Roundup: Carney chosen, now the transition begins

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The Liberal leadership race has concluded, with Mark Carney winning by 85.9 percent on the first ballot, winning in every riding including those held by Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould. The results were announced after Justin Trudeau’s farewell speech, and a barnburner from Jean Chrétien, and then Carney delivered an utterly bland speech, which has become par for the course. (Another Carney bio is here).

With Carney now having won the contest, now the transition begins, which won’t happen overnight, and he won’t be sworn in as PM at Rideau Hall for a few days, while this gets sorted. That won’t stop the constant drone of the concern trolling that he’ll be PM without facing an election (because apparently nobody knows basic civics in a Westminster parliamentary system), and because they want to argue in bad faith about what this means. If you need some convincing, here is a look back at previous prime ministers who didn’t have a seat in the House of Commons when they took office (though two examples were senators at the time).

In reaction, Susan Delacourt points out that Carney also has the job ahead of reinventing the Liberal Party for the next generation, as has tended to be the case for most leaders. Paul Wells muses about Carney’s brand of change, and the what it says about his competition with Poilievre to lead the country in the upcoming federal election, whenever it kicks off. Colin Horgan looks back to Carney’s past performances, particularly when he got outflanked by Poilievre at a committee appearance. As well, Trudeau’s official photographer for the past 15 years, Adam Scotti, reflects on the journey.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched another heavy aerial attack on Saturday that pounded Dobropillya in the Donetsk region, killing at least 22 people. There were another 14 killed and at least 37 wounded in Kharkiv the same night. Russian forces have also recaptured three settlements in the Kursk region, trying to drive Ukrainians out. Ukrainian drones made a long-range strike against an industrial facility overnight Saturday.

Good reads:

  • Here is a look at the flurry of activity from the government over the past few weeks as Trudeau rushes to tie up loose ends and cement his legacy.
  • The federal government has signed a contract with Irving shipyards for the first three River-class destroyers, with more presumably to follow.
  • The government renewed the Inuit First Child Initiative for another year while they work toward a long-term funding solution.
  • The CBC tracked the flights of the RCMP’s leased Black Hawk helicopters, and over the course of six weeks, they stopped a single illegal border crossing into Canada.
  • Amira Elghawaby has released a guidebook on understanding and addressing Islamophobia in Canada, as her role continues to be under attack.
  • China is levying retaliatory tariffs on Canada for the tariffs we imposed on Chinese-made EVs (at the behest of the Americans).
  • Here is a timely reminder that Putin has not offered a ceasefire, nor is he contemplating one, as Trump tries to hand him everything he wants.
  • Here are some candidates the NDP is running in the hopes of reversing their fortunes (and good luck with that).
  • Menswear writer Derek Guy delves into the messages that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is sending with his non-suit clothing choices.
  • Kevin Carmichael describes the factors that the Bank of Canada is weighing in advance of this week’s rate decision.
  • Keldon Bester reiterates the call that Big Tech is going to be an economic threat, and we can’t easily boycott many of the big platforms.
  • Philippe Lagassé gives a clear-eyed look at how to deal with the threats of Trump pushing Canada out of the Five Eyes or NORAD, as well as other procurements.
  • Susan Delacourt looks back on a decade of covering the rise and fall of Justin Trudeau, from the very start of his leadership campaign until now.
  • My weekend column finds that most political leaders’ plans to deal with the post-US climate are to simply double down rather than to actually look for creative ideas.

Odds and ends:

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