There’s a scene in the classic Simpsons episode “Last Exit to Springfield” in which Mr. Burns, mistaking Homer’s knuckle-dragging stupidity as masterful negotiating skills, agrees to cave on a new dental plan for workers with one condition: Homer resigns as head of the union.

Much to his surprise, Homer collapses in joy, spinning on the floor in a circle while whooping like an idiot.

“I’m beginning to think that Homer Simpson was not the brilliant tactician I thought he was,” says Mr. Burns.

It’s a bit like watching Prime Minister Mark Carney these days.

We’ve all been assuming for weeks that Carney, lauded for his intelligence and skilled leadership, was crafting a sophisticated plan to thread the political needle through the highly complex issue of an Alberta oil pipeline.

We thought he was playing 3D chess with the premiers of Alberta and British Columbia, setting up either impossibly complex investment conditions for Danielle Smith to meet, but placating her in the process; or out-manoeuvring David Eby’s hostility with a logic trap about the larger national economic interest that would eventually leverage him into line.

But as each day passes, the facade of 3D chess is replaced by the image of someone playing solitaire with both jokers and the Rules of Poker card still in the deck.

The........

© BIV