Canada's 'friendship is over' with the US as Trump tariffs push Ottawa toward EU embrace

Canada's relationship with the United States has fractured to a degree that senior figures say may be irreparable, as Trump's tariffs, meme wars and a fresh row over renaming Lake Ontario poison decades of neighbourly goodwill. Prime Minister Mark Carney is to travel to Strasbourg in mid-September to address the EU's parliamentary assembly and attend the European Commission's State of the Union address. The visit marks the opening of a formal rapprochement between Ottawa and Brussels, with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola calling it a chance to deepen EU-Canada ties.

A Nanos Research poll found 28% of Canadians back full EU membership, with another 29% 'somewhat' supporting it.

EU membership faces a fundamental legal hurdle: the Treaty on European Union limits applicants to European states.

Italian MEP Sandro Gozi argued that the current geopolitical landscape renders the question of closer EU-Canada ties 'unavoidable'.