Roundup: PM Carney’s first day

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At around 1030 yesterday morning, Justin Trudeau formally submitted his resignation to the Governor General, and for the next thirty or so minutes was the interregnum period during which *gasp!* His Majesty had nobody to advise him. Shortly after eleven, Mark Carney took the oath, and became prime minister, followed by oaths sworn by his entire Cabinet (save Mélanie Joly, who was still at the G7 ministerial, and would be sworn-in later in the afternoon, missing the “family photo.”) (Photos of the Cabinet arriving at Rideau Hall here).

The Cabinet was indeed decidedly smaller, and not quite gender-balanced—thirteen men, not counting Carney, and eleven women, and there was no one from Alberta or PEI in Cabinet, with only two ministers west of Thunder Bay—Terry Duguid and Jonathan Wilkinson. Carney also did not include the Leader of the Government in the Senate (which is a mistake), and the fact that he jammed Women and Gender Equality under Stephen Guilbeault in “Canadian Identity” sends a signal, as does putting both labour and employment under “Jobs,” considering that they serve very different interests. Chrystia Freeland was given the post of transport minister and internal trade (now that Anita Anand has done the heavy lifting on that file), while Karina Gould was excluded. There was some rumbling that Carney was signalling a more rightward shift with these choices, but Nate Erskine-Smith is definitely very progressive, as is Patty Hajdu.

During his brief media scrum after the swearing-in, Carney resurrected the hateful phrase from Stephen Harper, circa 2006-08 of “Canada’s New Government™.” Nope. Stop it. He was asked about his assets and he only confirmed that they are in a blind trust, and pivoted to pointing out that much of it came from work in the private sector, which Poilievre hasn’t done, and later pivoted another response to Poilievre’s lack of a security clearance. Carney also confirmed that he will be heading to London and Paris early next week to meet with European allies and not to Washington to meet with Trump, but would not confirm when he plans to call the election.

From there, the Cabinet headed to West Block for a meeting, during which Carney put on a show of signing a piece of paper that claims to effectively end the consumer carbon levy, ostensibly by signing an Order-in-Council to set the rate to zero…but that was not an Order in Council. So, our oh-so-serious banker is performing stunts for the camera. *siiiiiiiiiiigh* He also said the rebates would still be going out for this quarter, but the whole thing has been vague (just like Carney’s entire leadership campaign). Carney claimed that the levy “failed,” but it didn’t. What failed was the government’s ability communicate their way out of a wet paper bag in that they couldn’t defend it against either the lies of the Conservatives, or the shitty job of the Parliamentary Budget Officer in his reports (that bordered on mendacity), or in getting an actual message across to the media rather than expecting the media to learn the policy and fact-check the lies, which they were absolutely never going to do. So now we will have a costlier and less efficient climate policy that will pass along costs to consumers who won’t get a rebate. Brilliant job, everyone. Slow clap.

Here are some quick quotes in reaction to the transition. The Conservatives’ front-bench spent the entire day shitposting and trying to make mean memes, because that’s where we are in Canadian politics, in spite of everything that is going on around us. Oh, and Scott Moe forwarded a list of demands to Carney, because of course he did. Zeus help us.

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian missile attack hit a residential area of Kryvyi Rih, injuring at least a dozen people. After an appeal by Trump, Putin says he’ll spare any Ukrainian soldiers still in Kursk region if they surrender (and we know how well Russians have been treating their prisoners, and how readily he’ll keep his word). Ukrainian drones hit two Russian gas compressor stations.

Good reads:

  • Mélanie Joly had a bilateral meeting with Marco Rubio to talk tariffs and annexation threats, which Rubio shrugged off and sanewashed Trump.
  • From the G7 ministerial, the lengthy final communiqué offered strong “unity” for Ukraine (which is fairly incredible in and of itself).
  • At the G7 ministerial, Germany’s foreign minister offered strong support for Canada, and the EU’s foreign policy chief says American trade wars only benefit China.
  • Bill Blair says he has been instructed to do the homework to see if they should cancel the F-35 order, or just part of it, and what the options are going forward.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 that in cases of prison discipline, the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt should apply, as with criminal trials.
  • David Eby announced legislation to end the provincial carbon tax now that Carney has effectively ended the federal levy (but I suspect there will be a wrinkle or two).
  • Eby also defended the legislation to allow for fees to be placed on American commercial trucks transiting the province to Alaska, in spite of threats.
  • Justin Ling looks back to the trade war of the late 1920s as a way to think about how to deal with the current American trade war.
  • Susan Delacourt remarks on Carney’s choice not to remain gender-balanced in his Cabinet choices.
  • My weekend column points out how much control Carney will have over appointing candidates in spite of his lack of political experience, harming the party grassroots.

Odds and ends:

Justin Trudeau’s official photographer, Adam Scotti, showcases his behind-the-scenes photos from 2024 until today’s resignation.

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: PM Carney’s first day”

  1. Dale,

    I am a subscriber to Loonie Politics website, and I am having a problem this week: I am unable to get completely in to read your columns, and my bank account was debited this month.

    How do I get this problem fixed?

    Ronald A. McCallum

    Reply ↓

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