Former central banker Mark Carney told a U.S. nightly talk show that he’s a political “outsider,” which he described as an advantage when it comes to potentially running to lead a government facing “headwinds.”
Carney appeared on “The Daily Show” with host Jon Stewart on Jan. 13 to discuss the political situation in Canada, but stopped short of announcing he’ll vie to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Alluding to the recent U.S. presidential election, Stewart said it’s hard for a candidate to win when they have to defend the policies of a sitting administration facing “headwinds.” Donald Trump defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5.
“Let’s say the candidate wasn’t part of the government,” Carney proposed in response. “Let’s say the candidate did have a lot of economic experience. Let’s say the candidate did deal with crises. Let’s say the candidate had a plan to deal with the challenges in the here and now.”
Stewart replied that Carney is “sneaky” and that he’s “running as an outsider,” to which Carney responded, “I am an outsider.”
Carney has expressed interest in the position, but has yet to formally announce his leadership bid. He has until Jan. 23 to do so.
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Carney is the former governor of the central banks of Canada and England and currently works with Brookfield Asset Management and the United Nations on green finance. He has been informally advising the Liberal government for years and was made Trudeau’s special economic advisor in September.
Trudeau announced his intention on Jan. 6 to resign as prime minister and Liberal Party leader when a new leader is chosen. The new leader is to be chosen on March 9, two weeks before Parliament’s prorogation ends on March 24.
All opposition parties have pledged to vote non-confidence in the government, which would normally trigger an election.
Carney told Stewart, however, that holding an election sooner than at the latest legislated time in October would “likely be the choice of the current governing party.”
If Carney runs for leadership and wins, he would become an unelected prime minister. He could try to win a seat in a byelection, ask the governor general to dissolve Parliament to trigger an election, or try to hold on as the unelected leader of government until the October vote by securing the support of an opposition party.
Carney said Trudeau’s resignation will give the party a “chance” at the next election. Current projections have Pierre Poilievres’ Conservatives winning a strong majority and the Liberals falling to third place behind the Bloc Québécois.
Policies
Carney provided glimpses of his policies in his talk show interview, saying Canadians have been “very hard pressed” in recent years with inflation and housing costs, and that the world is more “divided” and “dangerous.”
“The government has been not as focused on those issues as it could be,” said Carney. The Liberal government’s approach to dealing with cost of living issues has been to launch a variety of new social programs.
Carney also signalled he would maintain the Liberal Party’s current focus on fighting climate change, saying the recent wildfires are increasing emissions and noting the insurance industry’s growing reluctance to insure against disasters.
Stewart asked what proactive measures can be put in place to prevent future disasters and remarked that putting in place a carbon tax is “not politically feasible.”
Carney said that a large quantity of emissions come from producing oil and shipping it to the United States. “So part of it is cleaning that up, getting those emissions down, more than changing in a very short period of time the way Canadians live,” he said.
Stewart and Carney also discussed Trump’s repeated comments about making Canada part of the United States. The incoming president has repeatedly said Canada should become the 51st U.S. state and recently spoke of using “economic force” to merge with Canada.
“The bottom line it’s not going to happen,” said Carney, who then joked with Stewart by pretending Canada and the U.S. are ending a romantic relationship.
“We find you very attractive, but we’re not moving in with you. It’s not you, it’s us,” said Carney, adding the two can remain friends.
“We’ll be cool about it,” said Stewart. “We won’t levy tariffs on all your goods as retribution for you not going out with us. We respect your boundaries.”
Trump has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada as soon as he takes office if border security is not reinforced to counter illegal migration and drug smuggling. Ottawa has prepared in response a $1.3 billion plan to boost border security but the incoming U.S. administration has not publicly responded to it.
