The Carney Calculus: Choosing a Bully Who Can Win

When the enemy is Drumpf, you ally with competence, not conviction. A response to my critics, both Canadian.

This comment came from Mike Shack, who I believe is Canadian.

(About The Carney Doctrine) Sorry, please research Carney’s history. His speech was most eloquent but a complete fantasy.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1C2XCBJQxi/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I’m sorry too because I cannot let this moment pass without a thoughtful response.

Mike, you and I may disagree on many things, but I’ll always respect that your views come from a genuine place. So, I’ll address you directly, not as a writer to a reader, but as one Canadian to another who cares about this country’s future.

First, on Mark Carney. I knew him from Bay Street. One of his former partners told me bluntly, “He’s a bully, but he’s competent and gets the job done.” My business contacts in Europe confirmed his success at the Bank of England. I applied the same cold-eyed assessment to his tenure at the Bank of Canada. Competence is a non-partisan virtue.

Let’s be clear: politically, I share many of your concerns about him. Based on his speeches and books, I find plenty to disagree with. In over two decades of writing, no one drew my ire like Carney. I considered him a master of forked tongue, the devil incarnate on issues like the carbon tax—which I criticized relentlessly. I have never voted Liberal in my life. My perspective is right of center, believing firmly that aside from core public responsibilities like healthcare, education, and defense, government should be limited.

But Drumpf changed everything.

Professional politicians—whether Trudeau or Poilievre—are utterly unprepared to safeguard Canadian sovereignty from the authoritarian monster next door. Carney is. He is the only figure on the landscape with the unique blend of global financial credibility, central bank experience, and sheer tactical competence to navigate what’s coming. So, my money—and my country’s security—is riding on him, and him alone. Whether I like his personal politics is irrelevant. When you’re at war, you don’t get to choose allies based on ideology; you choose based on who can deliver victory.

Regarding the “fantasy” label you cited: it originates from Conrad Black, Drumpf’s convicted felon friend and Mar-a-Lago neighbour. He was personally chatting with Drumpf in the White House the moment Charlie Kirk was shot, so we know he’s close. Like the rest of the miscreants and convicted felons Drumpf surrounds himself with, Black fits the profile. His opinion is propaganda from within the belly of the beast. Enough said.

Here’s an opinion that actually matters to me. Over the holidays, I received a call from the CEO of a multinational tech firm that manufactures in five countries and serves the military market. He had just returned from high-level meetings, I believe involving NORAD in Missouri, and was briefed on major defense issues. This is a man who told me, “I voted Conservative in every election.” Then he said this, and I quote as closely as I can remember: “After those meetings, I went to bed for the first time in my life wearing Maple Leafs on my pajamas. I just love this guy Carney. We are so bloody lucky to have him.”

My jaw dropped. I swear this is true, and I’ve repeated it to others, including in the US military. This is the calculus now. Drumpf’s America forces Canada into a corner. We must go Elbows Up. I will choose to enter that fight with a winner on my side every single time.

The market, in its way, has voted. That article you disliked has the highest readership and most likes of over 400 pieces in my seven months on Substack. We will never all be on the same side of a trade. But on this issue, the stakes are not just political—they are existential, and not just for Canadians but for Americans too. I’m choosing competence and survival over partisan purity. I hope you can respect that of me.