Tom Mulcair: Carney can take on Trump, but he's got big challenges at home, too
Tom Mulcair breaks down new steel and aluminum protections, their impact on Canada-U.S. trade, and PM Carney's key measures.
Tom Mulcair is a former leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017, and a columnist for CTVNews.ca.
The new Carney government got elected on a promise of results.
The core team he's assembled to back him was purpose built with a single goal top of mind: Getting things done.
Economic issues generally and trade issues, in particular, were dictating the agenda. What was new was the single-minded determination. The threat of a trade war with our closest ally, the United States, was thought to be the stuff of a theoretical lament for our nation.
Then, it happened. When it did, and newly-elected Donald Trump actually voiced the desire to attack Canada economically and make us the 51st state, there was a sudden need for a Canadian adult in the room.
Canada Trump G7 Summit
President Donald Trump, right, and Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney participate in a session of the G7 Summit, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Kananaskis, Canada. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
(Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
Exit Justin Trudeau, enter Mark Carney. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, you'll have seen that Carney has been moving very fast on his promise to find new partners around the world and to develop opportunities at home.
Carney knows that the window to get anything changed in a big, modern economy is very narrow. Opposing interests are well defined, positions are well defended. The extreme clientelism of the Trudeau years ground his government to a halt. It's not that they lacked ideas, it's that they couldn't get anything done.
Caught in a second minority government, Trudeau cut a deal with Singh to ensure his own political survival. It wound up costing both of them dearly. Parliament was shut down by the Conservatives and the Liberals were in free fall in the polls. Singh's NDP was nearly wiped out at the ballot box, because the deal with Trudeau had cost them any definition of who they were.
Although he was also handed a minority government by voters, Carney has been behaving like someone who has a majority; and it's easy to understand why.
What he's seeking to accomplish can only be realized if other political actors are on board, but there was no way he was going to put himself in lockstep with the NDP, an idea he quickly rebuffed.
Carney's 'de-facto majority'
Instead, Carney's determination and bold vision seem to be accompanied by a chess player's moves. He's almost challenging the other parties to take him on because he's confident in his overall position.
Carney knows that Canadians agree with his approach and want him to succeed. Provoking an election any time soon would simply provide Carney with a majority. That political reality has provided him with a de-facto majority, even if he lacks a numerical one. Carney has gone all in.
Barely a month after the election, he introduced sweeping legislation to accelerate resource projects and has sought to remove American arguments about security issues by immediately meeting our NATO spending obligations and tightening the border.
The NDP quickly signalled that they wouldn't make the same mistake that had cost them most of their seats. They'd become an opposition party. It used to irritate us in the NDP when we were called the 'conscience of Parliament', because it left us out as real players.
I suspect that interim NDP Leader Don Davies won't mind that role at all in the current context. The NDP seem set to patiently rebuild their brand and avoid voting with the Liberals. The Bloc, as comically irrelevant as ever, will continue to wave their wooden swords and no one will pay any attention.
The real game, and the real view into the strategy of Mark Carney, was his forceful squeeze play on the Conservatives. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith weighed in quickly: She wanted Carney's bill passed. It didn't take long for the Conservatives to fold. Carney will get his legislation before the summer, as he requested.
Poilievre is about to become an Alberta MP and he'll have to decide who his boss is: His own party or Danielle Smith's. The answer to that question could have a determining effect on whether Poilievre's Conservatives retain the sizable gains they made in Ontario, where he used to be an MP.
As is often the case in politics, it's the people inside your tent who can cause the most problems. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a classic Progressive Conservative, has been proving himself to be a key ally of Carney. He wants resource projects and other development for Canada's largest province. The key goal of accelerating the review process is at the top of his list.
Ontario Premier Ford reverses Greenbelt decision
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces that he will be reversing his government's decision to open the Greenbelt to developers during a press conference in Niagara Falls, Ont., Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. The announcement comes after a second cabinet minister resigned in the wake of the Greenbelt controversy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tara Walton
The corrupt shenanigans, around Ford's Greenbelt land grab, should be a warning sign to Carney. Be careful when pushing aside environmental and habitat protections. Ford may believe that the public no longer cares about the issue but the Mounties are still investigating and the result could be serious trouble for Ford and for Carney, if he becomes too closely identified with the Ford approach.
There will be innumerable environmental, social and economic issues that will require deft handling by Team Carney. None will be as difficult as reconciling the constitutional, treaty and inherent rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples with their ambitious agenda.
Mark Carney, David Pratt
Mark Carney receives a pair of moccasins from David Pratt Vice-Chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations as he holds an election campaign rally in Saskatoon, Sask., on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
That's where the 'aw shucks' populism of Doug Ford can quickly become a major problem.
Ford's recent pronouncements on the relationship with Indigenous peoples have been particularly ham-fisted:
'There's an opportunity of a lifetime for them. We're giving them $3 billion with a B … to be equity partners, to make their communities more prosperous and wealthier and have services they've never had before…there's going to be a point that you can't just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government,' said Ford.
'You've got to be able to take care of yourselves — and when you literally have gold mines, nickel mines, every type of critical mineral that the world wants, and you're saying, 'No, no, I don't want to touch that, by the way, give me money.' Not going to happen. It's simple.'
The reply from Alvin Fiddler, the highly respected Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, was sharp and to the point. He said Ford's remarks were 'offensive, rooted in racism and colonial violence.'
Alvin Fiddler
Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation Alvin Fiddler speaks at a news conference against Bill C-5 in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Ford has since offered an apology but it's hard not to agree with Grand Chief Fiddler's characterization. That could eventually prove a huge problem for Carney.
For over 50 years, going back to an injunction that was issued in favour of the James Bay Cree to block a mammoth hydroelectric project in Quebec, wise resource developers have understood the need to work on a respectful nation-to-nation basis.
That's what Quebec has done, by the way, and although things are far from perfect, large developments continue to move forward because partnerships, and trust, have been created.
The old method, of throwing everything you've got at big law firms in the hope of defeating Indigenous rights, has proven a failed model, time after time after time. Ford does seem to have a glimmer of understanding that partnerships are the key, but he's such a blunt instrument, he manages to insult those he says he'd like to make a deal with. Not an auspicious start.
Carney has his work cut out for him, and has been going about it with inspiring energy and determination.
To help him meet his ambitious goals for Canada, he has managed to recruit some extraordinary players to his team. Within cabinet, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson will play a crucial role. But it's two outsiders who provide the key clues to Carney's approach.
Marc-Andre Blanchard
File photo of then Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations Marc-Andre Blanchard speaks to media during the Liberal cabinet retreat in Winnipeg, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Sudoma
Chief of Staff Marc-André Blanchard is best known in Ottawa as Canada's former ambassador to the U.N. Prior to that he'd been the national CEO of one of Canada's top law firms. You don't get to drive that sort of enterprise without knowing how to deal with oversized egos; great training for dealing with caucus and cabinet.
Blanchard is said to have bruised many during his tenure, but he got the job done. He went on to a key role at the massive Caisse de dépôt pension fund where his international experience was put to good use (and where his published salary was $2 million a year).
He'll be taking a huge pay cut to return to public service and he's not doing it for the glory. He's onside with Carney's vision for Canada and will be essential to achieving those results.
Michael Sabia
A file photo of then Hydro Quebec president Michael Sabia, speaking at the legislature committee studying Hydro Quebec strategic plan on Nov. 30, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
The most astounding hire was that of Michael Sabia. Like Blanchard, a tough task maker. A Montreal colleague chuckled as he related Sabia's tendency to call key meetings for 5:30 pm on Fridays during his time running Hydro Quebec. A nice way to remind top people that their big pay cheque comes with obligations. He'll be running the Privy Council Office, Carney's ministry that operates the entire government.
Go back to the Throne Speech to understand what types of massive cuts and reorganization are in store for the top brass in Ottawa. Any deputy minister who thought they'd be spending the summer on the dock at their cottage had better think again.
This is a unique time in Canadian political history. An unparalleled threat to our very existence being handled by a brilliant, energetic and refreshingly engaged new team. Canadians are onside. Now it's time to deliver the results.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
10 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Mark Carney, and the return of the progressive conservative
As Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a massive and immediate boost to defence spending earlier this month, he talked about the importance of using those new funds prudently. 'Every taxpayer dollar is precious,' he said in passing, later adding that his government would not be looking for new sources of revenue to pay for the defence buildup. 'We just cut taxes, we're not raising taxes.' It's easy enough to imagine a Conservative prime minister uttering similar sentiments – much easier than, say, envisioning former prime minister Justin Trudeau waxing on about the need to pinch pennies in the federal budget and making a no-new-taxes pledge. That Mr. Carney was going to drag the Liberal Party back to the centre after years of an NDP-lite government under Mr. Trudeau was to be expected. Two months after the election, the extent of that metamorphosis is becoming clearer – and it is remarkable. Part of that change is atmospheric. There are no more breathless lectures from Mr. Trudeau; they have been, mercifully, replaced by Mr. Carney's boardroom staccato. Unlike his predecessor, the current Prime Minister boasts of being 'laser-focused' on economic growth. And Canadians, happily, have no idea what kind of socks Mr. Carney likes to wear. But more than mannerisms have changed. Since April, the Prime Minister has cut personal income taxes, boosted defence spending dramatically, pledged to cut the cost of the federal bureaucracy, tightened immigration rules, eliminated federal barriers to internal trade, created a framework for breaking the stasis on big national projects and signaled that he will dismiss underperforming top bureaucrats. That's an agenda that Brian Mulroney could have endorsed. In fact, it overlaps a good deal with the actual governing record of his Progressive Conservatives. Mr. Carney is a Liberal but, in the early going, he looks to be governing much like a Red Tory – a progressive kind of conservative. Mr. Carney's agenda is one that the Liberals, in their Trudeau-era incarnation, would have most likely loudly denounced. Indeed, some left-leaning Liberals in the current caucus, including former cabinet minister and leadership contender Karina Gould, have already voiced their disquiet on legislation to speed up megaproject approvals. House approves Bill C-5 to fast-track projects, Carney pledges summer consultations with Indigenous leaders That could portend problems not that far down the road for the Liberal coalition that gave Mr. Carney his minority government. The Liberals corralled the progressive vote, with support for the NDP and Greens plummeting from the 2021 campaign. Will those voters stick with the Liberals if Mr. Carney continues his rightward sidestep? And will Mr. Carney stick with his agenda if his progressive supporters bolt? Another (large) caveat is how Mr. Carney's agenda adds up in the fall budget. Broad statements on finding efficiencies in the public service are enough for now. Canadians will see in a couple of months whether the blue-tinged Liberals will actually reduce the bloated head count of civil servants. Similarly, it's encouraging that Michael Sabia, two days before he was appointed Clerk of the Privy Council, mused about the 'pancake' of regulations that were stifling economic growth. But what will he and Mr. Carney do to reduce the height of the pancake stack? Biggest of all, the swirl of mist surrounding Mr. Carney's fiscal plans will be necessarily dissipated once that budget is tabled. How will the defence buildup be paid for? Will the deficit fall or rise from the groaningly high levels that Mr. Trudeau bequeathed to his successor? The answers found in the budget will determine if Mr. Carney has truly broken from the fiscal recklessness of the Trudeau Liberals. Longer term, there is the open question of how aggressively the Carney Liberals will push badly overdue structural reforms of the economy. Broad tax reform, lowering of foreign ownership barriers, radically paring business subsidies and reducing the regulatory burden: all of those changes are needed to reinvigorate Canada's economy. At the moment, Mr. Carney doesn't look to be abandoning the dirigiste propensities of the Trudeau Liberals, who were unable to see that millions of minds in the private sector might do a better job than a government department. In less than four months, Mr. Carney has reinvented and reinvigorated the Liberal brand, delivering a progressive feel to conservative governance. Canadians will find out soon enough if that is a mere marketing exercise.
Globe and Mail
10 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Can Microsoft Join the $4 Trillion Club in 2025?
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had a market capitalization of $3.695 trillion as of Friday morning. That means its stock only needs to climb by another 8.3% for the company to become the founding member of the $4 trillion club, which I think is a very strong possibility by the end of 2025 (although Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) with its $3.835 trillion market cap could get there first). Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the primary driver of Microsoft's increasing value over the last couple of years. The company is approaching this lucrative opportunity from several different angles, and it has already become an industry leader in the software and cloud segments. Here's why AI could be Microsoft's ticket to a $4 trillion valuation this year. Microsoft has a diverse AI product portfolio Microsoft has invested around $14 billion in ChatGPT creator OpenAI since 2019, and it has combined the start-up's industry-leading AI models with its own to create the Copilot virtual assistant. Copilot is accessible for free in some of Microsoft's flagship software (like Windows, Edge, and Bing), but it's also available as a paid tool in several products, like the following: 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint): Enterprises can add Copilot for an additional monthly subscription fee to boost the productivity of their employees. In the fiscal 2025 third quarter (ended March 31), Microsoft said the number of organizations using Copilot for 365 tripled year over year to the hundreds of thousands. Copilot Studio: This platform allows enterprises to create custom AI agents and deploy them into the software applications they use each day to boost productivity, and it already has over 230,000 customers. Dragon Copilot: This is a solution for the healthcare industry, which can autonomously transcribe conversations between doctors and their patients, rapidly generate referral letters, and even summarize diagnosis evidence to help improve outcomes. But Copilot isn't the only revenue-generating AI product in Microsoft's portfolio because the company operates one of the world's largest cloud computing platforms called Azure, which now offers a suite of AI products and services under the Azure AI banner. Azure AI leases state-of-the-art data center infrastructure to businesses, which is fitted with the latest AI chips from suppliers like Nvidia. It also offers access to ready-made large language models (LLMs) from the likes of OpenAI, which developers can use to accelerate their AI software projects. AI is quickly becoming the driving force behind Azure Azure is often the fastest-growing part of Microsoft's entire organization, but it might have lost that title recently if not for Azure AI. A little less than two years ago, Azure AI accounted for just five percentage points of Azure's quarterly revenue growth. In the recent fiscal 2025 third quarter, it represented 16 percentage points, meaning it accounted for almost half of Azure's overall growth. The contribution from Azure AI is likely to increase further from here because Microsoft CFO Amy Hood says the segment has a staggering $315 billion order backlog from AI customers who are waiting for more data center capacity to come online. Microsoft is building more data centers as fast as it can, and it opened new ones in 10 different countries during the last quarter alone. In fact, the company is on track to have spent over $80 billion building AI infrastructure during fiscal 2025, which ends on June 30. Management's guidance suggests that the figure is likely to grow in fiscal 2026, which isn't a surprise, given the size of the opportunity ahead. Can Microsoft join the $4 trillion club in 2025? Based on Microsoft's trailing 12-month earnings per share (EPS), its stock is trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 38.2. That's 14% higher than its five-year average of 33.4, which suggests investors are willing to pay a premium for the stock at the moment: Data by YCharts. Microsoft's fiscal year 2026 begins on July 1, and Wall Street's consensus estimate (provided by Yahoo! Finance) suggests the company could deliver $15.14 in EPS, which would represent growth of over 13%. That places its stock at a forward P/E ratio of 32.6. That means Microsoft stock would have to climb by around 17% over the next 12 months in order to maintain its current P/E ratio of 38.2, which is a fair assumption given the strength of its AI business. If the company delivers strong earnings during the first two quarters of fiscal 2026 (which fall in calendar year 2025), then investors might start pricing in the full-year result early -- especially considering that the stock market is a forward-looking machine. In other words, it's possible Microsoft stock will deliver the majority of that 17% in potential upside in the next six months or so. Remember, it only needs a gain of 8.3% for the company's valuation to hit $4 trillion, so it could certainly achieve the milestone before 2025 is over. Should you invest $1,000 in Microsoft right now? Before you buy stock in Microsoft, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Microsoft wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $704,676!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $950,198!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to175%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Raymond J. de Souza: Christian and Jewish leaders unite to combat the scourge of antisemitism
An important summit of some 100 faith leaders — roughly 50 Jewish rabbis and 50 Christian pastors — was held in Toronto this week to combat rising antisemitism in Canada. The focus was more theological than strategic or political, with an opening address by the peerless professor Rabbi David Novak, Toronto's gift to all who sincerely desire to speak to God and about God. Novak spoke of Jacques Maritain, the French philosopher who served as France's post-war ambassador to the Holy See. It was that kind of gathering, where wise men shared the wisdom of the ages — a tonic for today's toxic twittering and taunting. Article content Article content The summit was a summons to Christian congregations to stand against antisemitism, not only in solidarity with Jews, but primarily because of their own religious beliefs. Article content Article content Two such beliefs are foundational, one general and one particular. Generally, Jews and Christians believe in universal human dignity, that everyone is created in the image of God. In particular, Jews believe that God chooses, and that they are a chosen people for the sake of all nations. Christians believe that from this comes, in Jesus Christ, a Jew, the universal gift of salvation for all peoples. Article content For both reasons, Christians ought to be concerned about antisemitism, a rising scourge in Canada. Last year, columnist Terry Glavin documented the ' explosion of Jew hate ' that we have seen in our streets of late, with vile speech, vandalism and violence visited upon Jews, their synagogues, schools and shops. Article content 'This is not Paris,' said Rick Eckstein, the driving force behind what is called the ' Simeon Initiative, ' in his introductory remarks. Eckstein is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who is deeply convinced that one righteous person can make a difference. He recounted how his own mother was saved from the Holocaust by three righteous Poles, including a Catholic priest. His very existence is the fruit of those Catholics standing with courage for Jews. Article content The Paris comment struck me. Rising levels of antisemitism, including terrorism, have meant that 'normal' Jewish life in France now proceeds under multiple layers of security — private, police and military. France's Jews have their own organized ' protection service,' which serves to co-ordinate the need for security. To be a Jew in France is to live under perpetual threat. Article content Article content Is Toronto headed in the same direction? Private security is now 'normal' at Jewish community centres, schools and daycare centres. Synagogues spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on security — costs that would sink many Christian parishes. Jewish neighbourhoods are regularly targeted by demonstrations supportive of Hamas and its explicitly genocidal goal of driving Jews into the sea. Article content The Simeon Initiative is named after the biblical figure who greets the infant Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem, thus serving as a bridge between Jews and Christians. It is a joint venture of my colleagues at Cardus, Canada's leading Christian think-tank, and my former colleagues at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Canada's leading Jewish advocacy group. It is a pleasure to see Christian and Jewish colleagues in common cause; would that the cause be a happier one.
