Mark Carney secures controversial $70bn from the U.A.E.

In a move that has left some fans of Mark Carney turning their heads in confusion, the Canadian Prime Minister just inked a deal with one of the most controversial countries in the world: the U.A.E.

“We welcome U.A.E. investors to visit Canada — I will personally host them — to explore investment in Canada's transformative projects,”

Mark Carney wrapped up his visit to Abu Dhabi before the weekend with a surprising announcement: that he had received the funding for his minerals processing project. The only kicker? It's coming from a country allegedly funding war crimes in Sudan.

Critical minerals processing

The goal of the funding is Carney's new critical minerals processing facility in Canada, and the initial investment will be just over $1bn.

“[It] will expand critical minerals processing capacity in Canada, creating jobs, boosting [the] long-term supply of minerals essential to energy technologies and advanced manufacturing. More on that soon,”

Carney said the new project will further Canada's economic growth, and that Canada is already “a global leader in AI, in quantum and life sciences. And we realize it's time to begin to commercialize these strengths, for the benefit of humanity,”

Seeking trade expansion

The decision comes as Canada's economy is struggling due to the trade war inflicted by Donald Trump. While neither the Canadian government nor the U.A.E. foreign ministry has confirmed where the rest of the reported $70bn will be invested, media reports have suggested the investments will be spread out, including into industries like energy, mining, and AI.

In a speech on Friday, the PM said he is “very confident” that Canada and the U.A.E. can more than double their trade in less than a decade.

He also included that Canada and the U.A.E. are ‘aligned' as trading nations and ‘energy superpowers' that are going green. That is the comment that sparked feelings in many of his supporters.

U.A.E. and Sudan

Sudanese volunteers prepare tents for those who fled El-Fasher at the Al-Afad camp for displaced people in the town of Al-Dabba, northern Sudan, on November 20, 2025. Since its outbreak in April 2023, the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million. At the end of October, the paramilitary group seized control El-Fasher, the conclusion of a bitter 18-month siege for the strategic hub in western Sudan's Darfur region and marked by reports of mass killings and sexual violence. (Photo by Ebrahim HAMID / AFP) (Photo by EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images)

To insinuate that Canada and the U.A.E. are aligned in any way has struck a chord with people all over Canada.

Carney didn't touch on this when he said that “To the uninitiated, Canada and the U.A.E. can appear as different as snow and sand, yet we're deeply, deeply aligned.”

“Deeply deeply aligned”

Should Canada and the U.A.E. be deeply aligned?

According to human rights groups, the Rapid Support Forces militia (RSF) is committing a genocide in Darfur in western Sudan, while fighting a civil war with Sudan's military rulers.

Carney claimed that “We did discuss the situation in Sudan,” but refused to go into detail.