Prime Minister Mark Carney is in London Friday to meet with the leaders of the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain and Iceland to discuss trade and security.
Carney had been scheduled to meet with the Danish prime minister, but that meeting was cancelled.
Four drones flew over Danish airports Wednesday night into Thursday morning, raising security concerns in northern Europe about increased Russian aggression.
Carney took part in a panel discussion at the Global Progress Action Summit with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Iceland's Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir. The panel focused on how centre-left political parties can compete against growing right-wing populism.
Carney said "like-minded" countries must work together in the face of an economic and geopolitical "rupture" with U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff agenda.
"We have learned the lesson that we … need to be masters in our own home. We can't be over-reliant on one trading partner. We can address it by building at home and diversifying," Carney said.
"We've got to make sure with like-minded trading partners around the world, that's not everybody in the world, but countries that share our values, a shared commitment to open markets."
Senior government officials speaking on background characterized the trip as a way to get face time with leaders to strengthen trade, business and security partnerships as Canada looks to ease its reliance on the United States.
This is the fourth meeting between Carney and Starmer since the Canadian prime minister began his term. It is the first time Carney has sat down with the Australian, Icelandic and Spanish leaders.
This latest international trip comes on the heels of Carney visiting Mexico City and the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and hosting the heads of Indonesia and Ireland in Ottawa before his departure.
The Conservatives have been critical of Carney's recent international trips, saying he hasn't brought concrete results back to Canada.
During Carney and Starmer's meeting, the two leaders discussed Canada sponsoring the U.K. becoming a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- a free trade agreement involving primarily Pacific nations.
On Monday in New York, Carney noted that Canada is a founding member the CPTPP, and had a free trade agreement with the European Union.
Some have suggested that the EU could join the CPTPP — which would offer major global markets a path to limit the sting of Chinese and American coercive trade policies. Others say the EU could simply agree to trade more with CPTPP countries.
Carney said Monday that Canada is part of these discussions but stressed "it's still early days."
Asia Pacific Foundation vice-president Vina Nadjibulla said any talk of trade collaboration would be a boon to Ottawa.
"For Canada this is great, because it shows that we're able to bring together our Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic partners," she said.
Carney and Starmer also discussed their recent recognition of Palestinian statehood, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.
Nadjibulla said Canada, the U.K. and Australia want deeper collaboration, particularly because of instability emanating from Washington.
"Canada has this unique geography, sitting in the middle of these two theatres, and we can be that bridge between democracies and allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific and in the Euro-Atlantic, both on the security and defence side (and) also on the economic side," she said.
Australia, for example, is trying to get clarity from the U.S. on the future of its security partnership with London and Washington called AUKUS, she said.
The U.K. and Australia are intelligence allies with Canada along with New Zealand and the U.S. through what is called the Five Eyes partnership.
While Carney and Starmer focused on areas they agree on, there is one firm disagreement -- women's rugby. The two leaders gifted each other rugby jerseys for their respective women's national teams, as they prepare to square off in the Women's Rugby World Cup final on Saturday.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
