Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled plans to cut taxes and beef up defence spending, arguing Canada must project economic strength and defend its “sovereignty” from the United States amid roiled relations with its neighbour.
Carney, who became prime minister after Justin Trudeau resigned on March 14, presented his Liberal Party’s campaign plan on Saturday before parliamentary elections on April 28.
The vote will determine whether Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, secures a mandate to continue as premier or whether the rival Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, take power.
Carney has said he is the best person to stand up to US President Donald Trump, who has opened up a rift in relations with the traditional US ally, imposing heavy tariffs and even threatening to annex Canada as the 51st US state.
“President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us, and that will never happen,” Carney said on Saturday. “Canada is not America, and it never will be, but we need to do more to just recognise that. We need a plan to deal with this new reality.”
Carney’s plan includes investing more in infrastructure and defence while cutting income taxes. He also envisions a trade diversification fund to help exporters expand outside the tariff-heavy US market.
“We’re in an enormous crisis, so we have to be able to do two things: one, hold down on that wasteful spending, which we will do, but much more than that, we need to be bold and drive investment in the economy and take the amazing opportunities we have,” Carney said.
The plan would boost defence spending to exceed a NATO target of 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2030. It includes buying more submarines, drones and icebreakers. Canada will also invest in transatlantic security with “like-minded” European partners, Carney said.
Poilievre, too, has called for increased defence spending although he has proposed offsetting it with deep cuts to “wasteful” foreign aid.
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