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Democrats including Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Pete Buttigieg joined Prime Minister Mark Carney and former President Barack Obama at the Global Progress Action summit. Attendees examined Carney's 2025 win, which featured a pivot from left-wing climate policies to economic growth and housing initiatives. Discussions focused on delivering tangible results to counter populist movements.
SemaforAmerican Democrats joined international progressives at the Global Progress Action summit in Toronto this past weekend to examine how Prime Minister Mark Carney defeated the populist right in Canada. The conference, held at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel from May 9-11 2026 and organized by the Center for American Progress and Canada 2020, featured speeches, bilateral meetings and a closed-press session with former President Barack Obama.
Mark Carney won the Canadian federal election in 2025.
After taking power he convinced members of the opposition to switch parties, abandoned some left-wing climate policies, pivoted to economic growth, scrapped a consumer climate tax, scrapped an electric vehicle mandate and announced funds for new and faster home-building.
Carney delivered a direct message to the gathering. “Those whose politics are to destroy, to demolish or dismantle — they’re not going to change their instincts.
The loss of control that people feel, that feeds our age of anxiety — it can only be answered, only be answered, by positive action,” he told the Global Progress Action summit. Attendees celebrated Viktor Orban's defeat in Hungary last month as evidence that the populist right can be beaten.
Yet they acknowledged similar challenges in their own countries as voters turned toward parties promising to halt immigration and restore national greatness.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who attended the summit, emphasized the need to deliver concrete results. “The average American is going to struggle to care about climate change if they can’t figure out how to pay their rent.
The most important thing is delivery of services and governance to people. The environmental movement, in general, needs to adjust, and say: ‘We can’t just be about stopping things,’” Slotkin told Semafor. Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and former director of the Biden White House’s domestic policy council, said the conference participants recognized the urgency of early wins.
Evan Solomon, Canada’s minister for AI and digital transformation, offered a blunt assessment. “Progressives are in the ‘prove it’ business now,” he said at the conference. Solomon added that the challenge was winning “people who are disenfranchised and turning to populist right-wing movements, because they think when they ask us for something, they get a lecture, not an affordable house.
The UK Labour Party provided a cautionary tale. It won a landslide victory in the 2024 general election but was defeated in local elections in May 2026 by newer parties of the far right and far left. Conference attendees expressed optimism about Democratic chances in the US November 2026 midterms due to unpopularity of the Trump administration.
Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign minister, pointed to trade strategies amid shifting American policy. “When there is a retreat towards protectionism by the United States, we need to ensure we’re de-risking. And we do that by trade diversification,” Anand said.
Pete Buttigieg, who also attended the summit, suggested Democrats focus on straightforward legislation. He proposed “clean bills” on “higher wages,” “universal health insurance coverage,” and paid leave for families. ” Semafor reported that the element of Carney’s approach that resonated most with some attendees was his speed in shifting policy and convincing voters his government was delivering for them.
The gathering reflected a broader reassessment among progressives of how to regain working-class support after recent electoral setbacks.
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