CF of CANZUK host Pierre Poilievre MP
The Conservative Friends of CANZUK were delighted to host the leader of the Conservative party of Canada, and Leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre PC MP for a drinks reception in the Carlton Club.
We were joined by parliamentarians from Canada and the United Kingdom, including CANZUK caucus members Lord Hannan, Jack Rankin MP, Kevin Hollinrake MP, and Sir Christopher Chope MP. Other leading Conservative MPs included Sir Jeremy Hunt, James Cartlidge, Jerome Mayhew, and Graham Stuart. Representatives from the CANZ high commissions were also in attendance, including Robert Fry, acting Canadian High Commissioner and Hamish Cooper, New Zealand’s High Commissioner. We were also joined by business leaders and CANZUK supporters from across the four realms.
Mr Poilievre was introduced by CF of CANZUK President Lord Hannan and Chairman of the Conservative party, Kevin Hollinrake MP. Pierre then delivered a strong case for CANZUK, moving beyond warm words about the close ties between our four realms to outlining specific policies which all CANZUK governments should support:
Automatic professional recognition
Regulatory presumption of equivalence
A skilled mobility framework
Defence procurement integration
A critical minerals compact.
The evening ended with CF of CANZUK director, Elliott Malik, emphasising the potency of CANZUK. That what Pierre outlined will deepen and formalise our already strong economic and security ties. All of this would be underpinned by our deep cultural and familial ties. This is what makes CANZUK so unique and so viable. CANZUK is our future.
Pierre Poilievre’s speech
“Ladies and gentlemen, friends,
For generations, our countries have traded, invested, fought side by side, and learned from one another. The United Kingdom has long been one of Canada’s leading investment partners. British capital helped build our railways, industries, and financial institutions. Canadian pension funds and firms, in turn, are deeply invested in the British economy.
We live in a time of growing strain - geopolitical tension, economic fracture, and shifting alliances. Assumptions that guided policy in Western capitals for decades are falling away. Long-standing trade ties are under pressure. Supply chains once taken for granted have become sources of risk.
In such a world, warm words about old allies are not enough. We must deepen those ties in practical, lasting, forward-looking ways. Now, when the treaties, alliances, and agreements that allow us to trade freely face upheaval, we must double down on our oldest and most cherished alliances. Instead of shrinking markets behind tariffs, we should expand opportunity among friends. Free trade among free countries.
That is why I believe the time has come for a new partnership among Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand—a modern CANZUK. A pact to further open our economies, remove barriers, recognize credentials, expand skilled labour mobility, and deepen capital markets. A partnership that will allow free people to freely exchange without command-and-control central planning. A free-enterprise alliance rooted in trust, competition, and the rule of law that will diversify our trade, while boosting wages and lowering costs for people in all four countries. And security cooperation that will help us build advanced militaries and keep our countries safe from shared threats of China, Russia and others.
Our four countries already have free trade because of the Transpacific Partnership Agreement. But we must go further. Tariffs are not the only or even the biggest government barrier to trade. Often it is shaped by regulations, standards, product approvals, occupational licensing, procurement rules and other obstacles. Why should entrepreneurs and investors wrestle with needless complexity where trust is already strong?
1. Automatic professional recognition, so a doctor, nurse or engineer in one country could practice in all four. That would immediately increase improve health care across our countries. It would require Canada’s provinces to sign on, but that would not be a problem given that they all need doctors. If someone can perform heart surgery in Sydney, Australia they should be able to do so in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
2. Regulatory presumption of equivalence – so products approved in one country would be approved in all four. Again, if a drug or an auto part is safe in London, England, it should be safe in London, Ontario.
3. A skilled mobility framework – linked to professional recognition - so we will make it easier for high-skilled workers to move between our four countries.
4. Defence procurement integration - teaming up on defence and other procurement to ensure both more competition and collaboration to delivering better equipment to our armed forces at better prices for our taxpayers.
5. A critical minerals and energy compact. Minerals are the building blocks of modern weapons. Affordable energy is the key ingredient in defeating poverty and enriching the middle classes. Canada has these resources – and we want them to power our allies.
Under my leadership, Canada will create an Energy and Critical Minerals Reserve available to our allies at commercial prices in the event of conflict. This could form part of CANZUK.
Nuclear energy cooperation. Canada has the biggest uranium reserves in the world, and we invented the CANDU reactor
An LNG supply deal with the UK, whereby Canada would commit to permitting the private sector terminals and pipelines needed to supply tankers capable of meeting with the UK’s future demand.
The principle is simple: energy security is national security.
For Canada, such a partnership would also require seriousness at home. Our regulatory systems must enable - rather than stall - the timely building of export infrastructure. We must offer clear approvals, firm timelines, and the rule of law.
Big goals mean little without the ability to carry them through.
But CANZUK is not only about commerce.
It is about defence and security - the first duty of any government.
Our four nations have stood together in every major conflict of the modern era. Our armed forces operate with deep interoperability. Our intelligence ties are among the closest in the world. Our strategic outlooks are closely aligned.
All our countries are in the process of repairing immigration systems. For that reason, I would propose putting any shared immigration policy within CANZUK for now.
Together, the CANZUK countries represent serious military, technological, and industrial strength. Structured cooperation could improve procurement, deepen industrial ties, and sharpen strategic planning - while preserving full national sovereignty.
No supranational authority. No loss of independence. Simply coordination among equals.
The United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand are not simply partners. They are kindred democracies, shaped by shared traditions of law, liberty, and parliamentary rule.
In a more uncertain world, it is wise to deepen practical ties among nations that already know one another, already trust one another, and already share the institutional foundations that make cooperation endure.
History gave us rare bonds.
It is our duty to use them well.
Thank you.”
