The former Bank of England governor, who was sworn in as Canada’s new leader last week, arrived in London from Paris where he met French President Emmanuel Macron. Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney has met Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street this evening, with the UK leader welcoming the relationship between the “two sovereign allies”. The former Bank of England governor also met King Charles, who is Canada’s head of state, at Buckingham Palace where Mr Carney told the monarch they had “much to catch up on”. The visit to the UK comes as US President Donald Trump has been threatening Canada’s sovereignty by repeatedly suggesting he would make it the 51st US state – something Mr Carney called “disrespectful” in a press conference this evening… Source: news.sky.com/
Trump annexation talk prompted defence talks with Europe, Joly says
OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is in the “advanced” stages of negotiations with Europe on joining its new defence partnership — prompted in large part by growing concern about
Russia’s war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing talk of annexing Canada. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Joly said Canada began talking to Europe about expanding security and defence ties almost immediately after Trump’s “51st state” rhetoric began. “Our goal is to make sure ultimately that we’re closer to Europe than ever,” Joly added. Europe is moving swiftly to amp up its own military spending and capabilities to defend itself against the threat of further Russian aggression in Europe. It officially announced its ReArm Europe plan on March 4.
Joly suggested Wednesday that Canada has been part of that planning almost from the start. “The negotiations on the defence partnership started a couple of weeks ago, as of course Europe was working on this, but also at the same time the question of Ukraine became even more sensitive, and the threat of Russia towards Europe,” Joly said.
“And meanwhile, while President Trump started his rhetoric on annexing Canada, within three weeks we were in conversations with Europe and in mid-February I went to Europe to talk to my counterparts about it.”
Source:ctvnews.ca/
Canada in talks with the EU to reduce US defense reliance: AP source
TORONTO (AP) — Canada is in discussions with the European Union to join an EU drive to break its security dependency on the United States, with a focus on buying more defense equipment, including fighter jets, in Europe, a senior Canadian government official confirmed Wednesday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the plan includes building fighter jets in Canada.
In Canada, where U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a trade war and has threatened economic coercion to make it the 51st American state, Defense Minister Bill Blair has been tasked by Prime Minister Mark Carney to review the purchase of America’s F-35 fighter jets to see if there are other options “given the changing environment,” a defense spokesman said on the weekend. Carney has said the potential for having more production in Canada is a factor. A proposal by Sweden’s Saab promised that assembly and maintenance of the Saab Gripen fighter jet would take place in Canada. Source: apnews.com/
Saturday, April 18, 2026
