You know, before this election, I think though that this is the first time I think it will feel like he really is prime minister. Obviously, he was prime minister the moment he was sworn in by the governor general, but now, you know, back then there was sort of an asterisk supplied of how we don't know how long this guy is going to be around. We now know he's obviously got a mandate from Canadians through the election and we know he's going to be around for at least a little while, probably a couple of years at least. I think, you know, heading into this news conference, I think there are kind of a few things I'm listening for. One is how he reads those election results. You know, in addition to being in minority government, it's a pretty unique election result in so far as the second place party got more than 40% of the popular vote. So, I'm interested to see how he sort of frames that. I'm interested to see if there's any indication of how he plans to sort of manage a minority parliament. You know, he does have a fairly strong minority as these things go, but how is he going to work with the other parties? You know, what are his kind of considerations in that regard? And then, you know, I think the third thing I'm waiting to hear is sort of what his priorities are. How does he frame those kind of immediate priorities going into parliament? Obviously, we'll hear a bit of that from the speech from the throne, but what are the kind of things that he wants to get to right away, particularly if we assume that parliament's going to sit in May and then, you know, potentially through June or even into July, what does he want to get done with those first kind of couple months?
Yeah, there's things he needs to outline in the throne speech that, you know, is about parliament and about dealing, you know, because we have an idea of what he wants to be as a prime minister. I don't think we yet know exactly how he expects to function as a parliamentarian, especially in a parliament like this. But there's other issues, Aaron, off a legislative agenda, just interprovincial relations, federal-provincial relations, and of course, just trade with Donald Trump, right? All of these things are massive. And I guess we need to get a clear sense. Well, here comes Mark Carney. Let's let the man himself explain what he intends to do rather than speculating about it. Here's Prime Minister Mark Carney in his first press conference since Monday's election victory.
Conference today. Hopefully this is the first of many times the prime minister will join us in this room. As you can see there is a lot of interest in asking questions. So I hope you will afford us as much time as you can today. And with that I will let you begin and then we will turn to the room for one question and one follow.
Fantastic. Thank you very much, Mia. Bonjour. Good morning everyone. On Monday Canadians elected a new government to stand up to President Trump and to build a strong economy. Canadians also sent a clear message that their cost of living must come down and their communities need to be safe. As prime minister, I've heard these messages loud and clear and I will act on them with focus and determination.
Canadians made their voices heard with a voter turnout rate that hasn't been seen in the last 30 years. Nearly 20 million Canadians voted and even more of them voted in early voting than ever before. The engagement of Canadians at rallies, on social media, and around the dinner table was very high. And while different visions were put forth by various contenders, we disagreed agreeably and the leader of every party quickly and graciously accepted the results. At a time when democracies around the world are under threat, Canadians can be proud that ours remains strong. As I've been clear since day one of my leadership campaign in January, I'm in politics to do big things, not to be something. And now that Canadians have honored me with a mandate to bring about big changes quickly, I will work relentlessly to fulfill that trust.
As I stressed on election night, I am committed to working with others, governing as a team in cabinet and caucus and working constructively across parties in parliament. Working in real partnership with provinces, territories, and indigenous peoples and bringing together labor, business, and civil society to advance the nation-building investments that will transform our economy. In the coming weeks, I will unveil more of our plans to engage with Canadians as we embark on the biggest transformation of our economy since the end of the Second World War. This will be an incredibly exciting time as we take control of our economic destiny to create a new Canadian economy that works for everyone.
We will begin to set out that new path for Canada with a new cabinet to be sworn in on the week of the 12th of May and the recall of Parliament on May 26th. We will have the privilege of welcoming His Majesty King Charles III who will deliver Canada's speech from the throne on May 27th. Her Majesty the Queen will join this visit. This is an historic honor which matches the weight of our times. I know that many Canadians share my enthusiasm about this. To the immediate priorities of my government, beginning with our relationship with the United States. As I've stressed repeatedly, our old relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over. The questions now are how our nations will cooperate in the future and where we in Canada will move on. Shortly after the start of the election campaign, I met with President Trump or I spoke to him. We both agree. On Tuesday, I had a very constructive call with President Trump and we agreed to meet next Tuesday in Washington. Our focus will be on both immediate trade pressures and the broader future economic and security relationship between our two sovereign nations.
My government will fight to get the best deal for Canada. We will take all the time necessary, but not more. In order to do so, in parallel, we will strengthen our relationships with reliable trading partners and allies. Canada has what the world needs, and we uphold the values the world respects.
We will reinforce our strength here at home by building an economy that creates jobs, grows incomes, and withstands shocks. Canadian. We need to build one Canadian economy instead of 13 by Canada Day. My government will reach that objective. We will remove federal barriers to internal trade by July 1st. To help unleash the full potential of Canada, we will work with provinces, territories, and indigenous groups to identify projects that are in the national interest, projects that will connect Canada, deepen our ties with the world, and grow our economy for generations. We'll make the Canadian government a catalyst for these projects, not an impediment. And we will always be guided by our conviction that our economy is only strong when it serves everyone. That means bringing down costs for Canadians and helping them get ahead. So, we will put more money in Canadians' pockets with a middle-class tax cut that will take effect by Canada Day, saving two-income families up to $825 a year.
We will protect the programs that save families thousands of dollars a year, including pharmacare and $10-a-day daycare. We will expand the Canadian dental care plan to 8 million Canadians, saving the average family over $800 per visit. To lower costs for first-time home buyers, we will cut GST on new homes at or under $1 million, allowing them to save up to $50,000. And we will lower the GST on homes between a million and a million and a half. These tax measures will provide immediate relief, but they won't be sufficient to make housing affordable again. For that, we have to build. We will address failures in the housing market head on, unleashing the power of public-private cooperation at a scale not seen in generations. We will slash development charges in half for all multi-unit housing. That's about $40,000 off the cost of a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto. And we will create an entirely new Canadian housing industry in modular and pre-fabricated housing using Canadian technology, Canadian skilled workers, and Canadian lumber. We will build houses faster at lower costs with a smaller environmental footprint in construction and greater efficiency once families move in. And to kickstart these efforts, we will create a new entity, Build Canada Homes, and provide $25 billion in financing to private developers.
We will construct two times as many homes each year and create a new construction industry with Canadian technologies and qualified Canadian workers. And we'll focus on keeping Canada secure as a sovereign nation and Canadians safe in their communities. We'll build a stronger Canadian armed forces to protect Canadians, defend our sovereignty, and support our allies. We'll strengthen our border security with a thousand more CBSA officers as well as scores of dog teams, drones, and scanners to fight the traffic of guns and drugs. We'll strengthen Canadian law enforcement by hiring a thousand more RCMP officers and giving law enforcement more tools to fight crime. We will toughen the criminal code and bail laws for those threatening the safety of Canadians, including making bail harder to get for those charged with stealing cars, with home invasion, human trafficking, and smuggling.
We will build confidence in our justice system. And the same thing with returning our immigration to sustainable levels by capping the total number of temporary workers and international students at less than 5% of Canada's population by the end of 2027. That's a sharp drop from the recent high of 7.3%. And this will help ease strains on housing, on public infrastructure, and social services. At the same time, we will work to attract the best talent in the world to build our economy. Canada has what everyone wants. We're a confident nation that celebrates our diversity, that believes in and practices free speech, that respects the rule of law, that has a vibrant democracy. We value innovators and builders. We trust science. We protect our immense natural heritage. For Canadians abroad thinking about returning to build their lives in our nation, there's never been a better time to come home.
In all our actions, we will be guided by a new fiscal discipline. Our government will spend less so that Canadians can invest more. Day-to-day government spending, the government's operating budget, has been growing by an unsustainable 9% every year. We will bring that down to 2%, less than half the average nominal growth rate of the economy. We will not cut any transfers to provinces, territories, or individuals. Instead, we'll balance our operating budget over the next three years by cutting waste, capping the public service, ending duplicative programs, and deploying technology to boost public sector productivity. We will use scarce taxpayer dollars to catalyze massive private investment. By working together, we can give ourselves far more than the Americans can ever take away. By working together, we can build Canada strong.
To overcome these challenges, Canada has to be united, guided by this approach. Opposition leaders. I told them of my intention to work with them to make our government efficient, workable, to support workers and businesses, and to bring our economy back on track. I also spoke with the premiers of provinces and territories who are essential partners with the federal government and with them I hope to be able to continue the work that is needed. That we started before the election when we decided and agreed to bring down interprovincial trade barriers and help labor mobility in the country. Canadians in the NHL play for a variety of teams passionately against each other. But when they're in a once-in-a-lifetime series such as the Four Nations or the Olympics, those same Canadians come together to win it all. During elections, Canadians play and cheer for different teams. Now that election is over, and we are in a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, it's time to come together, to put on our Team Canada sweaters and win big.
It is time to unite. United, Canada can do things that have seemed impossible. Now is the time for ambition, to be bold, to meet this crisis with an overwhelming positive force that is a united Canada. It's time to build. And my government is getting to work to build big, bold, and build now. Thank you very much and I look forward to your questions.
Thank you very much. We will go to the room for questions. One question, one follow because there is a long list. Let's try and keep the questions as short as possible. We'll start with Ashley Burke from CBC.
Good morning, Prime Minister. What specifically do you want to get out of your first in-person meeting with President Trump? And will you be focused on trying to get the tariffs lifted?
Thank you for the question. For the first meeting, as I mentioned in my remarks and the president and I discussed when we had our constructive call, there are two sets of issues. There are the immediate tariffs, both sectoral and so-called reciprocal and fentanyl tariffs. And then there is the broader relationship. So addressing both sets of issues, we'll see how that progress goes. It's important to get engaged immediately, which has always been my intention, has always been his intention, and I'm pleased to have the opportunity for quite a comprehensive set of meetings that will take place on Tuesday.
How do you avoid an Oval Office ambush like we saw happen to President Zelensky?
Look, I go there with the expectation of constructive, difficult but constructive discussions. That's the spirit of the conversations that the president and I had. You know, you go to these meetings well prepared, understanding the objectives of your counterpart, and always acting in the best interest of Canada, and we'll go from there. Thank you.
You asked for a majority government through much of the campaign. Now you have a minority. How will that affect you when it comes to dealing with Trump?
Thanks for the question and the congratulations. I think we have a strong mandate. I think during the election campaign I was very clear about how we would deal with the Americans, building an economic strategy that is bold, big projects with one economy, the new partnership. And we got more than 8.5 million votes, which is a lot. We have MPs in every province and we got a majority in seven out of 10 provinces and the highest number of MPs since 1980 and the highest popular vote in some time. We ran a transparent campaign and we have a strong mandate. But all that said, we will work inside parliament and we will work with Quebec and the provinces to try to put in place these objectives and our platform.
But does it change in any way your approach to Trump? You have a minority. Are you trying to attract MPs from other parties into your caucus and to cross the floor?
As I said, my mandate is strong. Our goals are clear. I've had constructive conversations with the Bloc leader and a constructive conversation with Mr. Poilievre about our strategy with the Americans. There's only one prime minister, though we all have similar objectives in dealing with the Americans. And when it comes to the negotiations, it has to be clear to Mr. Trump who is the prime minister of Canada.
Mr. Poilievre did not win his seat and therefore he will try to return to parliament by asking someone else to give him their seat. Will you hold a by-election? And I'd like to know what your comments are when it comes to choosing the date of that by-election. Do you want to wait until November or do it as quickly as possible?
I already told Mr. Poilievre that I will trigger a by-election if that is the decision of the Conservative Party as soon as possible. Very simple. I've already indicated to Mr. Poilievre that if it's the decision of him and the Conservative Party to trigger, if I can put it that way, a by-election, I will ensure that it happens as soon as possible. Okay. No games, nothing. Straight. Okay.
So you also said that you will ask the king to come and read the speech from the throne. As you know, you won a lot of seats in Quebec. Do you think that nationalists from Quebec who will agree to lend their voice, and nationalists are not necessarily in love with the British crown, how do you think this will be received and how can you explain that to them?
Well, it's simple. First of all, I asked the king, his majesty, and he accepted. So, he will be in attendance at the opening of parliament. That is clear. And that decision highlights Canada's sovereignty as a nation. That's absolutely clear and it's a very clear message being sent to other countries around the world and it's an honor for us. To be clear, I made the request of his majesty and he has accepted. He will open parliament with the speech from the throne. And that clearly underscores the sovereignty of our country.
How does it highlight Canada's sovereignty to ask the king to open parliament? But my question was like cut up.
Okay. Yeah. In what way it underscores the, this is the ultimate head of state, which underscores the, you know, one of the points I made. I'll answer it this way. When I became prime minister for the first time, I mentioned the two founding peoples of Canada, well, all the founding peoples, the indigenous peoples, the English and the French. And that is a clear indication of the foundation of our nation, the Canadian nation.
Hi, Mr. Carney. In your second call with the president, did Mr. Trump outright say or insinuate at any point that Canada should become the 51st state?
All right. We've heard Mr. Trump on April 23rd and his surrogates throughout the final days of the campaign reiterate the idea that they believe Canada should become the 51st state on the campaign trail. You said on multiple occasions that respect for Canada would be one of the key things in terms of having a meeting with him. Do you think over the past few days we have seen respect for Canada from the Trump administration?
Look, I would, it's always important to distinguish want from reality, right? What someone wants and what is reality. And what the Canadian people clearly have stated virtually without exception is this will never, ever happen. And if any of the leaders of the party and their representatives would attest to that, I think the votes attest to it, I think the public dialogue attests to it as well. And we are, you know, we're meeting as heads of our government to discuss that partnership. Now, I'm not pretending those discussions will be easier. They won't proceed in a straight line. There will be zigs and zags, ups and downs. But as I said in my remarks, I will fight for the best deal for Canada and only accept the best deal for Canada and take as much time that's necessary.
iPolitics. Hi, thanks for taking our questions. Just one for me to try and squeeze some more reporters in. But to my colleague's point, the White House's public position has continued to be that Canada should be the 51st state. You yourself have said that Donald Trump is trying to break Canada. Considering all that, how can you expect good faith negotiations when you travel to Washington next week?
Look, I think the, first I've had the direct conversation with him on whatever day it was, Tuesday, I guess it was a couple of days ago. And we agreed to have those negotiations. Very clear discussion between us, as I said, very constructive. And I would say the time allocated to our meeting and the seniority of the, I mean he's the president so that's as senior as you get, but the other members of his administration who will be assisting at those meetings suggests the seriousness of the discussions. Again, we do not expect white smoke out of that meeting. There'll be white smoke probably later somewhere else in the world this month. But do not expect that. But so that's the first thing is just the level of, you know, the direct dialogue, the discussion, the level of people there.
The second point, I'll make it quickly and thank you for restricting the question so others can get in, is that he respects, as others who are good negotiators, and he's one of the best negotiators, they respect strength. That's why we're building Canada strong. There's lots of reasons to build Canada strong, but the point is, and I will make this point repeatedly, we have more than enough to do here at home. That point about we can give ourselves more than the Americans can take away is absolutely right. We can have a bigger boost to our economy, to incomes, to jobs by focusing on building one Canadian economy, by building these nation-building projects, by focusing on getting productivity up, by reducing government waste, by driving investment in this country. And so that is a good in and of itself. We're going to focus on that while we have these negotiations with the Americans. And if the negotiations with the Americans take longer, so be it. We've got more than enough to do here.
Kyle Dougen, The Canadian Press.
Mr. Carney, will you be pursuing a formal governing pact of any kind with the NDP?
Why? That's my response. We campaigned on a very clear set of objectives, very clear policies to back those up. And we received the highest number of votes in Canadian history. Yes, it is not quite a majority, but highest number of votes. As I said moments ago, majorities in seven of the 10 provinces, seats in all the provinces, highest vote totals and deputy counts in a number of those provinces. And it's also a style of governing as well, which is in order to do what we need to do as a country, we will need to work in partnership with all the provinces, with indigenous peoples. Yes, obviously by definition in parliament we will need to get majority support to pass legislation. But this is legislation that Canadians, or at least we will be putting forth legislation that's consistent with our platform and consistent with the requirements of the time. And I will remind that it's not just words, we are in a crisis. You know, if you look at the terrible manifestation of that today in Oshawa for the GM workers, you know, 2,000 GM workers, and I'll just express my deepest sympathy for them and their families, a very difficult time. We are committed to supporting workers. All the dollars from our tariffs going to support workers, fighting hard for our auto sector, all our sectors in these negotiations with the Americans, and making sure that companies act in true partnership as well in maintaining employment and investment in Canada. And if not, there will be consequences for those companies. Thank you.
Bonjour, Mr. Carney. Hello, Mr. Carney. In your vision of the upcoming negotiations with Mr. Trump, do you think it's necessary that the US tariffs be lifted before you begin to negotiate an economic and a comprehensive agreement with the US?
Well, we'll see. That is one option in a sense. But I do not want to negotiate in public. There will be difficult discussions. For example, the tariffs in our view, the fentanyl-related tariffs. Well, it's not clear why they are still in place from our standpoint. It will be a complex negotiation. The essence of my answer was I don't want to negotiate in public, so I'm not sure I need to add the other words that were around it. But look, it is complex. Particularly there were examples where certainly from our perspective the fentanyl tariffs were not merited to begin with but are even less merited given all the steps that the government of Canada has taken and the progress that's been made. But you know, this will be a broader discussion and it's one of the cards that they have and therefore we will see how it plays out.
In your opinion, what does President Trump want out of these negotiations?
Well, that's one of the questions under discussion. He certainly has some goals. For example, the balance, some balance in terms of the trade balance, putting a stop to fentanyl and increasing military spending. And the US goals do in fact change from time to time. There's a lot of volatility there. For us, it's really about having a win-win or reaching a win-win agreement with the US in a world that is becoming more divided and dangerous. So there are sectors, strategic sectors for the US and for Canada. And one of the questions is, do we want to cooperate in those sectors, for example including on critical minerals, the automobile or the auto sector, aluminum. There are several examples including in the energy sector, or do we want to divide the North American market? That's not clear at this point. And the second choice certainly is not a good choice. Canada, if he decides that's what he wants to do, Canada has other options. That is very clear.
