Jen Gerson: Mark Carney is right to yell at his Liberal caucus

Once again, I find myself underwhelmed by their moral courage.

Do not cross this man or he will absolutely lose it. (via X.com)

By: Jen Gerson

On a long enough timeline, everybody in politics gets exactly what they deserve. Obscurity, censure, influence, and indifference. Sometimes people are up. Sometimes, they are down. But time and history washes everything away but the bone.

On that note, last week all Canadian media stumbled upon — or followed — this rather delicious piece from Toronto Star politics reporter Althia Raj which noted that Mark Carney wasn’t regarded as particularly sweet to many Liberal caucus members.

Fuelled by a parade of members of Parliament who would only speak anonymously, we’ve been treated to quotes like this all week:

“He yells,” said one MP who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution from the Prime Minister’s Office. “He punches down at caucus all the time.”

I don’t suppose that any of these people ever stop to consider that their unwillingness to air their complaints on the record might, in and of itself, prove the justification for the course. Once again, I find myself underwhelmed by the moral courage on display by the Liberal caucus.

More than a dozen apparently signed a letter offering complaints to this effect; but despite being adults who stood up before their peers to be elected to high office, none seem willing to put their names forward. As much as I, a journalist, never resent a good anonymous bitch fest about the boss — on such chaff does the mill of political commentary continue to whirr — I am also under no illusions that this is a good way to earn said boss’s respect.

Last week, some MPs felt the prime minister’s message was that he’s not interested in what they have to say.

Oh, do you think? Is it possible that the prime minister doesn’t care about what his caucus has to say? A caucus that, for the most part, has spent the last decade acting like a collection of pet turkeys who would drown themselves in their own water bowls after a heavy rain.

It’s becoming clear to me that some Liberal backbenchers are only now starting to understand their predicament. They seem to think that their miraculous election comeback last year was some kind of vindication. As if the past 10 years were proof in the pudding that Justin Trudeau was right all along, and that all they needed was a better communications strategy to prove it.

This is incorrect.

Mark Carney isn’t an exoneration of Trudeau’s legacy. He’s our collective revenge for it.

The fact that the two-time former banker is harsh isn’t a character fault. It was his value proposition. Even normies can sense that there’s a bristling asshole under the controlled and polite demeanour and the answer to that from the collective public was: “yes, more of this please.”

In fact, I’m willing to bet that every single time we read a story about Carney yelling at a wooly headed backbencher, demanding his caucus show up to work wearing real clothes and master British spelling, his personal popularity will go up five points. I suspect this is a man who owns only three kinds of socks; charcoal socks, blue socks, and white sports socks. If we get nothing else from this government, I will never again write about a prime minister’s socks. This is better.

One of the reasons this man seems to be so perversely well liked is because he’s mean to Liberals. He’s our most perfect agent of national revenge upon this party. Every single time you have to stand up behind him and smile like a seal while he opens a coal plant, rescinds a carbon tax, expands military spending, renounces a streaming tax, or announces a pipeline, the repressed sadist that sits in the shadow of every pragmatic Canadian heart says: “Good. Good.”

Make them know that the loss of their jejune, self-destructive idealism is the price of power. Let the light leave their eyes.

And I say this without any comment about Carney’s actual accomplishments — or lack thereof — as prime minister. I’m confining myself in this column to vibes.

The exception among governing Liberals seems to be Steven Guilbeault, who had enough sense to leave the caucus for his sins and is now demonstrating why he no longer fits in with the old crowd — namely, he’s willing to explain his beef in public and under his own name. I respect it. Can we make a Sad Steven Guilbeault interview with David Herle a quarterly feature going forward in the name of national unity?

The Liberals are getting exactly what they deserve. No Conservative prime minister could have been a more effective instrument of our national resentment than a Liberal prime minister who will spend the next 10 years forcing these people to dismantle every stupid policy they ever defended; and demand they look sharp doing it.

“He yells.”

Oh, does he?

Do go on. Tell me more. In detail. Vivid, beautiful, and expressive detail. Spare me nothing.

Look, I’m not saying that Mark Carney appeals to the shadow side of the Canadian soul; something lurking unacknowledged in the hearts of our own sunny self-perception as a “nice and polite” people. But I’m not not saying that, either.

Yes, I’m going to inject the usual bit of nuance, here. That, yes, of course there’s a line. If Carney is genuinely psychologically abusive or physically violent, that’s something that should be dealt with. Preferably by a caucus with both the intelligence and the spine to spill him — not that either intelligence or spine has ever been particularly in evidence with this bunch. Which leads me back to my first conclusion: that we’re dealing not with an unprofessional boss, but merely a demanding one. The sort of person a serious adult might expect to find leading a G7 nation. But apparently hasn’t, in recent years.

One might also point out that “MP” isn’t an ordinary job. To be elected to such a position is to hold power in its own right. It’s a role that demands high performing individuals both stand up to their leader, and hold their own against him or her. A caucus can fire the Prime Minister if necessary. In fact, much of this caucus just did so, albeit years later than they ought to have.

These are not staff roles, nor jobs in an ordinary sense, subject to the types of anesthetizing HR codes that have been normalized in so much white-collar work. If you’ve spent your career in activism, or boutique law firms, or the consulting class, then, yes, a boss who points out when you’ve said something monumentally dumb in front of other people under high pressure must, indeed, feel bracing.

If dissatisfied MPs feel that they are being overlooked or badly treated in their role, they can leave. They can sit as independents or join another party. They can prove their worth outside the party structure. They really can walk away from the prime minister, the person who managed to salvage what was left of their party after their own collective and contemptible weakness allowed the government under their care to stagnate and decline for a decade.

Best of luck, you brave, noble heroes. Go get what you deserve.

---

The Line is entirely reader and advertiser funded. No federal subsidies, no bailouts. If you value our work, please consider supporting us by subscribing or making a donation. Donations are not subscriptions and do not unlock paywalled content, but they help keep The Line independent

---

To contact The Line with a general inquiry or comment, please email info@readtheline.ca. For other ways to connect with us or to follow us on social media, please see our LinkTree.