PLC management race | Mark Carney in seduction mode in Shawinigan

(Shawinigan) “With Mark, we’re going to make a formidable team,” exclaimed the Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, after a visit to a dairy farm in Saint-Tite, in Mauricie . Alongside him, Mark Carney, who is trying to become the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (PLC), agreed. Little visible in Quebec to date, he launched the Quebec portion of his campaign on Sunday in the constituency of Saint-Maurice-Champlain.

“We have the same economic vision for Canada, for Quebec,” argued Mr. Carney in a sometimes hesitant French, during a press scrum. “It starts here in the region. »»

The tireless minister led him from the Pittet family farm to a residence for the elderly, then to the cataracts match of the Junior Maritimes Quebec Hockey League (LHJMQ) to take a crowd, multiplying hand handles and Photo. Mr. Carney sometimes struggled to keep up his frantic pace.

“He will be Prime Minister in three weeks,” Champagne launched who wanted to hear him in the corridors of the arena. The race for liberal management thus took on the air of an electoral campaign. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry is one of the 16 members of the cabinet to support the candidacy of the former governor of the Banque du Canada and the Banque of England to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – and the fourth in Quebec, after Mélanie Joly, Steven Guilbeault and Steven Mackinnon.

“We have the same economic vision of a prosperous Canada, an ambitious Canada, a strong Canada, of a standing Canada, as we saw this week with Amazon,” said Champagne, By referring to his letter to the American giant who closed all his warehouses in Quebec.

He added that they will form “a formidable team” against “the electroshock” Trump and his threat of imposing customs tariffs thanks to the experience of Mr. Carney on the Bank of Canada and his as Minister of industry.

However, he did not want to confirm whether or not to request a fourth term as a deputy of Saint-Maurice-Champlain. Mr. Champagne had decided last week not to embark on the race to succeed Justin Trudeau.

“We know how to negotiate, even negotiate with Mr. Trump,” said Carney. […] He is a good negotiator, but we have several cards here. We are proud. We are always and we will win. That’s clear. »»

He said he wanted to build “the strongest economy in the G7”, spoke of diversifying the economy and investing in the battery sector and in artificial intelligence. The choice of a dairy farm to launch its campaign in Quebec was not trivial. He wanted to demonstrate his support to farmers under the management of the offer.

The co -owner of the farm, Alphonse Pittet, reminded him that dairy producers had already had to sell market share during previous trade negotiations.

“He had a good listening,” he said after the meeting. Obviously neither Mr. Champagne nor Mr. Carney made a firm commitment, had to be expected, but we feel that they want to know, that they want to understand. »»

Mr. Champagne’s press officer, Audrey Milette, said in the evening that the two men are on the same page and that they want to protect the management of the offer during future negotiations of the Canada-Stats Agreement- UNIS-MEXICS (ACEUM).

The two politicians then took the direction of Shawinigan to go to the residence for the elderly Les Jardins du Campanile where they gave countless handles, taking care not to miss a table in the huge dining room.

“He looks sympathetic, he wants and he looks nice to me. He is like Mr. Champagne, “said Liguori Gélinas, who worked in Jean Chrétien’s campaign during his first election in 1963.

“I better like Mr. Carney because I think he goes directly with his ideas,” said the former mayor of Shawinigan, Lise Landry. “M^me Freeland also does a good job, but it’s not the same vision. »»

“His Frenchman, he must pay attention a little,” observed Cécile Elliott, another resident.

The inheritance of the Trudeau era

The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, already considers Mr. Carney as his main opponent. Earlier in the day, he had published a letter on X to ask him if he undertook to banish his future Cabinet any current minister who sits with Mr. Trudeau in order to avoid repeating “the same failures”.

“I think he is afraid,” said the aspiring Prime Minister. Any dependent on the result of the next election, he could appoint certain ministers who were part of the Trudeau cabinet. “If we share the same economic vision, the same vision for the French language, the same vision for Quebec, we are partners, otherwise we are not,” he replied.

However, he distanced himself from the Trudeau era. “You must have a government’s budgetary sanitation, you have to stop waste,” he said, without specifying if he would recommend a return to the budgetary balance. He wants to favor investments that would have a lever effect on the economy.

MP Joël Lightbound, met at the Gervais Auto Center where Shawinigan’s cataracts faced the Quebec ramparts, his team, believes that Mr. Carney could allow Liberals to dream of training the next government, despite the preservatives’ advance in polls .

He chose to support it because of his “ideal journey to guide Canada through the turbulence that arises”. “He nevertheless sailed through the 2008 financial crisis as governor of the Bank of Canada and Brexit, in England,” he said.

The fact remains that he will have little time to make himself known if the next Liberal chief became on March 9. “It is too late,” said Jacques Samson, who shook the hand of Mr. Carney in the corridors of the Gervais Auto center. “I don’t know him at all. No question, therefore, of changing his idea, he will vote for the Bloc Québécois.

MM’s tour. Champagne and Carney ended with a crowd bath to meet hockey lovers, management and cataract players, but also with an interview with Infoman. Mr. Carney had granted his very first interview last week to the American humorous program The Daily Show.