LILLEY: If Mark Carney can avoid lecturing Saudi Arabia, why not Donald Trump?

PM has ditched the meddlesome foreign policy of Justin Trudeau, except when it comes to U.S. president

Published Jul 09, 2026  •  Last updated 1 hour ago  •  3 minute read

This handout picture released by the Saudi Ministry of Media shows Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) welcoming Prime Minister Mark Carney during his official visit at Al-Salam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday, July 9, 2026. Photo by Saudi Ministry of Media /AFP via Getty Images

On Thursday, Mark Carney stood in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and said something long overdue when it comes to Canadian foreign policy. The PM called for an end to Canada endlessly lecturing other countries.

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Carney was responding to a question about doing business with countries where we have a different view when it comes to issues like human rights.

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“Lecturing countries from afar is an ineffective strategy. It’s satisfying, but it’s ineffective,” Carney said.

It’s interesting that he made those comments in Saudi Arabia given that lecturing by the Trudeau Liberal government in 2018 caused a rupture, to use one of Carney’s favourite words, with the Gulf kingdom.

In response to Saudi Arabia arresting Samar Badawi, the sister of imprisoned dissident Raif Badawi, Global Affairs Canada and then-foreign minister Chrystia Freeland issued calls for her immediate release. Neither Samar nor Raif were Canadian citizens, so our official involvement at the government level should have been limited and any statements made quietly, not brashly posted to Twitter.

Raif’s wife Ensaf Haidar, along with their three children, fled to Canada after his arrest and have since become citizens. That gives Canada some interest in the case, but both Badawi siblings are Saudi citizens only.

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Former prime minister Justin Trudeau speaks during the societal and political discussion festival SuomiAreena in Pori, Finland on June 25. Photo by Getty Images

Costs of Trudeau’s moralizing foreign policy

None of that mattered to the Trudeau government as it blasted Saudi Arabia publicly. Canada’s ambassador in Riyadh was kicked out and the Saudi ambassador in Ottawa was called home. Trade ground to a halt and Saudi students in Canadian schools were told to return home or transfer to schools in other countries.

That wasn’t the only example of Trudeau’s foreign policy lecturing causing problems internationally.

In 2020, India was facing protests from farmers, a good number of whom were Sikhs from the Punjab region of India. Canada has a large population from this area and Trudeau’s caucus and cabinet featured several Sikhs.

In an online video message, Trudeau inserted himself into the internal matters of India, further damaging relations with the emerging global giant.

“Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protest. We believe in the importance of dialogue,” Trudeau said.

Less than two years later, he was freezing bank accounts, sending in police on horseback and suspending charter rights to deal with a protest that he didn’t like and protesters who he refused to engage with in terms of dialogue.

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Carney’s pragmatism stops at U.S. border

Carney has since repaired relations with India and he’s repairing relations with Saudi Arabia. This appears to be part of his view that we take the world for what it is and don’t lecture other countries.

It’s a welcome change, it’s just too bad Carney won’t apply that same world view to Donald Trump and the United States.

It’s much easier to deal with Trump if you take him as he is, don’t get emotional about his comments and look for solutions. Carney is unable to do that with Trump and strangely praises him, acting like a sycophant when he sees Trump in person, but then rails against him when Trump isn’t in the room.

We saw that with Carney’s World Economic Forum speech in Davos, Switzerland, in January and now we can see more thanks to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.

In a two-part piece published this week, the Journal detailed how Carney has spent months lobbying European officials to organize in opposition to Trump. They describe how, using his British cellphone number, he regularly texts them, checks in and tries to push for the middle-power vision he laid out in Davos.

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“We don’t have a relationship to keep!” Carney reportedly texted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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Canada needs realism, not anti-Trump crusade

In another conversation Carney told European leaders: “The old America isn’t coming back.”

There is some truth to what Carney has said and he’s right that we are far too reliant on the U.S., but the problem is he has set himself up as a sort of opposition leader to Trump. That’s a bad place to be when we are still so dependent on the Americans for trade and defence.

Diversify, absolutely, but don’t needlessly irritate the people you rely on to fuel your economy.

Carney can accept Turkey and Saudi Arabia as they are and do business with them, so he should try doing the same with the U.S.

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