Joly Says Canada Has Long Been Too Dependent on the US

Canada has been over reliant on the US for too long, where Melanie Joly, the foreign minister in Canada, said that it wants to build closer relations with the UK and the EU.

"We are the most European of all non-European countries, that's why we want to be closer to Europe." she told the BBC on Wednesday.

Her latest utterances are hardly in the wake of her and Prime Minister Mark Carney meeting US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday where a new partnership was discussed. In the last few months, the US-Canada relations have not been good as Trump imposed tariffs on Canada’s auto, aluminium and steel industries; said that Canada would be better off as one of the US states. The Trump meeting with Carney though seemed to have been good as the two agreed on a “fresh start” for the US. Canada relation, Joly said.

The foreign minister told BBC on Wednesday that it was important for Canada to impose itself to assert its sovereignty and place itself in a trendy to negotiate a "new trade and security partnership" with its southern neighbor.

"I think we're up to a good start, we know that there is a lot of unpredictability coming out of the White House, and we know that we have to be ready and hold steady," Joly said

Trump gave praise to Carney throughout the meeting and even after it, but he did not say whether he would take off the tariffs he had imposed on Canada. White House imposed general tariff levels of 25 percent to Canada and Mexico and sector-specific import taxes on cars, with some of them suspended pending negotiations. The US president, who accuses Canada of not doing its share to stop the flow of fentanyl from the north, exacted parallel duties on steel and aluminum. According to Joly, the tariffs led to considerable anxiety in Canada, and became the number one ballot question during the recent Canadian election.

"Some have lost their jobs, and many families are affected, my job and the prime minister's job is to make sure that we defend them," she said.

Carney is currently actively putting together his cabinet that is set to be announced next week before Canada’s parliament resumes later this month. Canada also intends to organize the G7 summit in June and Trump would be there.