In Davos, Canada speaks truth to power

Following a particularly prickly speech by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the World Economic Forum, U.S. President Donald Trump disinvited Canada from his billion-dollar-per-plate Board of Peace.

Neither Carney nor anyone from his office responded to the news, but you might imagine in Ottawa that there were some sighs of relief.

Getting disinvited from Trump’s cringeworthy Board of Peace is like having an invitation cancelled to a party that you really, really didn’t want to go to anyway. In fact, getting excluded from Trump’s preposterous peace board was just one victory in a week of extraordinary victories for Carney and Canada.

The week began with new and more forceful demands from Trump that Greenland be surrendered to the U.S. on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Both Carney and Trump were booked as marquee speakers to the annual gathering of the world’s richest and most powerful people from both business and government.

Trump no doubt expected his appearance, and his lust for Greenland, would be the talker of the event. But before Trump could threaten the world’s business and political elite, Carney stole the limelight in Davos.

Carney’s 30-minute speech was, in a word, extraordinary. Without once mentioning the name of the president, Carney offered WEF delegates an elegant condemnation of Trump’s latest gesticulations. He also encouraged all nations, including middle powers like Canada, to work together to achieve “what we claim to believe in, rather than waiting for the old order to be restored … creating institutions and agreements that function as described.”

The speech was designed to provoke Trump, and it worked. In his own WEF speech, Trump suggested Canada only “lives” because of the security provided by the U.S.: “Remember that, Mark, before you make your statements.”

Carney’s response to the escalated threats could have gone either way. Fortunately for Canada, the prime minister hit another home run. On X, Carney posted a succinct response that solidified his role as the David to Trump’s Goliath.

“Canada doesn’t ‘live because of the United States.’ Canada thrives because we are Canadian.”

It’s very good for Canada’s prospects to see its prime minister elevated to rock star status by global leaders and news media. Carney is racking up the frequent flyer miles now as he launches an all-out charm offensive with other nations, trying to forge new trade relationships to make Canada less dependant on the U.S.

Standing up to Trump could even make Carney and Canada in-demand trading partners.

It’s also worth noting Carney’s Davos performance should pay domestic political dividends for a Liberal government that continues to live on the razor’s edge of a minority mandate.

Right now, Carney’s Liberals enjoy somewhere between a three- and five-point advantage over the Tories. In the coming weeks, you can bet that support for Carney and the Liberals will edge up slightly but steadily, a trend that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will have no ability to curb.

In a stroke of masterful irony, Poilievre is scheduled to face a leadership review by party members next week in Calgary for the first time since he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in last year’s election. Although most pundits believe he will get the requisite 50 per cent to survive, the closer he is to that arbitrary line, the greater the damage to his political brand.

No one is quite sure how Trump will try to punish Canada in the coming weeks. But it’s likely most Canadians will be willing to accept the punishment with the comfort of knowing we have established our place as a nation that won’t be bullied.

» Winnipeg Free Press