Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada is at a moment in history where “our values must be fought for” as a country based on inclusion, while setting an example to the rest of the world at a time of “democratic decline.”
Speaking at the Liberal cabinet retreat in Quebec City ahead of Parliament’s scheduled return on Monday, Carney laid out his agenda for the coming year while charting Canada’s imperfect history of cultures learning to live together and build a collective national identity.
“Canadians believe in the value of every other Canadian, their boundless potential to make this great country even better,” Carney said. “Our ancestors, despite their differences, believed in each other, and in us.
“There are long periods of history when these values can prosper unchallenged. Ours is not one of them. Our values must be fought for. That’s what we’re doing, and Canadians are up for it.”
Carney’s address to Canadians came after his major foreign policy speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this week, where he declared a “rupture” to the old rules-based international order and stressed that middle powers like Canada must band together to resist coercion from great powers.
The speech, which has received praise from commentators and world leaders so far, was seen as a rebuke of U.S. economic and foreign policy under U.S. President Donald Trump, who has enacted trade wars and threatened the sovereignty of allies including Canada and Greenland.
Carney on Thursday touched on the themes of his Davos speech, telling Canadians that the country “must be a beacon” and “an example to a world at sea.”
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“In a time of rising populism and ethnic nationalism, Canada can show how diversity can be a strength, not a weakness,” he said.
“In a time of democratic decline, we can show how rights can be protected, and equal freedoms endure. In a time of rising walls and thickening borders, we can demonstrate how a country can be both open and secure, welcoming and strong, principled and powerful.”
Carney continued: “Canada can’t solve all the world’s problems, but we can show that another way is possible, that the arc of history isn’t destined to be warped towards authoritarianism and exclusion. It can still bend towards progress and justice.”
He went on to highlight accomplishments made in the first year of his government, including steps to boost and diversify Canada’s economy through legislation to fast-track “nation-building” projects, as well as major increases to defence spending.
“Now we need to execute, fairly, and fast,” he said.
The speech emphasized Carney’s comments to Global News last month that Canada needs to stay on the course he began charting after becoming prime minister last March.
He said Thursday that his government remains focused on lowering costs for Canadians, pointing to tax cuts and efforts to build more affordable housing, and addressing crime through criminal justice reforms.
Several pieces of legislation addressing those reforms, as well as changes to border security and other priorities, have yet to be passed by Parliament, setting up a busy session for the new year.
Carney added that Canadians of all cultures and backgrounds must continue to choose working together, while pursuing ongoing reconciliation and collaboration with Indigenous peoples.
That inclusive approach must extend to everything from infrastructure to artificial intelligence, he added.
“When we live our values, we grow as individuals and build as a people,” he said.
“We choose a bright future, worthy of the ground on which we stand. We choose Canada.”
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