Liberal leadership hopeful Mark Carney confirmed Sunday that a federal government led by him would run a deficit “to invest and grow” Canada’s economy, but it would also balance its operational spending over the next three years.
Carney, a former governor of the Bank of Canada, invoked U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing threat of sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods to justify his proposed deficit.
The intent, Carney said during an interview on Rosemary Barton Live, is to invest in Canada’s economy “at a time when we absolutely have to build as a country.”
The taxpayer dollars would “catalyze many multiples of private dollars” to build homes, energy infrastructure, AI systems and trade corridors — “all of which are fundamentally necessary if we are going to grow this economy, irrespective of how President Trump is feeling on one day or another,” Carney said.
Carney also said a federal government led by him would balance its operational spending — such as government-run programs, federal transfers to provinces and territories and debt service charges — over the course of the next three years.
“Where we are willing to borrow is to invest and grow this economy,” Carney told Barton. “That is an absolutely crucial point.”
Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney, speaking from Vancouver on Thursday, said ‘nothing is pre-wired’ when asked whether he would call an election right away if he wins the party leadership race.
The former central banker also discussed his views on several other economic objectives. Carney said he supports “the concept” of a west-east oil pipeline — an idea that’s regained steam from some federal cabinet ministers and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
“We as a nation need to build some new pipelines for conventional energy,” Carney said. He added his government would accelerate approvals for such pipelines and accelerate approvals for clean energy.
Canada is also making a push to dismantle interprovincial trade barriers. Carney said he would “quickly convene” the country’s premiers to work on the issue in the service of making “one economy here, not thirteen.”
Carney, Trump and getting into politics
Looming over the Liberal leadership race is Trump’s tariff threats and continual talk of annexation, raising the stakes for the federal government as it works to stave off a trade war with the United States.
Carney, who may manage those negotiations in just a few weeks if he wins the leadership race, said he would pick up discussions “where they are” upon taking office.
When asked why he’s being reticent to share details of how he would respond to Trump’s tariffs, Carney said it’s “not a good idea to insert yourself in the middle of a negotiation [and] give conflicting signals.”
So far, Carney has pledged dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs — as has his main leadership opponent, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland.
Should Carney win the leadership race, he would become the first prime minister who has never won an election. He was asked by Barton why Canadians should believe he’s up to the job.
In response, Carney said he first needs to be elected Liberal leader and took credit for his role in growing the number of party members. At the end of January, the Liberals announced nearly 400,000 people had registered to vote in the leadership race.
“So members of the Liberal Party … will decide who they want as their leader and I’ll be elected or not by those individuals,” Carney said.
“Then Canadians in short order will get a decision whether or not which government they want to return to Ottawa.”
Carney also said former prime minister Stephen Harper asked him to be finance minister in 2012, but he “didn’t feel it was appropriate to go directly from being governor into elective politics.”
Harper’s former director of communications, Dimitri Soudas, said in a statement to CBC News that “Mark Carney is not telling the whole story, and prime minister Harper certainly does not support Mr. Carney in any way.”
The Conservative Party caucus met in Ottawa to talk strategy as their once-overwhelming lead over the Liberals erodes amid new interest in leadership frontrunner Mark Carney, and concern over U.S. tariff threats.
Carney, who was previously tapped by Trudeau to chair a Liberal Party task force on economic growth, was also asked why Canadians should believe he’d do anything different than the outgoing prime minister.
“I focus on the economy,” Carney said in response. “[Trudeau] has had a different focus for Canada.”
“Why am I here now? Because we’re in a crisis,” Carney said. “For better or worse, my career [and] my experience prepares me for this moment.”
