Carney’s unremarkable successes seem larger

As it turns out, in politics there’s a lot to be said for being — or, at very least, sounding and acting — competent.

During his first year in office, Prime Minister Mark Carney has calmly and deliberately established himself as a voice-of-reason presence, in a moment when the national and global political conversation has been steered toward hyperbole, histrionics, polarized incivility and outright lies.

During less unhinged times, what Carney has accomplished in the 13 months since being sworn in would be regarded as wholly unremarkable.

But in the current climate, with the serial provocations of U.S. President Donald Trump having upended traditional trade relations, wilfully accelerated the demise of civil discourse and initiated — arguably as a distraction from a decades-deep scandal from which he cannot escape — a Middle Eastern conflict that has set the world’s economy in a downward spin, simply behaving in a reasonable, courteous manner has afforded Canada’s leader something approaching statesmanlike status.

Having entered the electoral fray with zero political experience but an impressive economic resume, Carney quickly reversed the dwindling fortunes of the Liberal Party by offering Canadians a different choice — more grounded and less off-puttingly out of touch than unpopular predecessor Justin Trudeau, and decidedly more forthright and less abrasive than Trump-parroting Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Out of the gate, Carney made numerous lofty promises he was able to make sound refreshingly reasonable — an ambitious housing plan, establishing Canada as a global energy superpower, tearing down interprovincial trade barriers and reducing our dependence on the U.S. by aggressively diversifying international trade.

A year after having been handed a minority-government mandate, it’s hard to argue he has delivered much in the way of results, but the manner in which he has comported himself seems to have given people confidence he’s on the right track.

The watershed moment of Carney’s first year was undoubtedly his Jan. 20 address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, during which he spoke bluntly about the rupture of the rules-based order and the need for so-called “middle powers” (including Canada) to pursue a principled and pragmatic new way forward.

The speech, which drew effusive praise from the international community, was straightforward, measured and imbued with common sense. The word “leadership” was frequently employed by those discussing or reflecting on the address, and upon returning to Canada it was clear his performance in Davos had bolstered Canadians’ confidence in his ability to lead.

His minority government has recently mutated into a majority, thanks to Liberal victories in three byelections and a handful of floor-crossings by opposition MPs (four of them Conservative) who clearly favour his leadership style over what they opted to leave behind.

Despite Poilievre’s indignant grumblings about dirty tricks and backroom deals, there’s nothing untoward about the manner in which the Liberal majority was achieved; rather than complaining about Carney’s unconventional ascent, the Conservative leader’s time might be better spent considering what his own leadership pratfall means to his party’s future prospects.

For his part, Carney proceeds undeterred; when asked last week about the state of Canada/U.S. trade negotiations, he stated bluntly this country won’t be pressured by rhetoric and threats into accepting a bad or incomplete deal.

“A lot of countries rushed into deals with the U.S. (that) weren’t really worth the paper they were written on,” he offered, adding an agreement could be hammered out in a matter of days if both sides had the “bandwidth and the inclination to go through with it.”

If what’s required is competence on both sides of the table, it might fairly be argued we’re halfway there.