Carney leaves for Commonwealth summit in Caribbean

Prime Minister Mark Carney is traveling to the Caribbean today for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit. It comes on the eve of critical U.S. midterms that could impact Donald Trump's agenda, including trade. The CBC's David Thurston is among the journalists traveling with the Prime Minister and has more on Carney's agenda at the Commonwealth Summit. Hey, Andrew. This is Prime Minister Mark Carney's first Commonwealth summit. He's going to be joined by about 30 heads of government in Antigua and Barbuda, and also King Charles as well will be on hand. But the big thing, the big focus for this summit, we are told by Canadian federal government officials Trade is trade. They gave us a sense on how much of a market Commonwealth countries, the 56 Commonwealth countries offer to Canada. It's a market of about more than 2.7 billion people. We're talking about 56 countries, economies which all together, Andrew, represent 15% of the global economy. So Canada certainly sees this as a big opportunity to expand trade beyond just You know, the deals that Carney has been attempting to make with the EU and other countries, they're also seeing the opportunity to expand economic opportunities with these Commonwealth countries as well. These countries as well, Andrea, I have to say, are also dealing with something quite similar to what Canada is dealing with. And that is Donald Trump and the tariffs that he has imposed on the goods that are coming into the United States. We spoke with the Secretary General of the Commonwealth. And she had this to say about the situation Canada and other countries are facing. We woke up one day and every one of our 56 countries had been slapped with tariffs. Oops. And so for me, this is so important that we look within and enhance and deepen intra-commonwealth trade. Presently, I think the intra-commonwealth trade value is about 900 billion. We are seeking to move it to 2 trillion. So that's a pretty lofty goal. Just to give you a perspective, Andrew, Canada's trade with Commonwealth nations are about $100 billion annually. They're seeking to increase that indeed as well by removing trade barriers. And trade is not the only issue that will be discussed at this summit. It is happening in Antigua and Barbuda, of course, a Caribbean country, which is dealing with climate change. And so that will also be something on the agenda as well. Prime Minister Mark Carney will be hosting a breakfast with Caribbean leaders on Tuesday. This summit, David, is happening right before and during the U.S. midterms. How will that impact the meeting? Well, yeah, the U.S. is not part of the Commonwealth, despite being a former British colony, but that is the thing when you look at, you talk to watchers who pay close attention to these summits, that's the special thing about the Commonwealth, is that the U.S. is not in the room, and so it offers leaders an opportunity to speak frankly and candidly about the influence of the United States on their domestic policy, certainly on their trade policy, and increasingly And increasingly, as we know, A lot of experts would view the United States as a destabilizing force globally. So certainly the U.S. might not be in the room, but it will certainly be on the agenda, especially as the midterms get underway or are underway tomorrow. Indeed, as well, overshadowing this summit is not just trade, it's not just the U.S., but also something we've been seeing, Andrew, as King Charles. He conducts his visit of English-speaking Caribbean islands, and that is the transatlantic slave trade. We're expecting that this will come up at the summit, and Charles will have to address this. The CBC's David Thurton in Ottawa.