Focusing on areas where Canada retains some agency is exactly the point of many of the reforms that Ottawa has lately been adopting. For other open, developed economies—such as the European Union —these policies provide a blueprint for a sensible response to current economic challenges. They include supporting exporters through a deepening of the domestic market, doubling down on new free trade agreements, and leveraging existing assets to become a supplier of critical goods to like-minded allies.

Speeches by heads of government are seldom worth a read, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s address at the Council on Foreign Relations on Sept. 22 is an exception to this rule. Carney makes a no nonsense diagnosis: For an open, democratic economy such as Canada, the end of the rules-based global order and the trade challenges stemming from both the United States and China are existential threats. Not all is lost, though. As Carney puts it, countries can still “get on with what we can control.”

Speeches by heads of government are seldom worth a read, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s address at the Council on Foreign Relations on Sept. 22 is an exception to this rule. Carney makes a no nonsense diagnosis: For an open, democratic economy such as Canada, the end of the rules-based global order and the trade challenges stemming from both the United States and China are existential threats. Not all is lost, though. As Carney puts it, countries can still “get on with what we can control.”

Focusing on areas where Canada retains some agency is exactly the point of many of the reforms that Ottawa