{"id":368358,"date":"2025-12-25T17:03:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T17:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/368358\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T17:03:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T17:03:17","slug":"carney-says-weve-got-to-keep-on-this-track-as-he-looks-ahead-to-2026-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/368358\/","title":{"rendered":"Carney says \u2018we\u2019ve got to keep on this track\u2019 as he looks ahead to 2026 – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> says it will take time for Canadians to see the results of efforts to grow and diversify the economy, but insists \u201cwe\u2019ve got to keep on this track.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a year-end interview with Global National anchor and executive editor Dawna Friesen, Carney said Canada is already in a better place than it was when he first became prime minister nine months ago, due to a renewed focus on strengthening international relationships and growing domestic industry.<\/p>\n

Yet he acknowledged there is more work to be done to address Canadians\u2019 affordability concerns, and that a \u201crelentless\u201d growth agenda is necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making progress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a stronger position than we were nine months ago and at the start of this year, but we\u2019ve got to keep going. And we will keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Carney added the \u201ccore\u201d of his government\u2019s agenda is to keep growing the economy and moving away from reliance on the United States, which has hammered Canada with tariffs on multiple sectors.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty around the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade (CUSMA) adds further urgency to that project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I would say to Canadians, the good news is virtually everybody wants to do more with Canada,\u201d he said, pointing to a slew of international agreements he\u2019s signed on trade and defence.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Canada
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\u201cWe\u2019re an increasingly confident nation that has ambition. So people want to deal with us now. That\u2019s good for the economy, it\u2019s good for jobs, it\u2019s good for the future, it\u2019s good for our independence from the United States. But it also brings an opportunity to help shape a world that is more dangerous, more divided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carney campaigned promising decisive action in his leadership and general election campaigns this year, and was asked about how he plans to approach challenges including efforts towards a new pipeline and the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a politician, but I\u2019m still a pragmatist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On the topic of MPs crossing the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals<\/a>, Carney noted that \u201cthey came to us\u201d and that he did not \u201clure\u201d anyone from the opposition in the hopes of building a majority government, which voters denied him in April.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is a positive vote for the government, supporting the government at a crucial time for our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Carney also expressed optimism that major pieces of government legislation on border security, hate crimes, and bail and sentencing reforms will be passed quickly in the new year, after those bills stalled at committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing everything we can at the federal level to address the challenges in our communities,\u201d he said, adding Ottawa is \u201cbuilding out momentum for more progress to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tCanada won’t ‘rush into a bad deal’ on trade\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

After vowing to reach a new trade and security relationship with the U.S. this summer, Carney says he\u2019s now looking ahead to the CUSMA review scheduled for next July.<\/p>\n

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In the meantime, he said Canada will be able to further advance other international relationships and grow its domestic economy.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCertainly a strategy is not to rush into a bad deal,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019ve been very disciplined about. And every week that goes by, the more that we\u2019re developing our economic strategy at home, the more were developing those relationships abroad, the stronger we get.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach has Carney feeling confident about the CUSMA negotiations, even if they result in the North American economy becoming less integrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a stronger position than we were at the start of the year relative to the U.S.,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, the U.S. position is that much clearer \u2026 they\u2019re less interested, for many sectors, for us to have free trade \u2014 with us or with anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he continues to make the case to U.S. President Donald Trump that the best way for the U.S. to be more competitive with China in areas from auto manufacturing to artificial intelligence and critical minerals is with help from Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would think that that is something of interest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey care (about that) sometimes, but at the same time they\u2019re tariffing exactly those industries (autos and steel). So there\u2019s an inconsistency in terms of objective.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Carney said whatever the outcome of the review, questions about the future of North American trade \u201care going to be answered\u201d by this time next year.<\/p>\n

Asked what he has learned from Trump, Carney said it\u2019s mostly what not to do as a country less powerful than the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be a reliable partner,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to be straight up: \u2018There\u2019s our objectives, this is what we\u2019re going to do. If we sign a deal, we\u2019ll respect a deal.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t‘Investment alongside’ regulation needed\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The closing months of 2025 has seen particular focus on the memorandum of understanding signed between Ottawa and Alberta on energy policy, including setting the stage for a potential new oil pipeline to the West Coast.<\/p>\n

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Carney was asked about political criticisms that he is supporting more oil production and export after spending years warning about the dangers of climate change, which he said remains an important issue for his government to address.<\/p>\n

He said the memorandum makes clear the need to decarbonize that oil, while also containing commitments from Alberta to reduce methane emissions and sign onto the national clean electricity strategy.<\/p>\n

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That combination, Carney argued, will better help Canada meet emissions reduction targets that both the country and the world are on track to miss.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlobally, we\u2019re off track,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ability to keep temperatures below one-and-a-half degrees is slipping away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe policies I inherited were not sufficient to meet our 2035 targets, in part because regulation in and of itself isn\u2019t sufficient; you need the investment alongside it. So part of the shift of the government is to really focus on those investments at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Carney said that approach doesn\u2019t mean Ottawa will push a pipeline project over the objections of British Columbia\u2019s government and First Nations.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s fundamentally a duty to consult, and we\u2019ve been absolutely clear about this from the start,\u201d he said, while noting no pipeline project proposal has been presented yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t consult about something that doesn\u2019t exist, so you have to create the possibility for it to even exist before you begin the consultations,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is not the government building a pipeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a firm believer and practitioner in cooperative federalism. So it\u2019s not just what we build, it\u2019s how we build it: building it inclusively, building it sustainably, building it in solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carney said there are \u201cother options\u201d available if those consultations end without agreement on a pipeline to the West Coast. That includes the possible revival of the Keystone XL pipeline to the U.S., though the prime minister said that would be \u201cless advantageous\u201d for Canada\u2019s economy and efforts to make it both more independent and diverse.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tIs Canada ‘more vulnerable’ than in 1812?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Carney said Canada is \u201cmore vulnerable\u201d and \u201cunder greater threat now than we have been\u201d since 1812, citing threats from Russia, terrorism and non-state actors as examples.<\/p>\n

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He said a particular focus of his is reasserting Canada\u2019s sovereignty in the Arctic: not just by expanding military presence there to \u201cevery day of the year\u201d across land, sea and air, but also by building up community infrastructure and development.<\/p>\n

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He pointed to major boosts in military spending, including pay raises for Canadian troops, as examples of his commitment to shoring up Canada\u2019s defences and repositioning itself as a strong NATO ally.<\/p>\n

As Canada asserts itself on the world stage, Carney said it will also have a larger presence in international negotiations, including efforts to end the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Canada, as a member of the coalition of the willing alongside European and other global allies, will have a role in preserving Ukraine\u2019s security as part of a future peace agreement, he added.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUkraine would be in a very weak position in this negotiation between two large powers (Russia and the U.S.) if it weren\u2019t for the coalition helping to provide the backstop,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the reasons why, in my role as prime minister, I speak frequently to President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, with our European partners, the U.S.: it\u2019s another way to have influence for things we believe in. We believe in democracy, we believe in sovereignty of nations, territorial integrity. That\u2019s what we\u2019re supporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carney said it\u2019s increasingly important for Canada to stand up for those beliefs in a rapidly-changing world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very fluid situation internationally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Mark Carney says it will take time for Canadians to see the results of efforts to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,8334,43,2659,44,714,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-368358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-donald-trump-tariffs","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-mark-carney","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}