The very demanding boss meets the immovable ego
‘Carney’s decision to go down to the White House without some indication that he would get something on tariffs from President Trump was a bit of a head scratcher,’ writes Ken Polk. / TWITTER PHOTO
This week, thanks to Maclean's magazine, Canadians learned that pretty much everyone who has ever worked for or with Prime Minister Mark Carney says that he is a very demanding boss. The article provides in-depth details about the various ways Carney has demonstrated this unsparing quality in both the private and public sectors, as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and as a serial central banker.
More in-depth than most previous profiles of Carney to date, Maclean's weaves together in one place disparate threads that have unspooled in other media over his very short time in politics and his astonishing and unexpected election as Prime Minister.
Unnamed sources have already been happy to whisper that the Prime Minister brings a much more disciplined and business-like approach to his administration. As has been said before, since the ship of state is the only one that leaks from the top, the source of these tidbits is not too hard to guess.
In any other week, the profile might have been welcomed by the Prime Minister and his team. Who among us would not want to see ourselves described as thinking we are the smartest person in any room we happen to be in. (Okay, maybe not.) But this wasn’t any other week. It came out the week the Prime Minister went to Washington to see a President who actually thinks he is the smartest person on the planet. And if we are to judge the Prime Minister's performance by the standards he seems to set for others, it did not go all that well.
Carney’s decision to go down to the White House without some indication that he would get something on tariffs from President Trump was a bit of a head scratcher to begin with. In the days leading up to the meeting, “sources who could not be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly” did try to lower expectations somewhat, saying no breakthrough in the ongoing trade tussle was imminent or expected during the visit, saying instead that they were looking for some relief on aluminum or steel tariffs. However, even this lowered bar wasn’t cleared.
Instead, Canadians witnessed a very awkward Oval Office meeting at which the President’s invincible ego was on full display. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister did his best to stay civil at the same time, performing the now ritual bending of the knee that Trump demands of all visitors to the White House; speaking, in the words of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, “Trump’s love language.”
No doubt the private meetings between the two, as well as those between the assembled Cabinet ministers and their American counterparts, were useful and frank. There were indications that Trump and Carney agreed their officials should reach agreements in short order. But the goalposts have steadily been moved down the road throughout this tussle. And Trump is nothing if not quicksilver and volatile on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
A Prime Minister’s time is the most valuable political capital in Canada. A Prime Minister's time with a President of the United States is more valuable still. That is what doomed at the start any attempt by the Canadian side to lower expectations for their meeting. At the best of times, Canada's relationship with the U.S. is our most important — politically, economically, and geostrategically. At the worst of times — as now — it is all-consuming. All due respect to the effort the governor is making to diversify Canada’s international ties, Canada-U.S. relations will remain a priority for some time yet.
As I said previously, unless something finally comes of the hard bargaining soon, Carney’s trip will have been a waste of his political capital on the single overriding issue that swept him to power: standing up to President Trump.
In fairness to the Prime Minister, Trump, for all that Canadians loathe his political style, rhetoric and program, has taken hold of the levers of political power with a daring and ruthlessness with almost no manner precedent in American history; with a laser-like focus on inflicting pain and on wringing concessions from friends and adversaries to the betterment of the U.S. economic bottom line.
Trump is unlike any world leader that Carney has ever dealt with, notwithstanding the Prime Minister's vast international experience and contacts. Trump understands that the economic power imbalance with Canada is heavily tilted in his favour, and he appears determined to tip it even further in the U.S.'s favour. He will, in short, be a tough nut for Carney to crack.
So if you are keeping score, the very demanding boss met the immovable ego this week, and he suddenly seemed less demanding and more supplicating than his carefully crafted public narrative suggests.
For those Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers who have been living on tenterhooks this summer waiting for an apparently impending and earth-shaking shuffle to remake the government in Carney’s demanding image, it may have been some comfort this week to watch, on the biggest stage on the biggest issue against his most important counterpart, the Prime Minister not live up to his own demanding standards.
Perhaps some prime ministerial humility is in order.
