Prime Minister Mark Carney spent the weekend in Ireland making the case for a closer Canada-Europe partnership, the latest step in his effort to reduce Canada's reliance on the United States ahead of the G7 summit in France. Meeting the Irish leader on Saturday, Carney argued that Canada and the European Union together command a population more than twice that of the United States, an economy of comparable size and a combined defense budget twice that of China's.
Carney cast next week's summit in Évian-les-Bains as an opportunity to begin reshaping the international order, telling reporters that "strands" of a new arrangement could be woven at the gathering as middle powers and the EU look to coordinate more closely. The framing fits a foreign policy he has pursued since taking office, leaning toward Europe as relations with Washington have grown strained over trade.
The Irish stop also had a personal dimension. Carney visited his family's ancestral home in County Mayo and met several cousins, with one second cousin saying she was "extremely proud" of him and grateful for the visit — a softer note amid a trip dominated by economic and security diplomacy.
Artificial intelligence is on Carney's mind heading into the summit. He said the standards, regulation and responsibility around AI would be part of the G7 discussions, stressing that with any powerful technology it is essential to keep people "at the centre." Canada has moved to position itself in the debate over how governments should govern advanced AI systems.
Carney said the summit would bring together a broader group than the core seven to tackle issues ranging from AI regulation to the world's geopolitical conflicts. France has invited guest nations including India, Brazil and South Korea, widening a table that Carney has argued should reflect a more multipolar balance of power.
The trip underscores the strategic bet at the center of Carney's premiership: that Canada's long-term interests are best served by deepening ties with Europe and other partners rather than relying on a single, increasingly unpredictable neighbor. His pitch in Ireland — built on the combined heft of Canada and the EU — was a preview of the argument he intends to carry into Évian.
Whether that vision gains traction will depend on what the summit produces. Carney arrives as one of several leaders pressing for tighter cooperation outside the orbit of Washington, and the language the G7 agrees on this week will be an early measure of how far his new-world-order ambitions can travel.