Post

🇨🇦PM Carney's speech to the 🇪🇺Parliament starting now, with an intro by speaker Metsola pointing out that both 🇨🇦&🇪🇺 are unions. "Our friendship is built on the same udnerstandig that united Canadians in 1867 and Europeans in 1951 – that we are always stronger when we work together" Two confederations

As Carney takes to the podium a (far right, judging by the side of the chamber) Member of the 🇪🇺Parliament chants "USA, USA". The room reacts with groans. Carney laughs. He begins his speech in French.

“We are not fairweather allies," 🇨🇦PM Carney tells the 🇪🇺Parliament. "We do not pursue zero sum deals. Our commitment to the rule of law and our unyielding defence of human dignity, individual freedom and democracy share the same deep roots, the same unwavering dedication."

🇨🇦PM Carney: "Canada and Europe are not bound by Geography, even though our Danish friends know we share a 3,000 km border in the Arctic." "We are bound by an elective affinity - chosen, renewed and stronger for being so."

🇨🇦PM Carney: "This is about sovereignty - our ability to live as we wish. It’s about the freedoms we must fight for every day. Because sovereignty requires resilience. The ability to withstand shocks."

🇨🇦PM Carney: "Sovereignty today goes beyond being able to feed, fuel & defend ourselves. It now requires secure access to AI, semiconductors, critical minerals, payment systems, clean energy tech, vaccines, space-based communications. And we all have important gaps in these strategic capabilities."

🇨🇦PM Carney: "We each must rely on individual nations or individual companies to fulfil them. That creates vulnerabilities. Particularly when supposedly global companies prove national in the breach. Closing these gaps is not possible alone." "🇨🇦🇪🇺 are each strong. We are stronger together."

And he's used the words - a big question for today. "Yesterday President von der Leyen...opened the door to Canada becoming the EU’s first associate member. Canada welcomes this ambition, and polling shows an overwhelming number of Canadians support much closer ties with Europe."

🇨🇦PM Carney: "Let me say plainly what Canada proposes:" "Canada and Europe should secure our strategic autonomy through deep cooperation in the full range of strategic capabilities, including critical minerals, defense industrial capacity, AI and computing, energy security, space and payments..."

"...We should move toward seemless digital trade in non-agricultural goods in a wide range of services. We should deepen our people-to-people ties, allowing our youth to work study and live on either side of the Atlantic." Big applause from MEPs for this last point.

🇨🇦PM Carney: "I also want to be precise about what I am not proposing." "I’m not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great power rival only with better manners. We do not seek power to dominate others."

🇨🇦PM Carney: "On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law."

Carney closes with a story of how Canadian soldiers returning from fighting in Europe in WW2 came back with acorns, planting trees that now grow in both Canada and France - proving what can survive even in the harshest winter. A standing ovation from MEPs.