Blazingcatfur

On Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave an American-style “State of the Union” address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. During her speech, she proposed that Canada be admitted as an “associate member” of the ostensibly European Union. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sat in the front row as an honored guest before delivering a speech of his own to the parliament the next day. Taken together, the Leyen-Carney parade of oratorical self-puffery exuded a nauseating bouquet of arrogance, foolishness, incompetence, and stale entitlement.

Mark Carney’s speech to the European Parliament should set off alarm bells across Canada, and the West in particular. In it, Carney praised the European Union’s (EU) power to impose rules and standards “that the world frequently adopts,” otherwise known as the “Brussels Effect.” While intended as a compliment, Alberta and Saskatchewan should hear it as a threat and ask: Is closer integration necessary, and what are its implications?

But it would be good for Carney.

Mark Carney is back in the news as the ubiquitous champion of the old, rules-based international order.

Building on a speech he made in Davos earlier this year to the effect that “middle” powers should huddle together for warmth in an era dominated by superpower rivalry, he sought this week to further cosy up to the EU as an alternative to increasingly hostile relations with Trump’s America.

It’s fair to say that the Canadian prime minister’s speech to the European parliament was more important for its political signalling than its real-world economic significance. Ever since Trump made Canada the butt end of his war on international trade, Carney has ridden a wave of offended Canadian patriotism.