By Jeremy Kinsman

March 10, 2026

In his first year as prime minister, Mark Carney has racked up more frequent flyer miles outside of Canada than his two predecessors. Indeed, per recent Global News accounting, Carney has doubled Justin Trudeau’s first-year tally of 34 days to 68.

More significantly, this prime minister’s travel is propelled by a comprehensive strategic purpose, prompted by Canada’s need to diversify away from its over-dependence on our U.S. neighbour, whose government under Donald Trump has become erratic, predatory, and even existentially threatening.

Carney’s purpose is crucial for both Canada and for democracy, and it can be neither undertaken nor achieved by emails or video calls. It requires the high-level diplomacy, privacy, and security of in-person meetings.

There are hazards. Carney’s initial response, from India, to the surprise US-Israeli attack on Iran focused on the danger of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. As such, it was too enthusiastic, which he later regretted, and might have benefited from more time and consultation.

The lack of U.S. foresight to avoid the economic chaos now threatening the world economy and the absence of legitimacy and regard for rule of law — noted by embattled PM Keir Starmer as reasons not to allow the U.S. access to UK bases for offensive action against Iran — were adduced by Carney only later.

But Carney knows he now must turn to the economic relationship with the U.S. for the CUSMA talks ahead and he will try to navigate the communications accordingly without blowing credibility either way.

While it was somewhat overshadowed by the latest Gulf War, Carney’s strategic mission to build meaningful partnerships with other countries — in the interest of diversification, but also in recognition we can no longer rely on a “rules-based international order” that has become disordered, intractable, and effectively hacked by great powers — got a significant boost from his India-Australia-Japan trip last week.

The PM’s visit to Australia found an unusually receptive audience. A prominent blogger enthusiastically said of his proposal for a Canada – Australia – New Zealand – UK zone of free mobility of citizens that it “might be the most exciting thing to happen in Australian foreign policy” in years.

Carney struck a nerve with his hosts on the need for middle powers to align. One big Carney idea — an expanded trade arrangement between the EU and the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Carney has been exploring (that he recently sent his personal EU representative John Hannaford to discuss with Singapore) — resonated with Australians. He also proposed that Canada and Australia synchronize positions as leading extractors of critical minerals to operate jointly as the world’s “critical-minerals superpower”. 

Carney has become a world leader because his international experience as a central banker and persona as a substantive and engaging interpreter of world events make him a voice of reason and stability at a time of great confusion and anxiety.

Carney’s purpose is crucial for both Canada and for democracy, and it can be neither undertaken nor achieved by emails or video calls. It requires the high-level diplomacy, privacy, and security of in-person meetings.

The exceptional traction of his Davos speech on January 20th attests to that. Carney’s depiction of the postwar world order as “ruptured” and urging of middle powers to band together to sustain vital multilateral cooperation to counter Donald Trump’s unilateral trashing of rules, norms, alliances, values and international law was a global wake-up call.

His diplomatic travel is meant to provide proof of concept for that vision of a “variable geometry” of partners, “different coalitions for different issues based on common values and interests for those issues.”

Canada has tried diversifying away from overdependence on the U.S. before, notably through Pierre Trudeau’s “Third Option” in the early 1970s, in response to a unilateral U.S. global tariff surcharge of 10% imposed without consultation by President Richard Nixon, to the chagrin of blindsided Canadian officials.

But many smaller Canadian companies then were too bound by easy access to the bountiful American market to shift to unfamiliar foreign markets.

Today’s environment permits greater mobility than 50 years ago: the internet and the ubiquity of English facilitate marketing and partnering abroad, and modern logistics bring exporters closer to global markets that are more accessible because of comprehensive agreements such as CETA with the EU.

When the Trump Administration cancelled in 2025 the longstanding “de minimis” trade exemption that permitted goods valued under $800 US to enter the country free of duty or taxes, and with expedited clearance, many small Canadian exporters panicked. An anecdotal example provided me locally in B.C. is that of a fashion jewellery designer who was able to pivot relatively easily to new market opportunities in Europe.

Canadian technology innovators, especially in software and digital applications are already performing as component suppliers globally. They will benefit from Carney’s emphasis on offshore partnerships and projects in infrastructure that he promoted in the trip to India, Australia, and Japan.

This week, he will head to Norway to observe the Norwegian-led NATO Cold Response exercise above the Arctic Circle, designed to enhance the Alliance’s readiness, interoperability, and defence capabilities with the participation of NATO’s newest members, Sweden and Finland.

These military partnerships are undertaken without rancour toward the U.S. Carney is never anti-American. He spoke in Australia of his regard for President Trump’s electoral success (joking that to hear Trump tell it, he has won three times).He operates from a standpoint of respect without being obsequious, which Australian hosts welcomed.

But a good part of the respect that he enjoys from others is his sober and stalwart position against being bullied by the US, of having not caved in to unreliable quick-fix trade “deals.” Being on the front line of America’s new role as a disruptive hegemon means Carney is listened to.

We have lost trust in our immediate neighbourhood. But we are building it on a solid new footing with new and old friends abroad. It is quite a feat, and a credit to a prime minister who arrived in the job with big-picture vision, a global network and international credibility.

One recalls the reported reaction of one Rockliffe matron when the news broke that Lester Pearson — our only other prime minister with comparable experience and standing in the world — had just won the Nobel Peace prize: “Just who does he think he is?!”

Carney is showing the world who Canadians are.

Policy Columnist Jeremy Kinsman served as Canada’s ambassador to Russia, high commissioner to the UK, ambassador to Italy and ambassador to the European Union. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Canadian International Council.