Since Mark Carney became our Prime Minister in March of this year, the political landscape in Canada has shifted dramatically. In just months, he has moved the Liberal Party of Canada from a Trudeau administration that was almost to the left of the NDP to a centrist government more reminiscent of Progressive Conservatives.
Carney has successfully filled a void left by the Conservative Party of Canada as they have, in recent years, moved further to the right on the political spectrum.
Yes, there are still some of the Liberal old guards in this government, but with a new sheriff in town, their mandate has changed significantly.
Andrew Phillips, a national columnist, wrote recently. “Given Mark Carney’s record so far, it is no surprise that people in parts of the country that lean heavily Conservative are getting behind him.”
David McLaughlin, once Chief of Staff to Brian Mulroney, wrote in the Winnipeg Free Press, “Canada elected its first progressive conservative prime minister in over 30 years in the person of Mark Carney.”
He went on to say, “From cancelling the consumer carbon tax, to pledging to build pipelines and offering a middle-class tax cut, Carney is actively placing conservative along with progressive in his party’s governing policies.”
I do believe that Mark Carney has managed to attract many centrist Conservatives (often called Red Tories) to his new government. Andrew Phillips questioned whether this was a brilliant strategy by the Liberal Party or devious opportunism, implementing “whatever works” and damn the ideology. Which of these is most accurate remains to be seen.
Generally, Conservatives believe in smaller government and less dependence on the government. They dislike a lot of red tape and believe that, in most instances, policies and procedures that make it easier for individuals to succeed are an effective way to spur the economy. Centrist Tories also tend to shy away from my way or the highway politics. Mark Carney, at least so far, has emulated these principles, allowing a progressive conservative label to hang around his neck.
A very visible sign that this has been effective for Carney is that Conservatives in the House of Commons supported the Liberals’ massive and game-changing legislation with Bill C-5. They really had no choice because that legislation contained many of the principles and policies that the Conservative Party had campaigned on and stood for.
Bill C-5 removes federal and interprovincial trade barriers. It fast-tracks major nation-building infrastructure projects by cutting down the approval process from five to two years. It cuts through all sorts of red tape and reduces the amount of government interference.
Importantly, the legislation positions the government as a facilitator rather than an implementer. That task is left mainly to the private sector. The purpose of the legislation is to enable and not block economic and private sector initiatives that will help Canada stand on its own two feet with much less dependence on the United States
There are those in all political parties, including the Liberal Party, who believe that the push in the C-5 legislation to fast-track major development projects is a mistake. Under normal circumstances that might be true. But these are not normal circumstances.
The measures in the Liberals’ Bill C-5 legislation were a key component of the political race that the Liberals won on April 28th. It was a mandate to “super-charge” Canada’s economy in the face of a destructive and punitive trade war being waged by the Trump Administration in the United States. Consequently, there is an urgency here now that needs to be addressed.
In relation to these issues, Mark Carney put it succinctly when he said it was no longer about why, but rather now the emphasis was on how.
In less than two months, Mark Carney has met directly at least twice with provincial and territorial premiers in Canada. He has avoided confrontation and fostered a cooperative approach to national issues in a manner not achieved by his predecessor, Justin Trudeau.
It is interesting to note that at least three Conservative premiers, including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, have strengthened their support for a Team Canada approach, led by Mark Carney, as it relates to this country’s economy, its challenges from the United States, and its sovereignty.
In his relatively short time in office, Mark Carney had to deal with a myriad of issues, not the least of which was the G7 Summit meeting, which he hosted in Alberta last week. Critics have said he did not accomplish enough, but again, I beg to differ.
Those who thought that Carney could come away with an agreement from a brief meeting with Donald Trump regarding trade and tariffs were fooling themselves. There was not a realistic opportunity for that.
However, by the time he and Donald Trump met alone for 70 minutes at the G7 Summit, there were some important signals.
Unlike Justin Trudeau, Donald Trump has shown respect for Mark Carney and a willingness to negotiate with him. Those who believe that Carney should have jumped all over the U.S. President, should ask themselves how well that worked out when Justin Trudeau was Prime Minister.
Mark Carney has managed to get an agreement from Trump for a 30-day timeline related to an acceptable trade agreement. His tone has not been confrontational, but he has been clear about the steps Canada will take if an agreement is not reached by that date.
Carney has also demonstrated, not only in his G7 deliberations, but also in his trade negotiations with other nations including the European Union, that Canada is winning back respect and support on the international stage.
At least to date, Mark Carney exhibits a calm approach to leadership. He talks to you and not at you. He has avoided personal attacks and managed to lower the temperature when dealing with a number of critical issues.
Phillips also commented, “Yes indeed, our new conservative government is a Liberal government, though a liberal government of a very different stripe.”
Federal Conservatives must be very concerned about that, especially as they see their polling numbers drop significantly as centrist Conservatives feel more comfortable with Mark Carney than with Pierre Poilievre.
Getting them back will be a hard hill to climb as long as Mark Carney is Prime Minister, because many people, while still believing in Conservative principles, feel more at home with him.
That will be a tough nut to crack.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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Another great commentary, Mr. MacKenzie.
And I very much like the comment made by
Joanne Tanaka. How is as important as What.
Hugh Mackenzie: Good piece. But does this seem to be a wholesale adoption? Pretty sure it’s not so, but……?So much is being attributed to/ expected of this new leader, but there is no way of knowing yet. But some of the inferences seem quite novel. I think.
There are some who still want to rage against Trudeau. The man is gone, just as are Diefenbaker and Pearson. You can look and find them as notations in the history books. Interesting but not really attention getting.
There was the reference to music! Like the Liberals have made off with a score sheet first conceived by the Conservatives. But I do remember that the lack of any kind of announced plan being offered by the PC was their problem. What is memorable beside “Axe the Tax!” And there was certainly nothing vocalized by any member of the elected PCs who are supposed to be the voice of their electorate. A whole new angle on the ‘silent majority’.
I still associate with the tenets and philosophy of Conservatism. And I am wondering what the PC propose to do with the nasty piece of work that is trying mightily to reconfigure himself and become acceptable as the leader. Somebody better speak up because conservatism is really sucking hindermost.
A nation’s curiosity is piqued.
Will we see any floor crossers… In either direction?
“How” pipelines, energy infrastructure and mines get built will have more than political impact on the next decades and generations who will live with the results. – It will depend on respect for Indigenous partners and environmental integrity- which are not just red tape- if we are to Build Canada. We have to find better ways than playing the same old political games but listen and talk to each other, ask for what is needed about how to make it work.That is how we will challenge our barriers.
Spot on Hugh.
It has been refreshing to watch the parliamentary channel without PP and his name calling style. To think that we tax payers have to foot the $1,800,00 cost for his by election is disgusting. I have a close friend who worked with Carney and knows him quite well.
He has voted PC for some time but turned Liberal this time around. He feels Carney is far more qualified to run the country. Not a career politician
Hugh, I do agree, Carney is building his popularity on the well thought out policies the Conservative Party ran on in the last election. What we have heard of so far is the band warming up, Canadian’s are in the arena waiting for this band to show up. Many members are from a different band, that was well trained to sing from the boss’s song sheet, the Leader of the band has changed, bringing with him someone else’s song sheets she was smart enough to steal.
They can’t however expect all these vote switchers to be happy with this new band doing someone else’s material as Cover music.
None of us can start clapping until we have heard this band actually play some of their own music, only then will we know if Carney’s Band will be playing music we can sing along with?
Keep in mind we are seven weeks into the Steel and Aluminum tariffs, and it will be another 30 days before any rebuttal has been seen.
Good observations Hugh. Carney was wise to keep the best experienced ministers from the old government and add some good available new talent.
Timothy Snyder is one of 3 prominent professors leaving Yale University to teach at the University of Toronto. In his latest book “On Freedom”, he writes that “Freedom is not the absence of government (that Poilievre was offering). Freedom is the presence of good government (that Carney is offering)
Well written Commentary Hugh. Agree that P.M. Carney is the first “Progressive Conservative oriented” Liberal in decades. He talks to Canadians effectively as is the case in communicating to world leaders. He has always been a man of action and has proved this throughout his very successful career. Without a doubt Mark has demonstrated that he has big expectations from those who are accountable to him – he is the CEO of Canada like. There will be issues along the way but those will likely come from the speed that he feels is an imperative in moving Canada into a premier economic position within the G7. The difference in the tone of the federal government has changed dramatically – it is wonderful to see the provincial leaders and federal government starting to collectively work together to improve the very real economic and social opportunities for Canada.
So far I’m quite impressed with PM Carney, but the real test will come when not if one of his cabinet ministers gets caught up in scandal. The “Nine Randy Boissonaults” fiasco was a disgrace that Justin Trudeau allowed to drag on for only partisan Liberal purposes. This was true across the entire sad 10 year Trudeau government, decisions made not because they were good for Canada, but because they were good for Trudeau and his cronies. The replacement of an incompetent, nepo baby fool by an accomplished, intelligent man has been a great boon for our country so far. Trudeau has left so much trash for Carney to clean up though that it will be a daunting challenge. I’m rooting for him