Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, May 6, 2025. Photo by Daniel Torok/White House/Flickr.

During the last federal election, I disagreed with those who argued that tactical support for the Carney Liberals was needed in order to try and prevent a government headed by Pierre Poilievre. I felt at the time that those on the left who made this argument were underestimating just how dangerous Carney would be, as he developed and implemented a strategy to respond to the America First protectionist turn by the Trump administration.

Now that Carney’s project is underway, we are able to appreciate just what he has in mind. He is a skilled technocrat of capitalist interests, with experience as a central banker and as a high-placed functionary of the predatory Goldman Sachs and Brookfield Asset Management. Despite his progressive credentials, such as the call he issued for an “inclusive capitalism” while he was governor of the Bank of England and his spell as the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, Carney has the background and experience to advance a ruthless political agenda in the present unstable context.

As I have previously argued in an article for Midnight Sun, it remains to be seen whether the Canadian ruling establishment will reach a painful accommodation with the Trump administration or focus on retaliatory measures and an effort to diversify trade. Certainly, all of these options are being pursued but they will all come at a price and “Defending the so-called national interest will require increased ‘competitiveness’: attacks on workers, along with cuts to social programs.”

Trump’s trade war has already made a global impact, but for Canada the implications are devastating in light of a shared border and extensive trade with the US. For Carney and his provincial accomplices, defending the “national interest” in this context is synonymous with the interests of capitalism. Thus, their responses will revolve around serving big capital to preserve profitability.

At this moment of threat and crisis, Carney is quite prepared to ensure that capitalism becomes considerably less “inclusive” in order to weather the storm. At this relatively early stage of the game, he is leaving no doubt as to the course his government will chart. A highly interventionist state power will be subordinated to the imperatives of capital regardless of the broader consequences.

On June 6, Carney’s government tabled legislation designed to reduce interprovincial trade barriers, facilitate labour mobility and “kickstart major projects.” As

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