A list of Carney complaints
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Re-printed without permission.
Contributed - Mar 19, 2026 / 2:44 pm
After one year as prime minister, many people believe that Mark Carney is doing a good job. Let me examine that belief a little closer.
Carney was elected primarily because he was seen by some to be the only person, in his words, "strong enough and qualified" to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump.
"I know the president, I've dealt with the president in the past in my previous roles when he was in his first term, and I know how to negotiate,” said Carney.
Yet in March 2026, Canada still does not have a trade deal with the US. In November 2025, when asked by a reporter if he had spoken with Trump recently, Carney snapped, "Who cares?" In February 2026, Carney said dealing with Trump was "hard."
Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, does not have a PhD from Oxford. She has never been the Governor of the Bank of Canada or the Bank of England. She has never been the chairwoman of Brookfield Asset Management. Yet, Mexico is now the U.S.’s largest trading partner, for both imports and exports, surpassing Canada whose preferential trading partner position dates back to the Second World War. There is no news from Carney as to how, when or if, recent deals with India, China or Europe will take up the slack.
After calling China our "biggest security threat" during last spring's election, Carney has now started a "special relationship" with the Chinese communist dictator, President Xi Jinping. China purchases only 4% of our exports and India 1.5%. Even with Trump's new tariffs, Canada sells 74% of its exports to the U.S. In any business, it is always easier to keep existing customers than to find new ones. Maybe Carney believes that rule does not apply to him.
Canada lost 108,000 jobs in the last two months. Our unemployment is 6.7%. The UK's unemployment rate is 5.2%, the US's is 4.4%. Youth unemployment is 14.7% (18% if you count those who have left the job market).
Carney recently announced a $100 million scholarship fund, paid for by Canadian taxpayers, for students from India to study in Canada. He did not include details of how it will benefit ordinary Canadians.
The projected 2026 federal deficit in (the government’s) fall budget was $78 billion, the largest in our history outside of COVID. Our federal debt is $1.27 trillion, $600 billion of which was amassed in just the past five years.
The government is borrowing $6 million per hour just to pay the interest on that debt. That's like using your credit card to pay your mortgage. Despite that, Carney plans to borrow another $250 billion over the next four years, driving our debt to more than $1.5 tillion.
After the election, Carney said, "Canadians will hold us to account by their experience at the grocery store." Canada has the highest grocery inflation rate in the G7.
During the election, Carney promised Canada would build 500,000 new homes per year for the next 10 years, even though that is double our highest output ever. Housing starts dropped more than the past 12 months.
According to the National Post, 120,000 Canadians moved out of the country in the past year. Sadly, that number is unlikely to include any of the 66,000 chronic repeat offenders (many of whom are on the street thanks to our justice system) who have accounted for 1.7 million arrests in nine years for property and violent crimes (excluding traffic and drug crimes).
Arson and gunfire have become almost common at Jewish synagogues, particularly in Toronto. The Kehillat Shaarei Torah has been shot at 10 times since Oct. 7, 2023. Pro-Palestinian protesters march through our cities and intimidate Jews with no fear of law enforcement. These are not only attacks on Jews but on the way of life for all Canadians.
Yes, after years of pressure from the Conservatives, Carney paused the consumer carbon tax but replaced it with an industrial carbon tax that is mostly hidden from view.
Yes, Carney signed an memorandum of understanding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, giving federal support to an oil pipeline to (B.C.’s) West Coast. But by giving a de facto veto to the province and to Indigenous people, he added significant uncertainty to the project. There is no investor in sight.
Carney ended the mandate on electric vehicles but he announced emission standards for internal combustion vehicles which amount to the same thing.
Carney also promised significant increases in military spending but such promises are easy. Let's see if he has the perseverance to reverse decades of neglect from both major federal political parties. Let's see if he can build a robust military, of which Canadians can be proud and one capable of protecting our country and capable of supporting our allies.
These are facts, not my opinions. If you can identify any way that Carney has had a positive impact on ordinary Canadians, I am all ears.
Lloyd Vinish. Kelowna
(Editor’s note: According to the federal government, the federal consumer carbon tax was not paused, it was cancelled in April 2025. The tax did not apply in B.C, which had its own consumer carbon tax. That tax was also cancelled in 2025. The federal industrial carbon tax was not brought in by Carney’s government, it was introduced by the previous Liberal government under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.)
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