Prime Minister Mark Carney touts Canadian values in speech at global progress summit

The prime minister quoted Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, in saying that today’s “age of anxiety” was caused by “trying to do today’s job with yesterday’s tools.”

He said Canada doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but his government has made efforts to advance modern solutions, like seeking trade deals in Europe and beyond in the face of U.S. tariffs and creating the Build Canada Homes agency which aims to build thousands of homes on federally owned land.

Carney said the government’s approach includes a willingness to accept hard realities, like using all sources of energy, “including some gas,” while working towards cleaner, more affordable energy systems.

He also highlighted the Liberals’ newly-announced sovereign wealth fund, which he said will fund nation-building projects while giving regular Canadians who invest a piece of the profits.

“We have to take risks again,” Carney said. “Because in a crisis, fortune favors the bold.”

Carney said the current moment has been seized by politicians who seek to destroy and dismantle and progressives must answer by building.

“We can’t match them by being timid imitations of them. We can’t answer them by pining for an old order that’s not going to return,” he said. “It can only be answered by positive action, by building that which comes next.”

The Global Progress Action Summit, which hosted former U.S. President Barack Obama in a private event on Friday, convenes progressive leaders and thinkers, according to think tanks Canada 2020 and the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which organized the event.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2026.

Kathryn Mannie, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney touts Canadian values in speech at global progress summit

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