Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty ImagesThe UK should “team up” with a proposed economic alliance between Canada and Europe, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has said.
“This is all about the substance, to build an alliance of the future,” he told the BBC. “The world has changed. America has changed. So we need to change.”
Champagne also gave a frank assessment of the Canada-US trade war after a deal collapsed last month, saying the country had “stood up for our industries, our workers, our country” by imposing tariffs.
His comments come after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed “opening the door” to an associate EU membership for Canada, an unprecedented move for the bloc.
Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, has previously talked about an alliance of “middle powers” working together on economic growth, resilience and security.
Speaking to the BBC, Champagne said the UK and Canada had shared values.
“We need to look at partnership in a different way, and the great thing is that when you look at Canada, and I would say the United Kingdom, we share the same values. We are very aligned in our vision of the world. Why don’t we team up?” he said.
“We are independent and sovereign, but we are stronger together.”
After his return to the White House last year, US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping global tariffs, including on long-standing trade allies such as the UK.
While the UK renegotiated a trade deal with the US in June last year, the new Canada-EU alliance does raise questions for the UK’s post Brexit positioning with Europe, as well as its position with the US, after some changes of presidential rhetoric over the Falklands and Irish unity in recent weeks.
Carney met Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Liverpool in the middle of his trip to Brussels and Strasbourg last week, while Champagne attended a meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin on Friday, alongside the Chancellor John Healey.
‘Enough is enough’
The developing discussions around closer ties between the EU and Canada come as Canada remains locked in an escalating trade war with the US, with both sides imposing tit-for-tat tariffs after talks broke down at the last moment in August.
President Trump has also threatened further tariffs on the EU if the associate membership plan proved “hostile” to the US, calling the idea laughable and labelling Canada a “terrible trading partner”.
Champagne said the trade war was not a conflict chosen by Canada.
“We responded because at some stage you have to say ‘Enough is enough’. No one can infringe on our economic sovereignty… the world took notice,” he said.
The minister said Canada does not seek escalation after its “measured, targeted and strategic… dollar for dollar, tariff for tariff” response, and the country would “reengage at the right time” with its southern neighbour.
Affected industries would be supported “as long as it takes and whatever it takes”, he added.
Champagne argued that Canada’s strong fiscal position helped underpin its resilience, and the dispute with the US provided a “golden opportunity” to diversify.
This is the backdrop to the promise of an “alliance of the future” between Canada and the EU, and the idea of “teaming up” with the UK too.
Burnham will meet Trump for the first time this week, in New York at the UN General Assembly.
Last year, after his election, Carney invited King Charles to open the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, a move widely seen as a rebuff to Trump’s repeated suggestion that Commonwealth Canada could become part of the US.
The detail of the offer made by the EU to negotiate “associate membership” for Canada is yet to be formalised.
Champagne said this was “a moment of great opportunities” and to strengthen the existing relationship between Canada and the EU.
Carney last week pointed to Canadian membership of EU university, scientific research, AI and defence funding schemes, as well as for young Canadians and Europeans to “cross the ocean and be able to study and live”.
He said Canada could supply critical minerals and gas and would seek access to European advanced technologies.
It is understood that both Canada and the EU see the opportunity for a process for like-minded nations which might not ever be full members, for example Australia.
