Saturday afternoon, Liberal MP Nathaniel Erksine-Smith held a small gathering at Beaches Brewpub in Toronto’s East end so that his special guest Mark Carney could make an “announcement” to the Beaches-East York community. Carney was given the rockstar treatment by this small crowd that gathered in the east of Toronto to see him — it was pure adoration.
This “perfect alternative to Justin Trudeau” may as well have been Trudeau 2.0. His speech lacked any specific policies for his supporters to wrestle with, just the same vague grand promises we’ve come to expect from the Liberal party the urgency of an economy based on “sustainable” environmental policies. The was no acknowledgment whatsoever of why their party is in dire straits — just a plea to continue to support them while their ships sinks with the same unpopular ideas.
The emcee for the event asked the crowd, “Can we give everyone a round of applause for just being here?”
He continued, “I think we’re all here because we want renewal in our party, in our government, and I can’t think of a better place and person to help us lead that way.”
Erksine-Smith, MP for Beaches-East York, and newly minted Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, took the stage to say repeat this claim: “We have an opportunity in this leadership race, we have an opportunity in our politics, to renew our politics, to renew our party.”
Judging by his short speech it seems like Carney will, indeed, be positioning the party for renewal, if by renewal he simply means resuming the party as was.
Erksine-Smith told the crowd that he supports Carney because the “shallowness of our politics is unacceptable” — it wasn’t clear whether any of that criticism was towards his own party, but it’s doubtful — and because Carney is “committed to economic and environmental sustainability.”
“Especially when we face the threat of tariffs. There’s no better person than the person standing beside me to stand up for Canadian interests.”
But there’s no evidence that Carney is going to be a tariff negotiating wizard. Negotiating tariffs was never part of his job requirements at either the Bank of Canada or Bank of England, as evidenced by the shot Carney took at the U.S., presumably because he dislikes the new president: “We are gonna stand up to the Americans,” he said, and later referred to our long-time friends and allies as now “just our neighbours,” as if all Americans are in on Trump’s tariff plans.
There’s also no evidence that Carney is particularly tied to the best interests of Canada. He left before his term with the Bank of Canada was even over, just as the media was asking tough questions about the Liberal Party trying to set him up as an alternative to Justin Trudeau in 2011. Can Canadians expect him to complete his term? How will he behave when he’s asked tough questions in the House of Commons? He doesn’t seem like someone who is used to having to answer tough questions on the spot. Carney also holds three citizenships, Canadian, British, and Irish. Where does his loyalty lie?
Like a rockstar, Carney had entered the small pub to “Eye of the Tiger.” His admirers were happily squished together, vying for a view of the man who they hoped might save their party. When Carney went to remove his jacket, one admirer shouted, “Take it off!” The crowd was so excited about being photographed with Carney that Erskine-Smith remarked, “Selfies all around.”
Carney made it clear though how much involvement he thought government should play in the economy.
When he finally took the mic, Carney made sweeping vague promises including, “We are going to build the strongest economy that works for all Canadians.” He promised they’d be “building homes for everyone,” “fixing the housing crisis,” and “building a sustainable energy system.” “We can’t redistribute what we don’t have,” he said.
Carney then told the crowd that, after listening to Canadians through his virtual and physical consultations with them, that their problem is that they are “anxious” because of the “cost of living crisis,” “the housing crisis,” and “if they’re young, they’re worried about getting ahead,” and about the “changes that are happening in a more dangerous and divided world.” Did this insight require consultations? I guess if you don’t spend much time in Canada it might.
Anxiety is a feeling you have before something you fear might happen happens, or doesn’t happen. I’m not sure who Carney’s been listening to, but Canadians aren’t just anxious about these things, they’re already struggling through them.
Carney then told supporters, “The choice that we are going to offer in the next election is one between a deep Liberal team that I’m asking for your support to help supplement…. that brings experience versus incompetence, that brings a plan versus slogans, calm versus chaos, tantrums if you will, versus a team.” It’s unclear whether he was talking about his fellow leadership candidates or the Conservative party.
None of the gathered party members seemed eager to press Carney on how he would accomplish any of the things he said he would do, nor did they ask for particulars. No one seemed even remotely curious. It was a room buzzing with blind trust for the long-time leadership hopeful, a room of Liberal MPs and supporters who didn’t seem at all interested in why they were in such a desperate state in the first place, a room looking for a saviour.