Liberal Leader Mark Carney prepares to deliver a campaign speech at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown on April 21.Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Mark Carney said a Liberal government would aim to cut back on federal contracting with U.S. tech giants as part of a “Buy Canada” effort in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The Liberal Leader responded Monday to a Globe and Mail report that said federal officials are working on a plan to direct more cloud-computing contracts toward Canadian companies after receiving strong industry pushback over an existing competition to shortlist a small number of American multinationals for similar work.
The four shortlisted companies in the existing competition are Amazon Web Services Canada Inc., Google Cloud Canada Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Canada ULC. The process will lead to a 25-year contracting arrangement between the selected companies and Ottawa.
When asked to comment, Mr. Carney told reporters at a campaign stop in Charlottetown that building the capacity of Canadian technology companies and reducing the use of American providers is an important element of his party’s economic strategy.
“With respect to technology, we have many strengths in this area, including in artificial intelligence, intelligence infrastructure, data infrastructure. And the question is, how do we strategically develop this as a country? How do we go from where we are today, which is too high dependence on U.S. providers, to a more balanced approach: greater diversification, including greater domestically,” Mr. Carney said.
Cloud computing generally involves hiring an outside company to provide computing power over the internet for information storage and other needs. This is used as an alternative to government-run data centres.
The Liberal Party platform, which was made public Saturday, says a Liberal government would deploy a “made-in-Canada procurement strategy” that prioritizes Canadian suppliers.
The platform says a Liberal government would “bet on Canadian innovators and entrepreneurs” by leveraging the government’s purchasing power to drive Canadian innovation.
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It also pledges to support artificial intelligence, which involves heavy use of computing power, by “building the next generation of data centres quickly and efficiently.” It also says a Liberal government would reduce bureaucratic obstacles and provide funding to support new data centres.
The Liberal platform outlined nearly $130-billion in new spending over four years. It also relies on larger projected deficits in the coming years than had been outlined under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said he will release his party’s platform on Tuesday, criticized Mr. Carney for outlining even larger deficits than his predecessor.
“In other words, as crazy and costly as Trudeau’s budget plan already was, Mark Carney’s is even worse,” Mr. Poilievre told reporters Monday in Scarborough, Ont.
Conservative spokesperson Sam Lilly said the party supports procurement processes that factor in whether companies are Canadian. He also said in an e-mail that a Conservative government would ensure there are protections for Canadians’ data and protections “for our data sovereignty and intellectual property.”
During the campaign, Mr. Poilievre has mentioned the growing need for data centres to support AI as an economic opportunity for Canada.
NDP spokesperson Anne McGrath said the party supports using government procurement to grow Canadian companies.
Mr. Carney was asked Monday why he released a platform that features larger deficits and also shelves the Liberal government’s previous objective to keep the size of deficits below 1 per cent of GDP by the 2026-27 fiscal year.
The Liberal Leader said extra investment is required in the current moment because of what he described as an economic crisis created by the U.S. tariffs.
“We are in a fundamental reordering of our relationship with the United States and the global economy,” he said. “We need to build. We need to invest. We need to use scarce dollars on the federal balance sheet to catalyze that investment, and we’re prepared to do that.”
The Liberal Leader later travelled to a campaign stop in Truro, N.S., followed by an evening rally in Fredericton, where he was introduced by New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt.
The Premier praised Mr. Carney’s initial steps as Prime Minister to reach a consensus with the provinces and territories on how to respond to the U.S. tariffs.
“I got to see around that table someone who is calm, compassionate, competent,” she said. “He enhanced our resolve to fight and to protect the Canada that we know and love.”