MNI INTERVIEW: Carney Minority Govt To Last On Economy- Raitt

Mark Carney's Liberals are well-placed to keep power longer than the average minority Parliament opening Monday because he's borrowing rivals' ideas and Canadians want strong actions fighting U.S. tariffs, former Conservative deputy leader Lisa Raitt told MNI. 

“What we have seen from this Carney government is the ability to pivot and to take suggestions that are coming from the opposition, that are really founded in what the opposition was hearing from the Canadian public and implementing them. I would point to the carbon tax, I would point to the capital gains inclusion rates," Raitt said. 

Promises to axe those taxes pulled Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to a double-digit lead in the polls, a slide reversed only as Mark Carney replaced Justin Trudeau and made fighting U.S. tariffs the main question in the April 28 election. The former BOC and BOE Governor is underlining those goals as Parliament opens with tax cuts in a Throne Speech read by King Charles himself, Carney's way of showing Donald Trump Canada won't be made the 51st state.

Canadian leaders know the public wants stronger action in a difficult global economy and a revival of stagnant incomes according to Raitt, who for several years has co-chaired of the nonpartisan Coalition for a Better Future. “We had seven elections, five minority governments, and nobody was thinking about a long term plan,” she said. “Stopping the slide is job one, and then reversing the slide is job two, and these are not short-term kinds of projects.”

Carney calls himself a pragmatist and never rejected the idea he borrows proposals from other parties. During the campaign he distanced himself from Trudeau policies seen as holding back investment. Liberal support faded late in the campaign and they ended up a few seats short of controlling the House of Commons. Minority governments often less than half of a regular four-year mandate. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Carney To Work With Opposition, BQ- Minister)

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN

“I do see conservative principles in what the government is currently talking about, and that gives me hope that where we're not in a situation where a minority government spends all its time seeking short term decision-making in order to garner themselves a majority,” Raitt said. 

Any unexpected quick election and a Conservative victory would revive talk of firing the BOC governor and a stricter inflation mandate in its policy review next year. Budget deficits would also be smaller. Changes of that political switch are also dimmed with the Conservative and NDP leaders losing their own seats in the election and Quebec separatists losing a third of their House members.

“There is a lot of common thought amongst all of the parties in terms of what needs to happen, including the revitalization of our resource sector,” said Raitt, also a former natural resources minister. There's even some agreement around thornier issues of the environment and inclusion of indigenous peoples in the energy industry, she said. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Carney Quebec Gain Boosts Pipeline Odds- Surkes)

Political leaders across much of Canada appear willing to revive and accelerate energy projects, Raitt said. “I wouldn't be able to predict which pipeline is going to get built first. And the reason being is that it's going to be a market decision," said Raitt, also vice-chair of global investment banking at CIBC. 

Carney's talk of a wider energy corridor to create a global superpower in both conventional and green energy should reduce U.S. reliance and help Canada become globally competitive, she said. “Now there's more understanding about the importance of getting Canadian economy diversified."