Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to Beulah Cooper and Diane Davis on a campaign stop in Gander, N.L., on March 24, 2025.Blair Gable/Reuters
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who hasn’t talked to Donald Trump since taking office as Prime Minister, says he thinks the U.S. President is waiting for the outcome of the April 28 federal election before engaging with Ottawa.
Mr. Carney visited Gander, N.L., on the second day of the election campaign, using the story of a town that sheltered stranded Americans after the Sept. 11 attacks to mark the recent downturn in Canada-U.S. relations under Mr. Trump. The Republican President launched a damaging trade war on Canada and keeps talking of annexing the country as the 51st state.
“In this crisis caused by the U.S. President and those who are enabling him, we lament a friendship lost,” the Liberal Leader said. “In Gander, Canadians did extraordinary things for Americans when they needed it. Now, we need to do extraordinary things for ourselves.”
The trade war between Canada and the United States is growing, with more punitive U.S. tariffs on Canadian products expected April 2. A lack of communication between Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump means there is no top-level engagement during one of the worst crises in Canada-U.S. relations.
Mr. Carney, who was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister on March 14 and called an election Sunday, was asked during the campaign stop precisely what efforts he has made to reach Mr. Trump. It’s unusual for a Canadian prime minister and U.S. president to go so long without talking together after one of them takes office.
The Liberal Leader said he thinks Mr. Trump is taking a wait-and-see approach.
“With respect to the President, the President is waiting for the outcome of the election and to see who has a strong mandate from Canadians or who has a mandate from Canadians,” Mr. Carney told reporters. “Is it someone who is, to quote Danielle Smith, who’s in sync with him, or is it someone who’s going to stand up for Canadians?”
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“I’m available for a call, but you know, we’re going to talk on our terms as a sovereign country – not as what he pretends we are,” he said.
Mr. Trump said Monday he “may give a lot of countries breaks” from what the White House calls “reciprocal” tariffs it’s talked about imposing on foreign trading partners next week. But he still spoke of raising significant revenue through levies on other countries through an External Revenue Service agency. “We’ll be announcing some additional tariffs over the next few days, having to do with automobiles, cars, and having also to do a little bit with lumber down the road – lumber and [semi-conductor] chips,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Carney’s campaign said there is no call scheduled with Mr. Trump. In an interview with Fox News on March 16, Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., said the Canadian government had reached out to the White House after Mr. Carney’s swearing-in and was “looking forward” to speaking with Mr. Trump.
In Gander, Mr. Carney met with two locals, Beulah Cooper and Diane Davis, to talk about their roles in aiding stranded travellers, including many Americans, during the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, when many planes bound for New York were diverted to the town’s international airport.
Mr. Carney called them both heroes for their actions during a time of crisis. “You really are inspirations for all of us in Canada,” and a reminder that Canadians are “better together” and come through for people in tough times, he said.
He said Mr. Trump has jeopardized relations between Americans and Canadians. “Now we are over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves and we have to look out for each other, just like you did in Gander all those years ago.”
As Canada girds for more tariffs next week, federal officials could not identify any cabinet ministers who are slated to head to Washington to try to avert the levies. Ms. Hillman is leading the Canadian push in the U.S. capital and International Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc has built connections with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, while Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly remains in contact with Republican Senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham.
Mr. Trump has already imposed several punitive tariffs on Canadian imports, including 25-per-cent levies on steel and aluminum, and has promised that more are coming April 2 – a further economic hit that Mr. Carney, as Prime Minister, will be forced to address in the midst of this five-week election campaign.
Ontario officials met Monday with senior members of United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office in Washington, according to a provincial government source familiar with the meeting. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source as they are not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions.
Ontario’s trade representative, David Paterson, along with Premier Doug Ford’s deputy chief of staff and head of Ontario-U.S. engagement Travis Kann, met with four members of Mr. Greer’s team in Washington. A Canadian embassy official was also present at the meeting, the source said.
The 45-minute conversation focused mostly on autos, the source said, with Ontario officials making the case that Canada is the top customer for U.S. cars and the relationship is trending toward balance. The source said the provincial officials noted the degree to which the supply chain is integrated and how far-reaching and economically devastating the consequences would be for U.S. companies if autos are subject to tariffs beginning April 2, with U.S. officials acknowledging that they understood.
The United States Trade Representative officials also brought up the idea of raising import charges on cars from regions that are not part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, such as Korea, Japan and Europe, the source said. This would help the U.S. achieve its goal of increasing production and jobs while sparing the North American market.
The source said that while Ontario is preparing for additional tariffs on April 2, officials are feeling confident it will be less than threatened two weeks ago and should be seen as a sign of progress that will inform how Canada responds to the levies.
Mr. Carney said that Mr. Trump is mistaken if he thinks tariffs will break Canada. “They think they will weaken us. They think that they can own us,” he said. “We are going to get stronger. We’re going to wait this out. They’re going to come to the table, and we’re going to negotiate a good deal for Canadians.”
In a second campaign ad released Monday featuring Canadian actor and comedian Mike Myers, the celebrity endorses Mr. Carney after talking about the need to stand up to bullies. “The world needs more grown-ups,” Mr. Myers says in the ad. “Nobody should confuse Canadians’ kindness with weakness.”
With a report from The Canadian Press
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