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Mark Carney delivered a serious and substantive speech on Thursday in Strasbourg, France. Standing before the European Parliament, Carney spoke about the need for increased trade, working together in AI, financial services, defence, minerals, energy and more.
When the prime minister was focused on the positive reasons for furthering trade and cooperation with the European Union, he was at his best. Too often, though, the speech stopped being an argument for more trade with Europe and became a sermon about American power, without ever saying the word America.
“Europe and Canada are each strong. Europe and Canada are even stronger together,” Carney told the assembled European leaders.
Carney’s message was warmly welcomed, with one MEP even wearing a Sidney Crosby Team Canada hockey jersey while sitting in the front row. He detailed areas where Canada and the EU could move forward.
“We should move toward seamless, digital trade in non-agricultural goods and a wide range of services,” Carney said.
“Where our strengths differ, they complement. Where they overlap, they create scale. We should build on each other’s strengths, deliberately, systematically and rapidly.”
This is a good argument, a solid case for expanding trade and ties. This should have been the sole focus of Carney’s speech.
Trade message hits the mark
He has become so fixated on warning about “a more dangerous and divided world” that it now creeps into almost everything he says. Speaking with reporters after the speech, though, Carney denied he was reacting to American actions.
“This is a positive initiative,” Carney said. “It’s not a reaction to something else.”
That would be a shock to anyone listening.
Woven among the stories about oak trees, intertwined roots and sheltering canopies were dark warnings about not working together and the threat posed by the United States.
“This is a ferocious storm. A single tree will come down in it. A forest will not,” Carney said.
It’s at once a call to stand together and a warning about the Americans.
The shots everyone noticed
As he set out to explain what he wasn’t trying to do, Carney couldn’t help but get in a snide shot.
“I am not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival, only with better manners. We do not seek power to dominate others,” he said.
After saying “manners,” he paused for the crowd to laugh and applaud. His best applause lines were all passive-aggressive comments on the United States that didn’t add to his argument for strengthening ties.
Even in calling for a more powerful coalition between Canada and the EU, Carney had to frame it within the shadow of the U.S.
“An alliance strong enough so that no one can dictate our choices,” Carney said.
Canada has a lot to offer the world. Partnering with Europe would be beneficial for all involved. What is the point of standing at a podium in Strasbourg and scoring points against Donald Trump sitting in Washington?
A good idea doesn’t need a villain
This isn’t a call for being silent about Trump. I just don’t see the point of escalating the fight and doing, as he did in Davos, without naming the man or his country. It’s small ball. It’s juvenile and petulant.
The more the speech sounded like a rebuke of American conduct, the easier it became for critics at home and in Washington to dismiss the whole project as a snub rather than a hedge. Needless fights do not open markets. They invite tariffs with names on them.
Canada should absolutely look to expand trade with Europe, but because it benefits us, not because it allows Mark Carney to score cheap political points against Washington.
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