At age 159, Canada is finally a power on the world stage

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It’s hard to imagine a country as large and as resource-rich and as intelligently populated as Canada having made such a small footprint on the world stage for so long.

But until now, until these transformational times for our country, that’s been generally the case all the way since 1867. Dwarfed by the powers of Great Britain, which controlled Canada’s external affairs until the 1920s, and then by the American colossus, we were, with the occasional exception, on the sidelines.

In the world wars, the contribution was stalwart but in a support role to the big powers. In the Suez crisis for which Lester Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize we were a major player, but as Prime Minister, Mr. Pearson’s main mark was on the domestic side. John Diefenbaker roared, “We’re a power, not a puppet,” but couldn’t prove it.

Pierre Trudeau sometimes dazzled with his independent foreign policy vision but there were few takers. Brian Mulroney’s effectiveness was largely as a lieutenant to Republican presidents. Jean Chrétien stayed out of Iraq. Stephen Harper left no big mark in foreign precincts. Justin Trudeau’s star flamed out.

But the long-running story that no one cares what Canada thinks, that no one is paying attention, is mercifully over now. Today, Canada, owing to Mark Carney’s coalition against coercion, his leading of the middle powers against the hegemony of the great powers, is playing a role it never has. It has become a major protagonist in global geopolitics and economics.

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The Prime Minister has articulated a foreign policy framework that some speak of as the Carney doctrine. A Canadian PM having a doctrine to his name? How many would have bet on that ever happening?

With his coalition building – as seen in his pivot toward Europe – Mr. Carney is adding building blocks to the framework, enraging predator President Donald Trump in the process.

To make a mark on the world stage, big media visibility is essential. Canada has rarely had that. Weeks or sometimes months would pass without it ever making the front pages. But there’s been a wholesale change. Driven chiefly by Mr. Trump’s threats and hissy-fits Canada has become a top-of-mind story, a major headline maker. It is getting far more media attention than it is accustomed to receiving. And given the mad King’s outrages, most of the attention has been favourable. While America’s international standing has plunged, there’s been a surge of goodwill toward Canada.

Attention is power. Canada getting more press than ever before translates to relevance, to clout, to importance. As an illustration of the contrary, we recall Mr. Pearson visiting President Dwight Eisenhower, an avid golfer, over a pressing Canadian issue only to find that Ike had never even heard of it. “You’d think his caddie would have mentioned it to him,” muttered Mr. Pearson to an aide.

For any politician to set the temperature, credibility is a key. In these times, with international credentials at a premium, Canada just happened to have a PM with extraordinary pedigree in global affairs and finance. He compares well to Mr. Trump, who, prior to becoming president racked up six business bankruptcies. John Manley, deputy prime minister under Mr. Chrétien, goes as far as to say that Mr. Carney has become “the intellectual leader of the free world.”

Prominence on the global stage won, the question becomes: Can it continue? A reason for Ottawa’s lack of clout in the past has been its low level of defence spending. That is being, we are led to believe, addressed. Mr. Carney’s European initiative will keep Canada in the headlines, as will Mr. Trump’s continuing animosity and Mr. Carney’s decisions on how to respond to him.

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The project we are embarked upon is long-term. As former Harper cabinet minister James Moore, who would make a strong leader of the Conservative party, put it, “To decouple that dependence on America, that is the great Canadian project for, frankly, the next 10 years.”

There can be no full or even half-decoupling of course. The goal is to reduce our reliance on America, to make it less enormous. Mr. Carney is not, as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre suggests, trying to “replace” the U.S. with alliances with the EU and China.

For the decoupling project, for the unshackling of Canada, to be successful, its presence on the global stage needs to continue to be enhanced. After 159 years in the shadows of the great powers, Canada has become a player to be reckoned with. It gives hope to the Canadian independence movement.