The prime minister joined European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to co-host an international event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
Sept. 23, 2026Updated Sept. 24, 20264 min readSave 155
By Tonda MacCharlesOttawa Bureau Chief
OTTAWA — In another overt display of multilateral alliances — the third in as many days — Canada’s prime minister demonstrated Wednesday his turn toward other allies and ignored the U.S. president.
Mark Carney joined European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to co-host an international event on the sidelines of the United Nations to rally new funding and commitments for oceanographic research, and to launch the Ocean Eye Alliance.Play Video
Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged $82 million over five years to bolster ocean monitoring as he continued his support of international collaboration at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. The Canadian Press
Von der Leyen pledged an additional 100 million euros ($160 million) to support oceanic data gathering and handed over to “my dear friend Mark” — the Canadian prime minister.
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Carney said he’d planned a “matching” contribution of $82 million over five years, but noted that the EU chief had just increased her pledge, effectively doubling the Canadian contribution, which he said underscored the “urgency” of the moment.
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Carney thanked “dear Ursula,” saying their presence was “in the same spirit of Strasbourg,” where the two last week committed to a “unique” European-Canadian alliance to mutually shore up strategic vulnerabilities on artificial intelligence, critical minerals and other key sectors amid geopolitical tensions.
In the two days before Wednesday’s ocean-centered meeting, Carney co-hosted with France and the United Kingdom a forum to advance a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and launched with European Council President Antonio Costa and others a new multilateralism forum as the U.S. retreats from multilateralism.
On Wednesday, it was oceans that inspired the siren call to other allies.
Von der Leyen said 30 countries had already pledged support for the effort to shore up the global network that provides ocean observation data, which she said faces “a critical funding shortfall.”
“Sensors need upgrading, and there are still gaps in governance and coverage. This is why we have launched Ocean Eye, our moon shot ambition for ocean observation,” said von der Leyen, adding Europe last week launched a new satellite to provide data about sea temperature and polar regions. She said 40 boats in the 2028 Vendée Globe sailing race will carry scientific instruments to provide new data from some of the most isolated ocean waters.
Carney underscored his government’s pledge to double marine and land protected areas, to ratify the High Seas Treaty and to host next year’s global oceans conference.
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He quipped that he had to get the name right of his newly named ocean envoy: “Diana —” he glanced at his papers — “Fox Carney.” His wife, he added, is working “tirelessly” on the event, scheduled for Halifax in 2027.
Carney underscored his government’s belief in the impact of global warming — contrary to U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion it is a hoax promoted by “globalist” elites.
“The Arctic Ocean is warming at four times the global average,” said Carney. “We know the ice there is thinning. We can see the water is opening, but we recognize our picture is incomplete, and of course, this is the spirit of Ocean Eye. We can’t protect what we can’t see. We can’t manage what we don’t understand.”
No American government representative presented at the event, while European and South American leaders showed up to commit to the effort.
The appeal by Carney and von der Leyen for more multilateral co-operation in the face of climate change’s ravages on community infrastructure, shipping routes and fishing stocks came the day after Trump scorned the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the “hoax” of global warming while asserting his “America First” agenda on the world stage.
Trump left New York after attending a Tuesday evening UN reception that Carney’s office said he did not attend.
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Other than listening to Trump’s speech, Canada’s leader did not have any substantive interaction with Trump in New York, his office said.
Carney told reporters he found it more useful to hold bilateral meetings with leaders he doesn’t see as often.
And although Trump never mentioned Canada in his defiant speech on Tuesday, Canada was clearly on his mind by Wednesday.
While his official schedule had Trump attending closed policy meetings back in Washington, the president posted disapprovingly on his social media platform about Canada’s allegedly unchecked population growth.
“Canada is destroying itself by allowing millions and millions of people into the Country, essentially unchecked and unvetted, and who are causing problems that will soon be too big to handle. It is a Liberal takeover that will end very badly. Already showing up in their numbers. Big unemployment,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Oh Canada!”
While it appeared random, the post may have been prompted by Statistics Canada’s report on Wednesday morning that in fact downplayed the growth rate.
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Stats Can said the population of Canada reached an estimated 41,798,407 people on July 1, an increase of 189,425 people, or 0.5 per cent, from July 1, 2025.
“This is the lowest annual July-to-July (or June to June before 1946) growth in the total size of the population since 1944/45,” Stats Canada reported, “and the lowest growth in percentage since 1915/16.”
The agency’s most recent report showed Canada’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.4 per cent in August. “This follows three consecutive monthly declines in May, June and July totalling 0.5 percentage points,” it said.
Neither Carney nor his office commented on Trump’s Truth Social post.
But Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, speaking to reporters at the United Nations, responded by dismissing the suggestion immigration levels are left unchecked. “Let’s put some facts on the table,” she said, noting that Canada revised its immigration policy since 2024 to ensure that immigration levels including entry of temporary foreign workers “are reduced in order to stabilize” the level of affordable housing and health care available “for all Canadians.”
She added that “immigration levels over the years have led to increased Canadian prosperity, especially from an economic standpoint. But at this time, certainly since 2024, we’ve taken the step of ensuring that there is a calibration, a stability between the levels of immigration and the services that are available to all Canadians.”
