Edit Content
Search
Donate to The CJN
Instagram X-twitter Youtube

The voice of Jewish Canada since 1960.

Donate

The voice of Jewish Canada since 1960.

Edit Content
Search
Donate to The CJN
Instagram X-twitter Youtube

Doorstep Postings: Preparing for the possibility of Maximum Carn-age

Can a PM who left Canada for several prime working years claim home ice advantage?
Mike Myers and Mark Carney from the 'Elbows Up!' campaign commercial released March 22, 2025.
Mike Myers and Mark Carney from the 'Elbows Up!' campaign commercial released March 22, 2025.

This is the first April 28, 2025, federal election edition of Doorstep Postings, the political column written by Josh Lieblein for The CJN.

Being a hockey guy himself, Mark Carney should be aware of the bizarre ritual that takes place every playoff season, where Canadians engage in an unofficial primary to decide on ‘Canada’s Team’, and then cheer their brains out for that team until they are defeated.

The closer that team gets to the final round, the more unhinged the homerism gets. Then, after the inevitable loss to an American squad, everyone forgets the mania—and goes back to their regular daily routine. 

If Mark Carney doesn’t understand that this is what is happening to him, then he’s set himself up for an even bigger failure than it currently looks like. Rest assured, and despite his limited skating skills, he is far better at his job than every Canadian NHL team since the days of PM Brian Mulroney, not to mention the average Canadian politician. He might even be once-in-a-lifetime scarily competent. He is still dooming himself to failure. 

First, let us assume that Carney remains prime minister after the next election and we enter a golden age of competency—neither of which are assured. All that proves is that the last guy wasn’t able to rise to the challenge, and when you consider that the last guy had been groomed for the role since birth, that doesn’t bode well for anyone else gunning for the role.

But Canadians are nothing if not persistent in their delusions, and having thoroughly exploded the delusion that the raw power of the Trudeau bloodline will catapult Canada into its destined role as the world’s leading authority on progressivism, they have pivoted over to another handy narrative. 

That narrative is that the prodigal Canadian son will return from abroad and, having knocked them dead with his level-headedness, good sense and decency, lead us all to prosperity.

You know this narrative well if you’ve spent any time in the Jewish community. My son/daughter the lawyer/doctor/university professor/rabbi who was privileged enough to go to America/Europe/South Africa/South America/Israel for their degree and is treated like a celebrity whenever they come home and from whom mass quantities of naches are shepped.  Any Canadian institution would be lucky to have them. Sometimes they do get hired. Sometimes there is a personality clash or some kind of politics. The small minded, provincial Canadians don’t take kindly to being told what to do by this jumped-up outsider. Either way, the results for the institution are not as great as the hype made them out to be. Because competency isn’t enough. 

The problem with having a culture as leader-centred as ours is that the leader has to deliver world-leading results. The expectations are never tempered. Justin Trudeau was still expected by far too many people to blow minds abroad and bring about miracles domestically in Year Nine, even though it was clear to everyone who hadn’t drunk the Kool-Aid that this would not be happening past Year One, if at all.

This is why Pierre Poilievre is stuck in a rut. It’s not just that his campaign isn’t ‘meeting the moment’. It’s that Canadians are so invested in the notion of Mark Carney, world conqueror and progressive avatar, that they dismiss conservative points about Trumpian pen flourishes, Chinese tariffs on canola oil, or the moving of corporate headquarters from here to there as mere pettifogging. The Liberals are saying, in front of God and everybody, that unlike that jerk Poilievre, they can fix this country without pissing anybody off. Sure there will need to be ‘sacrifices’ in the coming trade war with America but this country has made ‘sacrifices’ before, in wars Canadians can barely remember. In those wars, people had to die, but the Liberals are smart enough not to remind Canadians of that. 

As it happens, you can’t win a war without an army, and sacrifices are mostly borne by regular folks, not the people they write about in the history books. No rabbi ever got anywhere without a congregation. And in Canada of all places, in the middle of a patriotic upswing of all times, it should be a lot clearer than usual to everyone that whether this country actually live up to its so-called potential is a matter of all Canadians working together to achieve that outcome. Expecting PM Dad to come home from work and make it all better all on his own is the expectation of a child. But remember: our neighbour is looking at us like territory to be annexed. They got that idea somehow, and we had something to do with giving them that idea. 

Unfortunately, maybe another reason why people are preemptively saying Kaddish for Pierre Poilievre’s campaign is that he is saying as much out loud. If Canada is broken, then Canadians must have broken it. And even though Canadians were fine with him saying it pre-Trump 2.0, when it looked like Trudeau and his team had in fact broken Canada, things have changed now that there are actual stakes here. Someone must have sabotaged Canada from within, and instead of blaming the people who were in charge at the time (because after all, someone must have voted for them) it’s safer to blame the people who stand to gain the most from throwing the current set of bums out.

Besides, if Poilievre actually wins, then he comes with a ready made excuse if things get worse—the same one Canadians make for Doug Ford, and made for Trudeau. Those guys don’t have all the lights on upstairs, but at least they (allegedly) meant well. But if a sharp guy like Carney falls apart before or during his tenure? In that case, we sent our best, and even though he was extremely competent—it wasn’t enough! 

Josh Lieblein can be reached at [email protected] for your response to Doorstep Postings.

Author

Support Our Mission: Make a Difference!

The Canadian Jewish News is now a Registered Journalism Organization (RJO) as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency. To help support the valuable work we’re doing, we’re asking for individual monthly donations of at least $10. In exchange, you’ll receive tax receipts, a thank-you gift of our quarterly magazine delivered to your door, and our gratitude for helping continue our mission. If you have any questions about the donating process, please write to [email protected].

$5 CAD
$10 CAD
$20 CAD
Other

Related Stories

Trending

Subscribe
X-twitter Instagram Youtube Linkedin

Copyright 2025 The Canadian Jewish News. All rights reserved.

Support the Media that Speaks to You

Jewish Canadians deserve more than social media rumours, adversarial action alerts, and reporting with biases that are often undisclosed. The Canadian Jewish News proudly offers independent national coverage on issues that impact our audience each day, as a conduit for conversations that bridge generations. 

It’s an outlet you can count on—but we’re also counting on you.

Please support Jewish journalism that’s creative, innovative, and dedicated to breaking new ground to serve your community, while building on media traditions of the past 65 years. As a Registered Journalism Organization, contributions of any size are eligible for a charitable tax receipt. 

Monthly
One Time
$10 per month
$10 per month
$118 one time
Other