Jesse Kline: Carney has sowed division, not created a ‘unity government’

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Wednesday. Photo by Blair Gable/Postmedia

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Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled off of a political coup when his party won three byelections on Monday after enticing five members of the opposition parties to cross the floor, thus turning a minority into a majority government for the first time in Canadian history. But to suggest, as many Liberals are, that he has formed some sort of “unity government” is patently ridiculous.

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I’m not a big fan of this prime minister, but the political prowess he’s displayed since winning a minority a year ago has been nothing short of a masterclass. I didn’t think the stodgy banker had it in him.

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Following last April’s election, Carney’s Liberals had 169 seats, just shy of the 172 needed for a razor-thin majority. Half a year later, in November 2025, the prime minister enticed Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont to jump ship from the Conservatives, followed by Ontario MP Michael Ma a month later.

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In February, Matt Jeneroux also left the Tories for redder pastures. And in March, Lori Idlout ditched the NDP to join the ruling party. The coup de grâce came earlier this month, when longtime Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu crossed the floor.

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The byelections ensured the Liberals held onto two seats vacated by former cabinet ministers in the Ontario ridings of University—Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest, and picked up the Quebec riding of Terrebonne, which was contested after the Liberal candidate won by a single vote in 2025.

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The Liberals now command 174 seats in the House of Commons, which is enough to push through legislation without relying on the Speaker to break a tie, gain a Liberal majority on committees and, if nothing changes, keep the government in power until October 2029.

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How Carney managed to pull this off is somewhat of a mystery, and something we will likely not know for years to come. Yes, he is further to the right than his predecessor; and yes, he has many of the right ideas in terms of growing the economy and diversifying trade. But Carney is no conservative.

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While he made a show of getting rid of unpopular policies enacted by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, many of the replacements are designed to further the same goals. He’s right about wanting to revitalize the economy and building the housing and infrastructure Canada so desperately needs, but is doing so by growing the size of government, rather than unleashing the free market. The prime minister’s approach is unnecessarily slow and incredibly costly.

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The idea that someone like Gladu — who could not be accused of being a Red Tory — could look at the Liberal agenda and think it aligns with her values is hard to believe, which raises questions about what she may have been offered.

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Either way, it’s not accurate to suggest that Carney is a “wartime leader” who has cobbled together a “unity government,” similar to what Prime Minister Robert Borden did in 1917. Yet this is how the pro-government press is trying to spin the sleazy tactics the prime minister used to forge his majority.