I get it. Progressive people worldwide are thrilled to see the back of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a bigoted autocrat who lost the Hungarian election in a landslide to Péter Magyar on Sunday. Here in Canada, even some of the most left-leaning folks I know are applauding Mark Carney’s byelection wins. They are happy he secured a majority government, pushed off an election for a few more years, and successfully sidelined Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Thankfully Poilievre will not get a chance to apply his caustic personal style to the work of government anytime soon — or maybe ever again.

Poilievre is not Orbán, although his election campaign dog-whistled some of the same themes. And Carney is not Magyar, although his agenda is far to the right of his predecessor Justin Trudeau. Yet there are similarities in the enthusiastic response among progressive voters to both of these wins.

To see voters reject meanspirited autocrats and far-right pit bulls in favour of parties ruled by decent human beings is heartening. Still it is strange to see lefties rooting so wholeheartedly for Magyar and Carney, leaders who, let’s face it, lean pretty heavily to the right. Watching the US circle the drain in the hands of a corrupt egomaniac has struck fear in our hearts, and lowered the palatability bar. 

At this historical moment, it seems “sane and competent” is enough qualification to win progressive support. But egalitarians, feminists, environmentalists and climate activists should not settle for a switch from right-wing authoritarian types to right-wing or even centre-right liberal politicians. They can save us from an immediate threat, but they don’t share a progressive agenda. 

Until only a few years ago, Magyar was an Orban loyalist. His falling out with the party was due primarily to his distaste for government corruption, a laudable reason to be sure. But Magyar is no lefty. Although he is promising to redemocratize the country, not everyone is convinced he’ll follow through. He’s vague on LGBTQ+ rights, is not overly keen on supporting Ukraine, and is as tough as they come on halting immigration. 

Yet there was Ibram X. Kendi, a famed US left-wing intellectual cheering Magyar’s win at a talk in Vancouver Monday night. Similarly, a friend and East Vancouverite who is as progressive as they come had this to say about Carney: “If you had asked me two years ago if I thought a central banker would be a good Prime Minister for Canada, I’d have said no. … But now I think it’s good to have someone in charge who is calm and has a steady hand.” 

My friend is willing to put her faith in Carney even though he is swinging the Liberal Party well into Conservative territory, because she trusts his economic acumen and can’t stomach the thought of Poilievre as prime minister.

Carney is certainly to the left of Poilievre, who ran his election campaign from the Trump playbook. But Carney’s agenda is borrowing heavily from the Conservatives. In just over one year as prime minister, he has eliminated consumer-based carbon pricing, jettisoned many other Trudeau climate policies, signed an MOU with Alberta for another oil pipeline, adopted tougher bail and sentencing measures, made deep cuts to the civil service and jacked up health care costs for refugees. The day after his byelection victories, Carney announced an almost five-month pause of the fuel excise tax to give voters a break at the gas pumps. That’s a $2.4 billion crowd pleaser that is certain to grow greenhouse gas pollution.

And because it wasn’t enough to steal Conservative policy, Carney has also stolen four Conservative MPs with rumours of more to follow. While some applaud Carney for his big-tent political approach, Carney’s acceptance of Ontario Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu in particular should be questioned. 

Gladu, a one-time candidate for the federal Conservative leadership, was on the right flank even of her former party. Although her views are sometimes wobbly — she has expressed contradictory opinions on abortion, conversion therapy (she originally opposed a ban on the practice, akin to child abuse) and COVID vaccines — there is no doubt she is a social conservative and it’s fair to wonder if she would even pass the Liberal Party’s candidate vetting process. 

Gladu now says she will vote with her Liberal colleagues but that doesn’t make her a Liberal at heart. Not by a long shot. Yet none of that seemed to matter to Carney, who wasn’t guaranteed to win all three byelections and likely thought he needed an extra seat. 

There’s a good chance that progressive voters will forgive even that level of expedience coming from Carney, who they feel is doing his best to broaden Canada’s economic base and so far has kept the American wolves from our door. We might be happy now that he has his majority. We might even vote strategically for him next time. But we should not make the mistake of thinking that he is one of us. If and when the United States comes to its senses and world politics resumes some semblance of normality, and if Carney himself has not changed course, progressive Canadians should be looking for someone different. Someone who is a better fit with their values and priorities.

© National Observer