Liberal Party of Canada – Carney government

8-11 April
Breaking Records: Liberal Party of Canada concludes largest policy convention in its history
(LPC) Today, the Liberal Party of Canada concluded its 2026 Liberal National Convention in Montréal, bringing together a record-breaking 4,500 Liberals from across the country united by the work ahead to build a stronger Canada.
“Over the past three days, Liberals have come together with energy and determination to shape the future of our party and our country,” said Mark Carney, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. “At this decisive moment, Canadians are looking for strong leadership and serious solutions, and that’s exactly what our new Liberal team is delivering. United, we will build Canada Strong, a Canada Strong for all — a Canada Strong that no one can ever take away.”
Thousands of Canadians participated in the 2026 Liberal National Convention, and over half of them were joining for the very first time. Delegates engaged in policy discussions, campaign trainings, and plenary sessions, while hearing from a range of speakers and voices from across Canada. Liberals also came together to help shape the party’s policy direction and elect members of the next National Board of Directors.
Liberals gather in Montréal for record breaking 2026 Convention
4,500 Canadians from across the country are gathering today in Montréal for the Liberal Party’s record-breaking 2026 National Convention.
What to expect at the Liberals’ national convention
(CTV) … The convention will feature keynote addresses from Finance Minister François‑Philippe Champagne, Man in Motion founder Rick Hansen, former federal Liberal cabinet Minister and Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the President of the Liberal Party of Canada Sachit Mehra and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
… Twenty-four policy resolutions have also been proposed by regional and demographic caucuses on topics ranging from removing visas requirements for Ukrainians to establishing a minimum age of 16 to access social media and AI chatbots and enacting a Canadian Artificial Intelligence Act, modeled on the European Union’s approach.

12 March
Jeremy Kinsman: Mark Carney’s Frequent Flying: Peripatetic with a Purpose
(Policy) In his first year as prime minister, Mark Carney has racked up more frequent flyer miles outside of Canada than his two predecessors. Indeed, per recent Global News accounting, Carney has doubled Justin Trudeau’s first-year tally of 34 days to 68.
More significantly, this prime minister’s travel is propelled by a comprehensive strategic purpose, prompted by Canada’s need to diversify away from its over-dependence on our U.S. neighbour, whose government under Donald Trump has become erratic, predatory, and even existentially threatening.
Carney’s purpose is crucial for both Canada and for democracy, and it can be neither undertaken nor achieved by emails or video calls. It requires the high-level diplomacy, privacy, and security of in-person meetings.
There are hazards. Carney’s initial response, from India, to the surprise US-Israeli attack on Iran focused on the danger of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. As such, it was too enthusiastic, which he later regretted, and might have benefited from more time and consultation.
The lack of U.S. foresight to avoid the economic chaos now threatening the world economy and the absence of legitimacy and regard for rule of law — noted by embattled PM Keir Starmer as reasons not to allow the U.S. access to UK bases for offensive action against Iran — were adduced by Carney only later.
But Carney knows he now must turn to the economic relationship with the U.S. for the CUSMA talks ahead and he will try to navigate the communications accordingly without blowing credibility either way. …

11 March
What Is Mark Carney Really Offering the World?
The Canadian prime minister has put himself forward as one of the sharpest Western critics of Trump’s neo-imperial order. What’s less clear is what he’s offering in its stead.
(The Nation) On January 20, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney emerged as an unexpected hero, at least among those looking for an alternative to Trumpism, in an unlikely place: the World Economic Forum at Davos. Normally, Davos is a snooze-fest where the global elite exchange self-congratulatory clichés celebrating the status quo. But Carney broke from that dismal tradition by offering both a radical analysis of the failed present and a plausible alternative for the future.
Against Trump’s nihilistic vision of a world dominated by great-power imperialism, Carney advocated a much more inviting future, arguing that “intermediate powers like Canada are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
In purely rhetorical terms, Carney’s speech deserved the applause it received. It was bold and far-reaching, grappling honestly with political choices that will shape humanity’s common future. Yet the very fact that the speech was praised by both establishment stalwarts such as Klein and rabble-rousers such as Piker should give us pause. While both centrists and radicals could welcome Carney’s critique of Trump’s neo-imperialism, it’s far from clear what sort of “new order” he has in mind for the middle powers to build.
That’s because Carney’s speech actually contained two very different models of middle-power internationalism. One in effect promises neoliberalism, re-creating a 1990s-style world where economic growth is driven by international trade, domestic deregulation, and austerity.
The other model—glimmers of which are evident in Carney’s stress on human rights and sustainability as well as his critique of the hypocrisy of the old order—would be much more radical. It is a vision of a new international order committed to the idea of global equality. …

8-10 March
NDP MP Lori Idlout crossing floor to Liberals, bringing Carney closer to majority
Nunavut MP’s move brings Liberals to 170 seats ahead of 3 byelections
1 NDP, 3 Conservatives have joined Liberals
This marks the fourth floor crosser to join Carney’s benches and the first from the NDP. He has picked up three Conservative MPs since November: Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, Toronto MP Michael Ma and Edmonton MP Matt Jeneroux.
Carney calls byelections in Quebec riding of Terrebonne, 2 Toronto ridings
(CBC) Liberals will need to win all 3 races to secure thin majority government
The Liberals have said family physician Dr. Danielle Martin will run in University-Rosedale. Former Ontario NDP deputy leader Doly Begum will run in Scarborough Southwest in a shocking defection.

9 March
The Lowy Elaboration: Fleshing out Mark Carney’s Davos Doctrine
Colin Robertson
(Policy) When Mark Carney spoke about middle powers and multilateralism last week at Sydney’s Lowy Institute, he further fleshed out the “values-based realism” approach to foreign policy he enunciated at the Davos World Economic Forum.
Mr. Carney’s starting point is blunt: “The old norms of the rules-based international order are being erased,” and the future order, “is yet to be built.”
Globalization itself has not disappeared, but it has become more strategic and more contested. Tariffs are deployed as weapons, supply chains as pressure points and financial infrastructure as leverage.
In this environment, the traditional built-for-consensus architecture of multilateralism – notably large institutions like the United Nations and the World Trade Organization – no longer function as the sole engines of global governance.
The future of multilateralism, Mr. Carney argues, will rely less on universal forums and more on networks of middle powers.
Instead of waiting for consensus among dozens of countries, Mr. Carney proposes overlapping coalitions among states with a “dense web of connections” based on shared interests and capabilities.

John Ivison: Carney’s credibility faces friendly fire in the war with Iran
A prolonged conflict in the Middle East would have a potentially corrosive impact on the prime minister’s glowing approval ratings
It is progress that the Prime Minister’s Office is now letting Canadians know when Mark Carney speaks with President Donald Trump, but it would be much better if the read-out that followed didn’t subtract from the sum of human knowledge.
The PMO said the two leaders held a conversation on Sunday about the economy, developments in the Middle East and trade relations….
When the prime minister said he supported efforts to denude Iran’s nuclear program last week, he likely envisaged a version of the 12-day war, when the U.S. and Israel attacked military targets last summer, without trying to decapitate the regime.
Instead, Trump and his deranged secretary of war have launched a campaign so haphazard it makes Dr. Strangelove look like a documentary.
Ottawa has been clear that Canada was not consulted on the strikes; that it did not participate in them and has no plans to participate in the future.
But Carney’s initial support for this muddle has proven to be the first real test of his credibility with his own party.
… the Liberal record of protecting the Jewish community and cracking down on supporters of the Iranian regime in Canada is lamentable.
B’nai Brith noted that there were 2,620 antisemitic incidents in Canada in 2020, prompting the Trudeau government to set up the Office of the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. In 2024, there were 6,219 such incidents and the office was recently abolished by Carney, having never been granted the resources to fund antisemitic education or augment synagogue security.
On Iran, it took until 2024 for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be designated a terror organization in this country.
Last year, the Canadian Border Services Agency said it was actively investigating 66 individuals suspected of being senior Iranian government military, political or intelligence officials, all of whom would be inadmissible.
A Global News report in 2023 estimated the number of regime-linked people in Canada at 700 and the RCMP has acknowledged it has received reports of foreign interference being committed.

5 March
FIRST READING: Mark Carney’s most breathtaking U-turns
Lots of politicians change their minds, but not like this
By Tristin Hopper
(National Post) After initially supporting U.S.-led strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran, on Tuesday Prime Minister Mark Carney suddenly changed his tune.
On Saturday, after the first reports emerged of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei being killed in an opening barrage of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, Carney issued a statement praising the operation. “Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.”
But just three days later, Carney accused the U.S. of acting illegally. “The United States and Israel have acted without engaging the United Nations or consulting with allies, including Canada,” he wrote.
The second statement acknowledged that “two decades of negotiations and diplomatic efforts” had done nothing to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Nevertheless, Carney concluded that the solution was “rapid de-escalation,” followed by more diplomacy. “Diplomatic engagement is essential to avoid a wider and deeper conflict,” he wrote
War on Iran: After triumphant Davos speech, experts slam Mark Carney’s Iran stance — ‘maze of contradictions’
Carney has revised his rhetoric on the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran — with the PM now saying he supports with “some regret.”

4 March
Tasha Kheiriddin: Pragmatism or principles? That’s the predicament for Carney
When it comes to trade and foreign affairs, we now live in the era of “pick your poison.”
RIP Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, we hardly knew you.
As Prime Minister Mark Carney alights in Australia this week, fresh from a trade mission to India, the basic premise of the strategy — “to seize opportunities in the national interest of Canadians, while defending the values they hold dear” — has been junked in favour of realpolitik: doing business with countries other than the United States, even if their values don’t quite align with ours.

3 March
Liberals open up lead: LPC 44, CPC 33, NDP 11. Preferred PM: Carney 56, Poilievre 22.
The latest survey from Nik Nanos reveals Numbers are ramping up for Carney and Liberals. Carney leads Poilievre by 34 percentage points and the Liberals have now opened up an 11-point advantage over the Conservatives.

26 February
Liberals survive confidence vote on omnibus budget bill
(CTV) The federal Liberals’ Budget Implementation Act has passed a confidence vote in the House of Commons.
Bill C-15 carried on division, meaning there was no recorded vote in Parliament.
The legislation enacts key measures proposed in the Liberals’ 2025 federal budget, which passed a confidence vote for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government in November last year.
Opposition parties worked with the Liberals to fast-track the bill through the House of Commons.
The Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois negotiated several amendments to the Liberals’ legislation in a clause-by-clause review at finance committee on Monday.

27 January
Mark Carney’s Popularity Rises Post-Davos, While Trump Slips Further
(TIME) … Without explicitly naming Trump, Carney denounced “American hegemony” and declared a “rupture” in the old world order during a headline-grabbing speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos that appeared to make pointed reference to the current U.S. Administration. The words sparked ire from Trump, who told an audience at Davos that “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, next time you make your statements.” …

20 January
Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

7-9 January
Freeland resignation shakes up already fluid situation in House of Commons
Just short of majority, Liberals will be down an MP at least until byelection is called
The vote on the Liberals’ main budget motion this fall — a confidence motion that narrowly passed and could have brought down the government if it failed — emphasized how crucial every vote is in this current Parliament.
The government is guaranteed to face one confidence vote during the winter sitting: a vote on spending estimates which needs to happen by the end of March.
The Liberals’ budget implementation bill is also set to be studied at committee this winter and would need to face a third reading vote before being sent to the Senate. That vote would also be considered a matter of confidence.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland says she’ll step down as a member of Parliament Friday, marking the end of an era for the party.
The high-profile MP accepted on Monday what’s being described as a voluntary role advising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and indicated she would be leaving Canadian politics in the “coming weeks.”
“I have written to the Speaker to confirm that I will vacate my seat effective this Friday,” she wrote on social media just two days later.
Chrystia Freeland’s Very Strange Goodbye
Her biographer explains how one of Canada’s most disciplined politicians fumbled her final act
(The Walrus) Freeland posted to her social media channels, this past Monday, that she had accepted a voluntary role as an economic advisor to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The position meant that she would step aside as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine. “In the coming weeks, I will also leave my seat in Parliament,” she added, referring to her position as member of Parliament for University—Rosedale.
That’s when the backlash began. Questions rose around conflicts of interest and advising a foreign government while sitting as an MP. “Foreign interference can happen even from allies,” noted international criminal justice law expert Mark Kersten. Conservative and New Democratic Party MPs alike added to the indignation, compelling Freeland to accelerate her stepping down as MP.

It has been an immense honour to serve my constituents and all Canadians in Parliament since 2013.
Last fall, I stepped down from Cabinet and announced that I would not be seeking re-election, and that I would be taking on new full-time professional roles outside politics beginning this summer.
On Monday, I announced my intention to leave the House of Commons in the coming weeks. Today, I have written to the Speaker to confirm that I will vacate my seat effective this Friday, January 9.
One of the roles I will be taking on is as an unpaid advisor on economic issues to the President of Ukraine. This is a volunteer position, and I have consulted throughout with the Ethics Commissioner and followed his advice.
Going forward I will continue to support and help build Canada in every way I can, while championing the brave fight of the people of Ukraine, a cause I have been committed to my entire life.

9 January
Floor-crossing MP Michael Ma to join Carney on first trip to China
Ma created a political maelstrom when he announced he was crossing the floor to the Liberals
Ma will be travelling to Beijing and Qatar alongside a coterie of Liberal cabinet members including Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.

2025

18 December
UPDATE  In case you have forgotten him
One person’s view – not necessarily shared by all.
What Katy Perry Gets About Justin Trudeau That Canada Forgot:
By Stephen Marche, author, most recently, of “The Next Civil War: Dispatches From the American Future.”
(NYT) As a public figure, Mr. Trudeau has always been a master of celebrity, so it’s fitting he’s now openly embracing its benefits. Mr. Trudeau is himself the child of celebrities. …
In his decade as prime minister, Mr. Trudeau not only wielded celebrity as a potent political tool but also used it responsibly, even admirably. On nearly star power alone, he took the Liberals from the third-most popular party in the country to a majority government. Just as important, he always seemed to understand his role and play it perfectly: He was there to be a famous face, and he largely left policy decisions to people who had a stronger grasp on the details, such as his deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland and his aide Gerald Butts. His gift — and it is undeniably a gift — was that he clearly knew that there were smarter people in the room, and he listened to them.

11 December
Another Conservative crosses the floor, bringing Liberals 1 MP shy of majority
Ontario MP Michael Ma says he’s joining Liberal caucus
Ma’s move comes just a few weeks after Chris d’Entremont also left the Conservatives to join the government benches.
The new addition to the Liberal caucus means Carney is one seat away from a majority government.