MOSCOW: The new leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party, Mark Carney, who will become the country’s next prime minister, said that Canada would never become part of the United States, despite threats from US President Donald Trump.
“America is not Canada. And Canada will never ever be part of America in any way, shape or form,“ Carney said in the first post-election address to his party, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
Carney’s statement comes amid high tensions between Ottawa and Washington over trade tariffs.
In December, Trump, then-US president-elect, referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the “governor” of the “Great State of Canada” amid tensions over Trump’s threat to slap tariffs on products from the neighbouring nation.
On February 3, after being sworn in as the US president, Trump suggested that Canada should become the 51st US state to avoid tariffs and receive military protection. Canadian officials reportedly took Trump’s words very seriously.