Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to U.S. President Donald Trump comment that “Canada lives because of the United States” on Thursday by saying Canada thrives because of Canadian values.
Carney said Canada can show the world that the future doesn’t have to be autocratic after returning from Davos where he gave a speech that garnered widespread attention.
In Davos at the World Economic Forum, Carney condemned coercion by great powers on smaller countries without mentioning Trump’s name.
Upon returning home to Canada, Carney responded to Trump directly by referencing Trump’s remarks in Davos.
“Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
“Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian,” Carney responded Thursday.
Carney said Canada and the U.S. have built a remarkable partnership in the areas of economy, security and rich cultural exchange, but said “we are masters in our home, this is our own country, it’s our future, the choice is up to us.”
Trump later revoked his invitation to Carney to join his Board of Peace.
“Dear Prime Minister Carney: Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump posted on social media.
Carney left Davos before Trump inaugurated his Board of Peace to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas.
Trump has talked about making Canada the 51st state and posted this week an altered image of a map of the U.S. that includes Canada, Greenland, Venezuela and Cuba as part of its territory.
Trump said in Davos that Canada gets many “freebies” from the U.S. and “should be grateful.” He said Carney’s Davos speech showed he “wasn’t so grateful.”
Trump said Canada wants to participate in “Golden Dome” — a multibillion dollar missile defense system that he says will be operational before his term ends in 2029.
In a speech before a cabinet retreat in Quebec City, Carney said staying true to Canada’s values is key to maintaining its sovereignty.
“We can show that another way is possible, that the arc of history isn’t destined to be warped toward authoritarianism and exclusion; it can still bend toward progress and justice,” Carney said.
Carney said “Canada must be a beacon — an example to a world at sea.”
Carney said in a time of rising populism and ethnic nationalism, Canada can show how diversity is a strength, not a weakness.
“There are billions of people who aspire to what we have built: a pluralistic society that works,” Carney said.
He said Canada delivers shared prosperity and has a democracy that chooses to protect the vulnerable against the powerful.
“It’s a great country for everyone. It is the greatest country in the world to be a regular person. You don’t have to be born rich, or to a landed family. You don’t have to be a certain color or worship a certain god,” he said.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier complained about Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum.
“Give me a break,” Lutnick said on Bloomberg TV. “They have the second best deal in the world and all I got to do is listen to this guy whine and complain.”
Canada has been shielded from the worst impacts of Trump’s tariffs by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as USMCA, but the agreement is up for a mandatory review this year.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, told the forum that multiple leaders in the United States sent him transcripts of Carney’s speech.
“I respect what Carney did because he had courage of convictions. He stood up and I think we need to stand up in America and call this out with clarity,” Newsom said.
“We can lose our republic as we know it. Our country can become unrecognizable.”
Newsom said that fact that Carney came back from China with a deal to introduce low, cost high quality electric vehicles into Canada, not made from Michigan, but from overseas shows how reckless Trump’s foreign policy is.
“It’s a remarkable thing to break down 80-plus years of alliances,” he said.
