Below is the full transcript of Mandem Dayv’s speech, delivered at the Davos Bar & Grill in Rexdale.

Sup. Respect for being here at this hinge point — for Canada, and for the wider world.

Because let’s not sugarcoat it: something’s snapped. The old world order, that polite little bedtime story we were raised on, is finished. We’re stepping into a colder phase where certain people move however they want, whenever they want, and don’t answer to anyone. No checks. No refs. No consequences.

But here’s the part they don’t want regular people clocking: working people aren’t powerless. Not really. Not if we’re honest about where we stand. The mandem, the rank-and-file, the everyday lot — we still have the ability to shape a new order that actually reflects our values. Things like human rights that aren’t optional. Sustainable development that isn’t just branding. Solidarity that means something. Sovereignty that isn’t for sale. Borders and people that aren’t disposable.

But that power starts with being real with ourselves. No chatting breeze.

Every day we’re reminded we’re living in a time of big-power rivalry. The so-called rules-based order is fading out. The strong do what they want. The weak catch the bill. Same script, different decade.

So fam — what are our options?

Back in 1978, Václav Havel broke it down in an essay called The Power of the Powerless. He asked a simple question: how does a system everyone knows is broken keep running?

His answer was small-scale. A greengrocer.

Every morning, the shopkeeper puts a sign in his window: “Workers of the world, unite!” He doesn’t believe it. No one on the block believes it. But he puts it up anyway. Why? To avoid stress. To show compliance. To keep life moving smooth.

And because every shop on every street does the same thing, the system stays standing.

Not just through force or madness — but through regular people taking part in rituals they know are cap.

Havel called it living within a lie. The system’s strength doesn’t come from truth — it comes from performance. Everyone acting like the thing is real. And that’s also where it’s weakest. Because the second one person stops playing along — the second the greengrocer takes the sign down — the illusion starts peeling.

That’s where we’re at now.

It’s time for regular people — and local governments — to take the sign out the window.

For decades, we kind of ate under what we called the rules-based order. We joined the institutions. Praised the principles. Benefited from the predictability. It gave us cover to run values-based policies while someone else handled the heavy lifting.

But let’s not pretend we didn’t know. We knew the story was shaky. We knew the strongest players exempted themselves whenever it suited them. We knew rules landed different depending on who you were. We knew law hit soft for some and heavy for others.

Still, we left the sign up. Played the role. Ran the rituals. Avoided calling out the gap between the press release and the real world.

That deal is finished.

Let me say it plain: this isn’t a transition. This is a rupture.

The last twenty years — finance crashes, health crises, energy shocks, housing madness — exposed the cost of keeping that sign in the window. More recently, big powers stopped pretending altogether. Trade became a weapon. Tariffs became pressure. Banking systems turned into choke points. Supply chains got turned into leverage.

You can’t keep “living within the lie” of mutual benefit when the benefits only ever run uphill.

That’s not cooperation.
That’s conditioning.

And the sooner we clock it, the sooner we stop playing extras in someone else’s movie.