Canadian Socialists Are Not Leading the 'Free World'

Loathing of President Donald Trump and his trash-talking trade wars has launched Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney into the socialist stratosphere. Try not to laugh at this headline from Rolling Stone Canada: "How Mark Carney Became Leader of the Free World by Standing Up to Trump."

This is the hot anti-Trump take: socialists can run the "Free World" while they impose socialism globally.

This same spirit took flight when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen invited Canada to become the European Union's first associate member in a speech in France. She declared they wanted to bring the bilateral relationship "to the highest level possible."

The socialists at National "Public" Radio were thrilled. Paris-based reporter Eleanor Beardsley characterized this as an anti-bullying binge: "Europe and Canada have felt threatened by the U.S. under the second Trump administration, from the tariffs to the threats of leaving NATO and taking Greenland. Both the EU and Canada are feeling bullied by their long-term ally."

NPR ran several quotes from Carney, but this was the richest: "We do not pursue zero-sum deals. Our commitment to the rule of law and our unyielding defense of human dignity, individual freedom and democracies share the same deep roots, the same unwavering dedication."

Carney's Liberal Party predecessor, Justin Trudeau, aggressively pushed against individual freedom in 2022 in punitive actions against the Freedom Convoy, a nationwide trucker protest of Canada's COVID-19 vaccine mandates. That authoritarian government seized the bank accounts of anti-mandate protesters with no legal process. Trudeau spat out that the protesters were a "fringe minority" with "unacceptable views." Does that sound like the "Free World" in action?

But leftist media outlets in Canada and America fervently lined up with Trudeau's tactics. CNN hated the Canadian protests so much that I found the term "so-called Freedom Convoy" used in 62 different hours of CNN coverage. They would choke on writing "so-called Black Lives Matter."

The EU folks also touted how they are the ones who love "democracy" (unlike Trump). But that's not true. They don't show an "unwavering dedication" to engaging in democratic debate. They love censoring their opponents.

On X, people translated a recent speech from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: "Please don't come to me with free speech ... That is at most a libertarian political understanding from parts of the USA that I personally do not share. A liberal society must still be able to protect its citizens from false information, from personal degradations, from discrimination." German police conducted a criminal investigation of a man who mocked Merz as "Pinocchio" on a Facebook page. So much for the "Free World."

Then there's Carney touting his "unyielding defense of human dignity." Carney and his party have also pushed "medical assistance in dying" (MAID) to keep their healthcare costs down. In April, Canada officially passed 100,000 "provisions" of MAID since it was made legal in 2016. Canada is planning on broadening assisted suicide to people with mental illness in 2027. The left considers it "dignified" to not only allow euthanasia, but even push it on people with diseases and disabilities. When they boast about "access to health care," it can mean access to suicide.

Nevertheless, the socialists will come together and tout their shared values, with one telling NPR that "democracies are under attack, the geopolitical order is in ruins." They always assume that it's only the conservatives that are ruining things with their "my way or the highway" mentality. The left never "bullies" their opponents. Their refusal to bend against Trump is glorious, not ruinous. It's easier to believe that when you live inside an airless bubble of shared socialist ideology.

Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.