The Monocle Minute

Leadership election victories, especially those won by a landslide, tend to be followed by a honeymoon period. Not so for Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister-designate. Despite securing a whopping 85 per cent of the Liberal Party vote to succeed Justin Trudeau over the weekend, Carney now has the unenviable task of tackling the country’s increasingly torrid trading relationship with the US. If he wants to remain in the job, the new PM will need to get tricky negotiations with the Trump administration right – and in good time.

Yet he can also seize upon a certain momentum right now in Canada. The past few weeks have seen an uptick of patriotism that has brought with it a surge in sales of homegrown products, from spirits to vegetables, as shoppers seek to make a statement in response to US tariffs. Alongside this, the country is loosening up some of its internal trade barriers, which have the potential to buffer its economy from any future US export levies by generating an additional CA$200bn (€128bn) a year. Carney needs to capitalise on this spirit and show how the country is moving in tandem, perhaps anchoring his message with some of the infrastructure megaprojects mooted or currently under way, from modernising major ports to building high-speed rail.

If the US administration’s manoeuvres against Canada’s economy have galvanised the country at large, then they should also be the driving motivation in government for the new prime minister. There is a huge opportunity to transform the profound uncertainty caused by the whims of an unreliable neighbour into a refreshed sense of ambition and possibility at home. Carney now needs to get cracking and bring those aspirations into view, at speed.

Tomos Lewis is Monocle’s Toronto correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Hong Kong’s transport minister, Mable Chan, has unveiled a new fleet of premium taxis that will replace the city’s classic red Toyota Crown Comforts (writes James Chambers). The rainbow-coloured line-up of car models – which include Nissan, Toyota, Mifa and Geely – will be rolled out over the next few months and will eventually account for 20 per cent of the city’s fleet. The fact that a company called Big Boss will operate the battery-powered black Maxus Mifa Ts – China’s answer to the Toyota Alphards that ferry wealthy families around the city – is so quintessentially Hong Kong that I can’t believe that it took this long.

The introduction of a wheelchair-accessible, six-seater option is welcome in this ageing society; even though it won’t end the nightly haggling that happens when half-a-dozen drunk friends try to squeeze into a four- or five-seater. My only concern is the paintwork. Iconic cities tend to have iconic taxis and Hong Kong is no exception; its red fleet is as recognisable as London’s black cabs or New York’s yellow rides. Let’s hope that they remain a part of the mix so that every visit to Hong Kong can involve at least one trip down memory lane.

The Monocle team is at Mipim, the world’s largest property event, which is held annually in Cannes. This year we will be reporting on the convention for both the magazine and The Monocle Minute, and also have a Monocle Radio studio at the host venue, The Palais. It kicked off yesterday with Housing Matters! – a conference looking at the challenges around building homes in our cities. The lead speaker was Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, who caught up with Monocle offstage. Here’s a snapshot of what he had to say.

This is your first time at Mipim. What made you decide to come this year?
We are seeing an alignment of the stars for London. The UK has a new government whose mission is growth and I’m here with a tangible offer – an investment prospectus of 20 live projects.

You have ambitious house-building plans but many developers are still holding back, partly because of interest rates. Can you deliver?
Over the past eight years we have seen more homes completed than at any time since the 1930s. This is a new era for house-building by councils. With the new government, we can offer investors stability.

You’ve spoken about stopping delays caused by vociferous local residents but, in the past, bad projects have been pushed through with little thought given to their impact. What’s the safeguard?
The previous mayor had the kind of laissez-faire attitude to planning that leads to the situation that you’re describing, where no one has thought about the public realm or sense of place. We need to be more assertive about good plans.

Tell us about the potential expansion of Heathrow. The UK government supports this but you seem not to.
I’m somebody who sees the benefits of aviation to our economy. The expansion of City and Stansted have already been greenlit and Luton’s might be too – so what’s the justification for Heathrow’s? I’m in favour of a better Heathrow, not a bigger one.

To hear more from Khan, tune in to today’s ‘The Globalist’ and this Thursday’s ‘The Urbanist’ on Monocle Radio.

The 69th Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place in Basel in May, is a homecoming for the event: Switzerland hosted and won its first edition in 1956 and the headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union, the body that co-ordinates the competition, is in Geneva. Most countries have picked their entries already, including Switzerland, which has chosen “Voyage” by Basel-born Zöe Më. Here, Monocle’s Eurovision correspondent, Fernando Augusto Pacheco, picks three of the strongest contenders.

1. ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ by KAJ (Sweden)
   Sweden’s boisterous entry is the bookies’ favourite this year. Though the song is the country’s first Swedish-language offering since 1998 (Jill Johnson’s “Kärleken är”, for all you trivia fans), KAJ are actually from Finland and their song pays homage to the latter nation’s sauna culture. So expect a few hot Finnish heads if the band is triumphant.

2. ‘C’est la vie’ by Claude (The Netherlands)
   As Eurovision drifts ever closer to the mainstream, many countries have started to put forward established pop stars. France’s pick, for example, is Louane, a well-known singer and actress with a decade-long career under her belt. The Netherlands’ entry, Claude, can also be filed under this category: his 2022 hit “Ladada” has streaming numbers in the millions. “C’est la vie”, his disco-infused entry for this year’s contest, is a heartfelt tribute to his mother that will also get you moving.

3. ‘Ich Komme’ by Erika Vikman (Finland)
   Former tango singer Erika Vikman has been given the task of showing Finland’s neighbours where the Nordics’ biggest talent lies. With its pumping beats and risqué lyrics, this highly addictive paean to pleasure is a tribute to the country’s rich disco heritage.

We report from Spain’s biggest contemporary-art fair, Arco Madrid. Every year, exhibition space Ifema Madrid plays host to a rich variety of galleries, curatorial presentations and many beautiful works. It’s here that the art worlds of old Europe and Latin America are brought together under one roof, with the rest of the globe invited too. We hear from one of the curators behind the Amazofuturism section, leading gallerists from around the world and Arco’s leadership.