Let’s consider three major international agreements Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has signed and obligated Canada to in his first year of office. In reading the fine print of the recently heralded agreements with China and Qatar, and the June agreement with the European Union (EU), Canadians can discern that Carney’s agreements may contain elements that have the potential to undermine Canadian security, economic promise, and even national sovereignty. Certainly, the bilateral arrangements resulting from Carney’s multiple trade missions appear less about Canada’s economic interests than they are about securing new agreements that rewrite the country’s foreign affairs policies and realign its alliances.
In Beijing, Carney was resetting Canada-China relations by making a full 180-degree about face from the government’s 2024 foreign policy assessment that China is an “increasingly disruptive” global force – and his own Liberal election campaign statement that China was “the biggest security threat to Canada.” Carney announced Canada and China have begun a “new era” and his government welcomed the “strategic partnership” it forged with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Carney punctuated his thoughts about the reset of relations, “I believe the progress that we have made in the partnership sets us up well for the New World Order.” The following week at the World Economic Forum, the Canadian prime minister described his new world order vision as the establishment of new trading blocs and alliances with like-minded nations that could and would bypass U.S. trade and influence.
Foundational to Canada pulling away from the orbit of American trade and foreign affairs was Carney’s strident steps in forming new working relationships with Xi Jinping the CCP. Apart from the much broadcasted electric-vehicle-cars-for-canola trade arrangement, a China-Canada joint statement announced that the countries made new commitments to mutually support the U.N. and other international bodies in order to “improve global governance”; specifically stating, “Canada notes the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) proposed by China.” This includes the accelerated implementation of the net-zero and climate change objectives in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Also, in an unexpected foreign affairs policy reversal, Canada is now committed to the “One China policy” that enunciates China’s claim to the island of Taiwan.
The joint statement also revealed Canada and China had signed a MOU on strengthening energy cooperation, which included initiatives on oil and gas resource development, civil nuclear energy, and uranium trade. Another agreement was signed to permit easier, more convenient access for media to work in each other’s country – this in the spirit of a newly forged cooperation in education, arts, heritage and culture. Most surprisingly, there was a MOU signed between the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security and the RCMP for law enforcement cooperation that will share security and safety measures to tackle corruption and transnational crimes.
Respecting this new police and public safety cooperation, former national director of RCMP proceeds of crime program, Garry Clement, has been vocal in stating this sharing of security intel is foolhardy and dangerous for Canada. Clement argues that the state police in China are an agent of the CCP, and these very police are directly involved in transnational repression, including operating secret police stations in Canadian cities. He warns that the Carney government is “opening the door” for the CCP to capitalize on intelligence. Most concerning for Clement is how this new arrangement “erodes our credibility” with Canada’s Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
Former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney goes further in stating that the latest Beijing series of agreements endangers national sovereignty, with a risk of Canada potentially becoming a “vassal state” of the CCP. In an insightful interview in The Hub, Mulroney stated, “What Prime Minister Carney is doing is uncomfortably like what foreign leaders used to do with the Chinese emperors, which is, come to China and bend the knee and profess your loyalty.”
Getting closer to the CCP raises many serious questions for the country. It furthers the speculation of elite capture and undue foreign influence and interference. All Canadian-Sino activities will be viewed through a different lens by our traditional allies, particularly the U.S. What is to be expected of Canada should China invade Taiwan? Will Canada reinforce the international community’s pressure on the CCP respecting human rights violations with Uyghurs or unacceptable military aggression in the south Pacific? How will Canada deal with China’s increased interest in Canadian natural resources, such as this week’s announcement of a Chinese state-owned subsidiary purchasing the Canadian mining company Allied Gold?
Similar questions will be raised with respect to Canada’s new partnership with Qatar to increase investment and defence cooperation. When Carney met with HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of Qatar, the Canadian prime minister spoke of a “close friendship, and a common vision for advancing the partnership between the two friendly nations.” The hollowness of Carney’s words expressing “shared priorities, similar values, and mutual respect” with Qatar was called out by Terry Newman in her National Post column, “Carney joins Trump in making a deal with the devil in Qatar.” Newman raises the hypocrisy in dealing with a country that is ruled by Sharia Law and abuses migrants, suppresses free speech, abuses the LGBTQ+ community, and shelters Hamas leaders. How is it that Canadians share these values and vision with the elites and leadership in Qatar?
Still Carney was keen to commit to new bilateral engagements on AI technology and defence, and economic cooperation in mining, agriculture and telecommunications. Qatar also committed to investing in Carney’s nation-building major projects. Read the joint statement here. In his media conference, Carney flaunted the new economic opportunities to be had with Qatar, a country that had $325 million of two-way trade last year (and to put Carney’s ridiculous claim into perspective, Canada-US share $3.6 billion of cross-border trade daily).
There is another significant partnership agreement Canada entered into in this past year. On June 23, 2025, after adjourning Parliament for the summer, Carney travelled to Brussels, Belgium to sign with the EU an extensive and wide ranging document: Joint statement: Enduring Partnership, Ambitious Agenda. The partnership emphasized its unwavering commitment to the United Nations and its charter, promoting democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, gender equality and the rule of law globally, and the implementation of the UN’s 2030 Agenda and Pact for the Future, which accelerates net-zero and climate change objectives. It included agreements for EU-Canada trade and a new digital ID partnership. Most significantly, the new EU partnership included signed agreements for Europe’s REARM program – a $237 billion pact for its defence and security of Europe.
On a great many issues, the agreement and documents signed by Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have bound Canada to a web of activities now being managed by the EU bureaucracy in Brussels. Remarkably, Carney signed these documents with no parliamentary debate or government planning, no public dialogue with Canadians, and having not shared a fiscal plan on how the new commitments would be paid for. Moreover, though Canadians are not being kept informed of the EU agenda, Canada is advancing lockstep with the developments involving European defence initiatives, environmental and green energy projects, and the advancement of digital IDs and AI technologies. On this last subject matter, Canada has begun “joint testing of digital credential technologies, drive pilot projects, and share information” to introduce in Canada new digital IDs. Canadians learned of the government’s work through an European Commission release, “European Union and Canada strengthen their digital partnership with a focus on artificial intelligence, digital identity wallets and independent media.”
Here is a concluding thought not raised in legacy media, as the prime minister prepares his next world tour to Australia and beyond. There is a recognizable pattern to the manner in which Carney unilaterally makes international commitments, whether it be signed agreements, MOUs, or consensual arrangements. In essence, Carney is flying solo – adhering to his own counsel and working with his own network. Without parliamentary debate or public discussion, and one can surmise without even the Liberal caucus knowledge, Carney is forging ahead to sign significant international agreements. These agreements are profoundly realigning Canada’s place in the global community and its standing with its traditional allies. As Canadians will come to appreciate in the passing of time, the devil is sure to be in the details of those CCP, Qatar, and EU agreements.
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
