By Lori Turnbull

May 19, 2025

During Prime Minister Mark Carney’s highly anticipated meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on May 6th, Canadians were on high alert for telling signs of how the meeting was going.

Would Trump make disparaging references to Canada as the 51^st state? Might we see any sign of relief from the tariffs? What is the power dynamic between the two world leaders? Does Trump respect Carney? In the end, the most important takeaway for Canadians was nothing President Trump said. Instead, it was the moment when Carney told Trump that he’d been elected to “transform Canada.”  This is the bar that Carney has set for himself. Can he pull it off? And how will his cabinet help him?

Prime Minister Carney is, in many ways, the one who is not like the others. We have gotten used to seeing political leaders on both sides of the House who have spent most (if not all) of their professional lives in politics. Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre, Jagmeet Singh, Stephen Harper, Andrew Scheer, and Jean Chretien can all be described, in fairness, as career politicians. But Carney is anything but.

His illustrious biography, including degrees from Harvard and Oxford and leadership postings at the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, and Goldman Sachs, could reasonably make one wonder why he’d want the job of prime minister in the first place. The political climate is toxic. The salary, though far larger than most, is not anywhere near competitive to what he could earn in the private sector. The hours are long, the scrutiny is relentless, and gratitude is scarce.

But Mark Carney put his hand up to take on the role once the job became vacant. Because of him, the Liberals skirted an all-but-guaranteed defeat in the general election. He won that election because he was seen as the leader most able to stand up to Trump. Though from a constitutional perspective the government’s mandate belongs to the ministry, there is a palpable sense that, politically, it is his.

Now that he’s firmly in the job with a government of his own, though not the majority he asked for, Prime Minister Carney is positioned to embark in earnest on the transformative path he has spoken about. He does not want for ambition. For example, he wants to make Canada an “energy superpower.” He defines superpower status as not being dependent on any singular factor, however important it might be, but instead as having multiple sources of strength and competitive advantage.

So, making Canada an energy superpower is not just about pipelines or increased exports of oil and gas. It’s also about hydro and nuclear energy capacity as well as carbon capture and storage. After a decade of nixed pipeline projects, including the Northern Gateway that was cancelled by the Trudeau government, Carney’s words indicate significant change if they become reality.

On foreign affairs, Prime Minister Carney has said that Canada can help lead “a world that is being reshaped.” Justin Trudeau’s government was often criticized for having lost its way on global policy, which left Canada floundering to define its place in the world. Mark Carney had a solid reputation as a global leader long before becoming prime minister. His leadership and track record could allow Canada to show up differently and to punch above its weight in influencing global conversations about peace and security, energy, and trade.

In a media availability following the swearing-in of his ministry, Carney pledged to pursue his agenda with ‘urgency and determination’. The big question is: can he do it?

Again, this would represent significant change for Canada. Prime Minister Carney met with G7 leaders in Rome over the weekend while they were gathered for Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass. He used the opportunity to lay the foundation for productive talks at the G7 meeting that he will host in June.

In a media availability following the swearing-in of his ministry, Carney pledged to pursue his agenda with “urgency and determination.” The big question is: can he do it? Can he transform Canada? There is no shortage of high-profile endorsements attesting to his unique ability as a problem-solver. For example, when he was Bank of England governor during Brexit, then Prime Minister Theresa May called him “the right man for the job” and indicated that she hoped he extended his tenure in the office.

In a recent interview about Carney’s role as the prime minister of Canada, former Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull referred to Carney as “a brilliant economist” and “the man for the moment.” Turnbull continued: “He’s a mighty intellect. He’s absolutely the right guy. If anybody else was prime minister of Canada at the moment, they’d want to hire Mark Carney. That’s how good he is.”

These comments speak to Carney’s impact and capacity to implement in crisis situations. The key challenge for Carney is to be as successful in the political and bureaucratic worlds as he has been in the financial sector. Our system of government, including its slow bureaucratic practices and intergovernmental standoffs, has been known to bring the best laid plans to a standstill. Though Westminster systems are known in the literature for their flexibility, ours has been stubbornly resistant to adaptation in many ways.

On the other hand, our practice of parliamentary government puts the balance of power in the hands of the prime minister. Prime Minister Carney will have the autonomy to make many decisions on his own and through agreements with other world leaders rather than through Parliament. Much of what he needs to accomplish will be through relationships and consensus-building rather than through legislation, so the Liberals’ marginal minority government status will likely not be much of a hindrance to him if at all.

In cabinet, the prime minister is “first among equals”. In other words, he’s the most powerful person around the table but he’s still a member of a team. His cabinet committee structure includes a Priorities, Planning and Strategy Committee, which reflects a business approach and suggests he will rely on an inner cabinet to guide strategy, decision, and implementation.

In the Oval Office pool spray with Trump, he referred to Canadians as the “owners” of their country, which gives the impression that business principles around accountability to shareholders affect his approach to governance. This could mean more accountability for ministers in demonstrating results. This could also mean that ministers may get fired and replaced if they don’t deliver. We have not seen this style of leadership in years.

The feeling that the current situation is a special assignment for Carney rather than a fourth term for the Liberals could take some of the focus away from who is in cabinet and in what portfolio, but Carney has formed a cabinet that is designed to help him manage the three central and interwoven themes of national unity, the economy, and Canada’s relationship with the United States.

He will rely on the political capital of ministers like Dominic LeBlanc and Melanie Joly to keep the country together while he works to grow the economy through innovation, investments, and new trading partnerships. In the early days of his government, it is far too early to tell what Prime Minister Carney’s political legacy will be. Years from now, when his political story is written, we will know whether he was, indeed, the “man for the moment”.

Policy Columnist Lori Turnbull is a professor in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University.