LILLEY: Trudeau lowered bar so much, Carney gets credit for being an adult

Article content

Justin Trudeau lowered the bar so much that Canadians are now excited and pleased by things Mark Carney is doing that should simply be expected.

Did you hear that Prime Minister Carney is punctual and expects others to be on time as well? Did you hear that he expects those working for him to deliver results?

In a great article for National Post, Christopher Nardi details the differences between life in the PMO under Carney compared to Trudeau.

He points out how under Carney events like news conferences and cabinet meetings start on time. With Trudeau, it wasn’t unusual for events to be late by 30 minutes or more. The worst I ever saw from any politician was a news conference that Trudeau showed up 90 minutes late for.

“He is fiercely punctual, runs a tight ship during meetings and is very decisive – all marked differences from his predecessor,” Nardi writes.

Isn’t that what we should expect from the top elected official in the country?

“Carney also cares deeply about professionalism in his office. Staff are expected to dress in formal business attire and documents are to be written using British spelling, for example,” the article states.

I don’t particularly care about British spelling, Canadian spelling is often an odd mix of British and American preferences. But again, on the rest, isn’t that what should be expected? If you are working in the PMO, shouldn’t showing up in business attire be the rule and not the exception.

It was under Stephen Harper, under Paul Martin, and under Jean Chretien.

I’m happy the PMO is operating much more professionally, but Carney getting credit for this is simply a sign that Trudeau eroded standards that were once common.

At Carney’s first news conference after the election, he received a lot of praise for saying he would call a byelection to allow Pierre Poilievre to win a seat in the House of Commons as quickly as possible.

“I will ensure that it happens as soon as possible … no games, nothing, straight,” Carney said on May 2.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

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

That’s how it should be, that’s how it used to be, until Justin Trudeau made everything about his political fortunes. Whereas most former PMs would stay out of byelections, Trudeau reveled in them and campaigned in every single one.

For Trudeau, running the PMO wasn’t about achieving results, it was about political advantage. The man was a great campaigner, he won three elections after all, but he had little interest in governing, and it showed in the results.

We are told in the piece, which everyone should read, that “results matter” for Carney. Wanting results should be a job requirement for a PM, but after a decade of Trudeau where the photo-op and announcement were as far as he went on policy, it seems refreshing to hear that the new guy thinks results matter.

I didn’t support Carney and the Liberals winning the election, my preference was clear – Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives had the better policies. With the election over though, we all have to cheer for Canada and hope the government is successful in rescuing our economy, settling trade disputes and the like.

That said, Carney shouldn’t be cheered for actions that are, or should be, standard operating principles.

The prime minister is like the CEO or Chair of the Board for the country. They should act in a professional manner; they should execute a plan with the aim of achieving goals.

That we put up with someone as PM who did none of those things for almost ten years, perhaps explains why Canada’s performance has been so weak.

blilley@postmedia.com