Dave Szollosy, Toronto

Normally Mark Carney is the kind of politician I would strongly oppose. Normally.

Carney comes from the elite levels of the corporate world. By now every Canadian is aware of his tenure as Governor of the Bank of Canada and of the Bank of England and his private sector work with Brookfield Asset Management and Goldman Sachs. In those roles he managed crises that challenged the stability of the economic structures and earned accolades from those who were able to benefit. He has worked to ensure the wealthy were able to protect and increase their wealth. So much so that his name had been proposed to take on the reins of the International Monetary Fund. (You remember the IMF – the American based institution that imposes structural adjustment programs on the global south, condemning them to perpetual debt and transfer of wealth to northern corporate interests.) Carney is a firm believer in the power of markets.

Normally we could describe Liberal Leader Mark Carney as an iconic representation of the symbiotic relationship between the federal Liberals and the federal Conservatives. Both are parties that identify with the priorities of the corporate class. We have seen the parallel policies revealed in the Liberal aggressive backtracking on taxes, including the planned increase in the Capital Gains Tax. The capital gains inclusion rate used to be 75 per cent under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, but the Chretien Liberal government reduced it to 50 per cent in the early 2000s. The current proposal would have only affected 0.13 per cent of Canadians on 67 per cent of their capital gains. Carney has already indicated that a top priority for his government will be cutting the “operational budget” in favour of capital expenditures. This is an indication of proposed program cuts.

It has often been observed that the only people in this country that display a class consciousness is the elite corporate class. We see that the corporate parties and their leaders consistently act to support their interests. Carney was recruited by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to serve as Governor of the Bank of Canada, who also tried to bring Carney into his cabinet.

But these are not normal times. There is too much public decrying of an “existential crisis” (which offends any Kierkegaardian understanding) to describe the threat to Canada posed by the current expression of American Manifest Destiny. The threat is as real as it has always been and many people are justifiably looking to the leadership best positioned to resist assimilation.

It is important to maintain Canadian independence, but not only to cheer for patriotic tribalism. It does not benefit working people to oppose American oligarchs only to replace the dominance with Canadian oligarchs. A Canadian worker still has more in common with a West Virginia coal miner than with Galen Weston. As John Carwright, Chair of the Council of Canadians wrote in an op ed in the Hamilton Spectator, “The best response to unfair tariffs is to build the Canada we want.”

There is great danger in the radical posture of Canada’s other corporate party which has promoted policies to further restrict labour rights, reduce accessibility to universal health care and so many other programs that benefit working people. Carney’s appearance to reduce the possibility of a Conservatives has been seen in many quarters as a redemptive reprieve. People have breathed a sign of relief to see a reversal in the polls, putting the Liberals ahead for the first time since 2022.

Where it does come down to the crunch is the observation of the greatest moral crisis of our day and what the Liberal leader’s response to it will be. He has set a very bad path in this regard by appointing Marco Mendicino as his chief of staff. Mendicino is a staunchly pro-Israel politician who is openly hostile to Palestinian human rights. Mendicino is one of the only Liberal MPs who is opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza. Canada has not spoken up to condemn this criminal, evil genocide in Gaza and Carney’s early indication is that there will be no change under any government he leads.

There’s no question that a Carney Liberal government would do less damage to workers than Poilievre’s Conservatives. Still, Carney’s policy signals give us plenty to worry about.