'He yells': Mark Carney's focus has Liberal MPs bristling - Toronto Star

A prime minister with a penchant for centralizing power does not want to be challenged, Althia Raj writes.

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks in Ottawa on June 3, 2026.

Althia Raj is a national politics columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @althiaraj

Perhaps, we’ll soon call it Mark Carney’s democratic deficit. The prime minister has a penchant for centralizing power — one explored a few times in this column — and now the edict to his Liberal MPs is that he does not want to be challenged.

Over the course of several caucus meetings now, Grit MPs report Carney lashing out at certain members when he doesn’t like the message they deliver. They include Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste, a Mi’kmaw from Cape Breton, raising concerns over negative perceptions of the government’s changes to the Indian Act and receiving a stunning rebuke; Winnipeg MP Doug Eyolfson, a physician, being told not to come to the prime minister with his concerns over the lack of federal response to Alberta’s two-tiered health care Bill 11; and Laval MP Angelo Iacono, who wanted the prime minister to visit his riding and was met with Carney insisting he’d been to Laval recently, though he had not. The experiences have left a lasting imprint on several MPs.

“He yells,” said one MP who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution from the Prime Minister’s Office. “He punches down at caucus all the time.”

Carney has told his caucus members he doesn’t want to hear their concerns, he wants solutions. While it’s a message that resonates with some, hearing complaints can be useful. It’s an early warning system for the government that certain policies or bills are not properly understood, and that the message needs to be tweaked or the legislation amended to address legitimate and unforeseen criticism. 

Last week, some MPs felt the prime minister’s message was that he’s not interested in what they have to say. 

Instead, Ottawa will send $600 million to immediately stabilize Canada’s audio and audiovisual sectors.