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Andrew MacDougall: At some point, Carney must dial back his love of the world stage

Andrew MacDougall: Being prime minister is as much about Cabinet committees and consensus building at home as it is mitigating Donald Trump abroad.

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For a career banker, Mark Carney plays the role of Machiavellian politician very well.

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The prime minister has now plucked a third MP from the opposition benches and is just two by-election wins in safe Liberal seats away from a majority government. This time Carney’s fruit was harvested from the NDP, not the Conservatives, and came in the form of Lori Idlout, the MP from Nunavut.

For those keeping score at home, Carney has now swiped a Red Tory from Nova Scotia (Chris d’Entremont), an Alberta Conservative (Matt Jeneroux), and an Avi Lewis supporter from the North. That’s either an incredibly broad tent, or some very narrow and cynical self-interest. Given Idlout justified her move a few days after endorsing the far-left Lewis as respect for Carney being the ‘first prime minister from the north’, place me in Camp Cynical, especially when I can check back in Hansard to see that it was Idlout who absented herself from the budget vote, helping Carney’s maiden effort to pass.

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Whatever the case, a Carney majority is now coming into focus. Perhaps that’s why the prime minister feels comfortable enough to jet off to Norway and the United Kingdom, his sixteenth trip abroad in his inaugural year of government, and his third to London. I see Carney more than my own mother, who only visits the UK twice per year.

And while the world is certainly tricky enough to merit some prime ministerial travel these days, Carney must be mindful that he doesn’t let things slip at home. He caught some grief recently for not being around to explain his ever-evolving position on Iran. He’ll catch more grief if he continues to treat Canada’s Parliament as a distraction.

Not that Canadians are giving Carney much grief at the moment; the prime minister remains far ahead in the polls, a fact that was prompting snap election talk before the Idlout defection. It’s a good thing for the country – and for Pierre Poilievre – that all such talk can now go away. Canada needs both its government and its opposition to focus on the hard work of proper governance, not politics.

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At some point, this will require Carney to dial back his love of the world stage. Or, at least, it ought to. God bless the Norwegians, but they’re not the priority at the moment. Ottawa needs more attention than Oslo. Being prime minister is as much about Cabinet committees and consensus building at home as it is mitigating Donald Trump abroad. It means explaining the government’s positions, whether that’s to caucus, Parliament, or (heaven forfend) the media.

Speaking of the fourth estate, Carney would do well to stop treating them like stenographers, especially when abroad. To ferry the press to a place like India and to then give them no sniff of the prime ministerial body is both anti-democratic and a sign of weakness. Then again, watching Carney get snippy (again) with a female reporter (again) in Australia is probably why Carney prefers to keep himself under wraps.

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It might not be fun to remember the Before Carney times, but the country was a pretty unhappy place. It is still an unhappy place when it comes to domestic policy. That Donald Trump continues to play to Carney’s brand strengths, while a political blessing for the prime minister, is a curse for the country. Carney was elected for being the anti-Trump, but this doesn’t mean he will be re-elected for the same. The best predictor of a future Carney win is progress at home, not abroad.

As with most prime ministers, Carney’s strength will ultimately be what undoes him. Leave the Machiavellian pragmatism to the side; Carney has a galaxy brain and loves the world stage more than his domestic platforms. He wants to be working the room in Davos, not the government lounge in the House of Commons. He doesn’t want to have to explain himself to you, to me, or to his fellow elected representatives.

But you can’t run a country like a central bank. At least, not forever. Machiavelli was caught out by a sudden collapse of the Florentine Republic. Mark Carney needs to mind his p’s and q’s at home.

Andrew MacDougall is a London-based communications consultant and ex-director of communications to former prime minister Stephen Harper.

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