KINSELLA: PM Mark Carney's top 5 stolen Conservative policy planks

Article content

“Pierre Poilievre, call 911.

A banker has broken into your place, and is stealing all of your ideas.”

It’s a bit of an exaggeration to make a point, of course — Liberal leader Mark Carney hasn’t stolen all of the Conservative leader’s ideas. But it’s mostly true.

Ascertaining Carney’s motive isn’t difficult: Under Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party (and the government it led) had careened wildly to the left. The Grits had become unmoored from their historic positions on a host of issues, and had devolved into a pious, preachy woke-ist cult, one that ceaselessly lectured everyone about how they should run their lives.

As predicted in this space, Trudeau left, Donald Trump arrived, and Carney appeared at precisely the right moment. He immediately commenced stealing Conservative policy planks. Here’s a roundup of the top five stolen items.

Defence. Poilievre promised to spend 2% of our gross domestic product on defence by the year 2030. He promised a “warrior culture.” This week, Carney pledged to meet, and beat, Poilievre’s defence spending number: He would reach the elusive 2% threshold this fiscal year. Not half-a-decade from now.

Carney’s announcement, made days before the G7 leaders’ summit in Kananaskis, Alta., caught everyone by surprise. The Tories, in particular, were clearly flummoxed. The best Poilievre could do was yammer on about the need for a budget, so they could see how Carney was going to pay for what they had been calling for. Yawn.

Taxes. For the two years leading up to the 2025 election, Poilievre had been promising to “axe the tax.” It was his mantra, and it worked — hordes of voters flocked to his side. It worked so well, in fact, it convinced the unlikeliest Canadian of all: One Mark Carney, who “axed the tax” mere hours after he was sworn in as Prime Minister of All Canada.

Carney was transparent about his policy appropriation. He did it right out in the open, signing what the CBC called “a prime ministerial directive.” It was a bit of performative Trump-style politics — something else that Carney purloined from Poilievre.

Likewise, in the selfsame week, Carney cancelled the capital gains tax inclusion rate increase, something else that the Conservatives had been promising to do, for months. The Conservative reaction? Stunned silence.

Trade. In the final week of March, before the official start of the election campaign, Carney solemnly addressed a battery of microphones. “The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,” he intoned. “It’s clear the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner … there will be no going backwards.”

The Liberal leader’s words went around the globe, and went further than Poilievre had been prepared to go, too. The Conservative leader had been critical of Trump’s tariff madness, but he adamantly refused to turn his back on the Americans, and kept holding out for a new trade deal with Trump. Liberals mocked him for it.

Well, that was the election, and this is now. As my colleague Brian Lilley revealed in a big scoop days before anyone else, we now learn that Carney’s government has been quietly negotiating with Trump — to, surprise surprise, sign a new trade deal. “No going backwards,” had said Carney, who immediately commenced going backwards. The Tory reaction? Unknown. Perhaps they were calling Crimestoppers.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Pipelines. Right after being sworn in as The Minister Not In Charge Of Pipelines, Steven Guilbeault started pontificating on pipelines. There’s no need for “an entire new pipeline,” said the former Greenpeace leader. That position mostly conformed with the pipeline stance of the Trudeau regime.

Not Carney’s, however. Carney had — again — peered over Poilievre’s shoulder, and copied what he saw. If Guilbeault had been testing his new boss, the test failed. Carney appeared on CTV and cut Guilbeault’s legs out from under him. Said Carney: “If you want a simple answer on ‘Will I support building a pipeline?’ Yes. That’s the simple answer.”

The Conservative reaction: Zero.

Immigration. Under Trudeau, the number of migrants to Canada soared to historic levels. A housing and services crisis resulted, which wasn’t fair to Canadians or the newcomers. Poilievre called Trudeau’s immigration policy unsustainable. On the campaign trail, Carney said precious little on the subject.

In power, however, Carney has now unveiled a sweeping security and immigration bill, the Safe Borders Act, and he calls Trudeau-era immigration levels “unsustainable.” Which is what Poilievre had called it.

We could go on, but you get the point. Mark Carney is a closeted Progressive Conservative, and a bit of a copycat. The aforementioned Brian Lilley had the best summary:

“Pierre Poilievre won the argument — even if Carney won the election.”