Mark Carney announcing his bid for Liberal leadership in Edmonton’s Laurier Heights neighbourhood in mid-January 2025. Amanda Erickson/The Griff

The prime minister gave a wakeup-call speech at the World Economic Forum warning that the current world order may be a fantasy.

Finally, decades after the Second World War ended, someone admitted in front of everyone that the American hegemony and the ‘rules-based international order’ is a fantasy upheld by those desperate for peace and security. I couldn’t be prouder that it was our prime minister, Mark Carney, who gave the historic speech in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum. 

In the speech, Carney referenced an essay by former Czech Prime Minister Václav Havel: The Power of the Powerless. In the essay, Havel explores how the communist system thrived, and says that it started with a greengrocer putting up a sign at his window encouraging workers to unite.

That greengrocer and the ordinary people around him didn’t believe it, but because they put up those signs and took part in pro-communist activities to keep the peace and to “signal compliance,” the system was allowed to thrive.

“Havel called this ‘living within a lie’,” Carney said. “The system’s power comes not from its truth but from everyone’s willingness to perform as if it were true. And its fragility comes from the same source: when even one person stops performing — when the greengrocer removes his sign — the illusion begins to crack.”

Is there a better way to describe the world as it is today than that? 

Carney went on to say that the middle powers such as Canada “knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false,” and that they knew superpowers such as the U.S. could exempt themselves from rules whenever they wanted and enforce them “with varying rigour” on whoever they want. They believed the fiction of American hegemony providing “open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.” Carney urged everyone to remove their signs and accept reality.

Why did it take so long for a Western world leader to acknowledge that we were “living within a lie”? Did no one think that a president like Trump might come along and take advantage of our economic integration and military dependence? Why are 75 per cent of our exports going to the U.S.? Our trade should have been diversified between other countries.

Did you know that Canada produces 5.8 million barrels of oil per day? Well guess what, our refining capacity is only 1.93 million barrels per day from 17 refineries, according to a study written by Levente Bartha from Atlas Institute for International Affairs. So where does the other 3.87 million go to be refined? Trumplandia. After they refine it, we buy it back. Did everyone really think things would be fine forever? Canada should have built more refineries with the goal of fully refining our oil ourselves.

We’re unable to tariff the U.S. as much as they tariff us because it’ll hurt us more than it’ll hurt them. How could Canadian leaders be so stupid and allow for this to happen?

Carney’s speech was probably the most powerful one I’ve heard. He admitted that bilateral negotiation with a superpower leads to subordination. He acknowledged that international law is applied based on the identity of the accused: we’ve seen Israel, Syria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and India get away with as many human rights abuses as they please while Venezuela, China, Iran, North Korea, and others who don’t subscribe to the Western agenda are constantly being yapped at. 

I don’t know how genuine Carney’s words are; I’ve long learned not to trust any politician. But thank you Carney, for finally admitting reality. Let’s see if he will stick to his words and lead Canada towards greater independence from the U.S.