Liberal Leader Mark Carney confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned the benefits of Canada becoming America’s 51st state during a phone call prior to the election, but added that Canada was also treated with respect as a sovereign nation.
“The president says lots of things, but the essence of the discussion, and where we moved the conversation to, was exactly what I said,” he told reporters while at a campaign stop in Coquitlam, B.C.
“We agreed that Canada and the United States, as sovereign nations, would begin negotiations on our economic and security relationship following the federal election.”
Carney was responding to a report from Radio-Canada that Trump brought up the idea of a 51st state during the call — a call the Liberal captain said back on March 28 had “respected Canada’s sovereignty.”
Carney added that Trump makes the 51st state comment “all the time,” but that “both things are true": the president desires Canada and that future negotiations will occur “as a sovereign nation.”
Opposition parties pounced on the opportunity to criticize Carney, who had leaned heavily on the North American trade war throughout the election campaign, often touting himself as the best person to deal with the U.S. president.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he’s “worried” Carney hasn’t been truthful about his early dealings with Trump.
“He was not being straight up. And now Canadians have a lot of questions,” he said to reporters in Winnipeg. “If he's not going to tell us about a phone call, what about the details of the negotiation, and what about what he's willing to trade away?"
Similarly, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the call between the two leaders “seems more and more to have been a stunt” meant to bolster perceptions of Carney’s negotiating abilities.
“I believe many people in Canada and in Quebec will say, ‘What the hell is that’? And, 'If that is not true, what else is not true?'”
Meanwhile, CPC Leader Pierre Poilievre said he would leave it to Carney to explain what took place on the phone call, saying he “wasn’t there.”
Trump has refrained from making comments about Canada becoming the 51st state for most of the election period; however, on Tuesday, he made new tariff threats towards the auto sector, warning levies could go up.
“We don’t really want Canada to make cars for us, to put it bluntly,” he said in the Oval Office. “I have to be honest, as a state, it works great.”
