Prime Minister

Mark Carney

risks running out of time in his push to find a new path for Canada, says former Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff.

Carney made waves at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week when he warned of a “rupture” in the world order and urged intermediate nations like Canada to band together to protect themselves from “great powers” that are using economic integration as weapons.

Carney “got it right. We are in a new world,” said Ignatieff, in an

interview

with the Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn. The Canadian author and historian served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition from 2008 until 2011.

“The rules-based international order was always a bit of a fiction,” he said. “It allowed us to believe we had the protection of the United States. We had the protection of international law. We’re actually not in that world at all.”

Instead the rules of international law have been replaced by a division of the world into three zones of influence: United States, China and Russia, he said.

Ignatieff said he got the impression from

Carney’s speech

that the prime minister thought Canada-United-States-Mexico-Agreement (

CUSMA

) negotiations were possibly “dead in the water.”

Carney is saying “if we have to live in a world in which CUSMA has dissolved and we’re in a high tariff regime with the United States, then so be it.”

It won’t come without consequences, but Carney is saying it would not have made it better by “making nice” with U.S. President

Donald Trump

, Ignatieff said.

Ignatieff said Canada could build an alternative to the trading world dominated by the United States by forming partnerships with middle-sized nations and big countries like India.

“Carney’s problem is all of this takes time,” he said.

“It can be done because we’re a rich and capable country, and these other countries in Latin America and elsewhere are potential partners, but all of it takes time,” he said. “This is a 10-year, 15-year project. It’s doable, but the question is whether Carney’s got the time to do it.”

The prime minister’s first order of business should be to start negotiations with Trump. “Send a very clear message that there are bottom lines that he will not compromise on,” he said.

Then Carney has to deliver successes on the home front, including oil terminals and mining deals, Ignatieff said. “He’s got to show the Canadian public that it’s not all promises, that he’s beginning to deliver.”

  • Carney got it right, we are in a new world, says Michael Ignatieff
  • Adam Waterous: Even quicker project approvals are needed to protect Canada’s sovereignty and preserve national unity

• Email: novid@postmedia.com