Teasing a Liberal leadership bid, Mark Carney talks change, economy with The Daily Show
'In a situation like this, you need change. You need to address the economy,' Carney tells Jon Stewart
Mark Carney appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Monday to talk about what kind of Liberal leadership candidate he would make, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and the economic threat Canada faces from the incoming Trump administration.
During the interview, Stewart tried several times to get the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England to formally announce his candidacy in the race to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but Carney coyly leapt over those hurdles.
"Sir, may I recommend to you, with your charm and debonair wit, yet strong financial backbone, that you offer yourself as … have you offered yourself as leader," Stewart said.
Carney joked back that he "just started thinking about it" when Stewart brought it up.
Stewart said that should he win the race, he would struggle to secure victory for the incumbent Liberals because he would be saddled with the policies of the last decade.
"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 crisis. Let's say the candidate had a plan to deal with the challenges in the here and now," Carney said.
"You sneaky; you're running as an outsider," Stewart said.
"I am an outsider," Carney replied.
Stewart held up a side-by-side picture of Trudeau and Poilievre and suggested the Conservative leader looked "like a villain in a Karate Kid movie, there is something very off-putting," before asking Carney what Poilievre is like in person.
"You're not far off," Carney replied, adding that Poilievre is the "type of politician who tends to be a lifelong politician," who worships the market despite having never worked in the private sector and who sees "opportunity in tragedy to push an agenda."
In discussing Trudeau's decision to step down so the Liberal Party could hold a leadership race, Carney said changing leaders gives the party "a chance" to win the next federal election.
Trump tariffs and being absorbed by the U.S.
Stewart suggested that a number of Liberal cabinet ministers have said they are not going to run for the Liberal leadership because "they fear the headwinds in this election."
Carney defended members of cabinet — including Foreign Affair Mélanie Joly, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon — for deciding not to run.
"They are not running, in part because there's a crisis right now because of the threat of the Trump tariffs," Carney said. It's "country before party and personal ambition — and it's absolutely right."
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports when he assumes office unless Canada enacts measures to tackle illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the United States
When it comes to tariffs, Carney said, "we have to prepare for it," and pointed out that if the United States does not import crude oil from Canada, its next best option is Venezuela
Asked what Canadians make of Canada becoming the 51st state, Carney said: "Bottom line: it's not going to happen, due respect."
"We find you very attractive, but we're not moving in with you. It's not you, it's us," Carney said, adding that Canada and the U.S. can instead "be friends with benefits … but we're not gonna commit all the way."
Those benefits, Carney said, include trade and defence.
Carney on the economy and the carbon tax
"I think in a situation like this you need change. You need to address the economy. We've got an economic crisis because of what Mr. Trump is about to do, or saying he is about to do. We also have challenges in housing, cost of living," he said. "We need to get the economy moving."
Carney said that Canadians have suffered under inflation, that wages have not kept pace with inflation, housing is expensive and there is a broad concern about the coming Trump tariffs.
"And truth be told, the government has been, not as focused on those issues as it could be," he said. "We need to focus on them immediately; that can happen now, and that's what this election is gonna be about."
Carney was asked if being left holding the "carbon-tax bag" will make running to be prime minister more difficult than it will be for Poilievre.
The former central banker said it's important for Canada to make sure we're addressing climate change, and that Canada is "doing our bit, making our companies more competitive," because after Trump leaves office, the U.S. is probably going to "care about it again."
When that time comes around, Carney said Canada needs to be in a position where it cares about climate change and has done something about it.
"But we need to do it in a way that Canadians today are not paying the price," he said, without defending the carbon tax or pledging to keep the policy.
"The vast majority of our emissions in Canada come from our industry," Carney added. "In fact, almost 30 per cent of our emissions in Canada come from the production and shipment of oil to the United States."
Part of tackling climate change in Canada is "cleaning that up, getting those emissions down, more than changing, in a very short period of time, the way Canadians live," Carney said.
Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman issued a statement in response to the appearance, saying that Carney is a "just-like-Justin insider," who is trying to "convince Canadians that he is not responsible for the policies that he and Justin Trudeau forced on Canadians."
As a longtime liberal insider, adviser and chair of Justin Trudeau's so-called Leader's Task Force on Economic Growth, she called Carney "the furthest thing possible from an outsider."
"Carbon Tax Carney is a hypocrite. He can't hide from the truth. He's just like Justin," she said.
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