Canada SNUBS U.S. TWICE in 48 hours — Europe is THE new PARTNER! 🇨🇦

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Today we're talking about three blockbuster moves that just dropped military steel and energy deals.

[00:00:08]But let's get straight to the crown jewel, shall we?

[00:00:11]A flying fortress of Canadian-Swedish [snorts] ingenuity. Canada is officially in talks to buy Saab's Global Eye, a sky spy system that tracks targets from over 650 km away.

[00:00:26]Here's the beauty. The Swedish brain is getting bolted into a Canadian-built Bombardier jet. Yes.

[00:00:34]There are some US parts in that plane, [snorts] but Ottawa just snapped two American giants to pick a European partner instead.

[00:00:43]That's a conscious choice, my friends.

[00:00:46]The result? 3,000 new jobs building those birds right here in Canada. Then shipping them worldwide.

[00:00:54]This isn't just a plane.

[00:00:56]It's Prime Minister Carney's first real punch that diversifying our kit, breaking the old habit, and tilting this country decisively towards Europe. Let's roll the clip.

[00:01:08]>> Thank you for joining us. Tonight, multiple announcements of big deals for Canada on military purchases and energy sales. Plus, a CBC News exclusive on another deal potentially in the making.

[00:01:20]Different economic sectors, but a common theme as Mark Carney pivots away from the US, the partners are in Europe. The Prime Minister says the government will move forward with Swedish aircraft technology, and Canada has struck a deal with Germany on liquefied natural gas.

[00:01:37]We will get to that big announcement in just a moment, but let's start with Ashley Burke on a deal for Swedish air defense technology. Mark Carney's choice for Canada's military.

[00:01:50]>> The Prime Minister promised Canadians he would rebuild the country's military, but spend far less on American equipment. Now the first example of that pledge in action.

[00:01:59]>> Canada has entered into negotiations to procure Saab's airborne early warning and control aircraft.

[00:02:08]>> Known as the Global Eye, the Swedish technology is mounted into Canadian-made Bombardier planes containing some American parts.

[00:02:16]>> The Global Eye's airborne surveillance capability can track objects and signals up to 650 km away.

[00:02:24]And they'll share in real time that information with the Canadian forces and our allies.

[00:02:29]>> The government selecting Swedish company Saab over two American contenders.

[00:02:34]>> It's a decision that we've made to to diversify our military relationships.

[00:02:38]>> This is a capability that will be quite novel.

[00:02:42]>> The head of Saab says it wants to create 3,000 jobs by building the aircraft in Canada and shipping them abroad, too.

[00:02:49]>> The demand in the market is substantial and we need to ramp up and we cannot deliver everything from Sweden. So, this will be a new industrial setup for us in Canada.

[00:02:59]>> The question now whether Donald Trump will notice.

[00:03:02]>> I think we've seen in the last year and a bit that the American administration finds lots of reasons to be unhappy about lots of things.

[00:03:08]>> In terms of upsetting the Trump administration, I think this is a relatively minor one.

[00:03:12]>> The bigger issue still on the table if Canada will decide to buy Saab's Swedish fighter jets and scale back an almost $28 billion contract for a full fleet of American F-35s.

[00:03:25]>> We're going to take the time we need to take to get this right.

[00:03:29]>> The government has been reviewing the issue for more than a year and still won't say if it will risk upsetting Trump by pivoting away from the US.

[00:03:37]>> Let's shift our focus from aircraft to submarines.

[00:03:41]As we reveal the latest insights into one of two proposals to construct new submarines for Canada.

[00:03:49]Let's watch the the >> Let's go from planes to submarines and exclusive details about one of the two bids to build new subs for Canada.

[00:03:57]Murray Brewster sat down today with Germany's defense minister. So, Murray, can you bring us up to speed? What have you learned?

[00:04:04]>> Well, the Germans are clearly feeling the pressure from the South Korean bid.

[00:04:07]I mean, that country promised to deliver four submarines to the Canadian Navy by 2035. Germany's defense minister, Boris Pistorius, told me today that his country's shipyard, TKMS, can have four boats in the hands of the Canadians by 2036.

[00:04:22]>> They say we are able to do so.

[00:04:25]That's a deliverable of of the of the of the proposal of the offer and they do they say they can do that and I trust them because I have only good experiences with them.

[00:04:36]They do that they only promise what they can really achieve it finally.

[00:04:42]>> In order to keep that promise though, both Germany and its partner, Norway, will have to give up boats planned for their own navies, saying that they're doing it for allied solidarity, a sign of how much they want to seal this deal with Canada.

[00:04:55]>> I gather there's also a little bit more detail about what the German economic offer looks like. What can you tell us?

[00:05:02]>> Well, CBC News has seen a summary of what the German submarine pitch says about economic development in Canada. In the military sector, it includes facilities on both coasts to support maintenance of the subs and the possibility of a factory to make heavy torpedoes and hypersonic missiles. But other sectors are also in play, including a proposed partnership with Alberta for a carbon capture facility and helping turn the port of Churchill into a major hub, especially for LNG.

[00:05:30]Now, on paper, all of that adds up to billions of dollars in investment and potentially hundreds of thousands of jobs. South Korea's bid will do that, too, but Germany says it can be up and running in two years with its proposals.

[00:05:44]Mark Carney says Canada is going to decide by the end of June which bid to go with.

[00:05:49]>> Okay, we will all be watching. That is Marie Bruce turn Ottawa tonight.

[00:05:53]>> Now, turning to the landmark energy agreement with Germany, which is set to purchase 1 million tons of LNG annually from Northwestern British Columbia for up to 20 years.

[00:06:07]While this represents a historic first for Canada and Europe, several challenges remain, including creating necessary infrastructure to ensuring efficient transport of the LNG across the Atlantic.

[00:06:22]The deal is expected to spark substantial economic growth not only British Columbia, but throughout the entire country.

[00:06:30]Let's roll the clip.

[00:06:32]>> And so now to that energy deal with Germany. It will purchase 1 million tons of LNG a year from Northwestern BC for up to two decades. As Tanya Fletcher shows us, there are a couple of hurdles, getting the project built and how to get the product to Europe.

[00:06:48]British Columbia, the backdrop for Ottawa's landmark liquefied natural gas deal, a first between Canada and Europe.

[00:06:56]>> Cedar LNG will generate significant economic activity in British Columbia and beyond.

[00:07:01]>> German company SEFE is agreeing to buy 1 million tons of LNG per year for up to two decades. It'll be exported from Cedar LNG, a still-to-be-built $10 billion floating facility along BC's North Coast.

[00:07:16]>> We're in a world where energy security is national security. We're in a world where our allies are begging us, are begging us to produce our resources.

[00:07:26]>> The Nisga'a Nation is co-owner of the project, but acknowledges some First Nations oppose it.

[00:07:32]>> More and more of our indigenous people are beginning to recognize the very trying times that the world is facing.

[00:07:40]And so they're looking at ways to bring prosperity.

[00:07:45]>> Pushback is coming from environmental groups, too.

[00:07:48]>> The world is pivoting very quickly to electrification and clean energy with renewables. So, why would we double down on another risky fossil fuel project?

[00:07:58]>> And then there's the geographical challenge. How to get LNG from coastal BC all the way over to Europe? That's still unclear.

[00:08:05]>> So, I guess theoretically, you could go around Alaska and try to get >> Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre insists Canada should export LNG from the East Coast. When asked why Ottawa wouldn't pipe it across the country, then ship it directly across the Atlantic to Germany, the energy minister said it's cheaper to move the product by water than it is to pay tolls through a pipeline.

[00:08:27]>> Well, I think Canada is currently engaged in a game of 3D chess. To actually access that European market is very important not only for economics, but for um us to become an energy superpower.

[00:08:38]>> But some market analysts have warned of an LNG bubble where projects might fail to generate the returns once promised.

[00:08:45]Still, the timeline here is ambitious with a goal to get shovels in the ground within months. Tasha Fletcher, CBC News, Vancouver.

[00:08:55]>> Senior business reporter Peter Armstrong is here. So, Peter, Ottawa says it expects a final, I guess, investment decision within months. But what needs to happen to get it across the line?

[00:09:04]>> So, three big things remain. The first, they got to pin down whether the export agreements they have in place show there is in fact enough demand to start construction, right? They already had agreements with Shell and Total. You add in today's agreement, we're talking about 5 million metric tons annually committed. Is that enough? Do they need more? How much more? They've got to figure that out. They also have two pretty major legal disputes that they've got to resolve. One over the pipeline, one over the terminal itself. One's in court, one still needs a date. And then they've got to finalize the transmission of energy. They've got to get an agreement, build that.

[00:09:41]These are all pretty significant ifs, but if they get those done, Hodgson says they could have that final investment decision in a matter of months. That would mean shovels in the ground pretty quickly thereafter.

[00:09:51]>> Okay, briefly, Tanya mentioned that there's some debate about how to get LNG from the west coast of Canada to Europe.

[00:09:58]How do they solve that?

[00:09:59]>> It's a good question. It's not exactly simple, but one option is what they call a swap. So, imagine you're an LNG producer on the US Gulf Coast and you've got a customer in Japan that wants your LNG. I'm the operator up in Prince Rupert and I've got this agreement to ship LNG to Germany. Well, I can call you up and say, "Adrian, why don't you send yours to Germany and I'll send mine to Japan." Both customers get their product faster, both companies get paid.

[00:10:24]It's not perfect, but it works and it's something the industry already does today.

[00:10:27]>> It requires cooperation.

[00:10:29]>> It does.

[00:10:29]>> So, folks, here it is. Two days, three milestones, one clear direction for Canada.

[00:10:37]This means sovereignty with a paycheck.

[00:10:40]38,000 barrels of oil heading east and 3,000 high-tech jobs building ice in the sky.

[00:10:46]And somewhat the same is coming with the submarine deal.

[00:10:50]No matter if it is Germany or South Korea.

[00:10:53]Canada stops begging for US parts and starts selling to the world.

[00:10:59]For the EU, you just gained a reliable energy partner and the military ally flying Swedish-Canadian hardware. The consequence, a tighter transatlantic first.

[00:11:12]Less dependency on Washington, more trust between Ottawa and Brussels.

[00:11:18]Yes, my friends, this is Canada's lane.

[00:11:20]Proud, practical, and walking away from our volatile neighbor.

[00:11:25]We are watching a realignment happening live.

[00:11:30]So, my friends, here's my question for you. How do you feel about all this?

[00:11:35]About how Knorr's promise turns into reality.

[00:11:39]Drop your answer in the comments below.

[00:11:41]Click the like button and subscribe [clears throat] to the channel.

[00:11:45]Thanks for being here. I'm Wilfried Lamkoeller with Europe Curious.

[00:11:49]And keep your eyes on the horizon.

[00:11:52]Till next time.