Mark Carney tells Jon Stewart the Liberal party has ‘a chance’ after Trudeau’s resignation

Mark Carney appeared on the 'The Daily Show' with Jon Stewart. Carney is expected to announce his leadership bid this week.

Days ahead of his expected Liberal leadership campaign launch, former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to step down boosts the party’s chance in the next general election.

“I think it does give the Liberal party a chance,” Carney said when asked directly by host Jon Stewart in an interview with “The Daily Show” on Monday night.

After days of speculation since Trudeau’s resignation announcement last week, sources tell CTV News Edmonton that Carney is expected to kick off his campaign in Edmonton on Thursday.

Carney grew up in Edmonton where his father, Bob Carney, ran for the Liberals federally in 1980 in the riding of Edmonton-South, coming in second to Douglas Roche, a Progressive Conservative.

Asked by Stewart several times whether he is running to be the next Liberal leader, Carney would not answer directly, at one point saying, “I just started thinking about it,” with Stewart later joking to him that “you’re being so coy with me. I love the chase.”

During the interview, Carney acknowledged the many challenges Canadians have been facing over the past few years, including housing affordability and inflation.

“Truth be told, the government has been not as focused on those issues as it could be. We need to focus on them immediately. That can happen now,” Carney said.

Amid those political difficulties, Stewart joked that he would “run the other way,” adding “when the headwinds are like that, it’s really difficult for a candidate to come in.”

But in response, Carney appeared to reference his own resume.

“Let’s say the candidate wasn’t part of the government. Let’s say the candidate did have a lot of economic experience. Let’s say the candidate did deal with prices. Let’s say the candidate had a plan to deal with the challenges in the here,” Carney quipped.

When asked immediately after if he’s “running as an outsider,” Carney simply said, “I am an outsider.”

The Liberal party is set to pick its next leader on March 9, with candidates required to declare their intention to run by Jan. 23.

Carney’s political aspirations were rumoured months prior to Trudeau’s resignation.

Last summer, Trudeau confirmed to reporters that he had been talking to Carney about joining federal politics and later in September, he appointed the former central banker to be a special economic adviser to the Liberal party.

And last month, a Liberal source told CTV News that Trudeau intended to replace former finance minister Chrystia Freeland with Carney. That decision to remove Freeland from the finance portfolio led to her sudden resignation on Dec. 16 – just hours prior to the delivery of the fall economic statement – and ultimately, Trudeau’s own resignation.

Will Carney keep the consumer carbon tax?

When asked about the “political feasibility” of fighting climate change and whether policies like the consumer carbon tax would make running for federal office more difficult, Carney stopped short of endorsing the controversial program.

“We need to do it in a way that Canadians today are not paying the price,” Carney said.

Carney also pointed to cutting emissions in the oil and gas sector.

“The vast majority of our emissions in Canada come from our industry. In fact, almost 30 per cent of our emissions from Canada come from the production and shipment of oil to the United States… So part of it is cleaning that up, getting those emissions down, more than changing in a very short period of time the way Canadians live.”

The consumer carbon tax came into effect in 2019 under the Trudeau government and has grown to be unpopular amongst Canadians. The Conservatives – who have pledged to “axe the tax” – have used the policy to attack Liberals for years. The tax has also received significant pushback from most premiers, including Liberal Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, and some Liberal MPs have even expressed a desire to scrap it.

This April, the price on carbon is set to increase to $95 a tonne from $80 a tonne in provinces where the federal backstop applies, costing drivers an extra 3.3 cents per litre at the pump. The tax is scheduled to increase another $15 each year until it reaches $170 a tonne in 2030. To offset the cost, Canadians where the backstop applies receive a quarterly payment known as the “Canada Carbon Rebate.”

Carney has an extensive background in climate initiatives, and currently works as the head of transition investing for Brookfield Asset Management, and as a United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance.

Carney says Poilievre sees ‘opportunity in tragedy’

During the 20-minute interview, Stewart brought up Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and described him as “a villain in a ‘Karate Kid’ movie.”

Asked by Stewart what the opposition leader is like in person, Carney said “you’re not far off.”

“We have Mr. Poilievre in Canada, a type of politician who tend to be (a) lifelong politician, tend to worship the market. They’ve never actually worked in the private sector and they see opportunity in tragedy,” Carney said.

Carney also accused Poilievre of wanting to take advantage of Canadians' vulnerabilities in the wake of the pandemic.

“Pierre Poilievre, when COVID started, his reaction was this is a good time to cut spending and cut taxes. Everyone’s just been pushed out of a job. Nobody’s got work, so let’s cut the taxes on the work they don’t have, and let’s take away the social safety net when everybody’s vulnerable,” Carney said.

In a statement to CTV News, Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman says Carney is “the furthest thing possible from an outsider.”

“After a scripted appearance last night on American television one thing is clear: Carbon Tax Carney is trying to rewrite history to convince Canadians that he is not responsible for the policies that he and Justin Trudeau forced on Canadians and caused them so much misery over the last nine years,” Lantsman said, adding “he’s just like Justin.”

Freeland is also a leadership contender who has yet to officially enter the race. Whoever wins could take the party into the next election as early as this spring after the House of Commons returns on March 24. All three opposition parties have vowed to vote non-confidence in the Liberal minority government at the earliest opportunity.