It's Weird That Carney Doesn't Like Domestic Politics, Right?
Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney is currently in Dublin, attending the European Political Community summit. The event is a bi-annual meeting for leaders to discuss international issues since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Carney will then leave for the Philippines to represent Canada at the 2026 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. After that, he'll head to Cambodia, then China for similar international relation missions.
Meanwhile, back in the country he's governing, a scandal is beginning to emerge regarding the sale of a Brampton Stellantis plant. The federal government had given Stellantis over $220 million to upgrade its plant between 2023 and 2024, part of its deal to provide up to $529 million. Stellantis' announcement that it was looking to sell the manufacturing plant could violate its deal to not close the plant before 2035. However, as CBC News reports, if Stellantis is able to provide enough evidence that it looked for other options in Brampton, the deal may not have been violated by the sale.
But reporting shows that Carney's Liberals knew about the possibility of the Stellantis sale as early as August, according to CBC News. Carney's defence, provided during his Ireland trip, was that his knowledge was minimal. "Being informed or being aware of some aspects is not the same as Stellantis providing a global solution for those workers at the plant," Carney said. "Which is their obligation."
Roshel Inc., a Canadian company which manufactures armoured vehicles, revealed that they bought the Stellantis plant in an announcement on November 10. Roshel is also the company that received a contract from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for 20 armoured vehicles in 2025. Meanwhile, CTV News reported that the federal government was "actively and intensively part of discussions" that resulted in this outcome. A spokesperson for Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said that she was not involved in negotiations.
Carney's ability to weather this scandal seems likely. A Research Co. survey found the Liberals maintain a strong 19-point lead over the Conservatives, while Carney's approval rating rose to 62 per cent. A November 9 Liaison Strategies National Tracker had the Liberals at a 13-point lead and Carney at 65 per cent approval. As we saw earlier this year with the Gordie Howe Bridge debacle, Carney appears to be impervious to scandals specifically regarding US-Canada trade relations.
Scott Martin
What remains remarkable about Carney's response to Stellantis is that his trips abroad seem to take priority over domestic issues. When Israel and the USA attacked Iran, Carney was in Mumbai, on a relations trip to India, when he delivered a statement. Carney was criticized on this trip for cozying up to a regime which has conducted assassinations on Canadian soil. Now, with this in the headlines and it being mere days after his government released the 2026 budget, he's continuing his international missions over promoting the budget to Canadians. That's odd isn't it?
This prioritization isn't just a feeling either. Analysis done by The Hub shows that Carney spent 19 per cent of his first year on trips abroad. Carney has only attended question period in Parliament a total of 29 per cent for his first year. Despite this low level of accountability to the Canadian public, Carney and the Liberals enjoy widespread support in the polls. It's clear that the prime minister is drawing on his reputation as governor of the Bank of England, his Davos speech and his messaging of diversifying Canadian trade to make this international focus more acceptable.
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This necessarily makes Carney inaccessible to account ability in key ways. This is par for the course, however, as Carney's government has held a firm grip on keeping things opaque. Most US trade talks have gotten little, if any, information outside of official government channels. Three weeks after the devastating fire at CFB Wainwright in Alberta, 15 soldiers remain on ventilators with nine in critical condition. As the Global News article notes, the Department of National Defence hadn't provided a public update since Oct. 22... five days after the accident.
But Carney's international travel plans directly contrast with the business of running the country. In the crucial week after releasing the budget, Carney's priorities remain abroad. Despite a scandal brewing over the government's knowledge of the Stellantis deal, the prime minister is taking questions in Dublin, rather than Ottawa. Apart from the occasional story marking criticism from Poilievre or analysis from independent news outlets like The Hub, his clear international priorities remain background noise at most.
Sure, when Carney ran for leader of the Liberal Party then, consequently, prime minister, he touted diversifying international trade. But the numbers clearly show how low on the priority lists remain the everyday needs of Canadians. It's a dynamic that's severely lacking in coverage. Isn't it at least remarkable that the Canadian Prime Minister doesn't seem to prioritize the mechanisms of Canadian politics?
