OTTAWA
— As Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech about the need for middle powers to unite against “hegemons” receives international praise, his main political rival back in Canada calls him “lucky” to be judged by his words.
Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Thursday afternoon released his rebuttal to the prime minister’s address, delivered two days earlier at a meeting of political and business elites at the World Economic Forum.
“So far, Mr. Carney has been lucky that he’s been judged by his rhetoric and his stated intention, by the number of his trips and meetings overseas,” Poilievre said in a statement, circulated by his office.
“Because nearly a year into his term, the rhetoric has changed, but reality has not. There is an illusion of purpose, but no results to back it up.”
Poilievre’s response comes as Carney’s speech — about how middle-power countries must confront the fact that the rules-based international orders they depended on was no more — has reverberated internationally, earning praise from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as well as
Jim Chalmers, Australia’s treasurer.
Meanwhile, members of Poilievre’s caucus have spent the past two days firing off posts on social media about how Carney has failed to make progress on plans for potential new pipeline construction, bolstering the country’s military capacity or addressing Canadians’ affordability concerns.
In his lengthy statement on Thursday, Poilievre offered some of his own praise for the prime minister’s earlier remarks, calling his speech in Davos “well-crafted and eloquently delivered.”
“The prime minister is right to restate what many have said for years: Canada must become more self-reliant, less dependent and work with like-minded countries to advance our interests. Conservatives are, as always, willing to work with him to turn these words into results.”
With Canadians dealing with issues like high food and housing costs, and the country’s military still lacking personnel and equipment, Poilievre argued things have only “gotten worse” since Carney became prime minister almost a year ago.
The Conservative leader pointed to how the Carney government has yet to pass any of its proposed Criminal Code reforms and how the prime minister has yet to fulfill his “signature promise” of successfully negotiating a trade deal with U.S President Donald Trump.
Poilievre also underscored that regardless of Canadians’ feelings towards the U.S. administration, Canada’s relationship with its closest neighbour remains.
“I know it’s tempting to say our relationship with America is over forever. But here is the reality: We still live next door to the biggest economy and military the world has ever seen. We sell 20 times more to the U.S. than to China. (One) in 10 Canadian jobs rely directly and indirectly on trade with America.”
“We owe it to those workers, our family, friends and fellow Canadians, to ensure those jobs don’t go away,” added Poilievre.
He went on to call for people to keep in mind that “our trade and security partnership with the U.S. is centuries-old and will outlast one president,” and that tariffs may be a reality of the future, regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat is in the White House.
Poilievre also took aim at Canada’s recent trade deal with China, saying that “we cannot throw caution to the wind when it comes to dealing with the Chinese Community Party regime,” which he said “kidnaps our citizens, steals our technology, interferes with our elections.”
The Conservative leader then repeated his previous calls for the Carney government to get rid of laws the party deems as stifling economic investment, such as the Impact Assessment Act, the oil tanker moratorium off the coast of B.C., as well as the industrial carbon tax.
Poilievre, who last week took to X to affirm support for Greenland’s sovereignty, also touched on the issue in Thursday’s statement.
“We support the sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark. But we also must be able to support our own sovereignty,” he said, underscoring concerns about Canada’s NATO capacity.
Poilievre’s statement come as some within the party suggest it would be wise for the Conservatives to flesh out more of its own foreign policy and ensure that Poilievre is positioned in such a way that future voters could envision him on a world stage, not solely focused on cost-of-living issues.
The Conservative leader has over the past year faced criticism from within about his ability to pivot to confront the Canada-U.S. issue, which dominated much of last year’s federal election campaign, which the Liberals won.
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