Carney is preparing us for something, we’re just not sure what

Between July 1, 2026, and Jan. 3, 2027, when the new Congress is sworn in, Canada is going to be extremely exposed: with the expiration of CUSMA, it's reasonable to assume that Donald Trump will impose far wider tariffs on Canadian goods. This is likely what Mark Carney is preparing us for. But what if there is more?

What if Prime Minister Mark Carney has reason to believe that, tied to this negotiating deadline, the Americans are thinking of ways to make Donald Trump’s repeated talk about Canada becoming the 51st state more real, writes Jamie Carroll.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY JAMIE CARROLL

April 27, 2026

OTTAWA—Like others, my immediate thoughts upon watching Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “Forward Guidance” video was a comparison to former United States president Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “fireside chats�...

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