Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Wed. January 21st, 2026

As world leaders gathered in Davos for a week-long summit, Prime Minister Carney delivered a fairly provocative speech. He didn’t mention Donald Trump by name, but he was addressing world powers who have been using tariffs as a form of coercion. He was calling on the world’s middle powers to step up and stand up. A day later, America’s President replied, and he was not happy with Canada’s top dog. He says that Canada ‘gets a lot of freebies’ from America, and that they should be grateful to have America as an ally. What do we make of this tense back-and-forth? How should Carney respond, if he should respond at all? In Hour 1, Kristy Cameron paints the bigger picture with the help of Jack Cunningham. He is an Assistant Professor at Trinity College, where he is also a Program Coordinator of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History. But first, we bring you up to speed on today’s top headlines.