Mark Carney was greeted with a hug and a heartfelt “cher Mark” from French President Emmanuel Macron when he , days after becoming prime minister.
His second stop in that whirlwind March visit was to Britain, where he was , who evoked “two sovereign allies with … a shared history, shared values, a shared king.”
But what began as a desperate and defiant gesture by the rookie leader of a threatened Canadian nation has transformed over five months into something of a new diplomatic force on the world stage.
It has seen the transatlantic trio of Ottawa, London and Paris increasingly striking out on its own — most recently pledging to recognize Palestinian statehood — and acting as a counterweight to some of the chaos and controversy of U.S. President Donald Trump.
And it could prove to be more than a four-year adjustment, the time it takes for the current presidential term to run its course.
“I do think some of the realignment that we’re seeing now will last, if only because Trump is not a one-time thing anymore. It’s clear that, if not Trump, then someone like Trump could easily be elected again in the U.S.,” said Julie Norman, an associate professor of politics and international relations at University College London.
“I think that Europe in particular, and I assume Canada, are well aware that they cannot just rely on the U.S. in the way they used to.”
For Carney’s Liberal government, turning to Canada’s historical colonial rulers appears to be a deliberate move to shelter the country from its stormy southern neighbour.
Ironically, doing so has led to Canada being more visible and more daring on the world stage.
Part of this is due to the uncomfortable spotlight shone upon Ottawa by Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on its largest trading partner and to turn its northern ally into the 51st American state.
It’s a crisis that began under the watch of former prime minister Justin Trudeau, but the planned response of seeking out new and stronger alliances overseas has fallen mostly to his successor.
From the outset, Carney had a few things working in his favour.
He was a well-known and respected former governor of the Bank of England. He was also a United Nations special envoy for climate change, a cause near and dear to Macron’s heart.
And 2025 was Canada’s year to host the annual G7 Leaders’ Summit, offering Carney the obligation and the opportunity to reach out to his new colleagues.
But there were also practical considerations that made reaching out to Macron and Starmer a good-sense move.
Both the French and British leaders emerged early on this year as Trump whisperers, with that rare ability to pierce that near-permanent cloak of instability hanging from the American president’s shoulders.
Starmer is said to have truly surprised and delighted Trump when he arrived at the White House in February bearing a personal invitation to visit from King Charles.
A few months later, Carney flipped that script when he had Charles visit Ottawa in May to read the Speech from the Throne, opening the session of Parliament and asserting the country’s lineage as a separate nation, backing it up with royal pomp and circumstance.
For his part, Macron wowed Trump at last December’s glitzy reopening of Paris’ fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral, earning Trump’s praise as “a very special man in my book” when he came to the Oval Office in February.
There, Macron boldly laid a hand on Trump’s knee and gently chastised him before the gathered press for insinuating that European support for Ukraine’s war effort was paid not with actual billions but with repayable loans.
When it came , he too stood his ground, reminding the property-baron president seeking to make Canada the 51st state that “in real estate there are some places that are never for sale.”
But while both the United Kingdom and the European Union now have signed-and-sealed trade deals with the U.S., Canada was unable to clinch an agreement, and now faces both 35 per cent tariffs and an uncertain future for the USMCA trade agreement, which is up for review in 2026.
The threat that middle powers like Canada face when confronting a super power like the U.S. makes it only natural that Ottawa shift and scramble to establish alternative ties, Montreal-based analyst Othon Leon wrote in April in .
“When guarantees weaken, hedging becomes a prudent strategy,” he wrote. “Europe provides Canada with shared values, multilateral mechanisms, and a safeguard against the volatility of great power competition.”
But Canada could also boost its image south of the border by associating with two leaders who have fashioned themselves as ready and able to scratch Trump’s geopolitical itches.
Macron and Starmer worked to calm the nerves after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got into a shouting match with Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance during his first visit to the Oval Office.
And, together, Starmer and Macron have led the so-called coalition of the willing, a gathering of countries — Canada among them — that has committed to supporting Ukraine’s long-term security, and reducing the load the U.S. is obliged to carry, when a peace deal is eventually reached with Russia.
With Canada characterized by Trump as an economic and security laggard, leaching off America’s wealth, any success being seen as a problem solver (or merely being lumped in with them) makes strategic sense.
But the longer the co-operation between Paris, London and Ottawa goes on, the more the trio looks willing take on issues thornier than simply appeasing Trump’s anger and carving out a safe space in his political universe.
It was one thing to issue a in May chastising the Israeli government for its handling of the war in Gaza and threatening “further concrete actions” if Israel it did not address the humanitarian crisis.
The move angered the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pointed fingers at a longtime ally, but at least the three leaders went out of their way to praise U.S. efforts to reach a ceasefire deal.
However, last month’s back-to-back-to-back statements that the trio intend to recognize the state of Palestine () actually risks isolating America over its support for Israel, which opposes Palestinian statehood.
If Carney, Macron and Starmer follow through on recognition in September, it will mean that four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and three of the seven G7 members back a Palestinian state.
“That will matter in the long run,” said Norman, who specializes in Middle East politics and foreign policy.
“Going forward when it’s only the U.S. as the main holdout from actually resolving this conflict that will put them — maybe not this current administration, but a future administration — in a position where they really need to look at that, even if they’re still more closely aligned with Israel.”
Trump, though, reserved his harsh words for Canada, saying that Carney’s pledge to recognize a Palestinian state would “make it very hard for us to make a trade deal with them.”
And when the Aug. 1 deadline came and went, Canada was without a deal, despite a flurry of last-minute negotiations.
Still, Canada appears to be a net beneficiary in this three-way diplomatic deal with France and Britain, for the moment at least. Ottawa gets a lifeline in choppy political waters where, with Trump at the helm, it too often seems to be every country for itself, and where only the strongest will survive.
But Canada is more than just a third wheel. For France and Britain, the Canadian connection allows them to amplify their voices, their priorities and, ultimately, their values.
In allying themselves more closely with Ottawa, two major European powers are dropping a political anchor just north of Trump’s America, holding the line at least for the time it takes for Trump’s four-year term to run its course.
