Prime Minister Mark Carney met Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Ottawa on Sunday to push deeper defence co-operation in the Arctic, citing renewed threats from Russia and a planned trilateral submarine deal involving both countries.
At a joint news conference on Parliament Hill, both leaders were asked about warnings from the Polish prime minister that Russia may be planning attacks on European countries that support Ukraine. Støre said those warnings should be taken seriously, adding that Norway’s intelligence service has concluded there are “real threats coming from hybrid activity, ranging all the way to potential sabotage.”
Carney did not comment on the credibility of the threats but said he agreed with Støre’s statements. “One of the advantages of this relationship and deepening across a broad range of relationships is, yes, greater intelligence sharing, greater perspective, greater capacities that are built together,” he said.
Carney said that includes having the “right partners” among Arctic nations working together. “The phrase that always sticks with me … is ‘High North, low tension,'” he said, adding that submarine and space capacity are part of that approach.
In July, Carney chose to buy a dozen submarines from a European shipbuilder instead of a Korean firm, after a months-long bidding process. The chosen partnership involves a German company but partners with Norway, with the three nations collaborating to produce and maintain the submarines.
Carney said the “time spent, whether it’s in the high north in Norway, a meeting with the French president who’s directly implicated in a number of these decisions, our meeting today and beyond, it’s all connected.”
Before meeting Støre, Carney travelled to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon earlier in the day to meet French President Emmanuel Macron.
Støre’s visit comes as Carney looks for closer ties with Europe, including potential “associate membership” in the European Union. Norway is not an EU member, but for three decades has had a deal with the bloc giving both sides free access to each other’s markets for goods and services, and giving Norway access to most EU programs.
Carney is also courting investment from Norway’s petroleum-based sovereign wealth fund.
Carney was in Norway in March, the first visit by a sitting Canadian prime minister since 1980. During that trip, the two leaders pledged to advance collaboration in fields ranging from Arctic security and space to critical minerals and energy.
The meeting comes a day after Canada’s chief of the defence staff, Gen. Jennie Carignan, lost a secret-ballot vote on Saturday to chair NATO’s Military Committee. German Gen. Carsten Breuer won the election among top commanders from NATO’s 32 members, and is to take office in July 2027.
Sources: CBC Politics · Canada DND Newsroom