Prime Minister Mark Carney's vision of a middle power working with smaller traditional partners outside the superpower club is emerging at the United Nations, Canada's ambassador says.
“We have developed many types of relationships that work on specific issues,” said David Lametti, Canada's ambassador to the UN. “And that's exactly how I think Prime Minister Carney thought about this, outside of the UN.”
Carney drew global attention this January with his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos encouraging middle powers to come together to advance their interests and avoid being defeated by superpowers.
The prime minister also sought to change Canada's foreign policy from relying on traditional partners to a new vision of what he called “flexible geometry.” He described that approach last November as “strong, overlapping, effective coalitions, built on shared interests, and shared values at times, rather than shared institutions.”
Carney cited the example of dealing with climate change through trade rules set by the European Union, technical standards set by China and India, and environmentally-based solutions provided by Brazil.
“We've been practicing dynamic geometry at the UN probably since the beginning,” Lametti said.
Lametti said that Canada has long wanted to work at the UN with countries representing various regions and interests to find consensus on important issues.
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“At the UN, it happens all the time,” he said.
Canadian foreign policy is often founded on the idea that a rules-based international order makes it easier for small countries to protect themselves and trade with others.
Lametti said a big part of his job is overseeing what he calls the “middle power agenda” of like-minded countries working to uphold international law and resolve problems.
He pointed to the UN group of countries that are coordinating efforts to deal with the problem of gangs in Haiti. The group is co-led by Ottawa and Washington but also includes Central American governments threatened by uncontrolled migration and smuggling.
There is a UN organization that fights for human rights that calls itself the Mountains Group; the member states of Canada, Australia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland all have large mountains. Lametti said that the work of the Mountains Group has become more prominent since Washington has withdrawn from the fight for human rights at the UN.
Lametti said she worked with her Australian and New Zealand counterparts on issues ranging from women's involvement in conflict and peacekeeping to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It is something that allows us to work together. We have like-minded countries, we share values and we can work effectively,” he said.
Another example that Lametti mentioned is the JUSCANZ group – called “juice cans” – which wants to combine how many countries, including Canada, Japan, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and South Korea, share information on policies that affect developed countries outside the European Union.
Lametti said Canada is trying to advance issues that are “very important to the prime minister and the government's direction” with these groups – issues ranging from the safe adoption of artificial intelligence to the protection of civilians in conflict zones.
He said Carney's work to coordinate the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership trading bloc with the European Union is an example of efforts outside the UN to maintain rules-based trade. The move comes amid economic pressure from the US and China.
At a virtual panel held Monday by the NATO Association of Canada, Lametti also said that “restarting” good relations with China and India is a key interest of Canada.
“I don't think we are abandoning our traditional alliances as much as we are adding to them,” he said. “This is all part, I would say, of moving forward from the relationship we had before.”
© 2026 The Canadian Press
