Prime Minister Mark Carney turned Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s attack on his economics education into a viral exchange after the latter said Carney was “very badly educated on economics,” a charge landing awkwardly against a prime minister with Harvard and Oxford economics credentials.
The moment came after Poilievre said in a podcast, “There’s one thing that’s worse than being uneducated and it’s being badly educated. And Mr. Carney is very badly educated on economics.” The clip drew attention online partly because of the line itself and partly because water appeared to dribble down Poilievre’s chin as he delivered it.
In a recent conference, when asked about the comment, Carney paused and replied, “Did he? Wow.”
The exchange followed a separate question about whether Poilievre should resign after the recent election results. Carney declined to pile on, saying, “That’s an unfair question. I can’t look into the heart of Mr. Poilievre. I respect him as a parliamentarian, as I do the other leaders of the parties. I’ll continue to work with him and all parliamentarians.”
Carney then jokingly walked back the praise after being told of Poilievre’s economics insult.
Carney studied economics at Harvard, earned a master’s and doctorate in economics at Oxford, served as governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, and later became governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020.
Poilievre, meanwhile, has built his leadership around economic attacks, especially affordability, taxes, deficits, housing and inflation. His own formal education is a University of Calgary degree in international relations, while his political résumé includes serving as an MP since 2004 and holding cabinet and finance critic roles under Conservative governments and opposition benches.
Carney’s Liberals just secured 174 seats in the 343-seat House of Commons after wins in three special elections, giving the government a majority and removing its need for opposition support to pass legislation.
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