MNI INTERVIEW: Carney To Work With Opposition, BQ- Minister

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will be able to cooperate with all opposition lawmakers -– which would include Quebec separatists -- in tough negotiations with Donald Trump if final results confirm a hung parliament, the minister in charge of addressing U.S. complaints about lax border security told MNI.

Public Safety Minister David McGuinty suggested after polls closed that his victorious Liberals are less interested in working with the opposition Conservatives. He said there was a clear mandate from Canadians for a tough stance towards the U.S., from Carney, who in his address to supporters called Trump's actions a "betrayal" and said
Canada will win a U.S. trade war.

“We have a very strong mandate to negotiate with the United States, and I don’t think it’s dependent on the seat distribution of the House,” McGuinty said. The fight against the United States has become “a cause” across Canada that’s beyond party lines, and voters expect lawmakers to “come together, find a way, you’re all adults, behave like adults… and deal with this United States reality.”

With the BQ, a Quebec separatist party, looking to hold the balance of power with 23 seats, McGuinty said of potential cooperation that “there’s an opportunity here to retool and reboot the economy. There’s some good ideas on all sides of the House, we’ve got to get them and then we’ve got to implement them.”

POILIEVRE IN TROUBLE

He suggested less enthusiasm for working on the economy with Conservatives, who spent most of the last two years attacking former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as out of touch and saying Carney doesn't representing true change.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who had lead Trudeau by almost 20 points in opinion polls before Trump's call for Canada to become the 51st U.S. State pushed Canadians dramatically back towards the Liberals, may lose his own seat, raising further questions about how the new Parliament will work. 

“I’m in a neighboring riding to Mr. Poilievre, and I think what I heard was also heard in his own riding which is we need serious adult leadership," McGuinty said. "And I think a number of people don’t always agree that Mr. Poilievre represents that.”

“What I would say to Canadians is that it’s time to go to work, and we’re going to have to make some hard decisions very quickly. And we’re going to have to come together to make those decisions, and water our wine, and understand that sometimes trying to seek power for the sake of power is a mistake for your people.”

Carney’s Liberals were on track for 167 seats as of 2:30am EST Tuesday, short of a majority in the 343-seat House of Commons. The Conservatives looked like getting145.  

The NDP leader who propped up Trudeau's government likely lost his own seat. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Carney Short On 'Big Bang' Reforms- Jack Mintz)