February 1st, 2025 | RYAN TYLER

Mark Carney's Three Weak Spots

If Conservatives want a majority, they'll need to relentlessly exploit these things.

If Chrystia Freeland is serious about winning the Liberal leadership, we might not have to worry about Mark Carney. If she exploits two of her opponent's three major weaknesses, she could pull off a slim win against Justin Trudeau's preferred replacement, but I doubt it. If the race is truly rigged in Carney's favour, Conservatives will have to take shots at his three major weaknesses to avoid being trimmed down to a minority in the next election—or losing the election all together. You can laugh about that prospect as much as you'd like right now, but you won't be laughing after the next federal election.

Nonetheless, here are the three weaknesses that Poilievre and Conservatives will need to exploit in the next federal election—if Mark Carney is their opponent.

Name Recognition

Unlike most of the Liberal cabinet, Mark Carney lacks name recognition and familiarity with most Canadians. Sure, he was Canada's central banker for five years more than a decade ago, but most Canadians would struggle to name our current central banker. When Carney was Canada's central banker, he wasn't in the news much. Unlike with Tiff Macklem, inflation and interest rates weren't huge issues during most of Carney's tenure. Aside from being pumped up in magazines that no one reads, Mark Carney drifted by without most Canadians noticing.

Carney started his role as our central banker at the beginning of the last recession, but few Canadians would have been able to name him by the time he left in 2013.

Both Freeland and Poilievre have an advantage against Carney when it comes to familiarity and name recognition. This weakness is inherent and exploits itself, unlike the next two, which will require Pierre Poilievre to do some work. Most importantly, Poilievre will need to make Canadians like him more. If they end up disliking him and his personality, they would hesitate less in turning to someone new.

It will be important to keep Canadians thinking more about Poilievre while asking, "Carney who?"

He Is Not Committed To Canada

Many of you might remember the controversy Liberals tried to make of Andrew Sheer's dual American citizenship. Conservatives did much of the same to Michael Ignatieff—and it worked, for both sides. Although he might not have had dual citizenship, Ignatieff spent a lot of his career outside Canada, studying, working, and lecturing across the United States and Europe. In the end, it did not bode well for him or his party.

Mark Carney has spent a lot of his career outside the country he now wants to lead.

For seven years, between 2013 and 2020, Carney served as the governor of the UK's central bank. After that stint, he spent the remainder of his time working for multinational corporations and international organizations with headquarters in other countries, like the Financial Stability Board, headquartered in Switzerland. One of his latest roles, before becoming Trudeau's economic advisor, was on the board for Michael Bloomberg's company headquartered in New York.

It is fair to say that Mark Carney didn't give a shit about Canada until 2024, when he saw Trudeau struggling and saw an opportunity to advance his own personal ambitions. Conservatives can run with this narrative soon. They should, however, hold off until the federal election. It is likely they will get valuable soundbites from Freeland saying the same things. That is, if she is serious about beating Carney in the first place.

The Same Old Liberal Government

The biggest weakness facing Carney and every member of the current Liberal cabinet is the same. No matter who Liberals choose to be the next Prime Minister, it will be the same Liberal government that was in charge under Justin Trudeau.

Mark Carney's potential cabinet picks will be from the same pool as Trudeau's. Canadians will get the same ministers, same MPs, same policies, and same ideas from the exact same Liberal government they had before. Furthermore, Carney's top advisors are Trudeau's top advisors.

This is the most dangerous and open weak spot for Carney and any other Liberal running to succeed Trudeau. This is the one weak spot that will make or break the Liberals in the next election, no matter who their leader is. The only person that has the better chance of escaping it is Mark Carney.

However, Mark Carney was a Liberal insider before he was a central banker.

Carney was Ralph Goodale's deputy in the Department Of Finance. Yes, he served briefly in Harper's minority government, but that could be a disadvantage with Liberal voters. Politically, Mark Carney has endorsed left-wing candidates in federal and municipal elections in Canada. In 2023, he endorsed the borderline communist Labour Party in the UK. Since 2024, he has been employed by Justin Trudeau as an advisor.

Overall, if Conservatives can effectively exploit these three weaknesses, they should have no trouble beating Mark Carney in the next federal election. But, like I have said before, Carney will be the strongest opponent. An election against Freeland would be Poilievre's to lose, but Carney will mount a real challenge. Getting to be Prime Minister and using those powers before calling an election will be Carney's biggest advantage.

Get ready to rumble.