EDITORIAL: A vacation? Sure But now? In Tuscany?

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Prime Minister Mark Carney is entitled to a vacation, but taking it now in Tuscany — with a looming threat of new tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump and raging wildfires in B.C.— wasn't a good idea.

We do commend Carney for not playing hide-and-seek on this issue, unlike his predecessor Justin Trudeau, whose vacations were often treated as state secrets by the prime minister's office until the media inevitably figured out where he was.

By contrast, Carney's PMO informed the parliamentary press gallery on Aug. 8, after Carney's plane took off for Italy on Aug. 7, that he would be on a "reduced schedule in the week of Aug. 10 … for personal commitments until Aug. 17."

"During this period," the PMO said, "he is in close contact with his team and officials on several priorities, including the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade negotiations." It said the trip was cleared by the ethics commissioner.

We have no doubt Carney, whose prime ministership has been marked by frequent foreign trips promoting Canadian trade, can be kept informed of events going on in Canada and respond where necessary.

But, again, the optics aren't great, given that two days after he returns on Aug. 19, barring a negotiated settlement or postponement, Trump will impose new 50% tariffs on $20-billion worth of Canadian exports to the U.S., some previously tariff-exempt, under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade.

Meanwhile, more than 100 active wildfires have forced tens of thousands of B.C. residents to flee their homes, with at least one death now reportedly linked to the tragedy — an 80-year-old woman attempting to flee the Bald Range fire in Summerland, B.C.

That's not because Carney went on vacation, but we suggest a more appropriate venue this year would have been the prime minister's official summer residence at Harrington Lake, in Quebec, which recently underwent $13.5 million in renovations and security updates.

Carney said during the Liberal leadership race that the best time for him to be visible to Canadians was in a crisis.

Or, as he put it, "If it's not a crisis, you wouldn't be seeing me. I'm most useful in a crisis. I'm not that good in peacetime."

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