Parliament returns: What’s Carney’s governing record so far?

Gaps and potential downsides But—and recognizing that change takes time—many imbalances with their potential downsides remain: Perhaps most importantly, just as in the Trudeau and Harper administrations, power and authority still rest with a very strong PMO. Almost all the government announcements are made by or on behalf of the prime minister, and he is front and centre in managing almost all the major policy files, both domestic and foreign. There is still little sign of a larger role for many ministers or for Cabinet as a decision-making forum. Priorities such as housing, procurement, and major projects seem to have been handed to “tiger teams”—new, small organizations staffed by people from outside government—rather than fixing what isn’t working well in existing departments and agencies. Despite stressing the importance of a leaner and more productive public service, the government explicitly rejected the idea that we need to start measuring public service productivity. This makes no sense because this should be an obvious priority in rebuilding growth and productivity. In terms of internal operations, little has been done yet on reducing red tape, the regulatory burden, and excessive oversight, all of which stand in the way of getting things done within the bureaucracy. The government made the right decision to stop being a NATO laggard on defence spending and committed to a dramatic increase in that spending (3.5 percent of GDP in direct spending, 1.5 percent in indirect spending) over the next 10 years. Yet, there is no sign of a National Security Strategy or Defence Industrial Strategy. And in a world where the geopolitical risks are enormous, there have been no big decisions on enhancing Arctic security or purchasing major equipment such as fighter aircraft or submarines. Having acted to abolish federal barriers to internal trade, the prime minister has expended little political capital in pushing the provinces to do the same thing. Yet eliminating internal trade barriers would add as much as 3 to 4 percent to Canada’s GDP—more than the list of hyped major projects. Although it is still early days, there are no signs of improvement in the behaviour of Parliament and its committees or in the relationship between Parliament and the government. The opposition treats both as simply forums for political grandstanding. In addition to his policy agenda of seven priorities, the PM, like all leaders, has to deal with what British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once said worried him the most: “events, dear boy, events.” Two such “events” are the increasing prospects of referenda in Alberta and Quebec, and the possibility of Trump meddling in them. This will add another priority—national unity—for the prime minister to manage, and in this regard, he should take a Team Canada approach. Governments too often fixate on communications, but the explosive speed of change and disruption over the past year raises the question of whether the Carney government has done enough to raise public understanding of the risks of the new world we’re in, why change is necessary, and what we have to do differently. In the first month of 2026 alone, we have witnessed the dramatic events around Venezuela, the threats to Greenland’s sovereignty, the risks to NATO solidarity, and the further undermining of the rules-based international order. Recent polling from Abacus Data suggests that Trump is again a top-tier concern of Canadians, more important even than housing affordability. That suggests it is time for the federal government to engage Canadians more fulsomely on the challenging road ahead. We are living today in perhaps the most threatening world in many decades. The issues and concerns set out in our book remain very relevant to these disruptive times. They demand a nimble government operating in a more balanced mode that is essential for sustained, effective governance.