Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Mark Carney gets his Liberal Majority

Mark Carney’s unexpected rise to a Liberal majority government in Canada—achieved through floor-crossings and by-elections—has reshaped the political landscape, not just through numbers but through a profound shift in democratic norms. Andrew Coyne argues this moment reflects a deeper crisis in Canadian democracy: the erosion of party loyalty, the commodification of political allegiance, and the normalization of MPs crossing the floor for personal or constituency gain. He warns that the absence of meaningful consequences for such moves undermines the watchdog role of opposition MPs and risks turning Parliament into a rubber stamp for the ruling party. While Carney’s popularity and 15-point lead over the Conservatives grant him de facto stability, Coyne cautions that this power could be abused—especially with the routine use of time allocation and Henry VIII clauses to bypass debate. The real test, he insists, isn’t maintaining a majority, but whether Carney will spend his political capital on hard choices: cutting deficits, reforming taxation, confronting productivity stagnation, and rebuilding national defense—without relying on populist spending or political expediency. The episode ultimately frames Carney not as a transformative leader, but as a pragmatist who may be too popular to act boldly, raising urgent questions about whether democracy can survive when the only thing valued is being in power.