Liberal leader Mark Carney on Thursday depicted his predecessor, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as an unserious figure who invited ridicule.
Relations with the United States are not a photo op or “a visit to Mar-a-Lago,” said Carney, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
President Donald Trump “treated me as the prime minister, not as something else,” Carney, who became the de facto prime minister after a March 9 vote, told reporters.
“I am not even going to say the word he used to use about my predecessor. He treated me as the prime minister.”
Trump repeatedly referred to Trudeau as governor of America’s 51st state. Carney said the personal putdown was not repeated in his March 28 phone call with the president — though Trump did again raise the prospect of statehood, which Carney lied about following their March 28 call.
“This has to be a serious discussion, a sovereign nation,” said Carney on Thursday.
“That’s what he and I agreed. It has to remain the case. It is not a photo op, it’s not a visit to Mar-a-Lago, it’s not any of those things.”
“Yes or no, did Mr. Trump bring up the 51st state in his call with you?” asked a reporter.
“I said that he did,” replied Carney.
“The president brings this up all the time.”
“Him raising something, and then where the discussion is, he has these things in his mind,” said Carney.
“This is not new. He raises it all the time, okay?”
“But then the question is, what is going to be done with it? Does he understand where we stand, more importantly, where I stand? He is under no illusion. Never, absolutely not, never.”
“There is a difference between the conversation that was held between leaders of government, which was this conversation, and a discussion that led directly to an agreement that as sovereign countries we would have negotiations about our partnership following the election on Monday.”
Trump first raised statehood at a Florida banquet with Trudeau last November 30. Members of the Canadian delegation later said they considered it a lighthearted remark.
“In a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida on a long weekend of American Thanksgiving, the conversation was going to be lighthearted,” then-public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters last December 3.
“The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us. It was of course on that issue in no way a serious comment.”
“Mr. Trump said Canada could become the 51st state?” asked a reporter.
“There were sure jokes,” replied LeBlanc.
“Is Canada a joke to Trump?” asked a reporter.
“Not at all,” replied LeBlanc.
“That was not the context at all.”
“What exactly did he say?” asked a reporter.
“We don’t have a transcript,” replied LeBlanc.
LeBlanc said the conversation was jolly and unthreatening.
“It was a social evening and there were moments where it was entertaining and funny,” he said.
“The president told jokes. The prime minister responded. It was a social evening.”
Then-industry minister François-Philippe Champagne said the fact Trump hosted Trudeau at his Florida estate was noteworthy.
“When President-elect Trump invites Canada, prime minister Trudeau, as the first leader to go to Mar-a-Lago, I think it sends a big signal to the world that Canada is a strategic partner,” said Champagne.