Prime Minister Mark Carney holds a press conference at Canada House in London on Saturday.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney has defended his international travel schedule, saying meeting world leaders is important to furthering the government’s agenda on trade, security and investment.
Mr. Carney was in London Friday and Saturday, his fifth trip to Europe since being sworn in as Prime Minister last March. He has also made two trips to the U.S., and he visited Mexico earlier this month.
“It’s not just you sign a nice agreement and then something happens,” Mr. Carney told reporters on Saturday during a press conference at the High Commission in London. “No, you actually have to do the work, to meet with the leaders to make sure the work’s being done. You have to mark progress as it’s being done, which is what we’re doing with the various European leaders.”
While in London on this trip, Mr. Carney met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and attended the Global Progress Action Summit, a gathering of centre-left policy makers and leaders from several countries. He also held meetings with investment professionals and had one-on-one discussions at the summit with the prime ministers of Australia, Iceland and Spain.
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The trips have faced criticism from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre who called the recent visit to London part of an “illusion tour.”
In a post this week on X, Mr. Poilievre wrote that the Prime Minister “gets nothing for Canada in his costly trip to the UK. British blockade of Canadian beef remains in place and no new trade deal. These trips are nothing but Liberal showbusiness to distract from spiralling debt, costs, crime, immigration and job loss.”
So Carney gets nothing for Canada in his costly trip to the UK. British blockade of Canadian beef remains in place and no new trade deal.
These trips are nothing but Liberal showbusiness to distract from spiralling debt, costs, crime, immigration and job loss.
We need a Prime…
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) September 26, 2025
On Saturday, Mr. Carney said that in recent weeks he had strengthened Canada’s ties with Mexico, reached a trade deal with Indonesia, and furthered work on Canada’s trade relationship with Britain.
He has argued that the trips have been necessary to shore up Canada’s international relations and broaden the country’s trade ties beyond the U.S., in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s global trade war.
“It’s one thing to have the strategy. It’s another thing to have these deepening trade relationships,” he said.
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Mr. Carney and Mr. Starmer also discussed the war in Gaza and the “coalition of the willing,” a group of countries that have committed to serving a role in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security once a peace deal is reached with Russia.
On Saturday, Mr. Carney said he welcomed Mr. Trump’s apparent change of heart on Ukraine and his comments that Kyiv could win back all of the territory captured by Russia.
“We very much welcome President Trump’s position as we have welcomed his engagement from the start in his conflict,” Mr. Carney said. He added that Canada “will do our bit” but that “ultimately, some form of U.S. backstop to any security guarantee of Ukraine that is provided by the coalition of the ruling will be necessary.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney and wife Diana Fox Carney arrive at 10 Downing St. in London on Friday.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Mr. Carney also defended the recent moves by Canada, Britain, France Australia and other countries to recognize a Palestinian state. He said the long-time policy of Canada and many other nations was to back a two-state solution, Palestine alongside Israel, something that has been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s been the position of every Canadian government since 1947 to support a two-state solution consistent with the principles of the United Nations on self-determination. Further, there will never be a durable peace for Israel unless those rights of self-determination are respected for the Palestinian people,” Mr. Carney said. “And so a Palestinian state that is free and viable, living in peace and security side by side with the State of Israel.”
He also said that a peace plan for Gaza is taking shape, led by the U.S., Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states. “I don’t want to overstate it, but there is a coming together of a number of very influential countries, ourselves included, in a way that is increasing the possibility of success,” he said.
Mr. Carney’s final stop in London on Saturday will be to attend the final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Twickenham, south of London, and watch Canada take on England. The game is being played before 82,000 fans in a sold-out Allianz Stadium, making it the largest crowd ever to watch a women’s rugby match. England is ranked No. 1 in the world, and Canada is world No. 2.
“I’m very excited about the game,” Mr. Carney said. “This is an event for the ages.”