How will PM Carney's belief's affect Canadians if he wins the election?

blackbird · April 20

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A Catholic in Name Only?

Having a Catholic as Prime Minister will likely raise the hopes of some Reformed Christians that the federal government might finally take action of social issues. After all, the Catholic Church is opposed to abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and medical transitioning. Wouldn’t it follow that a Catholic Prime Minister would follow the teachings of his own church?

Unfortunately, that isn’t likely. Ten of Canada’s preceding 23 Prime Ministers have all claimed to be Catholic. Yet, their Catholic faith didn’t guide their political decisions. Catholic Pierre Trudeau legalized abortion and homosexuality. Catholic Paul Martin legalized same-sex marriage. Catholic Justin Trudeau legalized euthanasia.

With respect to Mark Carney, the Catholic Register concludes that “his track record betrays a stronger alignment with the mores and allegiances of global markets than with Catholic sensibilities… Carney is undoubtedly a Catholic of a different stripe than the Trudeaus and all the prime ministers who came between… but the wait for a prime minister who will address some of the more glaring divergences of Canadian culture from a culture of life may yet be a long one.

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Mark Carney’s Political Beliefs

In his 2021 book Value(s), Carney isn’t shy about what he thinks is the duty of the state: “The most fundamental duty of the state is to protect its citizens” (215). That sounds reasonable, but the question is: protect citizens from what?

He elaborates further:

“An expansion of state duties has occurred over the centuries. The government’s role as protector now extends well beyond shielding citizens from violence and direct injury to cover areas as varied as promoting financial stability, protecting the environment and maintaining data privacy. Much of this growth has been a response to risk-averse populations that expect ever greater protections from government authorities. Moreover, the duties of governments today reach well beyond their traditional roles as protectors to include the provision of basic services, the promotion of the welfare and the fostering of culture.”

Compare this with a Reformed view of the duty of the state. With Article 36 of the Belgic Confession, we confess that God “wants the world to be governed by laws and policies so that human lawlessness may be restrained and that everything may be conducted in good order among human beings.” These twin responsibilities can be boiled down to public justice and public order. Although both concepts could be stretched to include all sorts of activities like providing education, welfare, or healthcare, Reformed Christians usually maintain that public justice and public order are relatively narrow responsibilities.

A third of Carney’s book is dedicated to discussing the “triple crises of credit, Covid, and climate” (416). In each of these cases, he frames the government’s responsibility in terms of protection. When it came to the financial crisis of 2008, the government’s job was to protect people from financial instability. In 2020, the government had to protect citizens from a pandemic. Today, the government needs to protect its populace from climate change.

Carney uses just these three examples, but there is hardly a hint in the book that he considers there to be many limits to what the state can or should do.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Carney thinks the state needs to be huge or swallow up the other institutions in society. At numerous points in his book, Carney recognizes that businesses and markets are efficient and indispensable in a modern society. He recognizes that markets – not the state – are the engine of the economy.

But if businesses and markets are the engine of the economy, Carney believes the state should be the steering wheel, guiding the generative potential of the economy in what it perceives is the right direction. As he puts it, governments must “use regulatory policy to frame the future direction of the economy” (471). Carney gives this power to the state because only “the state embodies collective ideals such as equality of opportunity, liberty, fairness, regional solidarity and caring for future generations” (517). In his view, business and other private institutions will always be selfish and self-seeking. Only the state is selfless and altruistic."

Besides being our new Prime Minister, who is Mark Carney? | ARPA Canada

It appears that PM Carney holds the same old liberal views that government (Big Brother) knows what is best for everyone and should intervene in every aspect of the economy, society and lives of the citizens. That is the classic liberal/NDP view. The conservative view is basically the opposite. Conservatism believes less government intervention in society and the lives of its citizens and less taxes is better and means more freedom for everyone.

I believe this article gives a pretty good idea of what we can expect if the Liberals win this election.

Edited April 20 by blackbird