Carney changes Liberals’ tune on shipping LNG to Europe when grilled

Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to deepen trade and defence ties with Europe during his visit to Germany, stating Canada would stockpile critical minerals and liquid natural gas for sale to Germany

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Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to deepen trade and defence ties with Europe during his visit to Germany, stating Canada would stockpile critical minerals and liquid natural gas for sale to Germany via new ports.

In Berlin, alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Carney outlined several ways his government intends to strengthen ties with Germany and Europe, including selling LNG—a move his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, famously claimed had “no business case” for Europe.

“There’s a huge range of immediate opportunities with respect to critical metals and minerals, and there are medium-term opportunities with respect to all forms of energy, including LNG and hydrogen,” Carney said after being asked what Canada could “realistically” offer Germany and Europe, lacking ports and pipelines.

Despite the former Liberal Prime Minister’s claim that there was no business case for Canadian LNG sales into Europe, a recent CBC interview with Poland’s Ambassador revealed that Europe is “constantly interested” in Canadian energy.

Carney said his government was “unleashing half a trillion dollars of investment” into energy, port and intelligence infrastructure.

He said AI would help direct much of that investment towards reinforcing port infrastructure in Montreal and “other East Coast ports,” including a new port in Churchill, Manitoba. He added that these ports would “open up” trade of LNG and critical metals and minerals to Europe.

“It’s the number one focus of this government is to build that infrastructure, and particularly infrastructure that helps us deepen our partnership with our European partners, and particularly Germany,” he said.

Carney said the demand for critical metals and minerals will likely increase “fourfold” as governments increase their military spending over the course of the next decade.

“Canada can play a role in accelerating that diversification for Germany and for Europe, and these issues are only going to become more important,” he said.

He said Canada is building a rare earth magnet supply chain and expanding its critical minerals supply. Germany and Canada signed a joint declaration stating the importance of strengthening the critical minerals industry and “encouraging commercial partnerships” between the two countries.

Carney also announced that with Germany’s help, Canada will be able to reach its NATO commitment to spend five per cent of its GDP on defence spending by 2030, which would quadruple Canada’s defence expenditure from its 2024 budget.

“For Canada, it is very important that we have) developed a security and defence partnership with the European Union will help us deliver on our NATO capability targets, particularly through participation in Europe’s Security Action For Europe, or SAFE program, which (is) an instrument (to) rearm for Europe,” he said.

He also said the Liberals have narrowed down two potential “qualified” suppliers for Canada’s Canadian Patrol Submarine Project: Germany’s Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems and South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean Co. Ltd.

He said the procurement process would be conducted “fully, transparently and fairly,” assuring Canadians both companies are qualified for deep, under-ice, year-round submarines to suit Canada’s unique Arctic needs.

Carney said he would visit the South Korean facilities in October.

“Our governments will be spending, rightly, a great deal of money to make our citizens more secure, to make the world more secure, to work with our allies to make the world more secure; we want to spend that as effectively as possible,” Carney said. “So interoperability and cooperation are important, and we want to have the maximum economic benefits in our economies as well.”