Beyond the Ballot: With 'ridiculous' US interview, Carney being 'coronated' as Liberal leader
Beyond the Ballot duo Renee Merrifield and Jim Csek have been discussing a range of topics, including Mark Carney’s appearance on US TV, women in politics and Canada’s natural resources.
Businesswoman and former MLA Merrifield said it looks to her like Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, is being crowned as Liberal leader behind the scenes.
“Liberals don't run leadership races, really,” she explained. “They coalesce around one particular, coronated leader. And that is Carney right now.”
It would be “political suicide” for other potential leaders, for example Chrystia Freeland, to announce leadership bids if they don’t already have the support of Liberal insiders, she added.
Merrifield also pointed to former BC premier Christy Clark, who abandoned her campaign today.
“That's not surprising considering the week she's had,” she said. “The media has not been forgiving. They basically cued her up. They had receipts on her Conservative membership and called her out on it.”
Clark, Merrifield explained, was “caught in a lie,” but was “politically savvy enough to know” her hopes were dashed and to call it a day.
During their conversation today, the duo also discussed:
Carney’s “ridiculous” appearance on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show in the US
Her opinion that Canada is headed for a spring election
That the Canadian public is “out for blood” from the political class
The different outcomes in politics for women and men, e.g. Clark and Carney
That the carbon tax is “dead”
That the Liberals have gone “far left” and ceded the centre ground they held under Jean Chretien
Justin Trudeau’s recent media appearances in the US
Merrifield and Csek also spoke about the “brain drain” facing Canada as people “can no longer afford to be here.”
“Have we taken our poker chips off the table in terms of our resource sector?” Merrifield asked, answering: “100 per cent.”
She added: "We have nothing to actually sit at the table [with the US], which is why Trudeau had to go around the table and crouch down in Mar-a-Lago, because we don't have anything that they actually want.”
The solution, Merrifield offered, is to recognize that “water and electricity [are] the new oil” and exploit Canada’s resources more systematically.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.