PM Mark Carney confirms King Charles to launch Parliament

King Charles and Queen Camilla are scheduled to travel to Canada later this month, with the King delivering Canada’s Speech from the throne May 27.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Friday at the National Press Theatre that Parliament will be recalled on May 26, and the King will read the speech outlining the new government’s priorities the following day.

This will be the first time that a monarch has delivered the throne speech since 1977.

Carney said he invited King Charles and Queen Camilla to launch this session of Parliament as a show of sovereignty in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of annexation.

“Canada has a steadfast defender in our sovereign,” reads a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first public address since election

It’s the first time Carney has addressed Canadians since he narrowly won Monday’s election – largely focused on the same topics.

The newly-elected prime minister outlined his government’s priorities – namely cutting taxes for the middle class and building affordable housing.

During the news conference, Carney struck a cordial tone to talk about working with all Canadians, and reaching across the aisle to work with all parties.

“By working together, we can give ourselves far more than the U.S. can take away,” said Carney. “By working together, we can build Canada strong.”

The Liberals won a minority government under Carney’s leadership in Monday’s election, ending just three seats shy of a majority.

That means he’ll need support from another party in order to pass legislation, but carney says he won’t enter another supply-and-confidence deal with the NDP to do so.

Though he didn’t clarify where those three extra votes will be coming from.

“In order to do the work that we need to do as a country, we need to work in partnership with all the provinces, with Indigenous peoples,” said Carney.

Carney says his government will “hit the ground running” when Parliament reconvenes later this month, putting forward new policies: to expand dental care up to eight million lower-income Canadians; slash development charges in half for multi-unit dwellings; and capping government spending at a 2 per cent increase, among other campaign promises.

Carney also said he has a meeting in the books with U.S. President Donald Trump in the future.

“Our old relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over,” said Carney. “The question is now, how our nations will cooperate in the future and where we in Canada will move on.”

Carney will head to Washington Tuesday and will first look to ease the immediate pressure of the trade war, though he says he isn’t expecting those negotiations to be easy.

When asked by one reporter if the prime minister is expecting to be ambushed by Trump – similar to the fiery conversation the president had with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year, Carney said, “Look, I go in there with the expectation of constructive, difficult but constructive, conversations.”

“That’s the spirit of the meeting – you go in to meetings like this well prepared,” said Carney.

With files from The Canadian Press.

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