BELL: Carney aims at winning Calgary seats — really
The Liberals believe they can win seats in Calgary, a traditional wasteland for the party.
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They are nothing if not enthusiastic.
They line up at Calgary’s Red and White Club at McMahon Stadium to hoot and holler and whoop it up for Liberal leader Mark Carney, the party’s new messiah.
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Some give the press suggestions on what picture to paint of this rally in a city that has not been kind to the federal Liberals and where many Calgary ridings are routinely won in landslides.
“Write something nice,” say more than a few.
“I always do,” is the reply of this scribbler, knowing I have to go to confession this weekend.
“Take a look at that lineup,” say others, hoping a lineup is an indication of what lies ahead.
George Chahal, the lone Calgary member of parliament on the Liberal side, is questioned by the press.
Chahal doesn’t say a hell of a lot but he smiles a lot.
The Liberals have their signs, ready to wave. I meet local Liberals who have stuck with their party through thick and thin.
There is Darryl Raymaker, an old pal of Pierre Trudeau. There is Scott Brison, once a member of former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s inner circle.
Only one guy gives me the middle finger.
He is the same guy who gave me the middle finger at the Alberta NDP gathering not long ago where that party announced former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi had easily won their leadership contest.
Yes, there are familiar Alberta NDP faces here and those who call themselves progressives and a few from previous Calgary city hall battles who still think bike lanes are one of the great advances in human civilization.
Going into the crowd, the new and old Liberals are happy for two reasons.
They think Carney and the Liberals are going to win a majority government.
They think they are going to pick off a seat or two or three in Calgary.
Some readers will consider this to be delusional.
Then again, a few months back, anyone suggesting the Conservatives weren’t on their way to a massive win with a massive rejection of the Liberals would have been considered out of touch with reality.
The show is on.
Carney’s wife tells us her husband is a wonderful guy.
Carney says the gathering is amazing — and in Calgary.
“Free Palestine!” someone yells repeatedly and he is out the door.
Another squawks about Canada’s purchase of Made in the U.S.A. F-35 jets.
Carney calls out and defends himself. That’s why the government is reviewing the buy.
The Liberal Leader begins. He loves Alberta. He loves Canada. He will fight for both.
He is not going to win any public speaking awards. The crowd don’t care.
This is their night. It’s like when you go to hear your favourite band and they don’t sing the way they sound on the record.
Who cares?
It doesn’t take long for Carney to head into the familiar territory which has brought himself and the Liberals where they are today.
“Who is ready to stand up for Canada?” the leader asks.
Cheers.
“Elbows up! Elbows up!”
Carney is into the Trump tariffs in no time.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been a gift to the Liberals. He is the best ammo they’ve got.
Let’s face facts.
If Kamala Harris had won the American presidency, the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre would already be buying the balloons for the big victory shindig.
They still might come out on top but the Conservatives will have to do it the hard way, fighting it out in the trenches until election day.
Building Canada strong. Big changes ahead. Problems will be solved. The Liberal talking points roll off the war room assembly line.
Much of what Carney has said he has said at other rallies in other whistle stops across the country.
He gets a rise out of Liberals when he says Trump wants to break us so America can own us.
Carney takes a few swipes at Poilievre and dusts off the old line about how the Conservative leader will kneel before Trump.
There are few specifics on what a Carney government will look like.
You wait to hear about two issues.
Keeping the country together and how Carney will handle pissed-off Albertans, fed up with getting the short end of the stick.
Carney doesn’t go there.
And where does oil and gas fit into the Carney Liberal universe?
He talks about fast-tracking energy projects and building an energy superpower.
Pardon those of us who are sceptical.
One thing is clear. Carney says this is not the time for “divisive politics” and “negativity.”
Is bringing up the lousy record of the Liberals in power an example of divisive politics and negativity?
By the way, no one mentions Justin Trudeau. The old messiah has been replaced by the new one.
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