When CTV analyst and former director of communications for former prime minister Paul Martin, Scott Reid, penned a puff piece for iPolitics lauding Prime Minister Mark Carney’s now-famous Davos speech, I was among the first to seriously ask: “Why?” I will continue to ask why anyone would praise Carney’s Davos speech because it’s nothing more than a moral and ethical “get out of jail free” card. It exonerates any Western country that does business with the most corrupt countries of the world, China chief among them.But this point is either glossed over by desperate globalists like Reid or poorly understood by those who mistakenly endorse the Davos speech as a boon to so-called “middle powers.” Not only was Carney’s Davos speech of the typically grandiose, windbag variety, but it trumpeted Canada’s adoption of a foreign policy, created by Finnish President Alexander Stubb, called “values-based realism.” I wrote critically about that foreign policy too, because values-based realism is, like every ideology before it, full of holes to anyone who looks closely.But many people clearly aren’t looking at all.Outside of his appearances on CTV, Scott Reid is a professional communications and strategy consultant. I cannot therefore say if his iPolitics piece on Carney was paid for, pro bono, or an attempt to demonstrate his potential usefulness to the technocrat. It should be noted, however, that Scott’s son, Jack Reid, became Mark Carney’s senior advertising advisor in the PMO in January 2026. Scott’s opinion piece was published the very same month.Imagine the coincidence. I suppose it’s also a coincidence that Scott spent a good deal of time on the Curse of Politics podcast complaining about how bad Carney’s communication strategy was — before his son was hired. .In a podcast titled “They don't have a 🤬 narrative”, for example, from October 2025, Scott openly criticized failures in Carney’s communication strategy on CUSMA-related negotiations. He suggested Carney should “set expectations so low that if there’s any progress on steel and aluminum, you can meet the test of it being a victory — being a win.”But Scott is thankfully just a little potato in the grand scheme of things.While adulation for Carney’s speech was widespread, it should still be noted exactly who else it came from. It may not surprise you to learn that the Publicity Department of China, owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), also glorified it. They did this in several ways, including through one of their English-language propaganda outlets called China Daily, in an opinion piece entitled, “Time for Western middle powers to wake up.”“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Tuesday speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was a wake-up call for Western middle powers,” wrote Chen Weihua, “which have blindly followed the United States policy around the world, including ganging up in abusing other nations.”Why the CCP was particularly enthused by Carney’s effort was because it allowed them to insert themselves into the global trade narrative as a viable alternative to the US. The speech was written with enough ambiguity that the CCP could plausibly exclude themselves from being Carney’s accused “hegemon” and aim all ensuing criticism at the US.The point was lost on many Western commentators, including those of rarified status.Irwin Cotler, former Attorney General of Canada under Paul Martin, admitted in an article for the National Post that Carney’s speech was “deservedly lauded around the world.” But then he also lamented, “the Carney government has strayed from either the principled, the pragmatic, or in some cases, both.” So, Cotler believed that the speech was good, but the subsequent actions of the Carney government were a problem.Cotler is today an advocate for human rights and so expresses concerns that, “Canada’s re-engagement with China should be conditional on Beijing ceasing its transnational repression in Canada and releasing all Canadian political prisoners it continues to hold, including Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil. Canada should also affirm its position on the sovereign inviolability of Taiwan, and advocate against China’s repressive policies in Tibet, Hong Kong, and in China writ large.”.That sounds entirely correct to me. So then, what do I think Cotler missed?A little bit of background reading, I think. In particular, Stubb’s book, The Triangle of Power. Remember, Carney’s Davos speech explicitly referenced the adoption of “values-based realism,” the brainchild of his friend and jogging buddy, Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Stubb’s values-based realism, explained in The Triangle of Power, specifically calls for abandoning the imposition of Western values upon trade partners, which has been something that every Liberal government since Jean Chrétien has tried to impose while seeking furtherance of trade with China. Carney has departed from that approach, and values-based realism is the oxymoronic ideology that enables him to do so. The Davos speech isn’t “nonsense” at all, as claimed by Lorrie Goldstein of the Toronto Sun. It’s far, far worse. The Davos speech is explicit permission for Western countries to do business with the most corrupt regimes of the world, from the Global East and the Global South. That’s the raison d'être of Stubb’s ideology.It’s going to cost us in the long run to compromise morals and ethics and sign deals with China and other corrupt nations, but that seems to be the new Liberal modus operandi. All in the vain hope of gaining access to China’s gargantuan markets and sizeable newcomers from the Global South.It sounds like we are literally selling our souls for the almighty dollar, but what else would you expect from a central banker?
