“We take the world as it is and not as we wish it to be.” – Prime Minister Mark Carney.
It was another chaotic week in world politics, something notable happening on almost every front. Chief among these for Canadians was Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to China.
Although prior to going, Mark Carney damped down expectations related to the trip, he came away with a bushel full of agreements, a feat that many Canadians will applaud, while others will have grave concerns. In total, eight agreements were signed in the areas of finance, public safety, and energy.
As well, at the summit meeting and in related talks in China, Canada has agreed to remove its 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, reducing it to 15%, and to allow almost 50,000 Chinese EVs into Canada at the most-favoured-nation rate of 6.1%, with the rate increasing to 6.5% in subsequent years.
At their end, China is dropping its tariffs on Canadian canola seed from 85% to 15% as well as on other agricultural products and seafood, effective March 1.
In his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mark Carney noted that “the world has changed much in the last ten years and the strategic partnerships my government is seeking with Beijing sets us up well for the new world order.” He said the discussions and agreements with China ushered in “a new era of relationships.”
President Xi has responded by saying that Canada-China relationships are on an upward trajectory and that he is heartened by the results of the meeting with Mark Carney.
Prime Minister Mark Carney will not return to Canada with empty hands after international travel at taxpayers’ expense, as some opposition critics have predicted. But he will return to a debate as to whether Canada should commit to a “strategic relationship” with China, given their record on human rights, election interference in Canada, and the imprisonment of two Canadians as a bargaining tool against a high-ranked Chinese National in Canada who was under indictment.
Concerns about Canada’s new trading alliance with China are legitimate. Previously, the relationship between these two countries has been cool, to put it mildly. Seeking closer ties with a country that does not value democracy, human rights, or territorial boundaries and whose record related to climate change is less than stellar is a significant risk.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has been clear that Canada’s trade agreement with China “reflects the world as it is today,” and that the two countries will collaborate on issues they agree upon and stay in their own lanes on issues where they do not.
The reality of the world “as it is today,” is that all three superpowers, Russia, China, and now the United States, have despotic tendencies. In a recent Globe and Mail article, journalist Andrew Coyne put his finger on the challenge Canada is facing today.
Coyne points out that, “there will probably always be human rights issues in China and Russia.” Then he goes on to say, “We (Canada) cannot pretend to have warm relations with a country (China) that kidnaps our citizens, messes with our elections and intimidates members of the diaspora—to say nothing of its bestial treatment of its own people, or its aggressive designs on its neighbours.”
“But then,” Coyne continues, “Donald Trump returned to the White House and, having returned, began issuing a series of threats not only to our trading relationship but to our very sovereignty. And so, we have to recalibrate once more. Not because China has become any less dangerous, but because the U. S. has become more so.”
The difference, and the need for recalibration, is that China wants to trade with Canada and the United States does not. Given the current circumstances, Canada must have reliable trading partners.
President Trump has said time and time again that the United States does not need to buy anything from Canada. That may be just a negotiating tactic but until reality checks in, Canada must take threats from the United States at face value and act accordingly.
It is interesting to note that, as of this writing, American President Donald Trump approves of the deals that Canada has made with China. A reporter asked him, “What do you think about Carney signing a trade deal with China?” Trump’s response: “That’s okay – That is what he should be doing. It’s a good thing to sign a trade deal with China.”
The problem is that is what Donald Trump said yesterday. Who knows what he will say about it tomorrow?
The reality is that Canada can no longer rely on what the President of the United States says or does. There is no certainty that he will renegotiate the U.S., Canada and Mexico Free Trade Agreement, which is up for review this year. If he does, it will be heavily weighted toward the United States.
As well, in addition to the already crippling tariffs from the United States, Canada risks another across the board 10% tariff for vowing to support Greenland against any attack or takeover by the United States.
In recent days, Mark Carney has said, “Our full partnership and obligations to Article 5 (in NATO) stands. We stand fully behind them. Canada will back Denmark and Greenland.” Although there has been no reaction from Trump yet, there likely will be. He has already imposed an additional 10% tariff on eight European countries that have come out against the annexation of Greenland by the United States.
Canada must remember that U.S. President Donald Trump believes he can do pretty much whatever he wants in the Western Hemisphere. He is no longer a reliable trading partner, and he remains a real threat to Canada’s sovereignty.
It is the United States that is forcing Canada to seek new allies and trading partners. It is also about time.
Under all of these circumstances, Canada is doing the right thing in stabilizing our relationship with China. Is it risky? Yes, but it is also necessary.
Mark Carney has taken a bold step forward in an effort to improve and stabilize Canada’s economy. Hopefully, with a better relationship, he can temper China’s illegal actions in Canada.
No doubt on the home front, the Prime Minister will face a damned if you do and damned if you don’t scenario from many Canadians.
On balance, however, I believe that Mark Carney did the right thing in negotiating a new and better alliance and trading agreement with at least one of the world’s three super-powers.
As the Globe and Mail headline on Andrew Coyne’s article about the trade deal between Canada and China reads, “Canada is hedging its bets.”
In my view, Canada has no choice. We need to take the world as it is.
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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The youth, referred to in previous comments, have been experiencing the best economic times ever. The boomers have gone through boom and bust cycles and know what economic downturns are about. They have had to weather several of them.
The conservative party needs a new leader who is not a career politician.
I always love Mr Markle’s comments for his clarity, wisdom and humour. Thank you Mr Markle.
Peter Zychowski is not winning any support for Mr Poilievre or our own Scott Aitchison. He seems to be demonstrating the unhelpful, divisive thoughts of a “youthful” Conservative base, ready to join the empire of the Orange Man. If they prevail, the country indeed will be “broken” by unfunny little minions, fed only by social media and noise of the internet- so be careful what you wish for Mr Zychowski. Will Pierre Poilievre be able to be Captain Canada for all of us? Even the oldies that Mr Zychowski berates? Or do the Conservatives have other despicable plans for the oldies?
To Allan Markle:
Mark Carney is the embodiment of the status quo. A status quo that has worked very well for people over 65 but one that has and continues to fail everyone else. Boomers are isolated from much of what ails this country – an awful economy, crime, drugs, homelessness, total unaffordability. There’s a reason why the only age demographic supporting the Liberals more than other parites is the 65+ crowd.. They have the luxury of being obsessed with Trump and climate change, etc.
The issue is not age, however, the underlying issue is wealth. Wealthy people support Carney. Wealthy people tend to be old. The current iteration of the federal Liberals is almost exclusively old, wealthy, and highly urban (i.e. Toronto and Montreal).
This schism should frighten all of us. It’s not healthy and conducive to a prosperous country…..the Liberals know and don’t care.
The federal Liberals do very well in elections and govern terribly for a simple reason: they’re nihilists. They believe in nothing (other than what’s good for them). At this moment, taunting Donald Trump plays well with the “base”. Everyone else will have to clean up the mess.
Re: China.. If you think it is merely a trade deal, then I have a bridge to sell you. Did you read the deal? It goes way beyond trade. It’s a prostration to the Chinese Communists. A sellout of our sovereignty but the “Elbows Up” crowd are so blinded by their Trump Derangement Syndrome that they’ll excuse the atrocities of a murderous dictatorship to stick it to the mean orange man.
I worry deeply for our country. Rhetoric over results never ends well.
And now, a few days later, the US president is threatening 100% tariffs if we sign a deal with China There is no way we can win. Of course, that’s the point when dealing with a malignant narcissist. He’s out for revenge, and wanting to humiliate anyone who goes against him.
Peter Zychowski. Thank God I’m not a ‘Boomer’! Technically. By your estimation they sure are a bunch of underachievers. Though to be in this age group and still affording to care for themselves and carry the clout you allow them, they must have done something right. Some may need a little help, but that’s why you get to pay taxes.
It has been mentioned here on Doppler that at present, a global ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ is underway. Vast funds being moved from the aged to younger generations. Their reasoning and judgement must have worked well enough for a few,( thirty or forty years) or so. to achieve what they have and did. And they voted for Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Social Credit, even for a Rhinoceros Party.
I worry about the future. For myself, sure, but mostly for the younger generations. Are you inferring that it is only the older generation that suffers this inability to reason and assess? Over 80s represent only 1% of the population. Younger generations carry the day so really you should be well satisfied that you and your generation should prevail in the polls. I am assuming you are a little (lot) younger than myself. But I’m not assuming your vote will be on the winning side. Is that why you worry? Don’t. Because no matter who our leader will be, in my opinion, he’s got a job ahead of him.
And how was our sovereignty sold out? We trade or perish. The man south of the border is the one who wants us to be the 51 state. That’s our sovereignty. There is no way you cannot anger this American president. Pucker up or get your name on the list. You don’t even have to be foreign. You can be American but just live in the wrong state. And you can stuff your ‘slactivist’ comment. Apply ‘Hitchen’s Razer”.
Or is this simply another anti liberal moan? Trudeau is gone. He was no favorite of mine. But why is his departure any reason for you to turn on old people?
I do question the judgement of anyone who looks on “14 hours a day of cable news” as a luxury!! 10 hours tops. There’s no way I could stay up that late.
The mass psychosis gripping Canadian Boomers is truly alarming. Their inability to cast any sort of a critical eye or apply critical thinking to the many major failings, hypocrisy and ridiculousness of the Carney administration is deeply troubling.
Mark Carney is not playing 4D chess, that us rubes cannot comprehend. He sold out Canadians sovereignty to China; he abandoned Ontario’s auto and steel workers. He’s deliberately angering the Americans because it plays well amongst his heavily-retired and elderly base of “slacktivists” festishizing and fantasizing about Canada that doesn’t exist anymore (because the Liberals destroyed it).
Our country is falling apart. It’s failing anyone without millions in home equity and the luxury of watching 14 hours a day of cable news.
Carney has accomplished close to nothing in a year other than assuage the elderly’s fear of the “Orange Man”.
Donald Trump has come and he will go but the damage from 10+ years of this incompetent government will last for generations.
Why have we heard nothing on this from our MP? Seems the only time we hear from him is when an election is coming up!
Well, the US track record under Trump is no better than China. The US is now a “…country that does not value democracy, human rights, or territorial boundaries and whose record related to climate change is (also) less than stellar is a significant risk.”!
Everyone trades cautiously with China. What might become awkward is our new strategic alliance with China since they back Russia vs Ukraine.
Certain phrases have become so loaded through online outrage cycles that they trigger fear before facts. “New world order” is one of them — but it isn’t a secret plan or a conspiracy; it’s a long-standing term in international relations for periods when global power shifts after major disruption.
That shift is visible and concrete right now: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s rise, and a United States that increasingly uses tariffs and threats — even against allies. What links all three isn’t ideology, but a growing comfort with authoritarian methods: concentrating power, sidelining institutions, and using economic or political pressure to force outcomes.
Most people here want a safe, prosperous Canada — even if we disagree on how to get there.
Canada does face real challenges: housing affordability, public safety concerns, economic transition, and foreign interference among them. But collapsing those issues into apocalyptic narratives imported from U.S. media doesn’t help address them — it replaces evidence and accountability with fear and division.
Left unchecked, those fear-based narratives don’t just misdiagnose problems — they actively weaken our capacity to govern ourselves, leaving Canada more divided, less confident, and more vulnerable to external pressure.
Across the United States, this style of politics has produced division, institutional damage, and economic uncertainty — with little evidence of better outcomes for ordinary people.
Conservatism, at its best, has always valued institutions, restraint, and sober judgment. Sovereignty isn’t preserved by panic or isolation, but by capacity: enforcing our laws, protecting our institutions, diversifying our partnerships, and retaining the ability to say no when it matters.
The uncomfortable truth is that Canada doesn’t get to choose a risk-free world — only how competently it navigates a risky one.
Engagement with China carries real dangers. So does over-dependence on a U.S. administration that treats trade and alliances as leverage. The relevant question isn’t who we talk to, but whether we retain the ability to enforce our laws, protect our institutions, and say no when it matters.
That’s the lens Canada needs to apply — imperfectly, but deliberately. This is the kind of Canada worth uniting around.
Sovereignty isn’t a posture. It’s a practice.
Agree.
Next question:
Will Canada send troops to Greenland, Denmark, to join with .GB, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany?
The new world order. We were thought to be called conspiracy theory. Well there you have it. Its true and they are proud of it. Look it up and find that the new world order makes the middle and low class broke and just the extremely grossly rich will be running the world. Micro chips in hands, more homelessness and hunger. More people losing their homes. The last 10 years has almost abolished Canadian rights and lifestyles. This isn’t Carney doing good. This is Carney selling out Canada and Canadians. No new industry. Moving two auto plants to the states putting thousands out of jobs. We are fast becoming a third world country. One man running Canada any way he wants. Doing illegal things, letting pedophiles out of jail in less than a year. Pack your kids up and keep them close to home. There is no deterrent for a pedophile to continue molesting our children. Catch and release of 2nd and third time criminals. Carney and liberals are destroying Canada and doing nothing for Canadians.
I agree with everything you have said, Hugh. Mark Carney is working 24/7 to help Canada….not himself. He knows how to engage without being naive. If you don’t engage, you close doors to any kind of global coordination. He knows that markets and pensions hate uncertainty, and that negotiations create predictable possibilities.
Just as stock market advisors advise us to not put all of our eggs in one basket, Carney is diversifying Canada’s trade risk by negotiating with other countries. Regardless of our political stance, I think we can agree that he is our sensible, hard-working grown-up in this messy world.
Mark Carney wisely says we must deal with the world as it is. That world has 9 going on 10 billion people with shrinking resources and fast-growing catastrophic climate change. It has Xi-Jinping who brought a poor country, with no energy but coal, forward into a world power working hard to replace coal with clean renewable energy and more energy-efficient devices like EVs.
Meanwhile, in 2010, after two decades of lobbying, the Koch Brothers, US oil barons, finally turned the US into the world’s only democracy that allows corporations and trade unions to contribute directly to election campaigns. In 2024, US oil companies contributed $54 million to 123 republican candidates (That’s $439,000 each) who would be climate change deniers and Trump killed all programs to mitigate climate change. America is now alone projecting a level of selfish greed never seen before Trump.
Too bad Sam McLaughlin sold his Canadian car company to General Motors in 1918. It could have been at least as successful as Volvo is in Sweden. General Motors has been good to Canada, but today’s world gave GM Trump to deal with. To have a chance of getting to Net-Zero emissions by 2050 as outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Accord signed by 195 countries before Trump, we will need every EV the world can muster.
20% of EVs sold in Europe in 2024 came from China. Research shows the car-building Germans, French, and Swedes say its still early but so far China’s EVs have all the features, quality, and price needed to satisfy today’s market. And it would make good sense for them to build plants here to employ Canadian workers just like the 4 Toyota and Honda plants have done. That is the world as it really is.
I think that if you look at the last few years, China has made more progress at reducing climate change than the USA has done. China is scaling back it’s use of coal while the USA is just saying “climate change is a hoax” and is trying to dismantle things like wind power projects.
The USA is no friend to climate, nor is it a reliable trading partner any longer.
China makes an awful lot of stuff, (read the labels in Walmart or any other significant retailer) and we cannot change this fact so better to cautiously work with them. They may improve more. The USA seems in a downward spiral driven by a bit of a fool who does not pay much attention to history or reality.
“Seeking closer ties with a country that does not value democracy, human rights, or territorial boundaries and whose record related to climate change is less than stellar is a significant risk.”
If this description of China couldn’t also be used, word for word, to describe the US today, perhaps I could be convinced of the risk. As it is, if we are to be trading with a country like that, it may as well be the one which wants to do business for business’ sake, rather than the one trying to use our economy as leverage to further their own ambitions of world dominance.
Indeed Hugh, Carney did the right thing. We need new expanded trade beyond the US quickly and China wants to expand its markets and strategic partnerships. If they can do so at the expense of the US, even better for them.
Next, China will be delighted to lock in more Canadian resources. They may even be willing to help provide capital needed to expand the pipelines, mines & terminal infrastructure to supply it. Better for both countries than more of it going south. Those discussions are probably already underway.
I fully expect Trump to shift his message of support for the Canada/China partnership soon, and return to his threats, pointing to lack of security in our north, just as he did for Greenland.
Getting Canadian energy and minerals is his end game, and doing so would be seen as less costly and risky than Venezuelan oil or Greenland minerals. Trump is working to undermine/weaken our economy and to scare and divide Canadians to achieve his goal. It won’t work, as Canadians are strong, united and ready to fight for our country.
Dammed either way for sure but Mark Carney’s case for engaging China rests on realism rather than trust.
China is already central to global supply chains, financial markets, and climate outcomes, so refusing to engage does not reduce China’s power, it only reduces Canada’s influence. We are not a super power, we are a middle power, and we gain leverage by keeping channels open.
Climate change makes engagement unavoidable. China is both the world’s largest emitter and a critical investor in clean energy, meaning no credible global climate or financial stability strategy works without its participation. From Carney’s perspective, climate risk is financial risk, and excluding the biggest actors only increases systemic instability in an already fragile global economy.
Finally, engagement is about managing fragmentation, not endorsing authoritarianism. The global rules-based order is already under strain, and total disengagement would accelerate a hard split into rival blocs, making cooperation on climate, debt, and financial stability even harder. Talking with China, while maintaining firm guardrails on security, human rights, and values, is seen as a way to reduce risk and preserve pressure. It is not some….moral surrender….but as pragmatic risk management in a worsening world.
There are many human rights issues in our largest trading partner, the US, ever since Trump.
Canada desperately needs to sell our products including canola to China.
Canadians desperately need to save money buying and operating their cars.
Canadian autoworkers desperately need employment as legacy automakers move production south at Trump’s behest.
The world desperately needs to reduce CO2 emissions and the smog related health care costs.
All of the above can be rapidly accomplished by eliminating or greatly reducing the tariff on Chinese EVs.
Follow EU countries not the US who are attempting to decimate the auto industry in Canada.
Encourage the Chinese to build in Canada to avoid any tariff just like the Japanese were encouraged to build in Canada to avoid any tariff.
EU countries are encouraging Chinese companies to build EVs in the EU to avoid the 35% tariff.
Chinese EVs are selling well in EU countries in spite of the 35% tariff.
The US should expect that we go to alternative countries for trade when they put huge tariffs on our products.
The only reason EV sales are down in North America is because inexpensive, high quality EVs from China have a 100% tariff on them.
Which is why China put tariffs on our products including canola so the market for our farmers dried up.
EV sales are up 30% yr/yr in the rest of the world where Chinese EVs have zero or relatively low tariffs.
The only hope for Canada’s auto sector is to encourage the Chinese to build EVs in Canada in plants vacated by high cost legacy automakers as they move south. Possibly within 3 years.
“Doug Ford says only compromise with China is opening an EV factory in Ontario”
It will probably be in non-union plants just like Toyota and Honda in Ontario.