Canadian foreign policy as performance art

Where does Canada fit into the new reality, if at all? Providing more humanitarian aid in the form of food and medical supplies is the easy part, but it is doubtful that Ottawa would contribute any soldiers as part of the temporary stabilization force envisaged in Trump’s plan.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, pictured on Oct. 8, 2025, arriving on Parliament Hill, after returning from his visit in Washington, D.C., with U.S. President Donald Trump. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY NELSON WISEMAN

October 16, 2025

TORONTO—Canadians excel at virtue signalling. It is a form of performance art and is inevitably theatrical as it is conducted in public. Much of it falls flat. Does Canada’s recognition of a Palestinian state qualify?

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