Michael Taube: Mark Carney finally delivers, uh, Eurovision?

Canada Day — or, as it used to be called, Dominion Day — has long served as a celebration of pride and national identity. The decision and timing of an announcement of Canada's entry into an international song competition (which was briefly mentioned in last year's budget) on that very day struck a strange chord. Unless you take into consideration Prime Minister Mark Carney's song-and-dance routine about Canada becoming closer to Europe and the European Union.

"Canada will participate in the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest in Bulgaria," according to a joint announcement by the European Broadcasting Union and CBC/Radio-Canada on July 1. "Canada is the first new country to join the Eurovision Song Contest since Australia in 2015 and will compete in the Semi-Finals when they join the competition next year. CBC/Radio-Canada will unveil details on how Canada's entry will be selected later this year."

Marie-Philippe Bouchard, President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, was quoted in the announcement and said in part, "On this Canada Day, as we celebrate with Canadians across the country and around the world the richness and diversity of Canadian culture, we're so excited to confirm that we're bringing the world's largest live music event to Canadians." Bouchard also made this assessment, "It will also allow fans in Canada to continue watching and voting in the Song Contest, as they have done for years — with the added thrill of seeing their own country represented on the Eurovision stage."

How can Canada be a part of Eurovision? That's easy: CBC/Radio-Canada became a full member of the European Broadcasting Union on June 25. This is the key to becoming part of the popular song contest. We're also not the only non-European country that participates (or will participate) in Eurovision. Australia, which was mentioned in the above announcement, joined the competition in 2015. Israel and Morocco are part of Eurovision, too.

While I've never cared for the Eurovision Song Contest — most of the music is rubbish, campy and unpalatable, in my opinion — there are millions of people around the world who would disagree. The grand final of this year's 70th Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Vienna, reportedly had a "viewing share of 42.6%, over double the broadcaster average," "a 54.8% share of 15–24-year-olds, up from 2025 and over four times higher than the broadcast channels' average" and "5.43 million unique viewers on YouTube." And on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, "official Eurovision content generated more than 2.75 billion views during the season (January 1 – May 30)."

Canada is apparently one of the bigger international followers of Eurovision. "Canada ranked in the Top 3 countries in the 'Rest of the World' vote," according to the EBU-CBC/Radio Canada announcement. "Canadians were also among the largest ticket-buyers outside of Europe, with many travelling to Vienna to attend the Semi Finals and Grand Final. Read more about Canada's Eurovision history here."

That's all well and good, but there's a big difference between watching a competition and participating in it. Here's an example. Canada is participating in the World Cup, an international soccer competition which is open to countries around the world. Viewership numbers in this country, once the final tabulations are released, should be quite high when the competition ends. Many Canadians also enjoy watching another major soccer competition, the UEFA European Championship, which has significant viewership in Europe, North America and around the world. Our country doesn't participate in this competition because we're not part of Europe.

Which is something that Carney seems to be thinking about a lot. Too much, actually.

Carney infamously described Canada last June as being the "most European of non-European countries." He's taken more than his fair share of European trips and political excursions since becoming the 24th prime minister of Canada last March. He's also been pushing for stronger ties with Europe, highlighted by his decision to sign a security and defence partnership with the EU. The goal of this partnership was to "establish and implement a tailor-made, mutually beneficial partnership that will frame bilateral dialogue and co-operation across the full security and defence spectrum," and "promote multilateral dialogue and co-operation with like-minded countries in relevant areas of security and defence where considered mutually beneficial."

All of this is happening at the expense of our tattered relationship with the U.S. and President Donald Trump. While no-one is suggesting that dealing with Trump is a walk in the park, and he's taken plenty of swipes at Canada, Carney has been an equally poor dance partner. The PM has taken plenty of indirect jabs at the president, including a fireside chat-style video, Forward Guidance, that suggested "we have to take care of ourselves because we can't rely on one foreign partner" and to search out and "attract new investment so we can build more for ourselves, striking new partnerships abroad so we can sell into new markets."

Think about it. Why did Canada ask to become part of this song contest? There hasn't been any clamouring in this country to specifically participate in Eurovision, as far as I can tell.

There's only one logical reason. Carney's near-obsession to move Canada closer to Europe and the EU. The PM's vision, and Canada joining Eurovision, are seemingly joined at the political-musical hip.

Lucy Gay: The culprit behind Gen Z's bleak job market isn't AI. It's Zoom calls

Andrew Percy: Canadians who care about Alberta should fear Project Fear