Louise Blais (Quebec City), Jeremy Kinsman (Victoria), and Peter Donolo (San Miguel de Allende) bring decades of diplomatic, communications, and global-affairs savvy -plus their candid spark and divergent takes- for dynamic, fiery-yet-respectful analysis of world events and Canada’s place in them. Louise channels a diplomat’s pragmatic read on Washington’s China fears; Jeremy, an ambassador’s multilateral wisdom; Peter, a strategist’s sharp “neo-colonial” edge. Together, they dissect Rubio’s Munich headline: what it means for Canada, U.S. allies, and a fracturing order. Listen here or read on…

Marco Rubio arrived in Munich promising reassurance after J.D. Vance’s bombshell remarks last year. Instead, he delivered Trumpism in a silkier tone: a nod to Europe, but the same stark choice – align with a West under threat, or dilute its greatness.

“Trump with an Indoor Voice”

“It was Donald Trump with an indoor voice,” Peter Donolo charges. Rubio hailed Western civilization as history’s pinnacle while decrying migration and multilateral failures that breed unfair trade and unsolved crises like climate. The audience rose in standing applause – relief, mostly, not rapture.

Donolo spots darker echoes: neo-colonial vibes and white-nationalist anxiety over demographics, capped by Rubio’s rally with Viktor Orbán, Europe’s ethno-nationalist standard-bearer and Putin’s loudest EU cheerleader. “Outrageous for Washington to meddle in allied elections,” he says.

Multilateralism’s Last Stand?

Jeremy Kinsman sees deeper roots. Frustration with the “international order” predates Trump – global bodies failed on trade equity and migration controls. Rubio skipped “democracy” entirely and barely nodded to Ukraine’s war. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz fired back: Europe and partners like Canada must build “coalitions of the willing.”

Kinsman nods to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Davos call for middle powers to act – or end up “on the menu.” It’s multilateralism rebooted as multi-polarity: shared burdens, not U.S. hegemony.

China: Culprit or Competitor?

Here the trio clashes. Louise Blais pins the order’s unraveling on China’s WTO entry, forging dangerous dependencies in chips, drugs, autos – bipartisan panic in Washington. “Rubio’s question was blunt: with us, or not?” she says. Canada’s China deal, even surgical, stung because it hit auto supply chains.

Kinsman demurs: China’s mercantilist, not missionary – no regime-change crusades. U.S. obsession with supremacy blinds it to middle powers’ resilience needs. Donolo agrees: “They shoved us out of autos – Big Three told to bolt south. So we court Japan, Korea, even China.”

Canada’s High-Wire Act

USMCA talks loom as Mexico and Washington whisper bilaterals, sidelining Ottawa. Blais warns Carney’s smart defense pivot—more domestic spending, supply-chain resilience—gets sold as anti-Trump posturing, costing access. “We’re not independent overnight,” she cautions.

“Don’t suck up to Trump,” Kinsman snaps. Donolo praises Carney’s quiet moves: envoy John Hannaford scouting CPTPP-EU links; new trade chief Janice Charette, a hard-nosed pro. Politico dubs Carney middle-power catalyst. Still, Trump 2.0 eyes no-deal chaos—or worse.

Rubio’s polite thunder drew cheers, but for Canada, it’s wake-up: no restoring the old order. Middle powers must weave dense webs—trade, security, tech—between U.S. volatility and China’s pull. Sacrifice ahead, says ex-PM Harper: independence demands it.

Hear the full fireworks – China barbs, NAFTA brinkmanship, auto angst—in the complete Red Passport episode. 

© OpenCanada