‘Rhetorical jiu jitsu’: Analysts split on Carney’s outlook for Canada-U.S. ties

Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying a new way to speak directly to Canadians about economic uncertainty and shifting global alliances, but early reaction suggests the message may raise as many expectations as it does answers.

CTV News political commentator, Scott Reid said the nearly 10-minute, direct-to-camera address marks a notable shift in how prime ministers communicate with the public.

“The method is unusual and that makes it interesting,” he said in an interview with CTV News Channel Monday. “(He) also promised us that there would be further and future such updates … This is something we haven’t seen from a prime minister before.”

READ MORE: ‘The U.S. has changed and we must respond,’ says PM Carney in direct address

Former Conservative cabinet minister, James Moore also described the format as “interesting” but warned it sets a high bar, and could carry political risks if tangible results don’t follow.

Carney acknowledged that scale in his address, calling his plans ambitious but necessary.

“In a crisis, fortune favours the bold,” he said, pointing to historic projects like the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Trans-Canada Highway as examples of Canada acting decisively in the past.

“When you start saying things like the St. Lawrence Seaway and the CN Tower and railways across the country as big, tectonic, nation-shifting investments... people say if that’s the standard by which you want to be historically judged, that’s the standard by which we will judge you,” Moore said.

Carney’s address also framed Canada’s close relationship with the United States as a growing vulnerability in a more volatile world, particularly under U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The U.S. has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression,” Carney said. “Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses; weaknesses that we must correct.”

He argued that Canada must rethink its economic strategy, build new trade and energy corridors and reduce reliance on its largest trading partner.

Reid said one of the most striking elements of the message was how firmly Carney rejected the idea that Canada-U.S. relations will simply return to normal.

Moore, however, suggested the prime minister may be overstating the long-term damage in the bilateral relationship.

“There’s a little bit of rhetorical jiu jitsu going on... sort of saying one thing and digging the other,” he said, arguing tensions are tied more to Trump than to the broader Canada-U.S. relationship.

“The reality is Canada and the U.S. are friends. We’re partners, we’re allies, and the long term relationship between our countries will mend over time.”

Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre also pushed back on Carney’s characterization of the relationship, accusing the prime minister of mismanaging ties with Canada’s largest trading partner.

“Mark Carney’s talk of a rupture with the customer that buys two-thirds of our goods is not a plan. He has not negotiated a single new Free Trade Agreement with any country on earth,” Poilievre wrote in an apparent response to Carney’s message on Sunday.

The uncertainty is also weighing on the domestic outlook as Canadians grapple with rising costs.

Statistics Canada reported Monday that the annual inflation rate rose to 2.4 per cent in March, driven largely by a sharp spike in gasoline prices linked to conflict in the Middle East. Gas prices surged 21.2 per cent on a monthly basis, the largest increase on record.

READ MORE: Inflation jumps on Iran war shock but few signs yet of spreading price hikes

Economists noted that price pressures appear more contained, with inflation at 2.2 per cent when fuel is excluded and food price growth slowing, compared with earlier in the year.

Still, Moore said headline figures don’t fully capture how Canadians are feeling.

“Those core things: gas and food, things that you need every week to purchase and to maintain the stability of your family and your ability to do business. Those things are going up … Canadians aren’t really feeling great right now, and they want to see real progress on things that matter to them,” he said.

“And I think a lot of Canadians are still kind of waiting.”