Opinion: How Mark Carney is offering CEOs a chance to rebuild trust with Canadians
After last month's throne speech, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet lamented that he feels Prime Minister Mark Carney 'sees himself culturally as the CEO of Canada.' With his background in corporate finance, it's no surprise Carney has been likened to a stereotypical finance boss.
Article content
But is bringing CEO-type leadership to the federal government a bad thing, particularly at such a precarious moment for our country economically?
Article content
Article content
Article content
Canada has been starved of this style of leadership. But this goes beyond a culture change in Ottawa. Carney is also opening the door for CEOs to take on critical leadership roles in the execution of his agenda. With his aggressive economic development platform and the charge to 'build, baby, build,' our prime minister has turned on the CEO bat signal.
Article content
Article content
Not since the depths of the pandemic has business had such an extraordinary opportunity to contribute to the greater good, and for CEOs to offer leadership that offers impact well beyond their workforce.
Article content
However, the unfortunate reality is that Canadians don't trust their business leaders. The latest Edelman Canada Trust Barometer results, released in March, revealed that only 37 per cent of Canadians trust business leaders — 16 points lower than the average of the 28 countries the firm studies, ranking them near the bottom of that list.
Article content
Article content
How have our business leaders run so afoul of Canadians? Rationalizing food inflation in front of a parliamentary committee doesn't help, nor does the massive gap between CEO compensation and that of the average worker. It also doesn't help that two-thirds of Canadians feel business leaders are actively trying to mislead them, according to the recent Edelman study.
Article content
This crisis of trust is made worse by the fact that most Canadians feel the system is failing them — that no matter how hard they work, the next generation will not be better off. Business leaders have become a lightning rod for that grievance.
Article content
It is in this context that CEOs are trying to make sense of the role they should play in a country that needs more from them. And they should play a role. While there have been some well-documented missteps that have led to this extraordinary level of distrust, for years the data has pointed to a growing expectation that they step up and step into the current void.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Vancouver Sun
34 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Events across the country on Saturday will mark Indigenous Peoples Day
OTTAWA — Hundreds of events are planned across the country on Saturday to mark Indigenous Peoples Day. First observed in 1996, Indigenous Peoples Day is meant to recognize First Nations, Inuit and Metis cultures and traditions. Prime Minister Mark Carney will take part in a closed event in Ottawa to mark the day. 'Supporting Indigenous communities, advancing self-determination, implementing treaties, and creating generational wealth and prosperity are central to our commitment to advancing reconciliation,' Carney said in a statement. 'The government will work in full partnership with Indigenous Peoples — advancing shared priorities such as health care, food security, housing, education, economic prosperity, conservation, climate action, and emergency management to build a better future.' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Early Saturday, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow appeared at Nathan Phillips Square to participate in a sunrise ceremony, an Anishinaabe tradition. The office of Gov. Gen. Mary Simon said she will host youth at Rideau Hall in Ottawa to mark the day by crafting paper hearts with 'messages of reconciliation, hope and commitment.' The Governor General will plant the hearts in Rideau Hall's 'heart garden,' which honours Indigenous people who died in residential schools, along with survivors. 'Each heart is a symbol of our collective responsibility to listen to and carry forward their stories — of pain and disappointment, strength and courage — and to commit to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action,' Simon's office said. This year's Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday at Wesley Clover Parks in Ottawa. The festival features a competition powwow, traditional foods and teaching sessions. Starting Saturday, the Forks in Winnipeg will host Many Nations, One Heartbeat, an 11-day festival of Indigenous performances, games, fashion and crafts. Organizers say the festival will honour 'the stories, strength, and resilience of Indigenous communities, especially in this moment of significant displacement due to Manitoba's wildfire.' And in Toronto, the Na-Me-Res Traditional Powwow and Indigenous Arts Festival will take place Saturday at the Fort York National Historic Site, featuring traditional dances, live concerts and a food market. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Edmonton Journal
37 minutes ago
- Edmonton Journal
Events across the country on Saturday will mark Indigenous Peoples Day
Article content OTTAWA — Hundreds of events are planned across the country on Saturday to mark Indigenous Peoples Day. First observed in 1996, Indigenous Peoples Day is meant to recognize First Nations, Inuit and Metis cultures and traditions. Prime Minister Mark Carney will take part in a closed event in Ottawa to mark the day. 'Supporting Indigenous communities, advancing self-determination, implementing treaties, and creating generational wealth and prosperity are central to our commitment to advancing reconciliation,' Carney said in a statement.
Edmonton Journal
2 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Bell: Carney gets Bill C-5 win but will Danielle Smith get schooled by the PM?
Article content Question for premier But a big question remains. Did Alberta Premier Danielle Smith get what she wanted? Did Alberta get what it wanted? Unlike Carney, both Smith and Alberta will have to wait for the big win, if there is one. Carney is asked the big question after his big win. Will the first projects to be fast-tracked be in the energy field? Will those projects be considered initially? The reporter mentions Premier Smith and pipelines. Smith wants a bitumen pipeline to the B.C. port of Prince Rupert. Smith backed Carney on Bill C-5. 'Well, that's a very good question,' says Carney. You know when someone says it's a very good question you might not get a very good answer. 'It depends. To be perfectly honest that's the only answer,' continues the prime minister. Carney says there are transmission line projects and there are a number of possible pipeline projects, gas pipelines or oil pipelines. Article content Article content But …. 'At the same time there are major projects that are very attractive. For example, a project in Quebec that's very attractive,' he says, in French. Sinking feeling Carney mentions a potential energy corridor at Grays Point in Nunavut. There is a potential project in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as far as Churchill. 'Those are projects that could lead to the development of other projects involving critical minerals.' If you're experiencing a sinking feeling it's not the pizza you ate last night. Carney says there are other projects not on the list put forward by the provinces 'in terms of AI infrastructure.' The prime minister talks about what a project has to have in order to be picked for the express lane of approval. 'It has to be in the national interest,' says Carney. 'There has to be some probability they can actually move forward. Article content 'We have to have the agreement of the Indigenous peoples.' Here is a line for you. 'They also have to be consistent with our climate goals in Canada.' When will the first so-called nation-building projects be picked? 'We'll see,' says Carney. Premier Smith has already said she wants Carney and the Liberals to be dealing with her demand to scrap nine anti-oil and gas and anti-development Liberal laws by the fall. You know, getting rid of the oil and gas emissions cap, the tanker ban, rewriting or scrapping the No More Pipelines law, tossing the net-zero power regulations, to name the ones that always come up. A few days ago, Smith backed Carney in the hopes of getting the pipeline built as a first step. Then with her pipeline on the prime minister's VIP list, the Very Important Project list, Carney could then take the hatchet to the bad for Alberta laws cooked up in the 10 years of Trudeau. Article content But, just saying, what happens if Carney doesn't come through with Smith's bitumen pipeline? What happens if Carney doesn't deal with most of Smith's demands? One of the premier's demands is for Carney to scrap the Liberal goal of having no new gas vehicles sold in 10 years. Carney is not changing course on that one. Meanwhile, the federal Conservatives also backed Carney. They also wanted the nasty Liberal laws holding up development to be scrapped. They campaigned on it in the last election campaign. They voted with Carney on Bill C-5 since something was better than nothing. They didn't want to be seen as standing in the way of something moving forward. When the vote was over Carney went over and shook some Conservative hands. It is easy to shake hands when you won the game. Devin Dreeshen, Smith's point man on transportation and economic corridors who is hoping real hard for that bitumen pipeline, weighs in on a worst-case scenario. 'If the kind words from the Carney government ring hollow because there are no projects in Alberta being fast-tracked we are right back to Square 1 where we have a federal government that says it is Team Canada but is doing everything to not help Team Canada win.' Latest National Stories
