The novelist Margaret Atwood once met a neurosurgeon who told her he was a big fan of hers, that he’d read all of her books and that, when he retired, he, too hoped to write some books.
“What a coincidence,” Atwood is said to have replied. “Because when I retire, I hope to take up neurosurgery.”
That anecdote was passed along by Rob Oliphant, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Don Valley West, when he was asked before Christmas about the type of leader the Liberals ought to turn to — should that job become vacant this week.
Oliphant was not speaking specifically about Mark Carney but that anecdote, to a professional politician like Oliphant — first elected in 2008 — is an apt metaphor for the former central bank governor.
Carney, now 59, is thinking about taking up politics after a long and successful career as an investment banker, civil servant, and central bank governor (for both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England).
In the last few weeks, he has spent many hours on the phone with Liberal MPs — seeking their advice and support for a run at the leadership of the federal Liberal Party, should that job come open in the coming days.
While Carney was not able to speak to Global News, a source with knowledge of his activities said Carney has spoken to “dozens” of Liberal MPs over the Christmas break but declined to identify those MPs.
Global News sent messages to more than 40 Liberal MPs to ask about these Carney conversations, but only one has confirmed receiving a call from the former governor of the Bank of Canada.
That MP, though, said they were aware of several others who had received calls from Carney and claimed some were supportive of his leadership aspirations, while some were still on the fence.
Oliphant, reached on Sunday, said he has not spoken to Carney but his caution — that politics is a serious business for seasoned professionals — remains, for him, a valid one.
“Being a politician takes some very specific skills,” Oliphant said on Sunday.
“It is not something you simply add to the end of a career — regardless of how much success you have had in your previous career.”
“This would apply to anyone, including Mark Carney, with whom I have not spoken but for whom I have great respect.”
Oliphant, who has publicly called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down, did not identify a preferred successor but among those Liberals who did voice a preference: Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne were frequently mentioned, as was former BC premier Christy Clark.
Most Liberal MPs contacted by Global News provided their thoughts on the prospect of a Carney candidacy on condition they not be identified: each for different reasons, but many out of respect for Carney’s attempt to see if politics can, indeed, be his next career.
All of those MPs spoke admiringly of Carney’s accomplishments and of his business savvy and experience.
However, many were skeptical that he could be a successful enough retail politician to turn around Liberal fortunes.
“I’m not yet convinced on Mark Carney,” said one MP who, like many others, believes the party would be best served by a new leader with broad experience in the business sector and who would move the Liberals to the centre of the political spectrum.
Almost all of the MPs Global News spoke to believe Trudeau has moved the party too far to the left and that shift has played a key role in the decline of the Liberals.
Some MPs also expressed frustration at Carney’s hesitancy when it comes to politics.
Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney speaks to reporters at the Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
For example, after Carney gave a closed-door presentation to Liberal MPs during a caucus retreat last fall in Nanaimo, B.C., Mississauga MP Iqra Khalid criticized Carney for two years of “gaslighting” Liberals and flirting through the media about a political future.
Two sources in the room said Khalid received applause from her Liberal colleagues for the way she challenged Carney.
Some MPs in the room for that conversation said Carney’s presentation was underwhelming and full of platitudes. One MP said it was “boring.”
But the Liberal MP who took Carney’s call in the last week encouraged his caucus colleagues to be a bit more patient.
“Mark is an extremely gifted Canadian with an impressive track record of public service,” the MP said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It would behoove every member of the Liberal caucus to give him strong consideration as a possible leader.”
What does Carney want?
Carney, in his calls to MPs, is asking for their advice and support, a source with knowledge of his activities said, and is trying to make three points.
First, he argues that he would be ready, on Day 1, to deal effectively with the incoming Donald Trump administration.
Second, he argues he can be a “change” candidate — that he represents a clear break from the existing Trudeau government.
That claim is already being challenged by Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, who have peppered social media accounts with posts that claim Trudeau and Carney are one and the same and whatever you get with Trudeau is what you’d get with “carbon-tax Carney,” as Conservative MPs call him.
The third and final point Carney makes in those phone calls: he is in a unique position to make the case that a government under his leadership would be better stewards of the economy than any other Liberal leader, and certainly better than a government led by Poilievre.
The source said Carney has taken pains not to seem as if he is pushing the incumbent, Justin Trudeau, out of the job — but does stress that his professional experience allows him to make the economic case in a way the Conservative leader, who has been an MP for nearly half his life, cannot.
David Akin is the chief political correspondent for Global News
