As Canadians prepare to vote, they should think carefully about what Carney really thinks about dissent
Voters in Canada face a fundamental question during this federal election campaign: What kind of leadership do we want in this country?
Prime Minister Mark Carney, during the height of the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests, crossed a dangerous line: he redefined dissent as sedition. That response—sharp, sweeping and dismissive—tells us a great deal about how he views opposition and what kind of leadership he brings to the country today.
In a sharply worded opinion piece in the Globe in Mail three years ago, Carney argued that Canadians protesting COVID-19 mandates were part of an “insurrection.” He described their actions as “anarchy.” He wrote that people who donated to the protest—many of them ordinary Canadians frustrated by prolonged restrictions—should be “identified and punished to the full force of the law.” Foreign donors, he said, were interfering in Canadian democracy and should be thoroughly exposed.
This wasn’t a measured response to a complex event. It was a visceral, ideological reaction to a movement Carney didn’t agree with. And as voters weigh their choices today, they should ask themselves what this reveals about the man who wants to continue leading the country.
Yes, the protest disrupted life in Ottawa. Yes, there were bad actors. But painting the entire movement as sedition? That’s a dangerous overreach. What Carney seemed to fear wasn’t violence—it was defiance.
He showed little interest in understanding why so many Canadians—from truck drivers to small-business owners to parents and seniors—had reached a breaking point. Instead, he treated them as criminals and enemies of public order and demanded a crackdown. That’s not leadership. It reflects a streak of authoritarian thinking—a preference for state control over public dialogue, for punishment over persuasion.
Now that he’s on the campaign trail seeking to remain prime minister, Carney is likely to present himself as calm, competent and pragmatic. But Canadians shouldn’t forget his past words—or what they suggest about how he governs.
If Carney views protests against government overreach as sedition, what other forms of dissent might he shut down? Will criticism of climate policy be labelled denialism? Will parents questioning school curricula be branded extremists? Will journalists or whistleblowers who challenge official narratives be dismissed as foreign agents?
Canadians should be wary of leaders who demand obedience rather than dialogue—especially those who cloak an authoritarian leadership style in the language of peace, order and good government. That phrase, after all, is the foundation of our Constitution—not a blank cheque for state control, but a promise that government exists to serve all citizens, not silence them.
As we head to the polls, we need more than résumés and sound bites. We need to understand how a candidate thinks about power, the public and the role of disagreement in a democracy. On that front, Prime Minister Mark Carney has already told us more than he perhaps intended.
The question is: Are we listening?
Explore more on Federal election, Liberal Party, Trudeau government, Authoritarianism, Abuse of power
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