neighbor.
The plan, which Carney called “Canada Strong,” aims to catalyze $1 trillion in investment, unify the country’s 13 provincial economies into a single internal market, build new trade and energy corridors and double clean energy capacity.
He said Canada has already signed 20 new trade deals across four continents in under a year, arguing the country “has what the world wants.”
Defense overhaul
Carney also announced what he described as the largest increase in Canadian defense investment in generations, pledging to rebuild and rearm the Canadian Armed Forces. He said it would mark the first time since the end of the Cold War that Canada would meet the defense spending levels expected by its allies and “what we need for our defense.”
The announcement builds on remarks Carney made at the Liberal Party’s national convention in Montreal, where he told delegates that “the days of our military sending 70 cents of every dollar to the United States are over.”
Relations between Ottawa and Washington have deteriorated sharply since Trump took office, with US tariffs on Canadian goods and Trump’s repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st US state straining ties to a breaking point.
