Marty York: Mark Carney is a failed economic wizard

The consensus in Canada is clear to most of us — even irrefutable — that Prime Minister Mark Carney has done very little if anything to make Jewish people in this country feel safer or more content. His contributions to rising antisemitism and divisive behaviour haven't bothered most of his supporters, however, judging by the popularity polls.

These supporters don't seem to care a great deal about the violence and hate aimed at Canadian Jews during Carney's administration. Sure, some are not wild about the documented attacks on Jewish schools, businesses, and communities and synagogues because they know these acts of vile violence tear at the very fabric of society in general. And some are aware that history has demonstrated repeatedly that mass chaos and turmoil starting with Jew-hate eventually tend to spread to other groups.

Yet many of Carney's supporters stand by him because they have a perception, unfounded, that he is an economic guru. He's not. The supporters rave about Carney's economic prowess but the truth is that, under him, the Canadian dollar sunk in recent days to the lowest it's been in a year. What's more, we are in a technical recession.

And, while Carney travels on Canadian tax dollars to watch soccer with his wife, shakes hands in front of cameras with other global leaders, makes "important" and costly decisions (about $150-million) to enter Canada in the Eurovision Song Contest and feeds the Hamas-connected United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) millions and millions of our tax dollars, he is letting down Canadians on multiple economic fronts.

He had sold voters a budget based on assumptions and wishful thinking, even though former PM Stephen Harper tried to warn us about him. In March, 2025, before Carney was elected, Harper accused him of taking excessive credit for helping guide Canada's response to the 2008 global financial crisis. Carney's history of leading the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, before moving to the Bank of England, was the backbone of his campaign. He described himself as someone who would bring a steady hand to the economy.

"I have listened, with increasing disbelief, to Mark Carney's attempts to take credit for things he had little or nothing to do with back then," Harper wrote in a letter to fundraisers at the time. "He has been doing this at the expense of the late Jim Flaherty (former Canadian Minister of Finance), who sadly is not here to defend his record. But let me be very clear – the hard calls during the 2008-09 global financial crisis were made by Jim."

So has Carney been the economic wizard he promised to be? Nope.

Poilievre — granted, not unbiased — noted recently that Canada is "the only G7 country in a recession." He added: "Canadians are starving, losing their jobs and missing mortgage payments. And Mark Carney is hiding from accountability."

Canadians lost 112,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2026 and have the worst per-capita number of job losses in the. Business investments have declined for five consecutive quarters. Canada has the worst investments per capita in the G7. Canada has the worst household debt in the G7.

Poilievre also cited Food Banks Canada statistics showing rising food insecurity. But he is not the only one noticing Carney's shortcomings economically.

Annette Ryan, Canada's new independent Parliamentary Budget Officer, recently acknowledged in a response to Conservative MP Tamara Jansen that Carney's budget has a 99 per cent chance of missing its targets.

"I think that is a fair statement," Ryan said, adding: "Our forecast saw a lot of revenue weakness, especially in personal income taxes."

And what about Carney's vow to stand up to, and reach a deal with, U.S. President Donald Trump? Well, that's gone nowhere. Trump has declined to renew the Canada U.S. Mexico Agreement and economists say more obstacles with this will further unsettle Canada's financial problems.

And Carney's plans to accelerate homebuilding by giving $5-billion of tax money to B.C.'s infrastructure? Yep, many questions here, too. According to a recent commentary at the Fraser Institute web site, the plan to buy 2,200 vacant condos in B.C., and convert them into affordable homes, is deeply flawed.

"Using taxpayer dollars to buy existing condos will not increase the housing supply," the Fraser Institute said. "Instead, it could undermine the competition that's desperately needed to improve housing affordability in the province. Government should stay out of the condo market."

Carney justified his economy in early June by saying the recession is part of a "settling-in" period.

But while the "settling-in" period takes place, many Canadians are hurting. More and more.

Marty York is renowned as a national columnist, associate editor and television personality in Canada. He spent the past decade as chief media officer and communications director for a Canadian Jewish human rights organization.