OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney told the United States to “stop doing memes” and “stop throwing shade” Tuesday after U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to mock a Canadian cadet and her instructor online.The exchange began Monday night when Hegseth shared a photograph from the Vernon Cadet Training Centre in British Columbia showing a smiling cadet receiving a medal from a uniformed instructor. Hegseth added a Canadian flag emoji and wrote: “(this is real).”.Hegseth did not explain his intended message, although the post was widely interpreted as an attempt to ridicule the Canadian cadet program and the women in the photograph.Asked about the post and other recent taunts from U.S. officials, Carney said Canada remained focused on strengthening its economy and expanding its international relationships.“Our plan has always been standing up for Canada, first and foremost, here at home, building Canada at home, diversifying abroad,” Carney told reporters.“Everyone in the world wants to do more with Canada, and we’re doing that in a way that’s in the best interest of Canadian workers, Canadian families, Canadian businesses.”.Carney said Canada remained open to a mutually beneficial trade agreement with Washington, provided it respected Canadian sovereignty and the country’s right to protect Quebec culture and the French language.“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions,” he said.“But it’s not constructive. That’s their democracy.”Conservative MP Garnett Genuis also pushed back against Hegseth, noting that cadets are not serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces.“Cadets do great work, and are not members of the military,” Genuis wrote on X.“158 members of the Canadian military gave their lives in Afghanistan after your country was attacked.”More than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members served in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. Canada’s military mission lasted from 2001 until 2014.“Canada and the U.S. have a great history of fighting together for freedom and justice,” Genuis said. “It’s history worth remembering.”Liberal MP and Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden endorsed Genuis’s response, marking a rare display of agreement between government and opposition MPs during the worsening dispute with Washington.Canada’s cadet organizations are federally supported youth programs for people between the ages of 12 and 18. Cadets participate in leadership, citizenship, physical fitness and military-style training but are not members of the Canadian Armed Forces and are not required to join the military.The Pentagon stood behind Hegseth’s post Tuesday.“The X post speaks for itself,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Jacob Bliss said today when asked about the backlash.Hegseth’s post follows several days of increasingly personal attacks against Canada from senior members of the Trump administration as relations remain strained following the collapse of bilateral trade negotiations.
