Bloc politics disguised as multilateralism.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's January 20, 2026, Davos speech – and his reading of the emerging new world order – are bloc politics disguised as multilateralism.

He accuses China and Russia of hegemonic ambitions, of which both have explicitly avowed none and neither of whose behaviour evidences any.

That the U.S. is and always has been a murderous tyranny – against which (and its vassals, including Canada) both Russia and China are defending themselves – he treats as evidence that they do.

"On Ukraine," he says, "we're a core member of the coalition of the willing and one of the largest per-capita contributors to its defence and security."

His speech makes 11 references to Canadian "values," which according to a new Oxfam report, just out, amount to: "The richest one percent in Canada, which is those with a net-worth of $7M and above, hold nearly $1.25 trillion in wealth – almost as much as the bottom 80 per cent combined"; and zero mention of SCO or of BRICS, which Canada can and should join.

Mr. Carney's speech pumps up instead some vague post-rules-based world order – (the rules-based order was Euro-Canadian-U.S -U.K. neocolonialism) – in which "our commitment to Article 5 is unwavering. So we're working with our NATO allies – including the Nordic-Baltic Eight – to further secure the alliance's northern and western flanks."

He boasts concerning the financialization of Canada's economy: "Our pension funds are amongst the world's largest and most sophisticated investors." This reading of "investment" is not to marshal the resources of an economy to improve the lives of the population it serves but elevates instead rent-extraction to the pinnacle of human achievement.

This should come as no surprise as during his 13-year career at Goldman Sachs, from 1990 to 2003, his positions included: "co-head of sovereign risk, executive director for emerging debt capital markets, and managing director for investment banking."

This work, according to an article on the Goldman Sachs website, consisted of "trade liberalization, deregulation and the privatization of state-owned enterprises, including banks and telecommunication companies"; "advising governments on privatizations and assisting corporations in raising equity and debt capital in public and private markets internationally"; and "liberalizing economic reforms and opening up financial services sectors to foreign investors."

Individuals with values worth appreciating do not tell you 11 times in one speech what great "values" they have. Nor do they accuse of hegemonic ambitions states defending themselves against U.S. hegemonic aggression.