Most measures have stacked up Mark Kearney’s resume.
Chiefs of two central banks of G7 countries. Investment banker. International climate finance expert. in economics from Harvard University. Masters and PhD in Economics from Oxford.
He even has hockey on his list of achievements, playing as a backup goalkeeper at Harvard during his year. This is a positive for politicians in the country who have not contradicted the Montreal Canadiens game as they changed the time of national leadership debate last week.
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But one thing that he lacks on his resume is undoubtedly the biggest job he’s ever wanted: a politician.
Kearney, who turned 60 in March and has never detained an elected office before, quickly had to learn a lot about work.
He took part in a liberal leadership race in mid-January, winning a landslide on March 9th and became prime minister on March 14th. By March 23rd, he was on the path of the campaign.
Kearney’s first-ever general election has turned into a crash course of how to become prime minister, as well as how to campaign. He spends countless hours wandering the floors of unfamiliar stores, remembering where to look for cameras, thinking about things that aren’t bothering when holding strangers’ scores.
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The willing handing part is not always easy for him.
“Nothing would have happened,” Kearney joked when he pressed the button to start a demonstration of the machine at a noisy manufacturing plant in London, Ontario on March 26th.
Later that day in Kitchener, Ontario, he wanted to share his new talent with Unifor President Lana Payne.
Kearney has decades of experience reading the tea leaves of the market in an office environment covered in worsted suits and buttons filled with wealthy winds.
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On a tour of the marine facility in Dartmouth, New Jersey, Carney is joking with local officials at one point, telling his campaign staff not to get involved with the event.
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“They always tell me to dress down. They always take off my ties,” he said.
He appears in peace in front of world leaders, but he may seem unknown to himself in more common events.
When I met BC Premier David Ebby while running a campaign in Victoria on April 7th, he didn’t know where to plant his feet when he made some brief remarks.
When asked if it would be more fun to be prime minister or candidate for the popular French talk show “Tout Le Monde en Parle” on April 13th, Carney said the two jobs were different. In one role, he deals with a constant crisis. He is used to being an economic policy manager. On the campaign trail, he spends a lot of time waving and watching cows at campaign stops.
That contrasts with his sophisticated predecessor, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He is a celebrity politician who lives in the campaign and has apparently loved taking selfies with a large crowd.
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Kearney, the father of four, is married to Diana Fox Kearney, a consultant for the Eurasian Group company where former Trudeau advisor Gerald Butz works. However, he was primarily in the spotlight of his family and personal life, especially in the media.
Fox Kearney knocked for him on the Ottawa riding in Nepean, where he ran, and introduced him at several rally. However, Kearney has mostly campaigned as a background without his family.
His main rival, the conservative leader, Pierre Polyable, made his wife Anida the central fixture of his campaign and took his children to a campaign event.
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Kearney’s team also limited exposure to national media during a campaign for party leaders. It left much of the political training period in the international media when interests were much lower.
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His lack of experience manifests itself in a brave exchange with a reporter challenging him in the scrum, and he makes some obvious mistakes while talking in public.
On a PM trip north of the PM who can’t sleep just before calling for an election, he mispronounced the name of Nunavut’s prime minister PJ akeeagok, breaking down the name of Inuit Nunangat, the home of Inuit.
On the third day of the campaign, when he stopped by the Port of Muscodo Bowat in the news issue, he mispronounced the name of star liberal candidate Natalie Provost, forgetting the mass shootings she survived. The gaffe echoed quickly in Quebec, but Provost himself shrugged it as an accidental blunder that would never happen again. Kearney also called her to apologize immediately.
None of these flaves were fatal. Neither is in the various instances of opposition attacks trying to link him to the unpopular Trudeau, or when he broke reporters. Since entering politics, he has enjoyed the rise with polls and high favors.
David Coletto of Abacus Data Pollster ironically pointed out that many of the Conservative attacks on Carney, which also cited his previous role in Brookfield, also showcased his business experience.
“Anyway, everything that tried to undermine him at this stage is like actually reinforcing the reasons for people like him anyway.
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As Carney actively passes through his block of stumbling blocks with various words, his trip on the road sheds light on his rough edges as a politician. For example, he sometimes uncertain, “OK?” at the end.
At a Ukrainian cafe in New Westminster, BC, he accumulated considerable wealth in his lifetime and came for scrutiny for failing to disclose financial assets.
At another point, he asked the café staff if they could wave. They seemed confused by the proposal.
Kearney can also quickly disarm politically tricky situations.
When I stopped by Gander in NL on March 24th, a photo of Ivanka Trump appeared in a photobook I was reviewing with two women who inspired the hit musical. One woman said the president’s daughter is not her favorite now. Kearney offered that TV cameras were trained in the face and that Ivanka did a lot for women’s rights.
His friends say that those unpleasant moments have an inspirational side. When Carney talks about his values and his vision for the country, it’s all real.
“Mark is exactly what you see,” longtime friend John Premchuk told the Canadian press at the opening of Kearney’s Nepean Campaign Office. “What he thinks is exactly what he is.”
– Includes files from Canadian media Dylan Robertson
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