Canada's Carney meets with European allies as tensions with the Trump administration persist

President Trump’s aggressive talk about both Canada and Greenland and the apparent rapprochement between Russia, a strong Arctic power, and the United States under Trump have increased anxieties about our control over this remote yet highly strategic region,

Béland said

There’s no point in going to Washington,

Bothwell said

The Trump factor is the reason for the trip. The Trump factor towers over everything else Carney must deal with,

said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto

Mark Carneyprime Minister

Security is a priority for this government, reinforcing our security, as is diversifying our trading and commercial relationships, of course, with both Europe and the United Kingdom."

In his first speech as prime minister, Carney said

Justin Trudeauprime Minister

Canada was built upon a union of peoples -- indigenous, French, and British,

Carney said, in a statement released before he set off from Ottawa on Sunday, two days after he was sworn in, replacing 10-year veteran prime minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the G7, NATO and Commonwealth power

Canada was built upon a union of peoples – Indigenous, French and British. My visit to France and the United Kingdom will strengthen trade, commercial and defence ties with two of our strongest and most reliable partners, and my visit to Nunavut will be an opportunity to bolster Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and security, and our plan to unlock the North’s full economic potential,

Carney said in a statement Saturday

Canada will never, ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States."

At his swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Carney underscored Canada's distinct identity from its southern neighbor, saying

There's no point in going to Washington. As [former Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau's treatment shows, all that results in is a crude attempt by Trump to humiliate his guests."

Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, said

Francois Legault and I are focused on protecting the Quebec economy -- and building it for a stronger future,

Carney said

Canada and Europe are strong, reliable partners,

Carney wrote

I can say this from one old guy to another old guy: ‘Stop this nonsense. Canada will never join the United States.’

He peered into a camera and upbraided Trump

Carney is arriving at a good time. He has emerged as a figure people seem to trust to take on Donald Trump,

University of Winnipeg politics professor Felix Mathieu told AFP

Over the last five years, while Canadians have been lining up at foodbanks and experiencing a significant cost-of-living increase, he has not been in Canada,

Kurkimaki said

Well, that happens to be exactly what we need,

he said,