King Charles defends Canada’s sovereignty from Trump

Charles delivered a subtle message to Donald Trump in Canada’s parliament: The country already has a king.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney stands next to Britain's King Charles III after the King delivered speech from the throne in the Senate in Ottawa, Ontario.

King Charles delivered a subtle message to President Trump in Canada’s parliament: The country already has a king.

Charles, who is king of Canada, said in the rare address on Tuesday that the country is firmly self-determining, rebuking Trump’s repeated suggestion that it become part of the US Charles didn’t call out Trump directly but played up Canada’s proud sense of national identity.

“Today, Canada faces another critical moment,” he said in a speech written for him by the Canadian government. “Democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, self-determination and freedom are values which Canadians hold dear, and ones which the government is determined to protect.”

Trump has mused for months about making Canada the 51st state and placed tariffs on Canadian products that threaten to exacerbate a cost-of-living crisis.

“The system of open global trade that, while not perfect, has helped to deliver prosperity for Canadians for decades, is changing,” Charles said. “Canada’s relationships with partners are also changing.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla walk to their chairs to open the first session of the 45th parliament of Canada. Picture: Ben Stansall – Pool/Getty Images

Charles’s speech showed how the British monarch is boxed in by convention and realpolitik. Charles is under strict instruction from the British government to make nice with Trump and avoid exacerbating trade tensions. But Charles’s Canadian subjects were frustrated by the king’s decision to invite Trump to a state visit to the UK, expected this fall.

Queen Camilla and King Charles III smile as they arrive at the Senate Chamber. Picture: Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty Images

The visit to Ottawa was intended to reaffirm the monarch’s support for the Canadian people. Charles, Canada’s official head of state, is the first monarch to read the throne speech in Canada’s parliament since 1977, when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, did so to mark the 25th anniversary of her reign.

Charles used the occasion to outline the priorities of Canada’s new government under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Charles called attention to a changing bilateral relationship between Canada and the US that Carney has called the central project of his leadership.

“The prime minister and the president of the United States, for example, have begun defining a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the US, rooted in mutual respect and founded on common interests, to deliver transformational benefits for both sovereign nations,” Charles said.

King Charles inspects an honour guard at the Senate of Canada Building in Ottawa. Picture: Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP

Charles sent a series of at-times obscure signals to his Canadian subjects this spring in the face of Trump’s threats. He has donned Canadian military medals, planted a maple tree and said he was a fan of Canadian singer Michael Bublé.

“Canada is ready to build a coalition of like-minded countries that share its values, that believe in international co-operation and the free and open exchange of goods, services and ideas,” Charles said Tuesday.

Charles, 76, has made it a priority to reinvigorate the monarch’s role as the ultimate foreign emissary, officials say. He has travelled across Europe to affirm ties between Britain and its neighbours.

The king’s Canadian visit of less than 24 hours was rich in pomp. Charles and Queen Camilla were greeted in Ottawa on Monday by Carney and his wife, Diana Fox Carney, along with Indigenous leaders. Charles greeted 500 people at a community gathering in Ottawa.

“Every time I come to Canada … a little more of Canada seeps into my bloodstream — and from there straight to my heart,” Charles wrote in the preface to his speech.

Not all were impressed. Patti Carnochan Woody, 62 years old, on Monday held a red and yellow sign at the community gathering that read, “Charles is not my king and neither is Mark Carney.” She called the king’s visit a waste of tax dollars.

“He has no business being here,” said Woody, who said Carney’s election last month made her more sympathetic to Trump’s call for Canada to join the US.

An hour later at the governor-general’s residence, where Charles helped plant a Blue Beech tree, supporters sang “God Save the King” and “Oh Canada” to celebrate Charles’s first visit to Canada as king.

Wall Street Journal