No previous prime minister of Canada has ever demonstrated such outreach to so many nations amid a breakup in world order while at the same time defending the integrity of Canada’s sovereignty against a predatory and erratic American president. But Carney should also make time for Parliament.
Mark Carney, reaching out to middle powers, has become a world leader. He cannot avert his eyes from new and expert demands for nuclear disarmament just because Canada does not possess nuclear weapons.
If AI can be used to accelerate war-making, it can also be used to augment and accelerate peace-keeping, conflict prevention, and accountability under international law. This requires political will and substantial investment which we have not yet seen.
A Pollara poll from April had support for Alberta separatism at 27 per cent, the highest level recorded in five years of tracking. A recent CBC News poll showed that 57 per cent of UCP members would vote for Alberta to separate from Canada. This means Smith is dependent on separatists to remain leader.
Pope Leo is giving lessons on the immorality of modern warfare. Mark Carney should pay attention.
Mark Carney, who revealed himself as a man of conscience on his way to the Prime Minister’s Office, now needs to push back against the militarists demanding never-ending increases in defence spending and start pushing the UN’s agenda for peace.
Like all politicians, Mark Carney is doing what he has to do to survive. The poetry of his Davos speech has met the pragmatism of the public arena. Whether ‘values-based realism’ will make him a great leader remains to be seen.
The prime minister is a highly accomplished man and has already established himself in world leadership ranks. He now needs to elevate the soft power of diplomacy over the hard power of militarism.
Pope Leo famously has no divisions to send to battle, rather the expression of a conscience to protect all of humanity from the ravages of war. Mark Carney, in deciding how much Canada should actually spend on preparing for war, should emulate Leo, not Donald Trump.
Underneath the welter of new alliances Mark Carney is forming to save Canada economically and recover some of our strength internationally, I sense that he’s holding back from boldly advancing UN principles and international law.
I dissent from the wild disproportion of what the world spends on arms and what it spends on development. I dissent from the anti-humanitarian policies of war for peace. I dissent from the perpetuation of poverty through the greed of the rich. I dissent from the despoliation of the planet by short-sighted industrialism. Most of all, I dissent from the fabric of lies spun by the proponents of nuclear weapons who would have us believe that these heinous instruments of mass murder make us safer.
Mark Carney’s four days at the UN showed his belief that Donald Trump’s aggressiveness can be fought off by strengthening Canada’s trade, energy, and security through diplomacy. When Carney returned home and went to Question Period, the opposition seemed uninterested in grilling him on what he had accomplished at the UN.
It calls for addressing the root causes of conflicts and accelerating commitments on human rights. Most importantly, it brings into sharp focus the need for recommitment to international co-operation based on respect for international law.
Severe cuts to the budgets of UN humanitarian agencies, including those dealing with refugees and children, have set off panic through the organization.
The new prime minister needs to come clean with the Canadian public. It is the existential threat of climate change, nuclear weapons, pandemics and forced migrations of peoples that also challenge Canada’s security. Mark Carney must think beyond NATO to be a credible leader.
Canada’s possible participation in the Americans’ Golden Dome would overturn decades of resistance to southern neighbour’s often extraordinary missile plans.