The federal election has come and gone, with millions of Canadians casting their ballots for which party should form the largest number of seats in Parliament. The winners are the Liberals, who, under the leadership of newly minted leader Mark Carney, have won 169 seats. They needed 172 seats to gain a majority, but they can easily negotiate with the new parties. This sounds like an ideal scenario for Mark Carney, right?
Wrong. See, if I was Carney, I would have bet on a majority government for several reasons: We are dealing with an unpredictable “ally” to the south in Donald Trump. Trump one day will declare us a mere state to the United States, and then the other, he will strangely consider Mark Carney as a rightful Prime Minister of the independent state of Canada. Huh? Shouldn’t Carney have a stable majority to deal decisively with Trump? He has to now balance whatever response with whoever will be the next leader of the NDP, or Yves-Francois Blanchet, a man who called Canada “an artificial country.”
The honeymoon will not last forever. Mark Carney is right now being bumped up by Canadians because he is not Justin Trudeau. Carney is far smarter than Trudeau and he isn’t talking like some drama school teacher chastising Alberta for emitting too much oil. However, other leaders have also had the same “honeymoon before the fall” period: Paul Martin, Kim Campbell and John Turner also had moments of brief popularity before falling down to earth. Considering the housing crisis, the insane cost of living and other issues Canada is facing, unless Carney can actually prepare to put his ideas to solving them, he might end up like these three people.
Lastly, Trump. I find it so strange that Trump is praising Carney. He has not resorted to name-calling, or to insults, or to calling Carney “governor.” He has treated him with respect. He hadn’t dropped the 51st state moniker and yet he has done nothing but be respectful of him. May I ask how come no one thinks this is a red flag? Trump has boasted about how he cost Pierre Polievre the election and somehow no one noticed? Wouldn’t this be a political disaster if Trump remains like this? Shouldn’t Trump be resorting to name-calling, insults or alleging illegal immigrants are getting a free ride in Canada while we do nothing?
These three reasons are why I say Carney’s victory is anything but ideal for him. He got a minority government, he has a honeymoon that isn’t lasting forever, and Trump seems to be treating him differently than anyone else. If Mark Carney manages to mishandle this situation, do not be surprised if we end up voting again in a year's time.
