King Charles III says Canada facing unprecedented challenges as Trump threatens annexation

OTTAWA, Ontario -- OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — King Charles III said Canada is facing unprecedented challenges successful a satellite that's ne'er been much unsafe arsenic helium opened the Canadian Parliament connected Tuesday with a code wide viewed arsenic a amusement of enactment successful the look of annexation threats by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump’s repeated proposition that the U.S. annex Canada prompted Prime Minister Mark Carney to invitation Charles to springiness the code from the throne outlining his government's priorities for the caller league of Parliament. The king is the head of authorities successful Canada, which is simply a subordinate of the Commonwealth of erstwhile colonies.

“We indispensable look reality: since the Second World War, our satellite has ne'er been much unsafe and unstable. Canada is facing challenges that, successful our lifetimes, are unprecedented," Charles said successful French.

He added that “many Canadians are feeling anxious and disquieted astir the drastically changing satellite astir them."

It's uncommon for the monarch to present what’s called the code from the throne successful Canada. Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, did it doubly earlier successful 1957 and 1977.

Charles, connected his 20th sojourn to Canada, noted that it has been astir 70 years since his parent archetypal opened Parliament.

"Canada has dramatically changed: repatriating its constitution, achieving afloat independence, and witnessing immense growth. Canada has embraced its British, French, and Indigenous roots, and go a bold, ambitious, innovative state that is bilingual, genuinely multicultural,” the monarch said.

He said erstwhile his precocious parent opened a caller league of Canadian Parliament successful 1957, World War II remained a fresh, achy representation and said the Cold War was intensifying.

"Freedom and ideology were nether threat," helium said. “Today, Canada faces different captious moment."

The code isn't written by the king oregon his U.K. advisers arsenic Charles serves arsenic a nonpartisan caput of state. He work what was enactment earlier him by Canada’s government, but makes immoderate remarks of his own.

”I person ever had the top admiration for Canada’s unsocial identity, which is recognized crossed the satellite for bravery and sacrifice successful defence of nationalist values, and for the diverseness and kindness of Canadians,” helium said.

Canadians are mostly indifferent to the monarchy, but Carney has been anxious to amusement the differences betwixt Canada and the United States. The king’s sojourn intelligibly underscores Canada’s sovereignty, helium said.

Carney won the occupation of premier curate by promising to face the accrued aggression shown by Trump and made his archetypal travel arsenic premier curate to London and Paris, the superior cities of Canada's 2 founding nations.

Carney is anxious to diversify trade, and the king said that Canada tin physique caller alliances. More than 75% of Canada's exports spell to the U.S.

The caller U.S. ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, said that sending messages to the U.S. isn’t indispensable and Canadians should determination connected from the 51st authorities talk, telling the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that if there’s a connection to beryllium sent, determination are easier ways to bash that, specified arsenic calling him oregon calling the president.

The king said that among the priorities for the authorities is extortion of the French connection and Quebec culture, which are astatine the bosom of Canadian identity.

“They specify the state that Canadians, and I, emotion truthful much. Canada is simply a state wherever authoritative and Indigenous languages ​​are respected and celebrated,” helium said.

He besides said the Canada indispensable support Quebec's dairy proviso absorption industry. Trump attacked the manufacture successful commercialized talks.

And helium said that the Canadian authorities volition support Canada’s sovereignty by reinvesting successful the Canadian Armed Forces. Trump has complained that Canadas doesn't walk capable connected its military.

The king said that Canada would look to the European Union to acquisition subject instrumentality by joining the "REARM Europe” program — a large defence procurement task to ramp up arms accumulation successful Europe. The code made nary notation of buying from the U.S.

A horse-drawn carriage tookCharles and Queen Camilla to the Senate of Canada Building for the speech. It was accompanied by 28 horses, 14 earlier and 14 after. After inspecting a 100-person grant defender and receiving a 21-gun salute, King Charles entered the Senate gathering arsenic the assemblage cheered.

Former Canadian Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper were among those successful attendance.

The king returned U.K. aft the code and a sojourn to Canada’s National War Memorial.

Justin Vovk, a Canadian royal historian, said the king’s sojourn reminds him of erstwhile Queen Elizabeth II opened the Parliament successful Grenada, a subordinate of the commonwealth, successful 1985.

A U.S.-led unit invaded the islands successful October 1983 without consulting the British authorities pursuing the sidesplitting of Grenada’s Marxist premier minister, Maurice Bishop.