It’s now clear the “elbows up” slogan of the Mark Carney Liberal campaign was nothing more than a sales pitch to dupe the Canadian people.
While in Washington, D.C. last week, Carney told Trump that Canada was “not for sale.” However, he took more time to sing Trump’s praises.
“Thank you for your hospitality, and above all for your leadership. You’re a transformational president focused on the economy with a relentless focus on the American worker. Securing the borders. Ending the scourge of fentanyl and other opioids. And securing the world,” Carney said at a media event with reporters present.
Arguably, this was good diplomacy, embodied in comments Carney could probably deliver with honesty. But if you had told the average Liberal voter this is what Carney would do within the first two weeks of the federal election, they would have been surprised.
Carney’s elbows were comfortably down as he sat in his chair, listening to Trump as he dominated a White House press conference. By one analysis, Trump took literally 10 times as much time as Carney did. Trump talked as much as ever about U.S. annexation of Canada, complaining as usual about the “artificially drawn line,” the 49th parallel that became a border between the two nations.
“I was probably the greatest thing that happened to him, but I can’t take full credit. His party was losing by a lot and he ended up winning,” Trump said of Carney. The prime minister didn’t disagree, he just laughed. The two leaders posed for a smile and a thumbs up.
The next day, Carney told Canadians more in a post to X. Apparently, he conveyed to Trump that their countries were stronger when they worked together. “The question is how we can cooperate in the future, how we can build an economic and security relationship built on mutual respect,” Carney explained.
How can we reconcile all this with the “elbows up” ads where Carney talked to Mike Myers at a hockey rink? Looking back, it all makes sense. Who better than an actor to help you present a compelling, but fake message? It worked for Justin Trudeau, after all, a trained actor himself.
Less than two months ago, Carney said, “The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over. It’s clear the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner.”
In his closing statement of the English debate, Carney doubled down.
“We are facing the biggest crisis of our lifetimes,” Carney said. “Donald Trump is trying to fundamentally change the world economy, the trading system, but really what he’s trying to do to Canada — he’s trying to break us, so the U.S. can own us. They want our land, they want our resources, they want our water, they want our country.”
Of course, any voter with more ability to think than feel could see right through this nonsense. It wasn’t long ago that COVID-19 was the alleged big threat. How was Trump supposed to be worse than a disease? Were people actually going to get locked down, sick, and dead through a U.S. takeover of Canada?
The threat was played up, as was Carney’s alleged approach. Now Carney’s message is about an economic and security union with the United States. Given how Canada is a runt next to U.S. military and economic power, just how much different would that be from outright annexation? Elbows up is looking more like shaking hands all the time.
None of this surprises those who paid close attention. By election day, both the National Post and Radio-Canada were reporting that Carney’s tone had been more conciliatory and less adversarial in his March 28 phone call with Trump.
The National Post even noted that “Carney flagged for the president that he would need to talk tough about America and Trump during the election,” but told Trump he was a “transformative” president that he’d like to work with.
Interestingly, the March 28 Canadian read-out of that call acknowledged, “The leaders agreed to begin comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship immediately following the election.” Carney seemed confident of victory; now that he has secured it, he is doing exactly what he conveyed to Trump he would do. The only ones under the wrong impression were Canadians who voted for him.
This international dispute will be resolved one way or another. Then, Carney will warn us about another greatest threat of our lifetime: climate change.
To the gullible, Carney will once again portray himself as not just the Canada-saving, but the world-saving champion, helping the planet dodge the doom waiting for us in some apocalyptic future. As the good guy, he will direct government policy and investments accordingly and Brookfield and other companies on the green bandwagon will be ready to cash in.
Will Canadians wake up? If not, the country seems doomed to lose its prosperity and freedom in the hand of a false saviour elected under false pretenses.
