Linda McQuaig - Mark Carney's first 100 Days: Profile Of A PM Who Ran As A Liberal But Is Governing Like A Conservative

Linda McQuaig is an award-winning journalist, novelist, best-selling author and contributing columnist to the Toronto Star. Her most recent book is called “The Sport & Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich are Stealing Canada’s Public Wealth.

It’s been over 100 days since Mark Carney and his Liberal Party won what many pundits are calling the most consequential federal election in Canada in decades, falling just a few seats short of an outright majority. During the 36-day campaign the former central banker and Wall Street titan, presented himself as an ardent defender of Canadian political and economic independence. Is Mark Carney living up to the expectations of the millions of Canadians who voted for his party? Is the Oxford and Harvard trained “Man of Destiny” meeting the moment? Is he delivering the goods? I’m Adrian Harewood and this is In Bed with the Elephant.

In the days and weeks before election day, Mark Carney insisted he was a nation builder, committed to strengthening Canada’s democratic institutions, tearing down provincial trade barriers, standing up for progressive Canadian values and warding off attacks from hostile foreign actors.

Since coming to office, the newly elected Carney led Liberal government has promised a multi-billion-dollar boost in military spending, tax cuts, and the fast tracking of resource and infrastructure projects. Liberal cabinet ministers have been ordered to find up to 15% in savings in their departments in advance of this fall’s budget. The idea is to reinvest the savings in housing, defence and infrastructure. But critics argue that Carney’s proposal is nothing more than a radical austerity plan, and that the Liberal cuts will lead to the elimination of a raft of government programs and services, the loss of tens of thousands of public sector jobs, and a rise in social inequality. They say that all this amounts to the defunding of the state and is a betrayal of the voters who supported Carney and the Liberals on April 28th.