Show notes
On July 9, Mark Carney became the first Canadian Prime Minister to visit Saudi Arabia in 26 years — a Royal Palace meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, thirteen commercial agreements the PMO values at over $1 billion, and one sentence doing all the work: publicly condemning countries from afar is “an ineffective strategy.”In 2018, Canada spoke up about Saudi Arabia's human rights record and paid for it — an expelled ambassador and a five-year diplomatic freeze. In 2026, the lesson appears to have been silence.I walk through what was signed, what wasn't disclosed, the strongest case for the trip, and the question nobody at the press conference asked:Who sets the price of Canada's word?CHAPTERS