In his victory speech, Carney said Canadians are over the “shock of the American betrayal” but should never forget its lessons. Carney will now have to get down to the onerous task of responding to Trump’s tariff war and repeated threats to make Canada the 51st state of the US. Carney has said these are not “idle threats” – a stark acknowledgment of how much the once-close partnership between Canada and the US has changed. More importantly, Carney will have to address a cost of living and housing crises -- among the main reasons Canadians soured on the Liberal Party after a decade of Trudeau in power. He will also have to address the impression that the Liberal Party has remained unchanged by adopting a wholly new approach to the challenges currently confronting Canada.  

The victory of Carney, who has spoken in recent days of resetting and rebuilding ties with India in the aftermath of a diplomatic spat over the killing of a Khalistani separatist in British Columbia that took matters to an all-time low, offers an opportunity for New Delhi and Ottawa to return to the table to reshape the overall relationship. In a congratulatory message, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered to work with Carney to strengthen the bilateral partnership. While India and Canada have already resumed contacts between security agencies and have quietly engaged on a range of issues related to the activities of Khalistani elements and trans-national criminal gangs, the trade wars unleashed by Trump’s reciprocal tariffs are the perfect setting for resuming negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, stalled since 2023. With the New Democratic Party losing its national status and its pro-Khalistan leader Jagmeet Singh stepping down, another obvious irritant in the bilateral relationship has been rendered irrelevant.