By Colin Robertson

November 9, 2026

Fresh off both the Canada-EU Summit in Montreal and the Commonwealth CHOGM in Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister Mark Carney embarks on a diplomatic swing this week that will include four summits in eight days, starting in Dublin for the European Political Community, followed by Manila for ASEAN, Phnom Penh for La Francophonie, and Shenzhen for APEC.

There’s one question Carney should pack for this “summit season” tour: What does Canada bring to each table?

Lester Pearson made the case to Dean Acheson in 1943. Canada could supply wheat for postwar relief. Surely, it should help decide how the Allies bought and distributed it? Pearson understood that a country earns influence when it supplies something others need and takes responsibility for the result.

This is functionalism: capacity, capability and ideas can secure middle and small powers a seat at the table once the preserve of the great powers. For Canada, functionalism and multilateralism go hand in hand and will help steer us through the current global turbulence.

Canada still has the wheat and now canola, lentils, beef and seafood. It also has energy, critical minerals, investment capital, two official languages and a presence in the G7, the G20, and regional Atlantic and Pacific multilateral institutions.

As a Canadian leader, Carney brings something more personal to his diplomacy. He ran the central banks of Canada and Britain and chaired the post-crisis Financial Stability Board. He knows why a pension fund will finance a project, why it might walk away and which government can change the terms. That experience is particularly valuable when the obstacle to cooperation is “Who pays?”.

That is also why summitry matters.

Officials can spend months narrowing a disagreement. But it is the leaders who accept the concession or commit the money that close the deal. Over dinner, they may discover that a partner’s first priority differs from what the briefing book says. A return invitation measures access. A decision that outlives a leader’s tenure measures influence.

At Davos, Carney called this approach variable geometry. The coalition changes with the problem. Values-based realism supplies the discipline.

Canada backs Ukrainian sovereignty even when doing so costs money. It trades with China while recognizing the risks of dependence.

The hard part is consistency.

Canadians who object to economic coercion by Beijing must be prepared to say so when Washington practices it. Other partners give us more room to exercise our own judgment.

Dublin (November 12) gives Carney a chance to put the European Political Community to work for Ukraine. Ask Kyiv which shortage most needs filling, offer Canadian financing or production, and invite a European partner to share the order. Agreement on a buyer, a supplier and a delivery date would give Ukraine dependable support and Canadian industry a reason to invest. That is what a coalition of the willing is for.

Manila (16-18) offers the clearest commercial prize. Carney wants to conclude trade negotiations with ASEAN and, separately, with the Philippines. Canada brings food, fertilizer and, increasingly, fuel. Ottawa and Manila are also exploring energy cooperation. Closing either negotiation would count. If both remain open, exporters deserve to know which issues remain and when ministers will settle them.

Phnom Penh (Nov. 15–16) draws on a different Canadian strength. Quebec and New Brunswick sit in La Francophonie as full members in their own right. Here, Canada’s federal character enlarges what it can offer abroad. Before Canada hosts the 2028 Francophonie summit, Carney could invite both provinces to work with francophone African and Asian universities on funded exchanges. Let the partners choose the fields and get the first students travelling by 2028. Providing places for international students is a Canadian strength that serves mutual interests.

Shenzhen (Nov. 19) shows what Carney’s realism can deliver. On November 4, Canada and China agreed to extend favourable market access for Canadian canola meal, peas, lobster and crab through 2028. Canada extended tariff relief for certain Chinese steel and aluminum products not made here that we need. Ottawa aims to increase Canadian exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030. At APEC, Carney should ask Beijing to give exporters a clear route for resolving customs delays before a shipment spoils. That would make predictable access worth something on the wharf.

Does multilateralism still work? Ask the Commonwealth leaders who just met in St. John’s.  Their communiqué calls for a functioning WTO dispute settlement system. Canada continues to pursue that goal through the Ottawa Group on WTO reform. A small country still needs somewhere to take a trade grievance, especially when its biggest customer is on the other side.

Carney is developing a useful Canadian role and giving new meaning to Pearsonian functionalism. Bring together partners willing to solve a particular problem, pay our share and defend rules others can invoke, including against us.

When he gets home, Carney should report to the House of Commons: What did Canada commit? What did our partners undertake? And when can Canadians expect delivery?

Speaking to Canadians about their international travels was regular practice by prime ministers St. Laurent, Diefenbaker, Pearson and, initially, by Pierre Trudeau. In an age of global turbulence with Canadian interests in play, it is a habit, like functionalism, that Mr. Carney could reinstate.

Contributing Writer Colin Robertson, C.M., C.D, a former career diplomat, is a fellow and host of the Global Exchange podcast with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute in Ottawa.