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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that the rules-based international order is “undergoing a breakdown, not a transformation.” He urged the world’s “middle powers” to unite in response.
Carney did not mention Donald Trump by name, but his speech in Davos drew a standing ovation from officials attending the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where the U.S. president will speak on Wednesday, days after threatening to impose new tariffs if European allies do not approve of his bid to acquire Greenland.
The Canadian leader pointed to the “imagination” of a global order with “American hegemony” at its center, but said the era of multilateralism was ending as groups like the World Trade Organization and the United Nations had become “too small.”
“Canadians know that our old, comfortable assumption that our geography and coalition membership automatically confer prosperity and security is no longer valid,” Carney said.
“Let me be direct. “We are in a period of change, not a period of change.”
The tough intervention from the leader of America’s second-largest trading partner comes as European capitals struggle to respond to Trump’s belligerence over Greenland and efforts to wrest control of the Arctic island from NATO ally Denmark.
Denmark has sent additional troops to the semi-autonomous region amid rising tensions. The White House has ruled out taking control of the island by force.
Friction has arisen between the allies as Trump seeks to reorder global trade and test the strength of economic and military alliances that have shaped geopolitics since the end of the Second World War.
Carney, whose Liberal Party won election last year on a promise to protect Canada from U.S. tariffs, has tried to appease Trump as he tries to negotiate a trade deal with the president.
Trump has also repeatedly talked about Canada as the “51st state”, leading to a boycott of American goods by Canadians and a sharp decline in travel to the US.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had shared a photo of a map covered with the US flag with Venezuela, Canada and Greenland on his Truth social account. Earlier this month the US captured Venezuela’s leader and claimed its oil industry.
“You can’t live ‘within the lie’ of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subjugation,” Carney said in Davos.
He said, “middle powers” including Canada should cooperate with each other because “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu”.
“Nostalgia is not a strategy. But we believe that from fractures we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more equitable.”
Senior European political figures praised Carney’s comments at the WEF.
“That speech today was real leadership,” said Alastair Campbell, spin doctor of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Posted Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations and former Swedish Prime Minister, said it was “very important”.
Carney traveled to Beijing last week for a historic meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first official meeting in nearly a decade, as Ottawa tries to reinvigorate ties to diversify away from US trade.
He told reporters during the visit that China is a more “predictable” partner than the United States and that the Canada-China partnership is part of an emerging “new world order.”
The Canadian leader quoted Thucydides and Václav Havel, the former Czech Republic president, poet and jailed dissident, in Davos, saying countries like Canada should step up to avoid further “coercion” from powerful actors.
“When the rules don’t protect you, you must protect yourself. But we must be clear about where this leads. A world of forts will be poorer, more fragile and less sustainable.”
Canadian commentators also welcomed Carney’s speech.
“This is the best speech from a world leader I’ve read in a very long time. Rhetorically, at least, he has met the geopolitical moment,” said Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat detained by the Chinese government for nearly three years since 2018.
