Mark Carney holds Irish and British citizenship and chose to make his first trip as prime minister to France and the United Kingdom
Prime Minister Mark Carney has declared Canada “the most European” nation outside the continent and has identified three foundational “peoples” for Canada — Indigenous, French and British.
Carney chose to make his first trip as prime minister to Europe, seeking to strengthen ties with traditional allies, including France and the United Kingdom, amidst rising tensions between Canada and the United States.
“I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries,” Carney said Monday. “Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner for France.”
Carney met with French President Emmanuel Macron, who in turn called Canada a “unique friend” of France. Carney was later pictured with King Charles and is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Kier Starmer on Monday.
After being sworn in Friday, Carney said Canada was built on a “bedrock of three peoples: Indigenous, French and British.” The ceremony, Carney said, evoked the enriching influence of the French language and our British heritage.
Carney, who served as governor of the Bank of Canada and then of the Bank of England before entering electoral politics, has deep ties to Europe. He holds both Irish and British citizenship, although he has moved to renounce citizenship in both countries. Carney was born in Fort Smith, N.W.T., but acquired Irish citizenship as a child and British citizenship when he was running the Bank of England.
About 10 per cent of Canadians hold multiple citizenships, according to Statistics Canada, and multiple recent party leaders have held dual citizenship. (The last prime minister to hold dual citizenship was John Turner during his brief tenure in 1984.)
Stéphane Dion, who led the Liberal party between 2006 and 2008, held French citizenship, as did Tom Mulcair, who led the New Democrats from 2012 to 2017. Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer holds dual Canadian-American citizenship.
Dion, who’s now Canada’s ambassador to France, wrote on X that Carney choosing to visit France and the U.K. first is “a powerful gesture showing just how much Canada, in the face of today’s global upheavals, intends to further strengthen its already excellent ties with (France), the (United Kingdom) and the whole of Europe.”
In 2023, when speaking at a World Economic Forum event on energy transition, Carney identified himself as European during a conversation with Alessandra Galloni, the editor-in-chief of Reuters, and the event host. “I am a European actually, I’m an Irish citizen,” he said. Carney, at that point in the conversation, was talking about climate resilience and inflation. “I would say that certainly the EU and the United States are friends, as are the Canadians,” Carney continued. “I’ll throw the Canadians in, I’m also Canadian.”
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