Before he’d even been prime minister for a week, Mark Carney was in the air, en route first to Paris, for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and then over to London to sit down with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Since then, Carney has hardly stopped, and by the time he marks his first anniversary as prime minister, he will have spent one of every five days in office out of the country.
Global News analyzed the itineraries of Carney and former prime ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau and found that Carney has been on the road more than his two predecessors, a reflection of Carney’s promise, made during last spring’s election campaign, to diversify and strengthen Canada’s trade and security relationships beyond the United States.
“This prime minister has made trade diversification a real centrepiece of his time in office. And so it makes sense that he’s going out there trying to make deals,” said Roland Paris, a University of Ottawa professor who briefly served as a foreign policy advisor to Trudeau.
On Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Carney will be wheels up again this week.
The Royal Canadian Air Force CC-330 Husky aircraft that carries the prime minister, aides, the media and others on these delegations will, beginning on Thursday, circumnavigate the globe, flying east from Ottawa to touchdown in Mumbai, New Delhi, Canberra, Sydney and Tokyo before returning to Ottawa.
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And it will be Carney’s second circumnavigation in as many months.
In January, Carney flew west to Vancouver and then kept going to Beijing, Doha, Davos and back to Ottawa.
By the time he returns home on March 7, Carney will have spent 68 days abroad in his first year, which, when you subtract the 36 days of the 2025 general election, represents more than 20 per cent of his time in office. By comparison, Trudeau was abroad for 34 days, or 9.3 per cent of the time, while Harper was abroad for 54 days, or 15 per cent of his first year.
Liberals say Carney’s travel is paying off.
“We live in a world where Canada continues to develop trading relationships, other strategic partnerships right around the world, and if I look at the job numbers, it’s sure yielding dividends,” said government House leader Steven MacKinnon.
But the pace — and cost — of Carney’s travel has been a frequent target for opposition MPs.
“He has flown enough kilometres to circle the earth four times, but after all that globetrotting, Canadians still get no deals, no relief, higher tariffs and higher bills,” said Carole Anstey, the Conservative MP for Long Range Mountains, in the House of Commons on Nov. 21.
“Every time the prime minister steps off a private jet, Canadians get hit with another tariff hike. After the U.S., there were higher tariffs. After China, there were new tariffs on seafood and grain.”
Mark Strahl, the Conservative MP for Chilliwack-Hope, told the House of Commons on Nov. 19: “What does he have to show for all of his gallivanting around in a private jet? He just has expensive photo ops, empty announcements and no real results for Canadian workers. Not only have these trips failed to get the deals he promised but tariffs and costs for Canadians seem to go higher each time he takes off.”
Carney does not, as the Conservatives claim, fly on a private jet. Just as Harper and Trudeau did, Carney flies on a Royal Canadian Air Force plane.
That said, Paris, the foreign policy expert, agrees that it is incumbent on the government to show how Canadians are benefiting from Carney’s travel.
“It makes sense for people to look at these trips and to ask whether they’re advancing those objectives,” said Paris.
Carney himself has made the case for the value of travelling to have to have face-to-face meetings with foreign political and business leaders.
His trip to China, for example, resulted in an agreement by China to drop punishing tariffs on Canadian canola. Indonesia agreed to drop tariffs on 95 per cent of Canadian goods after Carney travelled to Jakarta. A trip to the United Arab Emirates won a commitment by Emirati interests to invest $70 billion in Canada (though details have yet to be released).
But the big deal — a renewal of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement and the end of tariffs on Canadian aluminum, steel and cars — has yet to be landed.
And of all the places Carney has visited in his first year so far, Washington has been the most frequent destination, with a total of five days spent by Carney in the American capital.
With all of his globe trotting Carney has only affected 8 percent of our trade. Just think about that. All the so called trade deals he made or will make with countries other than the USA only amounts to 8 percent of our overall trade. It’s nothing…. Nada …, compared to the almost 80percent we trade with the USA. Give your heads a shake … you are being conned yet again by Carney.
Why is this news as we all know he has had to travel to gain business opportunities beyond the US. Much needed travel as we look for more trustworthy partners.
With all due respect for Mr. Carney he can never replace the trade we have had with the U.S. with all this travel to other countries. It kind of feels like he is escaping Canada when things get heated, which is what his former PM did.
Yes, there are some brainwashed folks in Canada. I have sat here and outlined the truth already yet Global censors it. That should tell you Liberals something. If truth is being censored by media, a country has a big government problem. Its called FASCISM!
The liberals have brain washed me to the point that they can do no harm to the country. Like a lemur I will follow the crowd and vote accordingly.
Trudeau was not trying to get new trade deals like Carney is. I would say money and time well spent !!
time well spent i would say
JMBerman, what does it take to get through your head that Carney and the Liberals have decimated this country? Look around for a little bit. This country is going down in flames. Excuses??? THESE ARE FACTS!! Carney has done ZERO for any crisis except sign an MOU or agreement to do something! But nothing is getting done!!
He can run but he can’t hide from the fact that for all his bluster and media propaganda Carney has achieved very little since becoming PM and even those agreements he has made make only minuscule changes to our GDP and our economy under Carney is one of the worst in the G7.
HOW can you run a country when you spend NO TIME IN YOUR OFFICE running the country and managing the people who he has hired to “help” him run it is what I would love to know. Same thing happened with Trudeau and all our lives and finances just kept getting worse and worse. Same thing is happening with the jet setting Carney who is avoiding doing his job by never staying HOME.
Before searching so hard for criticism of our new leader, we really ought to consider what has happened and how our country had a very different crisis affecting what we need from our leader and new and critical connections to be made with the rest of the world. This is our only defence and our best chance at changing our cripling dependence on The USA which at this time is using that dependency to take control of our Country! Stop criticizing and start supporting our Country!
India and Australia. Nice little junket. Another holiday on our dime. What is the trade mission? What are we trading with and for? What resources are we trading and for what in return? Or is just securing another MOU?
Elbows Up, Cost of Living Up.
Flaps Up,I’m outta here, Suckers!!!
Err,umm,err, bet he hasn’t managed to outspend me yet !!! Ha,ha,ha !!!
Oh well,the budget will balance itself with your misery,suckers !
How many people did I get laughing so hard they squirted milk out their nose with my last comment?
“Elbows up cam” your’e welfare check is safe while Carney is PM.
And PP is out making workout videos on TicTok with his personal trainer/Life partner.
That is a good use of tax dollars.
Carney is the best PM we’ve had in decades if not ever.
“.. a reflection of Carney’s promise, made during last spring’s election campaign, to diversify and strengthen Canada’s trade and security relationships beyond the United States.”
Did you love that spin or what?? Are you dizzy yet? I’ve got more where that came from. You will LOVE this prime minister with the shoulders of a brook trout.
Hmm, maybe you’re right, Roy. I was thinking him travelling constantly meant he was working hard for Canadians. But all he really is doing is vacation time, like the last guy. Oh my god you’re so correct about the debt too. So much for my grandkids.
Wow, look at the spin on this story. But what else would you expect from David Akin. Carney has done f *uck all his first year except raise the debt and spew empty promises. He’s flying around to avoid parliament and criticism, and just have fun with his W E F amigos. Canada has tuned into a global joke.
Given the economic situation we face by the US President It is a good sign that Carney is doing what he should to try to boost the economy! A definite plus. No other PM has faced such a disaster.
Traveling the world on the tax payers dime zero trade deals in a full year what an achievement !!!