On Tuesday, Canada’s prime minister delivered an impactful speech at Davos.

The next day, at the same forum, Donald Trump proved, at least for the near future, that the United States is more of a threat than an ally to any democracy, including Canada. Trump criticized Carney, saying Canada “lives because of the United States” and should be grateful for its security.

Amidst Trump’s threats of annexation of Greenland and Canada, Carney announced a new approach to our foreign policy, saying “we can build something better, stronger, and more just.”

Carney is not wrong. Yes, we need to understand the world as it is. Yes, Canada must defend our sovereignty. Yes, we must build a better, stronger, and more just world. And yes, there has been a rupture in the world order.

But what Carney did not say, and should, is how Canada contributed to that rupture, and that rebuilding on the same foundation we have broken will not produce a different outcome.

The rules-based international order broke because we did not uphold it.

It broke as states like Canada failed to defend universal human rights and international law, choosing the comfort of elites over the rights of people and profit over principle.

It broke as we turned a blind eye to the rise of authoritarian leaders and movements that undermine democracy, including at home.

It broke as we signed trade deals without human rights provisions. Deals that protected corporate profits while workers, Indigenous communities, and civilians paid the price.

It broke as we cut funding from international development assistance and reduced Canada’s diplomatic corps.

It broke as we sent our weapons to human rights abusers.

It broke as we failed to call out violations of international law by our allies and friends.

It broke in the carnage of the Gaza genocide, a genocide that Canada has refused to name for more than two years. A genocide that Canada, and Europe, have been complicit in by providing arms and diplomatic cover, undermining international law and the very institutions designed to prevent utter hell. A genocide funded by the United States even before Trump’s second term began. A genocide that continues today, with Canada’s tacit support.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu, a war criminal wanted by the ICC, has announced he will join Trump’s “Board of Peace,” alongside Putin, Blair, Orban, and Lukashenko. This collection of war criminals and human rights abusers is set to determine the fate not just of Gaza, but of future conflicts. Carney must reject any association with them or Trump’s plans.

Trump’s Board must not replace the UN and it must not replace the institutions we have built over decades. Those multilateral institutions are indeed weakened, but they are not dead. Canada must continue to show up and do its part, while also building new coalitions. But we cannot do that with a diminished foreign service. The Liberals’ cuts to our diplomatic corps and resources must be reversed.

In recent weeks, Carney’s government has reached out to China, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, all countries with alarming human rights records. And in its announcements of new economic partnerships, the most vulnerable people have been forgotten. No mention from Canada of the UAE’s role in genocide in Sudan. No mention of abuses of minorities in China and India.

This is not the better, stronger, and more just approach that Canada needs now.

My friend Alex Neve puts it best: we must move forward not just with recognition of what the world is or what we wish it to be, “but with singular, determined focus on the world we know, in our heart and in our souls, must be.”

And that world must be one where Canada not only defends itself but also speaks out against aggression, abuse, and hate. One where our government takes care of all Canadians, and also plays a constructive role in the world. Where we do not put profit before people. Where working people are not asked to absorb the costs of instability while the ultra wealthy remain insulated from its consequences.

I welcome Carney’s honesty about where the world is now, and I share his concern about our collective future. The threats to Canada’s sovereignty are real. This is indeed a dangerous and terrifying time, and all Canadians should be prepared for hard years ahead.

And we must be honest that we cannot rebuild the world we need on the same foundations we allowed it to fracture.

At home, we need a social democratic solution to this crisis: better support for Canadians with housing and health care. Investment in the North that is led by Arctic and Inuit communities. A real plan to combat the climate crisis.

And globally, as Canada builds new economic partnerships, we must have the moral courage to speak the truth about human rights. If not, we will continue to be part of the problem.

Telling the truth is the bare minimum Canadians should accept from leaders. But we must demand so much more. We must defend international law without exception. We must stand up to fascism wherever it emerges, including Washington. We must rebuild and strengthen the multilateral institutions we helped create and refuse to let Trump and his coalition of authoritarians replace them with a cartel of impunity.

The world has changed, but what that change will be has yet to be written. Our job now is not to restore what failed, but to build something new, insisting on a world where sovereignty is defended, where human rights are universal, where the needs of people and our planet are put ahead of profits, and where criminals and thugs do not get to decide the future based on might and wealth. Canada cannot afford to sit on the sidelines.

We have to choose. We have to act.

Heather McPherson is the MP for Edmonton-Strathcona and is running for the leadership of the federal NDP.

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