U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney talk at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta.Amber Bracken/Reuters
Among the foreign leaders kowtowing to Donald Trump, Britain’s Keir Starmer leads the pack. The image of him at the G7 summit, bending over and scrambling to pick up papers dropped by the U.S. President, was splendid symbolism. Remember when Tony Blair was labelled as George W. Bush’s poodle? Now Mr. Starmer is the pooch.
The Labour Party Prime Minister has hardly offered a word of protest to the sewage dispensed by Mr. Trump. In February, Mr. Starmer brought Mr. Trump an invitation for a state visit with King Charles, which Mr. Starmer said would be “truly historic.” Yet he wouldn’t say a thing in defence of Canada when Mr. Trump was rolling out his threats to annex a member of the Commonwealth.
But unlike Mr. Blair, who paid a steep price for his lapdog behaviour in joining Mr. Bush for his attack on Iraq, Mr. Starmer is reaping benefits. At the G7, he finalized a trade deal with Washington without exceedingly high tariffs. He also got an assurance from the President that the U.S. would not terminate a submarine alliance with Britain and Australia.
Mr. Trump made it clear that his concessions had a lot to do with the Brits at 10 Downing Street toadying to him. “I like them – that’s their ultimate protection," he said.
Other leaders, like Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, are swallowing their pride – and their tongues as well. She’s been quiet about Mr. Trump’s brutal tariffs, as well as his move to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
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The leaders have learned, with the help of the example set by Justin Trudeau, that you need be most careful not to bring on one of Mr. Trump’s hissy-fits. At the G7, he was still targeting Mr. Trudeau, blaming him – even though he wasn’t in power at the time – for ending Russia’s membership in the G8 in 2014, following President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
Prime Minister Mark Carney did not dare rebuke Mr. Trump for his appalling defence of the Russian tyrant. He let it pass and was probably smart to do so. He had to play the game – the hypocrite’s game. He complimented Mr. Trump. He said the G7 would be nothing without his leadership.
In Mr. Carney’s leadership and election campaigns, there was a lot of “elbows up” bravado. But Mr. Carney has now joined other leaders in donning the kid gloves.
We recall him saying dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. should be a given. A given they are not. Instead, he complains about that kind of retaliation being too costly given the small size of Canada’s economy compared to the U.S. There’s been no payback yet for Mr. Trump’s decision to double U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent, from 25 per cent.
A U.S court of international trade has ruled that Mr. Trump’s tariffs were illegal. You’d think the decision, now under appeal, would be mentioned at every opportunity. It’s hardly mentioned at all.
We recall Mr. Carney’s promise to get defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP by 2030 to meet our NATO commitment. Under pressure from Mr. Trump, that’s suddenly changed. Now he’ll do it by next year.
But Mr. Carney has little choice but to curry favour. Given the extraordinary weight Mr. Trump puts on personal relationships, given his mammoth powers, his narcissistic authoritarianism and his vile threats, it would be folly for the Prime Minister to do otherwise.
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The elbows-down strategy might pay off. Mr. Carney has established a good working relationship with Mr. Trump. At the summit, the two leaders said a new trade and security pact could come within a month. A deal may be worked out like the British one, wherein the tariffs aren’t draconian.
There is also the hope that the courts will uphold the illegality of the tariffs.
Canadians so far seem pleased, judging by polls, with the approach Mr. Carney is adopting. It’s an approach that extends beyond the United States. Relations must be rebuilt with India and China as well – giants with whom ties have been severely strained.
On the sidelines of the G7, Mr. Carney met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite Ottawa’s allegations that Indian diplomats were linked to violent criminal activity in Canada.
The meeting stirred lots of opposition. But we need to get used to Ottawa forging closer ties with governments we’d prefer not to have such ties with. Counterweights in view of the recklessness of Mr. Trump, who’ll be around for almost four more years, are badly needed.
The diplomatic skills of Mr. Carney, which appear to be commendable thus far, will be put to the maximum test.