The narrow victory of Mark Carney’s Liberal party in last month’s federal elections in Canada was an extraordinary reversal of fortune. Before the former governor of the Bank of England became Canada’s 24th prime minister, the opposition Conservative party had regularly enjoyed double-digit leads in the opinion polls. Carney, by placing a defiant and punchy anti-Trump message at the heart of his campaign, turned the election on its head and will remain in office.
The prime minister of Canada is suddenly a folk hero around the world for standing up to the playground bully, playing a slick, globalist David to Trump’s angry, nativist Goliath. There are now suggestions that this week’s summit in Oslo of the ten participant nations in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) will consider whether Canada should be invited to join the organisation.
What would Canada actually bring to the table?
The JEF was a concept devised by the UK, set out in 2012 by chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards in a speech at RUSI.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate, free for a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.
UNLOCK ACCESS Try a month freeAlready a subscriber? Log in