Carney Calls for New Institutions on Affordability, Immigration, AI

TORONTO - Prime Minister Mark Carney called for Canada to create new institutions and overhaul existing ones to counter widespread anxieties over affordability, immigration and artificial intelligence during a closing speech at the 2026 Global Progress Action Summit here on May 9.

Carney addressed an audience that included federal ministers Anita Anand, Melanie Joly and François-Philippe Champagne, as well as current and former politicians from the United States and Europe, such as Pete Buttigieg and Magdalena Andersson. The event, organized by think tanks Canada 2020 and the Center for American Progress Action Fund, also featured former U.S. President Barack Obama at a private gathering the previous day.

The prime minister linked public feelings of lost control to a global "politics of grievance" that divides societies. He argued these challenges demand fresh approaches, echoing themes from his recent appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he stated the international rules-based order is outdated and middle-power nations like Canada must form new coalitions.

Quoting Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, Carney described the current era as "an age of anxiety...