Inside Mark Carney's leadership campaign launch: Teleprompter issues, mystery limo and an unexpected supporter
The former central banker officially announced his bid for leadership this week
Mark Carney's official campaign launch for Liberal leader included high praise from supporters and some unexpected moments behind the scenes, including a glitchy Teleprompter, a mysterious limousine booking and police showing up on scene.
The launch took place at the Laurier Heights Community League in Edmonton in a hall that holds around 140 people. The indoor space sat next to the outdoor rink where Carney grew up playing hockey — a detail he spoke about in his speech while trying to emphasize his Western roots.
As organizers packed supporters into the room before Carney walked out, his father's former political opponent walked in and sat down in the front row of the crowd.
Douglas Roche, a former longtime Progressive Conservative MP, defeated Bob Carney, who ran for the Liberals in Edmonton-South in the 1980 federal election.
Roche told CBC News he showed up to back Carney because he's "extremely concerned with the future of this country."
"In my political experience, I've never seen such a challenge to the integrity and future of Canada," Roche said. "I think that Mark Carney is the one who can pull our country together and move forward."
Roche said incoming U.S. president Donald Trump has "challenged Canada like never before" and it will be a challenge to pull back the "political pendulum" that's swinging right. He said the country would be well served with Carney as prime minister because of his deep understanding of economics.
Technical issues
As Carney's speech got underway and he made his pitch to Liberals about why, despite not being the "usual suspect" when it comes to politics, he thinks he can win the next election and take on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, his Teleprompter crashed more than once.
CBC News saw the prompter rebooting and quickly scrolling through his speech multiple times to try and catch up to where he was. During the glitches, Carney looked down at his notes and seemed to pace himself while the text caught up.
Some, like Sebastian Perez with the University of Alberta Young Liberal Chapter, responded positively to Carney's slower delivery, calling the speech "very heartfelt."
"Especially because right now there's a lot of fast-paced energy going around," Perez said. "And especially like even just his tone of voice really helped smooth things down. I think he's one of the smartest people in the room."
The prompter was just one glitch at the launch. Before the doors opened, a white limousine outfitted to look like a Rolls-Royce pulled up in the parking lot as journalists waited outside.
The driver said he was picking someone up, but didn't know who. After about five minutes facing questions and video cameras, the driver slowly backed out of the lot.
The limo company later told CBC News they have no idea who booked the vehicle and all they had was the requester's phone number and they repeatedly didn't pick up.
Carney's campaign said they had nothing to do with it and had no idea who did.
Police also showed up on site ahead of the event after Keean Bexte with the Counter Signal and James Snell from the Western Standard said organizers wouldn't let them inside the hall.
Bexte posted a video on social media showing police telling him he was trespassing inside the venue's entrance and it was time to leave.
Familiar supporters but mixed reviews from public
Inside the hall, a group of Liberal MPs stood in a line beside Carney during his speech, including George Chahal (who helped organize the event), Ali Ehsassi and Sameer Zuberi, who are among some Liberal caucus who called on Trudeau to resign during the party's internal caucus revolt.
"I have done my due diligence and looked at the different possibilities out there," Zuberi said. "Mark Carney has the experience and he has proven to handle economies in turbulent times."
The room was filled with supporters, including Carney's two brothers and friends he met while attending nearby St. Francis Xavier High School, like John Hecker.
Hecker said he's known Carney for 45 years and Carney was his best man at his wedding.
He said if anyone caught Carney's surprise appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart earlier in the week, they saw "his sense of humour, his wit" and think he "can do a lot for our country."
"I think he's as comfortable sitting talking to you and I as he is talking with King Charles," Hecker told CBC News. "He's really that genuine and that down to earth."
But while Carney's supporters were enthusiastic, reactions from people on the streets of Edmonton were mixed. Some didn't know who Carney was. A woman getting on a bus told CBC News she didn't like he was a banker, while a hotel worker loading his car said he may vote Liberal for the first time because of Carney.
Ben Gronberg, the councillor for Devon, a small oil town south of Edmonton, said driving into Edmonton he sees "F Trudeau stickers" on vehicles. He said Carney could have a tough time convincing people he's different from Trudeau.
"I don't know how easily he'll be able to persuade Albertans or the West to see him as something other than the Liberals," Gronberg said.
One of Carney's biggest opponents in the race is former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, who launched a campaign video Saturday pitching herself as a "tough negotiator" who has experience taking on Trump and promised to "fight for Canada."
Carney is Freeland's longtime friend and her son's godfather.
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