For years, Mark Carney was called “Davos Man” because of his position on the Board of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which meets in Davos annually. He also obtained this title because of his Davos-consistent beliefs in global governance, extreme climate change policies and a brand of leftism in keeping with the elites that attend the WEF bunfest every year. These folks fly in on their private jets and live high off the hog while recommending such things as reducing carbon emissions and the culinary advantages of eating insects for the rest of us average humans.
Since becoming Canada’s Prime Minister in 2025, Carney has been trying to move away somewhat from his Davos Man image by claiming to be seriously considering oil pipelines for Canada, pausing the consumer carbon tax and electric vehicle mandate and giving himself and his ministerial colleagues the ability to override on a selective basis a number of bad laws introduced by the Trudeau Liberals which hamstrung large projects. Many people who have read Carney’s book “Value(s)” have been alarmed by his apparent affection for authoritarian regimes, his faith in a government-led economy and his disdain for capitalism and free markets. Has Carney really changed his tune from his earlier incarnation as Davos Man, or has he just made a few concessions on issues that were political hot potatoes to win government, while still buying into the Davos ethos?
Carney’s speech earlier this week at this year’s WEF meeting indicates he is still very much Davos Man. The speech has been getting rave reviews from some quarters, and serious questions from others. Some Carney acolytes have been noting that the Davos crowd loved Carney’s speech. Of course they did, precisely because they are the Davos crowd. These folks are Carney’s people, and very far from average citizens in Western democracies.
Much attention is being paid to Carney’s citing Vaclav Havel, a Czech dissident rebelling against Communism, playwright and politician. Havel famously wrote of the Power of the Powerless, using the analogy of the shopkeeper who is under pressure from a Communist government to put a certain sign in his window even though he doesn’t believe in the message on the sign. Havel notes that the shopkeeper deciding not to display the sign with the message he doesn’t believe is what is needed, so he doesn’t continue to live the lie. Of course, within the authoritarian system he will be punished for not pretending to go along. This is very consistent with the Orwellian dystopia at the heart of the novel 1984, where everyone was compelled to pretend to believe the lies told by “Big Brother” or suffer extreme negative consequences.
Anyone who has lived in Canada for the last decade can see the hypocrisy. Under Trudeau and then Carney’s Liberals, Canadians have been told that tampons are needed in the men’s bathroom in our military, that a carbon tax will make our lives better and cut emissions while the opposite is true, that men can actually be women and other lies we are all supposed to buy into. We were told the consumer carbon tax didn’t increase inflation and we actually got back more than we paid into it, then when the tax was paused by Carney and prices fell, we were supposed to be grateful and conveniently forget those earlier ridiculous claims. This is gaslighting of the highest order. Sorry Carney, but using the Havel example merely underlines your own hypocrisy.
Another point Carney makes in his speech is how the law should apply equally to all citizens. Yet in Canada under his Liberals, minorities, First Nations and often migrants are treated more favourably than others for the same offences. Another immense contradiction in Carney’s apparent “values” and Canada’s realities.
Of course, one of Carney’s key objectives with this speech was to take potshots at Trump. One of the main themes was to encourage so-called “middle powers” to band together against the “hegemons,” the powerful players such as the U.S. Trump is surely doing Canada no favours at the moment, to put it mildly, but for Carney to continue to poke the bear for his own partisan political purposes as Canadian businesses and workers suffer from the current fractious relationship with our largest by far trading partner is a foolish strategy.
Carney also made a big deal about his trip to China, and his desire to move Canada closer to the Communist country that trades unfairly on the global stage, kidnaps Canadians, interferes in our elections, illegally dumps goods into the Canadian market and steals intellectual property, among other things. The country that Carney himself said just last year was the biggest danger to Canada’s security. Does Carney not consider China a hegemon? Of course it is, and Carney is contradicting himself yet again.
Meanwhile, as Carney is giving lofty speeches to the elite Davos crowd and gallivanting around the world first class on our dime, inflation just increased again – especially food inflation – and the news contains more announcements of businesses closing and jobs being lost. Smooth talking may entertain the Davos crowd but does nothing for our economy and the top concern of Canadians – the cost of living. Carney has once again shown that Davos Man is still very much in the picture. That should be of concern to all Canadians.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
