But a lot of the old prime minister's legacy persists

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Much as he’d like to concentrate on his plans to transform Canada, Mark Carney still finds it necessary to explain to people that he’s not Justin Trudeau.

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Weekending in Johannesburg on one of his regular missions to drum up business, he found himself being queried about his government’s dedication to gender equity. That was a big concern of the previous Liberal regime, but one that’s had a lower billing with the Carney camp. At a Sunday press conference he was asked whether Canada’s search for trade and investment still prioritizes progress on equal rights for women and gender minorities. Violence against women is so prevalent in South Africa it recently declared femicide a national disaster.

“We have that aspect to our foreign policy, but I wouldn’t describe our foreign policy as feminist foreign policy,” the prime minister replied. “Those are different points, but related.”

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The remarks were reported as a sharp shift away from a decade of Liberal policies that saw gender equality as a core principle. The Trudeau government never spelled out in detail exactly how the policy worked, but the former prime minister and his top lieutenants regularly declared their dedication to feminist values at home and abroad. I expect Carney would strongly object to any suggestion he’s anti-feminist; instead, he was making the point that demanding progress on feminist priorities doesn’t supersede all other interests in Canadian public policy.

He was speaking specifically of foreign affairs, but it’s a point he’s been trying to make, with limited success, since coming to power. As a politician, Mark Carney makes a good businessman. If Ottawa gave reward points for time spent in the air, Carney would already have enough for several free vacations at luxury hotels in exotic locales. He’s stopped in at least 17 foreign countries since March, on top of meetings........

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