Prime Minister Mark Carney says great powers are using 'economic integration as weapons'
Without invoking U.S. President Donald Trump by name, Carney referenced "American hegemony" and said "great powers" are using economic integration as "weapons."
"Canadians know that our old, comfortable assumption that our geography and alliance memberships automatically conferred prosperity and security is no longer valid," Carney said.
As it grapples with this new dynamic, Carney said Canada must be "principled and pragmatic" and turn inward to build up the country and diversify trading relationships to become less reliant on countries like the U.S., now that it's clear "integration" can lead to "subordination."
Carney said multilateralism and the "architecture of collective problem-solving" — relying on institutions like the World Trade Organization, the United Nations and Conference of the Parties (COP) for climate talks — has been "diminished" and countries have to accept they may have to go it alone more often than in the recent past.
"Many countries are drawing the same conclusions. They must develop greater strategic autonomy: in energy, food, critical minerals, in finance and supply chains.
"A country that cannot feed itself, fuel itself or defend itself has few options. When the rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself," Carney said.
Carney said this more isolationist approach, where there's a "world of fortresses," will make countries poorer, fragile and less sustainable. But it's coming nonetheless and Canada must work with like-minded allies where possible to push back against domination by larger, wealthier and well-armed countries.
"This is not naive multilateralism. Nor is it relying on diminished institutions. It is building the coalitions that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to act together. Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu," Carney said.
"We are engaging broadly, strategically, with open eyes. We actively take on the world as it is, not wait for the world as we wish it to be," he said.
"The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy. But from the fracture, we can build something better, stronger and more just."
Mentions defence spending, diversified trade
Carney said that since taking office, he has moved to change Canada's trajectory: doubling defence spending, rapidly diversifying trade by signing 12 trade and security deals on four continents in six months and drawing even closer to the European Union.
Earlier this week, Carney also cut a trade deal with China on electric vehicles and farm products — ending years of bilateral bad blood — and courted Middle East power Qatar.
Canada is also pursuing free trade pacts with India, Thailand, the Philippines and the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Mercosur, the South American bloc that includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
"Great powers can afford to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity, the leverage to dictate terms. Middle powers do not. But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating. This is not sovereignty. It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination," Carney said.
"In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: to compete with each other for favour, or to combine to create a third path with impact."
Canada a 'stable, reliable partner'
While striking a skeptical tone about some global institutions and lamenting what he called a "rupture" to how things have long worked, Carney said he feels confident about Canada's future despite the shifting sands.
Canada is a "stable, reliable partner" that "values relationships for the long term," which makes it appealing to other countries, he said.
"Canada has what the world wants. We are an energy superpower. We have the most educated population in the world," he said. "We have capital, talent and a government with the immense fiscal capacity to act decisively. And we have the values to which many others aspire."
Speaking later at a fireside chat at the World Economic Forum, Carney acknowledged Canada is vulnerable to an increasingly assertive U.S. given geography and longstanding economic ties.
But he said Canada has already proven its resiliency in the face of a U.S. trade war: the country has added more jobs than the States since Trump slapped tariffs on global goods.
Still, he said, there are "pockets of extreme pressure," a likely reference to the steel, aluminum, auto and lumber sectors that have faced particularly high U.S. tariffs.
Asked if cutting deals with China makes Canada overly reliant on the Asian superpower, Carney said he is playing "offence" and deepening economic ties to the world's second-largest country is a prudent move at this juncture.
"We should have a strategic partnership with them," he said of China, while saying there will be "guardrails" in place. "You need a web of connections."
As Trump insists the U.S. must take over Greenland, supposedly for national security purposes, Carney said Canada stands "firmly" with Denmark, which ultimately controls the autonomous territory.
"Our commitment to Article 5 is unwavering," Carney said, referring to the NATO principle of collective defence. "We are working with our NATO allies to further secure the alliance’s northern and western flanks."
Speaking of the Danish territory coveted by Trump, Carney said: "I think clearly NATO is experiencing a test right now."
He said Canada is bulking up its military presence in the Arctic while also urging "discussions" among allies to bring about a "better outcome" in the north Atlantic.
Carney's remarks follow Trump's extraordinary threat to impose tariffs on European allies and Britain until Washington is allowed to acquire Greenland. The prime minister said Canada "strongly opposes" the U.S. plan to hit allies with punishing levies if they won't go along with Trump's imperialism.
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