Are the Liberals looking for a real leadership race to replace Justin Trudeau or a coronation to anoint Mark Carney? That depends on who you are listening to inside the Liberal Party, because while Carney’s campaign says they are simply seeking the support of members, other Liberals say the current boss is putting his thumb on the scale to make sure the new boss is Carney.
It’s no secret that Trudeau has been courting Carney to join the Liberal ranks for some time. Shortly after Carney’s term as Governor of the Bank of England ended in March 2020, Carney moved back to Ottawa and was advising the Trudeau government on the economy in the midst of the pandemic.
His role would grow to being appointed as Chair of a Leader’s Task Force on Economic Growth last September.
This wasn’t an appointment to a government position; this was an appointment within the Liberal Party. Carney wasn’t being appointed to replace then Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland — he’s Godfather to one of her children — but to support her.
Now, Freeland has resigned as finance minister and is expected to run against Carney for the Liberal leadership. Despite all the connections to Trudeau, to Freeland, to the Liberal Party, Carney is trying to run as an outsider.
“I am an outsider,” Carney said during an interview on The Daily Show on Monday night with Jon Stewart.
Carney was smart to unofficially launch his campaign with Stewart who wouldn’t know enough about Canadian politics to push back on anything Carney was saying. The interview was great for Carney, embarrassing for Stewart who revels in holding politicians to account but had no idea what to ask the progressive global banker seeking to become Canada’s prime minister.
Carney is anything but an outsider.
He’s from Alberta, which some will try to play up, but his father ran for the Liberals under Pierre Trudeau in 1980. Carney worked around the world for global banking firms like Goldman Sachs but from 2003 through 2013 held various roles at the Bank of Canada and Department of Finance.
He then went to England where he received mixed reviews. A recent piece the U.K. Spectator said that Carney’s record was not one to boast of.
“Growth was consistently weak. The Bank printed way too much money, stoking an asset bubble, and ultimately triggering the highest inflation rate in the G7,” the piece said.
It also points out that Carney backed Rachel Reeves, currently the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, or Minister of Finance in our parlance.
“Whatever your politics, it is surely now clear that Reeves is hopelessly out of her depth, and is turning into one of the worst chancellor’s of the modern era. Again and again, Carney’s judgement has been terrible.”
That’s the international view but the domestic view will be much less confrontational, much less controversial. In fact, it’s doubtful they will ask him any difficult questions. As reported over the weekend, Trudeau’s team is fully in on Carney, he is the next incarnation of Justin Trudeau’s term in office no matter how much they wish to dispute it.
The following people with connections to Trudeau have been tied to Carney’s campaign by fellow Liberals — Gerry Butts, Mike McNair, Brian Clow, Tom Pitfield and, of course, his Chief of Staff Katie Telford. Through the PMO comms team, Telford has denied making calls for Carney but multiple independent Liberals swear the calls took place.
These are people who have been with Trudeau for decades — the Globeand Mail reported Tuesday that Pitfield had stepped away, but only after his participation caused concern.
Trudeau announced on Jan. 6 that he would step down as Liberal leader once the party picks a new head honcho. Apparently, he didn’t promise not to put his thumb on the scale, which is what he has done.