“Today, I’ll talk about the rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story, and the beginning of a brutal reality where geopolitics among the great powers is not subject to any constraints.” So began Prime Minister Mark Carney at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month. In the half hour or so that followed, our prime minister caught the attention of the world and fulfilled his assertion that the meeting in Davos marked a turning point. He offered a manifesto that the world’s other liberal democracies quickly embraced. It was a watershed moment. You could feel it even far away, back home in Canada.
“I also submit to you that other countries, particularly middle powers like Canada, are not powerless,” the prime minister continued. “They have the capacity to build a new order that embodies our values, like respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of states.” Americans were awed, save for those who were angered, Europeans were inspired, Africans and Asians were hopeful, and Canadians were proud, save for those who were jealous.
The prime minister used words that his counterpart in Washington had never heard before, cited a philosopher whose name he couldn’t recognize, let alone pronounce, and shared a story from a modern author he’s never read. An economist, Mr. Carney warned of the dangers of weaponizing economics, pointing especially to the folly of pet policies embraced by a man who seeks to govern by rants posted to social media – policies that aren’t so much real policies as they are personal whims. He warned that multilateral institutions have been greatly diminished by the antics of national leaders with large egos and the sycophants who sustain them in power, including some of the richest people in the world.
But he didn’t just offer a compelling diagnosis of the current situation; the prime minister also offered a prescription. He charted a way forward for those countries that refuse to “live within the lie,” as he put it. He articulated what Canada is doing, step by step, to counter the accelerating assault on the world order that has existed since the end of the Second World War. He laid down his marker, and then he pointed the forward, while being candid about the price that must be paid. The future will not come easily, nor arrive cheaply.
“The question for middle powers, like Canada, is not whether to adapt to this new reality. We must,” he insisted. “The question is whether we adapt by simply building higher walls – or whether we can do something more ambitious.”
Whether or not you support the prime minister and his policies, his speech at Davos changed the tenor of the debate we’ve endured during the past year, one that was a decade in the making. And while his remarks didn’t end the war in Ukraine, establish justice in Gaza, remove a single tariff or trade barrier, or end the persecution of immigrants in the U.S., it was a rallying call to other leaders, inspiring courage, and leading to subtle but significant shifts in other countries’ stances on the troubles that vex us. The Trump administration backed off Greenland before the president even left Davos, even though the reason offered by the president was a laughable, transparently dishonest, face-saving gesture. The leaders of other countries became bolder, less willing to “go along to get along” when responding to the increasingly arbitrary demands of a once reliable but now fickle and feckless ally. Attention began to shift from reactive postures to proactive measures.
I believe that history will record this moment as a turning point, and while the prime minister and I do not align on many issues, I was both proud and grateful to have him speak for Canada on the world stage. To be perfectly honest, I slept better that night. While I dream of social democracy, I will be more than satisfied, for now, with “values-based realism,” a principled and pragmatic approach to global politics, which recognizes that “progress is often incremental.” The revolution will have to wait.
The events of last month suggest that the U.S. and the entire world are standing on a precipice. Domestic peace and order have been disrupted in Minnesota and civil rights have been set back more than half a century. As this happens, threats to America’s neighbours escalate and its leaders covet our resources while belittling our sovereignty. As the rules-based international order disintegrates before our eyes, the entire world is on edge. This year promises to be turbulent, so we must prepare ourselves for whatever comes next.
Marshall McLuhan, the former Winnipegger who is most widely known for having said “the medium is the message,” also proclaimed, half a century ago: “The advantage of living in Canada, in general, is to watch the United States making fools of themselves. They have become a research lab in which all sorts of hideous experiments are performed while we stand by and watch them kill themselves off.”
It was a harsh judgment and a little unfair, perhaps, since Canadian have their own rich capacities for folly, and we too often happen to echo trends in the U.S., usually about half a generation later. So I’m reticent to be smug and self-righteous.
And if for no other reason than geographic proximity and shared history, not to mention the extent to which our economies and defence (and arguably our destinies) are inextricably interwoven, Canadians must continue to pay close attention to what is happening among our neighbours to the south, even though we cannot intervene directly. When your neighbour’s house is on fire, you don’t use the flames to make popcorn and watch. You secure your own home, you help as you are able, and you prepare for what comes next.
Last month, Donald Trump continued to muse about Canada as the 51st state. He isn’t the first president to muse about Canada as a part of the United States. When Pierre Trudeau visited Washington in 1969, he reminded the National Press Club that the Articles of Confederation, which governed the United States from 1781 until the adoption of the Constitution in 1789, included a provision whereby Canada (as it then existed) would be admitted to the union upon its agreement with the articles, while any other colony or state would require the agreement of a supermajority of the original states. The U.S. was puzzled then and has been confused ever since by Canadians’ lack of interest in becoming a part of its union.
Since then, succeeding U.S. administrations have viewed Canada through the eyes of the Monroe Doctrine, which presumed to assert American dominance over the Western Hemisphere, and the notion of Manifest Destiny, the belief that U.S. expansion across North America was divinely ordained, which was closely intertwined with the idea of American exceptionalism, an idea that has guided U.S. foreign policy since the 19th century, especially since the end of the Second World War.
When John F. Kennedy spoke to the Parliament of Canada in 1961, he famously observed, “Geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder. What unites us is far greater than what divides us.”
Yet, it was the same president who reportedly said to Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, “When I ask Canada to do something, I expect Canada to do it.” Sometimes, even the good guys can be bullies – and the otherwise bad guys can be allies …
Like Richard Nixon, who also spoke to Parliament in 1972, eleven years after Kennedy did so and three years after Trudeau’s visit to Washington. He declared: “It’s time for Canadians and Americans to move beyond the sentimental rhetoric of the past. It is time for us to recognize that we have separate identities; that we have significant differences; and that nobody’s interests are furthered when these realities are obscured.” Nixon was correct in pointing this out, but even he returned to sentimentality when he further asserted: “that we can walk our own road in our own way without moving farther apart; that we can grow closer together without growing more alike; that peaceful competition can produce winners without producing losers; … that the enemy of peace is not independence but isolation; that the way to peace is an open world.”
Amidst the swirl of attacks and possibilities last month, former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote on social media: “Everyone with authority must speak out now against Trump’s depravity and lawlessness. Every elected official, university, professional association, charity, and foundation head. Every CEO. Every religious leader. If they don't, history will condemn their cowardice.” I embrace the challenge. Canadians aren’t exempt, especially not now. So I say elbows up, arms out, hands ready!
Elbows up! Not in a narrow, nationalistic or tribal way, but rather in the sense of defending democratic institutions, human rights, the sovereignty of nations, and whatever is left of the rules-based international order. We learned this grand hockey slogan last year – well, those of us who didn’t know it already (I’m a little slow on the hockey metaphors) – in response to Mr. Trump’s childish “51st state” rhetoric and his imposition, then retraction, then re-imposition, then re-retraction of tariffs – that is, his TACOs – along with other threats to demolish the Canadian economy. In hindsight, perhaps we didn’t raise our elbows high enough, but it was stirring to see Canadians rally in support of our own economic wellbeing – and it was equally inspiring to see how most of our American neighbours understood what we were doing, even supporting us although it hurt, especially in border states and the sunny vacation destinations that we love. They saw the necessity, no matter much they may have lamented it.
Arms out! We have friends and kindred spirits in the United States who need our support. We have neighbours here who require both our emotional and our material support. It is essential that we allow neither tensions between our countries, nor the outrageous conduct of authorities, to erode wholesome relationships that still exist between individuals and communities. Let us embrace our friends and family across the United States, notwithstanding the need to defend Canadian sovereignty and national wellbeing. Moreover, let us recognize the countless allies – individuals, state governments, municipalities, and non-governmental organizations that share our values, who will be part of the solution when this sad period ends and the reconciliation and rebuilding begins. Indeed, Timothy Snyder, an American academic now living in Toronto, advises his followers to: “Learn from peers in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself.”
Hands ready! We need to be prepared to do whatever is necessary to maintain our values and restore normalcy to the world. “Make sure you and your family have passports,” warns Timothy Snyder, after admonishing Americans to keep their friendships abroad. Even as we struggle to resist the attacks against Canada, the world order, and countless people in communities across the United States, we need to prepare for what comes after, and, indeed, for every opportunity that presents itself along the way. We can patch what is broken; we can build fences with gates; and we can be ready to contribute whatever we can to the wellbeing of our own country, our neighbours to the south, and the entire global community.
Not long ago, Pete Buttigieg reminded us, “A day will come when Donald Trump no longer dominates our politics. Even though this is obvious, it’s hard to keep in mind. The future will belong to those who can think clearly about what happens next.”
So elbows up! Arms out! Hands ready! We could probably turn this into a song and learn all the hand gestures! Our lives will undoubtedly be worse before they are better, but Pete Buttigieg is correct when he says that “the future will belong to those who can think clearly about what happens next.” So let us maintain our defences, as necessary; let us reach out in compassion to those who need us; and let us be ready to lend a tend to creating what happens next.
A sermon delivered at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg.
Works Cited
Prime Minister Mark Carney, "Principled and Pragmatic: Canada's Path," an address at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, January 20, 2026.
Marshall McLuhan interviewed by Danny Finkelman in Speaking of Winnipeg, ed. Joan Parr (Winnipeg: Queenston House, 1974).
Pete Buttigieg on Facebook, January 20, 2026.
Robert Reich on Facebook, January 16, 2026.
Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (New York: Tim Duggan Books, 2017).
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