Canada and its Prime Minister Mark Carney have drawn regular scorn from President Trump as the two nations remain
, but European leaders gave the visiting Canadian premier a standing ovation on Thursday.
asserted
leaders → draw → Thursday
Carney embraced the prospect of his country becoming the European Union's first associate member, shrugging off a threat by Mr. Trump and saying closer ties with the EU would ensure no country could control Canada's markets or undermine its sovereignty.
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country → embrace → sovereignty
In a speech to the European Parliament, Carney repeatedly extolled cooperation between Europe and Canada — but the now-souring relationship with the U.S., which has defined Canada's economy for decades, hung over the Thursday address.
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which → extoll → address
Mr. Trump's tariffs, demands for economic concessions, and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Ottawa to reduce its dependence on its neighbor and seek a far deeper economic, security and political relationship with Europe.
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Canada → repeat → Europe
Carney told the parliament that he welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's partnership proposal, unveiled Wednesday, though he acknowledged that "associate membership" remains to be defined.
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membership → tell → proposal
But the Canadian leader outlined his own vision: deeper integration across trade, defense, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, space, research and financial services to make both sides less vulnerable to economic and geopolitical pressure.
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sides → outline → pressure
He later told reporters he was not pursuing full membership of the EU.
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he → tell → EU
"We do not seek power to dominate others," he said.
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he → seek → others
"On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so that no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law."
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one → pursue → law
Carney got a warm welcome when he walked into the chamber in Strasbourg, France — with many lawmakers coming up to shake his hand and pose for selfies.
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lawmakers → get → selfies
His address got a standing ovation.
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address → get → ovation
Trump says EU-Canada "hostile act" would draw more tariffs
Speaking Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, after von der Leyen floated the idea of welcoming Canada as an associate EU member, Mr. Trump threatened to respond by imposing more tariffs on the European bloc, possibly even cutting off trade completely in certain areas.
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Trump → say → areas
Mr. Trump conditioned his latest threat on the "intention" of European leaders, saying: "If it's a good intention, that's fine.
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that → condition → leaders
If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe."
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we → put → Europe
He didn't say how he would discern the intentions of any eventual move by the EU to grant Canada a new, special status with the bloc, but he mocked the prospect as "laughable" and called America's neighbor to the north a "terrible trade partner."
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he → say → north
Carney's address appeared to show his determination to push forward in shaping a new "world order," without shedding any tears over what he said in January was the death of the old one.
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he → appear → one
For generations, Canada built its economy around integration with the United States.
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Canada → build → States
But in a very loosely veiled jab at the world's longtime singular superpower, Carney
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Carney → veil → superpower
that great powers like the United States were using economic dependence to bully smaller nations.
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powers → use → nations
He said there had been a "rupture in the world order" and warned that when countries negotiate alone with a dominant power, "we negotiate from weakness.
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we → say → weakness
We accept what is offered."
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what → accept → ?
"We know the old order is not coming back.
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order → know → ?
We shouldn't mourn it," Carney said in Davos.
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Carney → mourn → Davos
"We believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.
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we → believe → something
He clearly signaled his desire to forge closer ties with Europe in that address eight months ago, touting "a comprehensive strategic partnership with the EU" to deepen defense procurement collaboration, as well as "efforts to build a bridge" economically that he said "would create a new trading bloc of 1.5 billion people," combining European and Canadian markets.
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he → signal → markets
Mr. Trump rebuked him the next day, and Carney's speech on Thursday could further strain the relationship with the U.S.
"As close as we possibly can"
The "associate member" status that von der Leyen proposed for Canada does not currently exist in the bloc's treaties, and it would have to be created and the terms negotiated.
She said Europe wants to take its relationship with Canada to "the highest level possible," moving beyond their existing free trade agreement to create an "Alliance for the Future" encompassing a "common prosperity and economic security space."
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Europe → rebuke → space
Carney will host EU leaders for a summit in Montreal on Oct. 29 and 30, where the two sides are expected to discuss the proposed new relationship in more detail.
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sides → host → detail
Canada sends roughly 70% of its exports to the United States, making it highly exposed to Mr. Trump's tariffs.
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it → send → tariffs
Ottawa has, nonetheless,
that Carney says threaten Canadian sovereignty.
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Carney → have → sovereignty
Europe took a different path, shelving retaliation and accepting tariffs of up to 15% on most EU exports to the U.S.Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's ambassador-designate to the EU, said Wednesday that Canada is not seeking full EU membership because that would require surrendering some sovereignty.
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that → take → sovereignty
Instead, Ottawa wants "to get as close as we possibly can" to Europe while increasing Canada's independence.
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we → want → independence
Canada has already taken a major step toward European integration.
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Canada → take → integration
This year it became the first non-European country to join the EU's 150-billion-euro ($173 billion) SAFE defense procurement program, giving Canadian companies access to joint procurement as Europe increases defense spending.
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Europe → become → spending
The two sides have also discussed closer cooperation on energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence and digital trade.
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sides → discuss → energy
"The policies and rhetoric of the Trump administration are clearly pushing both Canada and the EU to imagine a world without strong U.S. leadership and to act accordingly," said Daniel Béland, a political-science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
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Béland → push → Montreal
Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, said: "Carney's shrewdness in dealing with Trump has captured Europe's attention."
Wiseman said Europeans have long regarded Canada as a country that understands the United States particularly well because of their deep economic and political ties.
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that → say → ties
Carney's willingness to resist Mr. Trump rather than quickly accept Washington's demands has reinforced that perception, he said.
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he → resist → perception
The Aporia
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