On Thursday [6th March], the former Governor of both the Banks of Canada and England, Mark Carney, made a final pitch to Quebecers, in Montreal, ahead of the declaration of the result of the Liberal Party of Canada’s leadership election on March 9th.
Carney was introduced by one of his most influential backers, Mélanie Joly, to an enthusiastic crowd of several hundred Liberal Party supporters. Joly, who currently serves as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, told the crowd that the threats coming from the White House meant that “right now, we are facing a fantastic national unity moment” and cited Carney’s “management of the Brexit crisis in England” (as Governor) to emphasise his suitability to take on the fresh economic crisis brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on most Canadian exports.
Following a warm embrace with Joly, the favourite for the Liberal leadership walked almost triumphantly to a lectern that stood against the dominating backdrop of the Canadian flag, to a rapturous applause.
Carney wasted no time in addressing the concerns held by Canadians about the new policies of the United States towards their country. He declared that “Trump attacks Canadian workers, families and businesses” and stated that “all proceeds [from the retaliatory tariffs imposed by Canada against the United States] should be used to protect our workers”. He further told the audience that, were Canada to remove the regulatory barriers to trade that exist between its provinces, the national GDP would increase by $200bn CAD, more than the trade war would cost the Canadian economy. “We can win for ourselves more than Trump can take away”, he argued.
In an attack on Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and his likely opponent for the premiership in the federal election due to be held before the end of this year, Carney said that “Poilievre worships the free market despite never earning a paycheck… Trump wants to divide and conquer, Poilievre wants to divide and be conquered”, hinting at Poilievre’s long record of being on the more populist wing of the Conservative Party since he was elected to the House of Commons in 2004, at age 24.
Emphasising his affinity for Quebec, Carney told supporters that “the USA does not understand the joie de vivre of French culture in Quebec” and that this is part of why Canada’s sovereignty would be a key priority of his government. Carney, being a second language speaker of French, made the majority of his remarks in Quebec’s proudly held national language. The expectation in Canada is that any Prime Minister should speak both of the country’s official languages, and while he appeared to hesitate at moments where the grammatical stucture of his sentences were more complicated, the largely Francophone crowd seemed satisfied with his abilities – even giving an apparently supportive chuckle at the one error he did make (and swiftly corrected).
Winning seats in Quebec has proven essential to the Parliamentary majority and pluralities held by the Liberals in the three federal elections since 2015, meaning that specific appeals to the province and its unique place in the Canadian federation would most likely a key part of any feasible strategy for Carney’s success in the looming election.
Concluding, Carney echoed the same sentiment pronounced by Foreign Minister Joly shortly before he took to the lectern: “Canada will never, never be a part of the United States”. Quebec, though often at odds with the rest of Canada over the preservation of its distinct culture and governance, this time finds itself fighting for the same ideals alongside the rest of Canada against the new administration of the United States.
Tonight, Liberal-supporting Quebecers seemed assured that their likely soon-to-be leader was the right candidate to lead their nation in this endeavour. Undoubtedly, Carney will be pondering how he can further provide this same assurance to Quebecers and Canadians, of all political stripes, in the few days leading up to when he finds out whether this task will truly be his, as the 24th Prime Minister of Canada.
