Today PM Carney gave his much-anticipated speech to the European Parliament and got a standing ovation.
He is an incredible speechwriter - he always grounds his major topics in a meaningful and easily-understood snippet of Canadian history that gives him a framework to make his points. His speeches are gracious and respectful while also educating us about international political economy.
Plus he's a born teacher - and I am from a family of teachers to that is high praise from me.
And the press conference after
That whooshing sound you heard Thursday morning was Canadians giving a huge sigh of relief. We might be safe now from annexation. We're not alone anymore.
Carney never actually mentioned the United States, not really...
Here are some of the posts from a great thread about Carney's tree framework:
On a side note, I watched the CBC At Issue panel and it was OK. But really, sometimes they just don't get it either, that Canada is facing an existential dilemma with Trump. Carney's moves are not just "politics as usual" and its not just "oh yeah, he's playing the sovereignty card".
And the press conference after
That whooshing sound you heard Thursday morning was Canadians giving a huge sigh of relief. We might be safe now from annexation. We're not alone anymore.
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Carney never actually mentioned the United States, not really...
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Here are some of the posts from a great thread about Carney's tree framework:
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See the thread for details about the reference sources.View on Threads
Other comments:
In The Globe and Mail, columnist Campbell Clark writes:
...Mr. Carney’s speech wasn’t just about trade.I agree with this 100 per cent On his substack, Kevin Boucher writes about historic leadership
He spoke about Canada and Europe working together to build up broadband connections – and the implication is that it will help ensure that Canadian and European data don’t have to be piped through the U.S. He talked about joining forces on artificial intelligence so it isn’t all handled by U.S. models, and so that Europe and Canada can set their own standards. And he spoke about building an independent payments system so transactions don’t have to go through a system under U.S. control.
“Sovereignty goes beyond being able to feed, fuel and defend ourselves. It now requires secure access to AI, semiconductors, critical minerals, payment systems, clean energy technologies, vaccines and space-based communications,” Mr. Carney told the European Parliament.
“We all have important gaps in these strategic capabilities, and we each rely on individual nations or companies to fill them. This creates vulnerabilities, particularly when supposedly ‘global’ companies prove national in the breach.”
His prescription for what a new alliance might be wasn’t full of details, and it certainly didn’t clarify whether Canada will actually become an associate member of the EU or what such a status would mean.
It still sparked rounds of applause from most of the assembled members of the European Parliament – but not from the benches of far-right factions, from which one MEP shouted, “USA, USA,” as Mr. Carney rose to speak.
And it isn’t likely to leave Mr. Trump and the U.S. unmoved – if he’s listening.
Mr. Carney is making the case for allying to build structures that reduce the means by which the U.S. applies leverage over others. Or, as Mr. Carney put it in his speech, “an alliance so strong that no one can dictate our choices.”
But Mr. Trump delights in employing leverage over others and dictating choices. There’s every chance he will see it as a challenge to U.S. power.
At his press conference before he left Strasbourg, Mr. Carney responded to questions about Mr. Trump’s “hostile act” remark by arguing that the Europe-Canada initiative would make Canada stronger and thus a better partner for the U.S. and suggested it’s not up to Mr. Trump.
“No one is going to dictate our culture or with whom we can strike agreements,” he said.
... Something has happened to Mark Carney over the past year that has no real precedent in Canadian political life.Many Americans just don't get it. The Washington Post is reflecting the Trump-Bezos line
People around the world — commentators, journalists, ordinary citizens — have started using a phrase about him that used to be reserved for American presidents. Rolling Stone called him “the leader of the free world.” The Bulwark used the same phrase. His Davos speech in January drew a standing ovation — unusual for the World Economic Forum — and the headline “best speech by a world leader in a very long time.” Scott Galloway joked on his podcast that America should invade Canada and Mexico and then put Carney in charge of the whole thing. The joke landed because the larger point was obvious.
His domestic approval sits at 70 percent as of early September, according to Spark Insights. The Liberals lead the Conservatives 49 to 29. In the G7, no one else is close. Trump is at 34 percent. Macron was at 16 when the French finally moved on. Starmer was at 24 when Labour replaced him with Andy Burnham in July. Carney’s first meeting with Burnham? They went to an Everton match together in Liverpool — the club they both support. Wore matching scarves. Burnham joked he was glad to finally have someone “to talk to and commiserate about Everton at a G7 meeting.” Burnham’s father had just died of Alzheimer’s. Carney told him his father had died of it too. “So, I know that struggle.”
That is what connection between leaders looks like. Nobody made them do that. Nobody staged it. Two prime ministers at a football match, bonding over a shared club and shared loss, then getting to work.
And here is the thing that makes the Strasbourg moment worth writing about: Carney didn’t become the most popular democratic leader on the planet by talking about himself.
Every significant Carney speech — Davos, the G7, the Investment Summit in Toronto, the European Parliament — points outward. At history. At sacrifice. At inheritance. At what other people built before him and what the country might build next. His Investment Summit line captured it perfectly: “It is not about who we aren’t, but about who we are. It’s not about what is lost, but what we have and what we can create.”
He didn’t talk about himself in Strasbourg. He talked about Goethe. About Buchenwald. About Canadians who crossed an ocean. About a lieutenant named Leslie Miller. And then he made a case for what Canada and Europe could build together — not a rival bloc, but relationships strong enough that nobody could dictate their choices.
“Just as dominance is the arrogance of the hegemon,” he said, “perfection is the enemy of the good.”
And: “We do not seek power to dominate others.”
The Europeans stood up....
What a weird fucking thing to put in an op ed
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24.bsky.social) September 17, 2026 at 7:01 PM
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Canada reached a trade agreement with us, the President blew it up for no reason while threatening to annex them, and Congress didn't do squat about either. It sucks, it's objectively bad for America, but WaPo is outright lying that "spite" is driving Canada's policy. It's the only rational choice.
— Max Kennerly (@maxkennerly.bsky.social) September 17, 2026 at 7:09 PM
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Canadians have grasped that Trump's presidency isn't merely a temporary diplomatic crisis. It is proof that the United States can no longer be trusted as a stable ally. www.thebulwark.com/p/canada-ame...
— Adam Keiper (@adamkeiper.com) September 17, 2026 at 8:59 PM
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On a side note, I watched the CBC At Issue panel and it was OK. But really, sometimes they just don't get it either, that Canada is facing an existential dilemma with Trump. Carney's moves are not just "politics as usual" and its not just "oh yeah, he's playing the sovereignty card".
David Cochrane's Reporter Roundtable showed a better understanding of the magnitude of this moment. Bellavance said we are seeing history in the making, "right before our eyes," as Canada redefines its relationships with the US and becomes a leader of nations.
This would surprise our At Issue reporters, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least
On a lighter note, we now have our own EU Bat Phone:
And a few Carney songs:
From EU Parliamentarian Damian Boeselager
Signs of the Apocalypse
The United States is falling and they can't get up.
This would surprise our At Issue reporters, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least
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On a lighter note, we now have our own EU Bat Phone:
View on Threads
And a few Carney songs:
View on Threads
From EU Parliamentarian Damian Boeselager
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Signs of the Apocalypse
The United States is falling and they can't get up.
This week I saw these posts:
Trump was caught this week planning to destroy the Kennedy Center because the courts won't let him put his name on the building.
Wonder Woman is ON IT!
Next to be destroyed - American farmers
Kash Patel's beastiality testimony is making the FBI a laughingstock.
AI taking over US Air Traffic Control - what could possibly go wrong?
Dispatches from the Canada-US Trade War
Some good news posts about Canada's growth
Trump was caught this week planning to destroy the Kennedy Center because the courts won't let him put his name on the building.
The plaintiffs should be prepared to rush into court to add any company hired to demolish the Kennedy Center as a defendant . www.huffpost.com/entry/judge-...
— Patricia (@patriciaabm.bsky.social) September 17, 2026 at 9:17 PM
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Wonder Woman is ON IT!
Our music and our memories are being wiped out. AMERICA built this city. Not a president. Join us!
— Lynda Carter (@lyndacarter.bsky.social) September 17, 2026 at 3:06 PM
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Next to be destroyed - American farmers
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Kash Patel's beastiality testimony is making the FBI a laughingstock.
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AI taking over US Air Traffic Control - what could possibly go wrong?
Skynet becomes official.
— Witty Librarian of City Of Heroes (@paulwartenberg.bsky.social) September 17, 2026 at 7:00 PM
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Dispatches from the Canada-US Trade War
Some good news posts about Canada's growth
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3 comments:
Among the actions Carny took subsequent to his rousing Davos speech about the sign in the window, the most telling and the least consequential was him supporting the Iran boondoggle for all of 30 seconds till public opinion forced a quick retreat. (The same, but more prolonged and consequential support, helped end Starmer's career.)
So I'll hold off my 'relief' at being saved by Europe.
Here is the most pertinent comment (imo) from today's post:
"building an independent payments system so transactions don’t have to go through a system under U.S. control."
This has been talked about forever and would be difficult w/o including the Renminbi.
Perhaps we (and the Europeans) should be applying to BRICS?
(Spoiler: It ain't easy. https://news24online.com/business/does-de-dollarisation-of-brics-mean-yuanisation-why-india-may-not-agree-to-a-common-currency/923807/ )
I'm always conflicted about Carney. So, first, like pretty much everybody, I agree with him that we have to resist US pressures and chart a more independent path. Heck, I was into that shit before it was popular. And I think diversifying our trade is a good idea.
And it has to be admitted that Carney's really good at that, and in some ways he's perfect for this moment. Five years ago, ten years ago, nobody would have sat still long enough to pay attention to his erudite, measured approach--it was all about sound bites catering to short attention spans, and crassness and vulgarity were touted as refreshing and "genuine". As Trump has become the ultimate example of all that and everybody has gotten so sick of it they now feel deep in their bones how horrible Trump and everything he stands for are, Carney presents the world with a style that is very much the anti-Trump: Intellectual, calm, positive. And he brings a message that people fearing Trump's US are desperate for; again, extremely timely. And when it comes to dealing with Europe in particular, he's perfect because he already knows all the movers and shakers in Europe, they already respected him as one of them before this "PM of Canada" gig.
But he's not God. And specifically, while his inspirational qualities are excellent and his international relations chops are amazing, his domestic policy is . . . underwhelming. I would even go so far as to say it's fairly bad on balance. Not everything domestic he does is bad, but it's at that point where rubber starts meeting domestic road that we start to realize, while he's a personally nice, benevolent chap whose intentions are no doubt broadly good, he sees things through a lens of "Does big business and investors make big profit?" and if the answer is "Yes", that's good in his eyes. He's a big time banker and business guy and sees things from that point of view.
But a whole lot of Canada's problems come precisely from big business and investors making big profit, off the backs of the rest of us. The rent is too high and the groceries and phone bills too expensive and the wages too crappy and the economy too giggy and on and on, because of those profits. Mark Carney is not capable of seeing this kind of problem, this whole frame, and so will have a very hard time helping with such things. In this way he is a lot like every "centrist saviour" before him, whether Obama or Macron or Justin Trudeau--lots of "hope and change" and charisma, but solutions that don't ultimately reach ordinary people much.
In the long run, I might agree with you.
But Canada is now in The Gathering Storm, and we need a leader like Carney with a single-minded focus on our sovereignty. Everything in our society must now mobilize to this goal - union legislation, environment, business, development, all of it. Someday we might have the luxury of arguing about Whither Canada? again. I hope.
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