Prime Minister Mark Carney says it will take time for Canadians to see the results of efforts to grow and diversify the economy, but insists “we’ve got to keep on this track.”
In a year-end interview with Global National anchor and executive editor Dawna Friesen, Carney said Canada is already in a better place than it was when he first became prime minister nine months ago, due to a renewed focus on strengthening international relationships and growing domestic industry.
Yet he acknowledged there is more work to be done to address Canadians’ affordability concerns, and that a “relentless” growth agenda is necessary.
“We’re making progress,” he said.
“We’re in a stronger position than we were nine months ago and at the start of this year, but we’ve got to keep going. And we will keep going.”
Carney added the “core” of his government’s agenda is to keep growing the economy and moving away from reliance on the United States, which has hammered Canada with tariffs on multiple sectors.
Uncertainty around the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade (CUSMA) adds further urgency to that project.
“What I would say to Canadians, the good news is virtually everybody wants to do more with Canada,” he said, pointing to a slew of international agreements he’s signed on trade and defence.
“We’re an increasingly confident nation that has ambition. So people want to deal with us now. That’s good for the economy, it’s good for jobs, it’s good for the future, it’s good for our independence from the United States. But it also brings an opportunity to help shape a world that is more dangerous, more divided.”
Carney campaigned promising decisive action in his leadership and general election campaigns this year, and was asked about how he plans to approach challenges including efforts towards a new pipeline and the war in Ukraine.
“I’m a politician, but I’m still a pragmatist,” he said.
On the topic of MPs crossing the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals, Carney noted that “they came to us” and that he did not “lure” anyone from the opposition in the hopes of building a majority government, which voters denied him in April.
“This is a positive vote for the government, supporting the government at a crucial time for our country,” he said.
Carney also expressed optimism that major pieces of government legislation on border security, hate crimes, and bail and sentencing reforms will be passed quickly in the new year, after those bills stalled at committee.
“We’re doing everything we can at the federal level to address the challenges in our communities,” he said, adding Ottawa is “building out momentum for more progress to be made.”
After vowing to reach a new trade and security relationship with the U.S. this summer, Carney says he’s now looking ahead to the CUSMA review scheduled for next July.
In the meantime, he said Canada will be able to further advance other international relationships and grow its domestic economy.
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“Certainly a strategy is not to rush into a bad deal,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been very disciplined about. And every week that goes by, the more that we’re developing our economic strategy at home, the more were developing those relationships abroad, the stronger we get.”
That approach has Carney feeling confident about the CUSMA negotiations, even if they result in the North American economy becoming less integrated.
“We are in a stronger position than we were at the start of the year relative to the U.S.,” he said. “However, the U.S. position is that much clearer … they’re less interested, for many sectors, for us to have free trade — with us or with anyone.”
He said he continues to make the case to U.S. President Donald Trump that the best way for the U.S. to be more competitive with China in areas from auto manufacturing to artificial intelligence and critical minerals is with help from Canada and Mexico.
“You would think that that is something of interest,” he said.
“They care (about that) sometimes, but at the same time they’re tariffing exactly those industries (autos and steel). So there’s an inconsistency in terms of objective.”
Carney said whatever the outcome of the review, questions about the future of North American trade “are going to be answered” by this time next year.
Asked what he has learned from Trump, Carney said it’s mostly what not to do as a country less powerful than the U.S.
“We have to be a reliable partner,” he said. “We have to be straight up: ‘There’s our objectives, this is what we’re going to do. If we sign a deal, we’ll respect a deal.’”
The closing months of 2025 has seen particular focus on the memorandum of understanding signed between Ottawa and Alberta on energy policy, including setting the stage for a potential new oil pipeline to the West Coast.
Carney was asked about political criticisms that he is supporting more oil production and export after spending years warning about the dangers of climate change, which he said remains an important issue for his government to address.
He said the memorandum makes clear the need to decarbonize that oil, while also containing commitments from Alberta to reduce methane emissions and sign onto the national clean electricity strategy.
That combination, Carney argued, will better help Canada meet emissions reduction targets that both the country and the world are on track to miss.
“Globally, we’re off track,” he said. “The ability to keep temperatures below one-and-a-half degrees is slipping away.
“The policies I inherited were not sufficient to meet our 2035 targets, in part because regulation in and of itself isn’t sufficient; you need the investment alongside it. So part of the shift of the government is to really focus on those investments at scale.”
Carney said that approach doesn’t mean Ottawa will push a pipeline project over the objections of British Columbia’s government and First Nations.
“There’s fundamentally a duty to consult, and we’ve been absolutely clear about this from the start,” he said, while noting no pipeline project proposal has been presented yet.
“You can’t consult about something that doesn’t exist, so you have to create the possibility for it to even exist before you begin the consultations,” he added. “This is not the government building a pipeline.
“I’m a firm believer and practitioner in cooperative federalism. So it’s not just what we build, it’s how we build it: building it inclusively, building it sustainably, building it in solidarity.”
Carney said there are “other options” available if those consultations end without agreement on a pipeline to the West Coast. That includes the possible revival of the Keystone XL pipeline to the U.S., though the prime minister said that would be “less advantageous” for Canada’s economy and efforts to make it both more independent and diverse.
Carney said Canada is “more vulnerable” and “under greater threat now than we have been” since 1812, citing threats from Russia, terrorism and non-state actors as examples.
He said a particular focus of his is reasserting Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic: not just by expanding military presence there to “every day of the year” across land, sea and air, but also by building up community infrastructure and development.
He pointed to major boosts in military spending, including pay raises for Canadian troops, as examples of his commitment to shoring up Canada’s defences and repositioning itself as a strong NATO ally.
As Canada asserts itself on the world stage, Carney said it will also have a larger presence in international negotiations, including efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Canada, as a member of the coalition of the willing alongside European and other global allies, will have a role in preserving Ukraine’s security as part of a future peace agreement, he added.
“Ukraine would be in a very weak position in this negotiation between two large powers (Russia and the U.S.) if it weren’t for the coalition helping to provide the backstop,” Carney said.
“It’s one of the reasons why, in my role as prime minister, I speak frequently to President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, with our European partners, the U.S.: it’s another way to have influence for things we believe in. We believe in democracy, we believe in sovereignty of nations, territorial integrity. That’s what we’re supporting.”
Carney said it’s increasingly important for Canada to stand up for those beliefs in a rapidly-changing world.
“It’s a very fluid situation internationally,” he said.
