The progressive case for the Liberal banker
Is Mark Carney the anti-Trump choice?
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Steve
The new Liberal Party leader to replace Justin Trudeau will be chosen on March 9, and rumour has it that the election could be called the next morning.
That’s right: the new PM might opt to go straight to the Governor General for a snap election starting March 10.
The Liberal leadership race seems to have coalesced around former Bank of Canada head Mark Carney. But we don’t know much about his policies, other than he has joined the chorus in Ottawa willing to nearly double Canada’s already sky-high military spending to the arbitrary NATO goal of 2% GDP.
Are progressives backing Mark Carney?
A few weeks ago, the Toronto Star asked its columnists to name their pick to replace Trudeau, and one of our favourite columnists, Linda McQuaig, named Mark Carney as her choice.
“As a lefty, I wouldn’t normally recommend a central banker. But these aren’t normal times, and Mark Carney isn’t a run-of-the-mill central banker,” Linda opened her column.
Her arguments generally cut three ways:
He holds some laudable progressive policy views,
He can challenge Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre who’s been sailing above the Liberals in the polls for months, and
He may be our best bet against the bellicose U.S. President, Donald Trump.
As a lefty, I wouldn’t normally recommend a central banker. But these aren’t normal times.
Carney vs. climate change and social inequality
“Unlike conventional central bankers, Carney used his influence to push hard for climate action, serving as UN Special Envoy for Climate and Finance, and pressuring financial interests to divest from fossil fuels,” write McQuaig. “Carney has also condemned ‘staggering wealth inequalities,’ and criticized Canada’s corporate elite for sitting on ‘dead money’ rather than investing its enormous profits in Canada.”
Carney vs. Poilievre
Pollsters say that the Liberals have nearly closed the gap with the Conservatives recently, and with Carney as potential leader, Canadians put the Liberals on par with the Conservatives.
“In a matchup against Pierre Poilievre, Carney would truly shine. Although Poilievre rose to be Conservative leader by backing policies pleasing to the rich, he’s managed to market himself as a populist, largely by posting videos of himself talking tough about standing up to the establishment,” says McQuaig.
“Carney, however, has actually stood up to the establishment; in 2019, he enraged then-president Trump by advocating scrapping the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency — a reform that would threaten U.S. global economic and political dominance.”
Carney vs. Trump
“Among possible contenders for the Liberal leadership, Carney seems the best bet to take on the menacing Donald Trump,” wrote Linda McQuaig in mid-January – long before Trump’s threats of tariffs and taking over Canada.
Canadians agree with her. A poll conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV News by Nanos Research between Jan. 31 and Feb. 3 found that 39.6 per cent of Canadians surveyed consider Mark Carney as the most qualified leader to negotiate with Mr. Trump and his administration. Twenty-six per cent of Canadians consider Pierre Poilievre as best qualified.
This is important because Trudeau’s resignation and Trump’s attacks have ruined Poilievre’s strategy of making this the “carbon tax election.” Now it’s about who can manage the menacing Donald Trump – a polarizing right-wing figure that Poilievre has mimicked openly.
Today the Conservatives will hold a Canada First Rally in Ottawa. But everyone remembers their leader talking down our country saying, “Canada is broken.” How does Poilievre rebrand from trash-talking Canada to being its greatest defender?
Everything is moving to the Right
No matter where you stand on politics, the pendulum is swinging Rightward, shifting the middle so much there seems to be no clearly left-leaning Liberal leadership contender.
This shift leaves the political Left wide open for the NDP. But leader Jagmeet Singh has had trouble finding solid footing in the political moment, whether it’s because of too few financial resources for advertising, media disinterest/gatekeeping, or other reasons. The party’s polling figures have not been moving upward.
Still, in fast-moving politics nothing is guaranteed for long. Carney, who has never ran in a political campaign, will be up against seasoned veterans like Poilievre and Singh. Despite what the polls say today, election campaigns matter and there are plenty more political surprises to come.
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Last week’s poll
Last week I asked you if you think Canada will join Trump’s missile defence plan to put weapons in space? The number of responses was a bit low, but even still, a clear majority said “no” (74%).
Did you miss last week’s newsletter?
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Thank you for everything you do for peace,
Steve
Compare them: Poilievre took 11 years to get his BA, has no work experience other than an MP; knows nothing about the average person's challenges. Carney, BA, Harvard MA, Oxford U, Central bank governor for Canada and U.K., Investment moxie, United Nations post. No political experience? How many candidates have political experience? What they have is political knowledge and thought-out ideas of what to legislate. Chump and Poilievre, his protege, are no match for Carney. He'll shove that 51st insult down Chump's throat. ,
Agreed that the top priority is to stop Poilievre. The whole field looks quite dismal on the environment, eager to mortgage their children's future for another year of easy money. Frank Baylis at least would help Palestine, but I'd have to see him polling close to Carney. A lot of the campaigns are incredibly vacuous.