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In an interview with The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, Carney didn’t definitively say he would launch a campaign for the leadership in the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but he did say that a “hypothetical” outsider candidate was better positioned to run for the job while U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is threatening tariffs on Canadian goods.
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National Post has reported last week that Carney is likely to launch his campaign later this week, along with former B.C. Premier Christy Clark.
Carney wasn’t shy about attacking Poilievre after Stewart said Poilievre seemed “very off-putting” and “like a villain in a Karate Kid movie.”
“There is a type of politician — you have a few of them here in the United States and they had a lot in and around Brexit and we have Mr. Poilievre in Canada — a type of politician who tend to be lifelong politician, really tend to worship the market but they’ve never actually worked in the private sector,” said Carney.
“And they see opportunity in tragedy, like you just had with the fires, these horrible fires, and they see opportunity in tragedy to push an agenda…,” said Carney, who accused Poilievre of wanting to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to cut taxes and government workers.
Carney also told Stewart that the race for Liberal leadership was short on candidates because so many ministers believe they have to focus on the “crisis” caused by the threat of tariffs being imposed on Canadian goods, rather than party politics or personal ambition.
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By not being part of the government, Carney argued he was better positioned to run for Trudeau’s job.
“Wild hypothetical. Let’s say the candidate wasn’t part of the government. Let’s say the candidate did have a lot of economic experience. Let’s say the candidate did deal with prices. Let’s say the candidate had a plan to deal with the challenges in the here and now,” said Carney.
“You sneaky… you’re running as an outsider,” said Stewart.
“I am an outsider,” said Carney.
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The Conservatives pushed back on Carney’s characterization of himself, saying he is the “furthest thing possible from an outsider,” after being a long-time Liberal “insider, advisor” and the chair of the party’s economic growth task force.
Carney also criticized Trudeau’s government for taking its eye off the ball while inflation soared and housing became unaffordable in Canada.
“Canadians have been very hard-pressed the last few years. Wages have not kept up with inflation. People are are falling behind, not getting ahead. Housing is very expensive, and there’s this broader concern — again, exclamation point put on by the Trump tariffs — about what the future brings,” said Carney.
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“Truth be told, the government has been not as focused on those issues as it could be. We need to focus on them immediately. That can happen now, and that’s what this election will be about it,” said Carney.
In response, Stewart warned Carney that it reminded him of the U.S. election, which Democratic candidate Kamala Harris lost to Trump after replacing U.S. President Joe Biden as the candidate.
“Can I tell you something? I feel like I’m looking in a mirror. We just had that election. Run. When I say run, I mean not for office. I mean f–king run, the other way,” said Stewart.
“It’s so hard, when the headwinds are like that. It’s really difficult for a candidate to come in who is saddled with the policies,” said Stewart.
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In response to a question about how Carney would be “left holding the carbon tax bag,” which Stewart argued was “not politically feasible,” Carney hinted that he would target the oil and gas industry with climate policy.
“Almost 30 per cent of our emissions from Canada come from the production and shipment of oil to the United States,” said Carney. “So part of it is cleaning that up, getting those emissions down, more than changing, in a very short period of time, the way Canadians live.”
National Post
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