Prime Minister: Meeting with Prime Minister of Canada

Question

15:36:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government when the Prime Minister expects to meet the new Prime Minister of Canada.

My Lords, as the Prime Minister said in the House of Commons, the UK and Canada are the closest of allies. The Prime Minister has congratulated Mark Carney on his forthcoming appointment as Canada’s new Prime Minister. He looks forward to working closely with him on shared international priorities through the G7 and to further deepening the UK-Canada relationship together.

I thank my noble friend the Minister for that Answer. Mr Carney is indeed well known in this country. In the light of growing tension and destabilising global uncertainty, with the world apparently changing in front of our very eyes, does my noble friend agree that the Prime Minister has been skilfully navigating his way towards a different role for the UK in international affairs? In that context, when he next meets the Prime Minister-elect of Canada, will he be able to offer some reassurance to a fellow head of a Commonwealth Government that the UK values its friendship with Canada and its close links and ties, and that Canada will, and should, remain a sovereign country?

My Lords, the UK and Canada are of course the closest of allies. We have a proud history of partnership built on shared values. We share a sovereign; we are among the oldest parliamentary democracies in the world; and the British and Canadians fought bravely alongside one another in two world wars, and in nearly every major conflict for more than a century. It should go without saying that the future of Canada lies solely in the hands of the Canadian people.

Will the Minister express solidarity with the Prime Minister of Canada in his determination that Canada should remain an independent country, making its own laws and trading with its huge continental neighbour on the basis of a free trade agreement that America should respect? Will she also express delight that he has abandoned the advice he used to give to Britain—that, in order to trade with our huge continental neighbour, we should submit to all its laws and join a political union with it?

I compliment the noble Lord on the agility of his questioning. The best thing I can do is repeat what I said about our long-standing friendship with Canada and to extend our friendship, good wishes and congratulations to Mark Carney on his appointment as Prime Minister.

My Lords, we on these Benches welcome Mr Carney’s election to the leadership of our long-standing sister party in Canada. He is reported to be assembling his Cabinet on an economic war footing. He obviously knows the UK economy and the European market extremely well. We still trade with Canada on a continuity agreement, not on a full FTA. Does the Minister agree with me that, when our Prime Minister meets Mr Carney, it will be a very good opportunity to turbocharge discussions on a full UK FTA; and that, given what the Trump Administration are doing, it will be an opportunity for an EU-UK-Canada strategic trade alliance, so that we are all resilient against the uncertainties around what the Trump Administration will do?

We are firm believers in free trade, as the noble Lord knows. However, he will also be aware that negotiations for an FTA with Canada did stall under the previous Government in the UK. This was primarily to do with regulations around food, specifically cheese and beef. This is a familiar issue and similar to those that are likely to be encountered when negotiations take place with the European Union. It is a tangled knot—but his point about us needing to enhance our trading arrangements is a good one.

My Lords, Canada will shortly hold a general election and we on these Benches hope that the reign of Mr Carney will be short-lived and that there will be a different Canadian leader. But, whichever leader the Canadian people choose, will the Prime Minister take the opportunity to reiterate our long-standing friendship and support? Canada has stood alongside us and alongside the US throughout many conflicts, as the noble Baroness said, from World War II to 9/11. Will she reiterate that the way it is being treated by the current US Government is appalling?

I would like to restate, for the third time in the last five minutes, our deep and enduring friendship with Canada. I gently suggest that it is not really for politicians in the United Kingdom to stand up in this place and express a preference for the outcome of the forthcoming general election in Canada. We will be happy to work closely alongside whoever the people of Canada choose to lead their country.

My Lords, my noble friend says that Canada is a close and valued ally. It is a key part of NATO and very important in terms of our intelligence efforts. When the Prime Minister does meet the new Prime Minister of Canada, will he also try to build on the relationships in terms of security around defence exports—for example, around the Type 26 frigates that have been exported? This area could be built on to secure not just Canada but the UK.

Canada is a very close ally of the UK in defence, security and intelligence. I am sure that, when the Prime Minister meets Mark Carney, they will discuss in some depth the issues that my noble friend raises since, as many noble Lords have mentioned, this relationship is now more important than ever.

Canada and Canadians feel more alone than ever right now. Does the Minister agree that Canada is not just a friend or ally but part of a family that we are supposed to belong to? The President of the United States has used, if you will forgive the expression, trumped-up charges—completely specious reasons—for imposing these tariffs on Canada. That country is under attack. Talking to people in Canada, it seems there is a real risk that they feel abandoned by us. They may be considering abolishing ties with the monarchy and even leaving the Commonwealth. What are we and our Commonwealth partners doing to support Canada when it is under such attack?

We are close friends, allies and family members inside the Commonwealth with Canada, as the noble Baroness quite rightly reminds us. That closeness is unshakable. It is for the people of Canada to decide what they wish to do in terms of their sovereignty and all those issues, and we respect that, but there is no need for Canada to feel isolated. It will always have a strong friend, ally and family member in the United Kingdom.

My Lords, does the Minister agree that we should recall that, following 9/11, Canadian military forces fought heroically and suffered many casualties in Kandahar province—as did the Danish military, alongside the British military in Helmand province?

It is interesting that the noble and gallant Lord should mention both Canada and Denmark today. He is, of course, completely right, and we are proud to have served alongside the armed forces of Canada and of Denmark.

My Lords, at the end of the Second World War, Canada had the third-largest navy in the world, we had the second-largest and America had the largest. In support of my noble friend Lord Beamish, it is very important that we work very closely with Canada on the maritime side, because the Arctic is becoming, I am afraid, a new battle zone. We already have deals on the Type 26, but there is an opportunity here both for ourselves and the Canadians and it is crucially important, for global peace and for Europe, that we get the Arctic battleground right.

That is a very important point. Canada is a leader in working alongside other Arctic nations on issues of security. I am pleased that we work closely with the Canadians on issues surrounding the Arctic region and we have every intention of continuing to do so.

My Lords, since Mr Carney became leader of the Canadian Liberal Party, both of the main Canadian parties are now in favour of CANZUK—that is to say, closer links between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK on issues such as a free market, free movement of labour and enhanced diplomatic collaboration. Is this something that His Majesty’s Government will look upon as a way of building on the ties we have of language, law, habit, history, culture and kinship? We are already linked in the trans-Pacific partnership. Could we not deepen our alliance with the countries that, as the Minister correctly says, have fought longest and hardest at our side?

As the noble Lord says, we are members of the CPTPP, together with Canada. If there are other ways that we can deepen our collaboration and enhance the ties he described, I am sure that we should look at them and speak with our Canadian friends about this.