“This is unheard of”: Mark Carney, the man who accepts the breakup and challenges Donald Trump

The Canadian Prime Minister’s frank and lucid speech in Davos this Tuesday, on “the breakdown of the world order” and the divorce with the United States, made an impression.

Sometimes, twelve short months can be enough to move from absolute darkness to light. Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, is the perfect example. The ex-banker, unknown to the general public when he launched the race to succeed Justin Trudeau last January, finds himself on screens around the world.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland), which this year transformed into a platform for settling geopolitical scores in view of Donald Trump’s desire to annex Greenland, Mark Carney made an impression. It is around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when this sixty-year-old man with graying hair, dressed in a well-tailored navy blue suit, sits down at his desk.

“A brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is subject to no constraints”

With a serious tone but the air of being sure of his move, the Canadian Prime Minister turns the page on the old world. His first words, in French, set the tone: “I will speak today about the breakdown of the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is subject to no constraints. »

During 29 minutes and 47 seconds of speech, viewed millions of times on the social network The references to “international law applied with more or less rigor depending on the identity of the accused or the victim” and to “economic integration as a means of pressure” nevertheless leave no room for doubt about the recipient of this diatribe.

“We are leaving the period where we tried to find compromises, to court Trump”

“This is unheard of for hundreds of years,” analyzes Justin Massie, director of the political science department at the University of Quebec in Montreal, to our Canadian colleagues at La Presse. “We are leaving the period where we tried to find compromises, to court Trump, to limit the animosity between the two countries, to adopt a posture of confrontation, in reaction to the violent and bellicose policies of the American president. »

Father of four daughters, Mark Carney led the Bank of Canada in 2008, during the global economic crisis, before being appointed head of the Bank of England in 2013. Six years later, he became UN special envoy for climate action. Completely new to politics and unknown to the general Canadian public, he is launching the race to succeed Justin Trudeau in January 2025.

Located on the center left of the political spectrum, he made his opposition to Donald Trump his campaign engine. A choice which therefore paid off. Since his election in March, Mark Carney has been one of the rare leaders in the world to stand up to the billionaire, and has put aside kowtowing to try to seduce him.

A frank embrace with Macron

In Davos, the Prime Minister went further, donning the mantle of the man who defies Trump. He masters his oratory art and the meaning of the formula. “The middle powers must act together, because if you are not at the table (Americans), you are on the menu,” he predicts.

Above all, the Canadian wants to move forward and is reaching out to the Europeans. “From this divide, we can build something better, stronger and fairer. This is the task of middle powers, who have the most to lose in a world of fortresses and the most to gain in a world of genuine cooperation,” he believes.

Shortly before his speech, Mark Carney found Emmanuel Macron, who had also just paid the American president, in the backstage. A frank embrace between two men who no longer hide their contempt for Trumpist politics.