Trade war, Alberta referendum loom large as Carney charts cabinet's year forward

"Our primary focus will be on trade and trade with Canada," said Trump at the time, standing side by side with Carney in his first visit to this country since 2018. "I'm sure we can work something out."

A little more than a year later, Carney is once again holding high-level meetings in the Rocky Mountains of the province where he grew up, this time to plan the upcoming parliamentary sitting with his cabinet, fresh off three byelections where his governing Liberals cleaned up.

But there is little else in common with the optimistic outlook of 2025.

Trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. only continue to intensify, while the danger of Alberta's departure from federation has become much more real.

Liberals remove layer of review process for energy projects, backing off bypassing at-risk species protections