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Doorstep Postings: Will the next PM be good for the Jews? Don’t hold your breath for an answer from Mark Carney

What did the most likely next Liberal leader do to deserve being portrayed as anti-Israel?
"Sat down with the Honourable @IrwinCotler this afternoon—learning from his experience, wisdom, and humanity. Always grateful for conversations like this." — @MarkJCarney, Jan. 24, 2025
"Sat down with the Honourable @IrwinCotler this afternoon—learning from his experience, wisdom, and humanity. Always grateful for conversations like this." — @MarkJCarney, Jan. 24, 2025


This is a federal Liberal leadership race edition of Doorstep Postings, the periodic political commentary column written by Josh Lieblein for The CJN.

The first major election I ever got a chance to vote in was a provincial one in 2003. You might remember it for when Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberals absolutely wrecked the Progressive Conservatives, banishing the once mighty Big Blue Machine to an ideological and electoral wasteland which they would wander for 15 punishing years.

The outcome was not so much of a realignment as an occupation of territory that the PCs had called home for pretty much the entire 20th century. The provincial Liberals ruled from the centre as if it was their birthright, something the Conservatives never quite understood. OLP was the party of one-termers like David Peterson, dogs that forever chased a car only to catch it every once in a great while and never knowing what to do once they had.

McGuinty himself, a compromise-choice leader, had underwhelmed significantly in the 1999 effort, coming across as wooden, awkward, unprepared. But by 2011, McGuinty had fallen just short of the legendary Bill Davis’ three majority record with two majorities and one just-short-of-a-majority minority. Sixteen months later, he abruptly resigned, disappearing as quickly as he’d arrived. 

Nobody but me seems to remember McGuinty these days. He never seemed fully real, as if he was some sort of golem brought to life by a whispered formulation. Fittingly, critics called him ‘Pinocchio’ due to his wooden demeanour and tendency to tell fibs.

I didn’t realize in those early days that there was a wise man breathing life into McGuinty’s empty shell. And that man’s name was Gerald Butts.

Nor did I realize that Mr. Butts had a style all his own, like Picasso or Renoir. And further, I did not realize that I would live almost my entire voting life being ruled over by one of his political automata or another. Now with the benefit (or should I say curse?) of these years and lessons, when I look back at McGuinty, or at Justin Trudeau after him, and now at Mark Carney after him, I can recognize that style—in the same way an art student or a film buff can pick out the hallmarks of their favourite director or designer. 

What the Jewish community must know about Mark Carney, and the party he will lead come March 9 (pro forma leadership race notwithstanding) is the following: So long as Gerald Butts is advising Carney, it’s only a matter of time before the entire country falls under his spell, unless the Conservatives realize the lesson they have failed to learn since the first election I voted in.

Personal attacks are useless distractions. Talking about scandals gets you nowhere. An ideological fight is pointless.

Pierre Poilievre will still probably beat Carney the first time around. What happens after that depends on whether the former central banker stays in the fight, wins his seat, and can face down his critics. All of this has nothing to do with Carney the man, his talents, his positions or lack thereof, or his history. Remember: he is a placeholder. What matters is what he represents. 

And what does Mark Carney represent? He—and this is the distinctive mark of Gerald Butts’ handiwork—represents whatever you care to see. Like early Justin Trudeau, and like Dalton McGuinty, this blank-screen persona is a weakness turned into a strength.

For example: somehow, Carney has emerged as the ‘pro-Palestinian candidate’ in the leadership race. But this is a fairly odd observation when you think about it: has he done anything particularly pro-Palestinian? Has he said a word criticizing Israel before Oct. 7 or since? Will he wear a keffiyeh or show up at a protest? The evidence of any personal bias on the man’s part is just not there, and when you probe deeper, you find a few intriguing bread crumbs: the endorsement of Liberal MP Salma Zahid; a social media post criticizing Donald Trump for planning to depopulate the Gaza Strip; the fact that somehow, protesters showed up at Chrystia Freeland’s launch and not his; the fact that designated antisemitism-fighter Liberal MP Anthony Housefather endorsed Freeland and not him; the fact that vocal anti-Israel voices have decided that Freeland, despite having a Nazi grandfather, is the pro-Israel candidate who must be stopped at all costs; the fact that long-shot rival Karina Gould is Jewish and wants to bring Jewish voices back into the Liberal party, while Carney has said no such thing. 

Remember: both McGuinty and Trudeau were seen as no friends of the Jewish community at one point. It was McGuinty who ran against expanding faith-based school funding beyond his own Catholicism, and Trudeau was never seen as having any great love for Israel (especially next to the Conservatives) right up until Oct. 7. It was never what they said about Jews or Israel specifically—it was what they represented. And yet, when the moment called for it, all of Butts’ creations could and did say the necessary things to make it clear to anyone who wanted to believe as such that they were fine with Jews and/or Israel. If this wasn’t enough, Jewish Liberals were happy to speak up when shoulder-tapped to make the case for them, or, rather, against the other parties for being worse. 

And because the Liberal party is and always will be a mechanism driven by power-seeking, another distinguishing characteristic of a Gerald Butts production reveals itself. Suddenly, where confusion reigned in the Liberal Party, there are signs of life. Even before Carney is officially named PM, media seek out his opinion on the Trump tariffs—whereas before, Pierre Poilievre had space to paint whatever picture he chose, he suddenly has to pivot away from his dream of a carbon tax election. (Note, of course, that Carney has proposed in place of the tax a bunch of carbon pricing mechanisms that are indistinguishable from other failed environment-saving gimmicks, as if that matters.)

NDP votes are, despite the tears of union leaders, bleeding toward a guy who was a big-time banker. Pollsters are predicting a Liberal rise, even though they have been predicting such a rise since Poilievre became leader, which is a fact everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten. This is because—although Butts has never said this aloud—Canadians want to be ruled by Laurentian elites. They will make up the justifications after the fact. This leadership race is about Canadians convincing themselves that Carney has the royal jelly. Butts is giving them that permission. 

Then let us close with a third and possibly the most overlooked characteristic of the Gerald Butts oeuvre: the lack of change. Ontarians blame Ford for driving Ontario into the ditch, but if we’re being honest with ourselves, McGuinty barely moved the needle on health care and education, buying peace with disgruntled sectors of the Ontario electorate. Justin Trudeau’s accomplishments include legal weed, a child care benefit, and a carbon tax rebate that isn’t long for this world.

And as for Mark Carney? He’ll criticize Poilievre for having no plan when he himself has none, for not being serious when he himself is literally barely there and only looks serious. Canadians don’t want the baby thrown out with the bathwater. They don’t want reform. They want reassurance that this is the greatest country in the world, and that the world needs more Canada, and that we can beat Donald Trump by being as normal and polite as possible. They want a guy who cuts a good figure in a suit, appears calm in a crisis, doesn’t raise his voice, rubs shoulders with the world elite, and above all, doesn’t move too quickly when everyone is screaming for action.

If we are worried that Carney will stick a knife in the Jewish community, or pander to our enemies, that’s not what you’ll get. All he has to do is represent that change. And that will be more than bad enough.  

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

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