ADAMS: While Poilievre and Lewis rant, Common Sense Carney builds

Few political resurrections have been as swift as the one Canadians are now witnessing. Just over a year ago, Mark Carney was dismissed by his rivals as an out-of-touch banker parachuted into politics. Today, he stands on the verge of a majority government—and he has the receipts to prove why.

In the past week alone, Carney stood beside Doug Ford and Olivia Chow to sign the Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build, an $8.8-billion, 10-year agreement that ties federal and provincial money directly to housing-enabling infrastructure, transit expansion, and a sweeping HST rebate on new homes. It is, by any measure, the kind of concrete, multi-governmental action that Canadians have been begging for.

And it arrives as his opponents are busy doing everything but governing.

Pierre Poilievre recently returned from a lavish trip to Texas, where he sat for a podcast with Joe Rogan. No policy was unveiled. No new housing targets were set. Instead, Canadians got a familiar refrain: "Liberal bad." The Conservative leader flew south, soaked up the spotlight, and came back with nothing to show for it except a few soundbites and a lighter taxpayer wallet.

If that were the only distraction, it might be lamentable enough. But the New Democratic Party (NDP) has found an even more creative way to avoid the working class.

Under its new leader, Avi Lewis—a radical trust-fund socialist—the federal NDP has descended into a circular firing squad. At the recent leadership convention in Winnipeg, delegates argued not about labour policy or housing co-ops, but over equity cards, speaking order, and the allocation of relative victimhood. The spectacle was painful to watch: a political party engaging in self-immolation over who had the most legitimate claim to oppression points.

Few things are more demonstrative of a loss of institutional sobriety.

To be clear, this is not an attack on the valid concerns of marginalized communities. But the equity card chaos did nothing to materially help a single person of colour afford rent or find a doctor, and it didn't help transgender teens in Alberta, whose rights to healthcare and freedom of expression are under attack. It was TikTok activism; performative, inward-facing, and utterly detached from the material struggles of the people New Democrats once claimed to represent.

The Singh-era NDP had its own problems with online posturing. But under Lewis, the trend has worsened. The party seems more interested in debating who gets to speak than in actually delivering for the working class. And that is a tragedy, because the working class—struggling with inflation, housing costs, and tariff uncertainty—needs a serious opposition now more than ever.

Meanwhile, Mark Carney builds.

The Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build is an $8.8-billion bet on competence. The agreement cost-matches federal and provincial dollars to help municipalities slash development charges by up to 50%—fees that can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of a new home.

It removes the full 13% HST on new homes valued up to $1-million, and extends a $130,000 rebate on homes up to $1.5-million. It funds the Waterfront East Transit line, GO 2.0, and the planning for the Alto high-speed rail corridor. It even includes a "Buy Ontario" policy to keep tax dollars supporting domestic workers.

This is what leadership looks like. Not slogans. Not equity cards. Not podcast appearances in Texas.

When you stack this agreement against what Poilievre and Lewis are offering, the difference isn't subtle. One leader is negotiating with Conservative premiers and New Democrat mayors to get shovels in the ground. The others are flying to Joe Rogan's studio in Austin or arguing about speaking order at a convention.

Poilievre talks demolition; Carney talks construction. Lewis performs activism; Carney delivers housing.

In just under a week, Canadians in the GTA and Quebec will go to the polls for three Spring by-elections. And if the current trajectory holds, Mark Carney will secure a majority mandate. Not because he is a flashy speaker or a master of outrage—but because he has done something his opponents seem incapable of understanding: he has treated governing like a serious job.

The Conservatives and New Democrats may continue to rant, perform, and infight. But at least for now, they will fade into the background noise they have chosen for themselves. Meanwhile, the adults will be at work—building homes, laying transit lines, and raising the bar for what Canadians should expect from their leaders.

While Poilievre rants and Lewis performs, Common Sense Carney builds. And in a country that values real results, that's exactly the kind of leadership Canada wants to continue.

This piece was written by an individual contributor and reflects the editorial position of The Provincial Times and Left Lane Media Group. Read our Content Policy here.