There has been much praise for prime minister Mark Carney’s speech in Davos yesterday, but I have some fairly mixed feelings about it. For one, much of the speech was a collection of the lines he’s used in previous speeches, and put them all into one place, so rhetorically, there wasn’t much new, even if he invoked Thucydides or Havel. And he’s not wrong that the truth of the rules-based international order was that the “great powers”—meaning the US—exempted itself whenever they wanted, but they also guaranteed its operation, so it was double-edged. And he was also correct in calling out that the instinct to go along to get along won’t save anyone. And he did pledge support for Greenland, NATO and Article V, so that was all good.
Some thoughts from me on Mark Carney’s important speech in Davos. youtu.be/Xj1VHwVgsAY?…
— Roland Paris (@rolandparis.bsky.social) 2026-01-20T18:26:05.275Z
However. The fact that he very carefully avoided naming Trump and the US means that this was not nearly as brave as some people would like. And it exposed some of the hypocrisy of his own positions—for example, saying that appeasing won’t save you is all well and good, but for months now, he has been constantly appeasing the Americans to “keep talks going,” such as how he killed the Digital Services Tax. I also have grave reservations about simply declaring the rules-based order dead and saying that “nostalgia is not a strategy (while back home, he keeps invoking a false nostalgia about being a country that built things) because the middle powers need some that structure, even if America isn’t playing ball. That means leaning into those rules collectively, and appealing to Europe to be the vanguards of that. There was an inherent hypocrisy in talking about his “values-based realism” because there are no values to be displayed when you deal with people who engage in slave labour and whom your government declared was perpetrating a genocide. He wants us to leverage a network of relations with other countries and trade blocs, but he’s cutting Global Affairs and the diplomats who would do this work. There is just so much inconsistency in what he’s saying and what he’s actually doing.
From Carney's Davos speech. This is one of the things I referred to in this morning's column—I fail to see the "respect for human rights" in all of the so-called "strategic partnerships" he's been signing, and shrugging that off as "pragmatic" just winds up reeking of hypocrisy instead.
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-01-20T16:33:28.210Z
Carney has spent the past year subtweeting Trump.At a certain point, these words mean nothing if he won't actually come out and say what he's criticizing.
This is the right understanding of our geopolitical reality, but Carney's actions aren't in line with these statements. We need investment in our diplomatic corps and a clear foreign policy to mobilize Canada to meet the moment. www.cbc.ca/news/politic…
— Jess Davis (@jessmarindavis.bsky.social) 2026-01-20T16:13:17.066Z
When will his actions match this rhetoric? Hell, when will his rhetoric on day x match his rhetoric on day y?
— Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 (@emmettmacfarlane.com) 2026-01-20T16:45:44.032Z
And getting into bed with other illiberal regimes to counter the one south of us risks tainting us as well.
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-01-20T16:54:40.840Z
There was a contrast with Justin Trudeau, who was also at Davos, with Katy Perry in tow, and of course all of the focus was on her, and not the speech Trudeau gave. Where people did know about it, most of the comments were dismissive, but I think he actually has a relevant point in contrast to Carney. While both pointed out that the era of the rules-based international order that protected rights and freer trade is over, Trudeau made a point of talking about respect for international law and respect for allies as the way through the crisis, and that Canada has built up enough credibility globally that people know that if we are in a conflict zone, it’s not to steal oil or sell them Coca-Cola while we replace their system of government. I think that is something that Carney was missing, and it goes the point I was making in my latest column that we have soft power leverage we can use, if Carney wasn’t so intent on just squandering it.
Ukraine Dispatch
The attacks on power infrastructure in Ukraine risks nuclear meltdowns because of the to run cooling systems, which is part of Russia’s strategy.
Good reads:
- François-Philippe Champagne says Canada won’t pay the $1 billion price tag if Carney decides to join Trump’s “Board of
GriftPeace.” - Gary Anandasangaree says that the Toronto Police have refused to assist in the gun buyback programme, and he “respects that.”
- Heath MacDonald says that Chinese companies have already placed orders for canola and Canadian beef. (Note this will make domestic prices higher).
- Internal government documents show that minister Mandy Gull-Masty was concerned that certain First Nations chiefs had abused Jordan’s Principle funding.
- Not unsurprisingly, the Canadian military has been modelling possible scenarios if the US does decide to invade, and a lot of them involve becoming the mujahadeen.
- The first of the recall petitions in Alberta has failed for lack of enough signatures.
- Justin Ling points out that Carney’s overt caution on defending Greenland from Trump’s predations is starting to look like appeasement.
- Philippe Lagassé also invokes Greenland to call for a greater focus on domestic security to avoid the Americans invading under the pretence of “helping us.”
- My column worries that Carney getting into bed with authoritarian regimes and not mentioning human rights and defunding aid is squandering our soft power.
Odds and ends:
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