Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remarks on how a strong Canada can help “make America great again” are “worth repeating,” U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said.
Carney was in New York on Thursday, meeting business leaders, CEOs and money managers with the aim to attract foreign investors to Canada.
“Let’s be absolutely clear. Canada strong will help make America great again,” Carney said while speaking at the Economic Club of New York.
Carney’s speech came as the review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal, or CUSMA, is drawing closer.
Hours after Carney’s speech, Hoekstra shared a video of Carney’s speech, calling it a “positive message.”
“PM Carney said something worth repeating today: “A Canada strong will help make America great again.” I think a lot of Americans can get behind that kind of positive message,” Hoekstra said in a social media post.
Hoekstra has been critical of Canada’s approach to handling trade negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump, previously saying Canada’s rhetoric has not been “constructive” toward securing a new trade and security deal with the U.S.
In November, he and Ontario Premier Doug Ford disagreed over Ontario’s anti-tariff ad featuring former U.S. president Ronald Reagan. Hoekstra warned federal and provincial governments to “seriously consider” whether anti-tariff advertising in the United States will help achieve Canada’s goals, adding he thinks the ads amounted to trying to “participate in our electoral politics.”
The ad prompted Trump to suspend trade negotiations with Canada.