Carney to the rescue

Mark Carney has snagged the Liberal leadership with a resounding 86% of the party membership vote (his closest rival, Chrystia Freeland, got 8%).
Talking with some pals, I’m feeling like we did back when Pierre Trudeau got people keen about Canadian politics. With JFK dazzling the crowds in the U.S. in the early 1960s, we Canucks offered up John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson who, despite whatever strengths they may have brought to the world, were just plain boring. Even my mom called them “two old fuddy duddies!” But all of a sudden, Pierre Trudeau entered our psyches, and the proletariat got excited.           
And now, here in 2025, Canadian politics is becoming anything but boring. An unpopular Justin Trudeau is stepping down after nearly a decade on the job as Prime Minister, his support having dwindled among the public and his own party. In his place we have Mark Carney. Did you happen to catch Carney a couple of months ago, before he’d actually announced his candidacy, appearing with the redoubtable Jon Stewart on the Daily Show? It was an entertaining interview – let’s be honest: career economists aren’t always known for their sense of humour!  But I watched as Carney showed verbal dexterity and a splendid ability to promote the light side. “There’s our next Prime Minister,” I said at the time. (You can watch it here if you like: https://www.google.com/search?q=jon+stewart%27s+interview+wityh+mark+carney&oq=jon+stewart%27s+interview+wityh+mark+carney&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQABgNGIAEMg0IAhAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IAxAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMgcIBBAAGO8FMgcIBRAAGO8FMgcIBhAAGO8FMgcIBxAAGO8FMgcICBAAGO8F0gEIOTI1NGoxajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c2a57839,vid:zs8St-fF0kE,st:0)
Bit of background: Before his stints at the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, Carney had a 13-year tenure at Goldman Sachs. After completing his PhD at Oxford, he worked across multiple global offices, including Boston, London, New York, Tokyo, and Toronto. During that time, he held roles such as co-head of sovereign risk and managing director of investment banking. He’s been labelled the “rock star central banker” by the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper, as it refers to his navigation of a string of financial crises when he became a leading global voice on the economic risks of climate change as Governor of the Bank of England. Following Canada’s emergence from the 2008 financial crisis as a nation that largely avoided the financial pitfalls that befell others, Carney’s leadership as head of the Bank of Canada was hailed by many, including Time magazine.
You know, it's become apparent to me that in Mark Carney, we have a guy who can send Pierre Poilievre packing. In fact, Carney wasted no time, declaring in his acceptance speech the two rogues who are clearly in his sites: “Donald Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer. Pierre Poilievre’s plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered. A person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.” In the same speech, Carney pledged to maintain retaliatory tariffs "until the Americans show us respect", adding “'Canada will never, ever be part of America”.
I expect the Liberals will call an election soon (it has to be called by October). Mr. Carney may not be totally known to the electorate right now, but then neither is Pierre Poilievre. What we do know is that "Axe the Tax" Poilievre has refused to support a Liberal tax break calling it a "gimmick". This leaves Canadians wondering how he’d sabotage a law that was advantageous to millions. Poilievre is also being called out for his anti-climate agenda, leaving Greenpeace Canada spokesperson Laura Bergamo asking, “What plan does he have to protect people from climate change? So far he has only said what he will do to protect polluters.” And then there is his stand on healthcare: he’s voted to cut funding for surgery and emergency room wait times by $196.1 billion. He’s also voted to stop a dental care program and the pharmacare agenda that would offer up free diabetes and birth control medications. In my opinion, we need to send Pierre Poilievre packing.
It will be an exciting election, something we haven’t had for some time. And knowing that whoever wins gets to tackle that high-flying twit Trump, I just can’t see Poilievre doing that effectively. But I can see Mark Carney facing him down for sure.

---