New PM Shows Canada’s Fiesty Side

Justin Trudeau’s days as Canadian Prime Minister are over. Sunday evening, Liberal Party members elected Mark Carney to the post after Trudeau resigned in January. The contest wasn’t even close as Carney took 85% of the vote. This now sets off a national election that should take place within the next several weeks. The Conservative Party wasted no time attacking Carney, and the Liberal Party, and polls prior to the vote were close. Carney came out swinging, though, and shows every sign of being the PM Canada needs to take on the US President.

Mark Carney, 59, may be one of the most qualified national leaders to stand up to Felonious Punk and his ridiculous tariffs. His undergrad degree is from Harvard, and both his Masters and Doctorate are from Oxford. For many years, he was a banker with Goldman Sachs before becoming the head of Canada’s central bank. In 2013, he became the first noncitizen to head the Bank of England since its founding in 1694. He understands economies and finances better than most anyone and he’s not afraid to stand up to the bully in the White House.

Canadians may have a reputation as a quiet, gentle people, but the combinations of imposed tariffs, that are currently on pause, and the ridiculous talk of making Canada the 51st state have riled this nation in a way that we’ve not seen before.

“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about it. If they succeed they would destroy our way of life,” Carney said. “In America health care is big business. In Canada, it is a right.”

Carney said America is “a melting pot. Canada is mosaic,” he said. “America is not Canada. And Canada will never, ever will be a part of America in any way, shape or form.”

Carney campaigned on a number of domestic platforms, including

• Climate: Remove the consumer carbon tax and replace it with incentives for “greener choices” such as energy-efficient homes
• Government: Cap the size of the federal government and use technology to mitigate inefficiencies
• Trade: Remove barriers to internal trade – Carney has pledged to “immediately” convene a First Ministers’ Meeting on this and has proposed three possible ways to achieve this pledge
• Taxes: Cut taxes for the middle class and provide “additional boosts” for younger Canadians’ incomes
• Housing: Double the pace of new housing construction over the next decade and increase the size of the construction sector workforce

While all of those have their merit, at this particular moment, it’s still the US that many Canadians worry about the most. “The Americans want our resources, our land, our water, our country… Canada will never be part of America in any way shape or form,” Carney said. He also was firm on maintaining retaliatory tariffs in place until the US “shows us some respect.”

Carney also gives Canada an edge should a global recession occur because of Punk’s tariffs. When the 2008 recession occurred, it was Carney who brought Canada out of the downward spiral faster than most other countries, including the US.

What could be most consequential is that Carney has raised the idea of selling its excess energy to the UK and EU rather than the US. This could be a significant boost to the UK while putting the US in a severe bind as it lacks the resources to quickly replace inexpensive Canadian energy.

The days of Canada being the ‘nice guy’ neighbor to the North are over. “These are dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust,” Carney said.  “We didn’t ask for this fight. But Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. The Americans, they should make no mistake, in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”

Canada has a scheduled election later this year, but Carney is expected to call a special election quickly before Parliament convenes later this month. Let there be no question, Canada is ready to fight for its democracy much more than the US did for theirs last November.