Carney draws large crowd in Kelowna as he continues leadership campaign

UPDATE: 12:35 p.m.

Over 300 people gathered at the Ramada Hotel in Kelowna on Wednesday to meet Mark Carney the frontrunner in the Liberal Party leadership race.

Carney, who arrived in Kelowna Wednesday morning, took part in a public meet and greet with local residents as part of his campaign for the Liberal Party leadership.

During his speech, he addressed issues, including the carbon tax, housing market reforms, international trade, and Canada’s economy.

One of Carney's main points was the importance of expanding trade partnerships beyond the United States, particularly in light of ongoing tariff threats.

“The great produce and products… I mean, I don’t want to just reduce it to the wine and produce sector, as important as they are, but having markets all the way across Canada and then much more around the world.”

“Secondly, I think that what we are really talking about in terms of building this economy… focusing on major infrastructure, focusing on housing, and allowing Canadians to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. Canadians are smart; they will know what to do with that money. That will help Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley," he said.

Carney took time after his speech to chat with attendees and take photos.

Juliette Sicotte, a Kelowna resident, expressed her support for Carney, saying, “I think Mark Carney is our best shot. We need to plan, we need to organize, and we need to vote like Canada’s sovereignty depends on it.”

Resident Elizabeth Goforth told Castanet this is her first year paying attention to politics.

“He talked about being instrumental in why Canadians were able to weather the 2008 economic crisis so well. And I also found him kind of funny.”

If Carney wins the leadership race, he would become Canada’s 24th prime minister and lead the Liberals into a likely fall election.

UPDATE 10:35 a.m.

The former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, laid out his plans for Canada while on a Kelowna whistle stop in the Liberal Party leadership race.

During a morning whistle stop at Kelowna's Ramada hotel, Carney reiterated a message he's said at other stops —there are ways to deal with the ongoing tariff threat and he's the leader to help Canada pull through.

“The first thing in my experience in a crisis is you've got to recognize what you can change, what you can influence, and what we can't change,” Carney told the crowd.

In this case, he said, Canada needs to be in absolute control of its economic destiny and in part that means ramping up trade both within the country and abroad.

"Something that my government is going to do is to use all of the powers of the federal government, including the emergency powers of the federal government, to accelerate the major projects that we need in order to build this economy and take on the Americans," he said.

"There's a fever raging south of the border. It will pass in time but we should take advantage. We have an opportunity to leapfrog the Americans."

Carney said it's time for Canada to stop having all its "eggs in one basket."

"Internationally, there are a lot of like minded countries around the world who want to trade with us. We have what they want, and we're going to use it to our maximum benefit."

He also indicated that Canada needs to get better working as one economy, not 13 — a reference to provincial trade barriers he's spoken about in the past.

"I will convene federal, provincial first ministers, the premiers and the prime minister in order to identify those big projects that are national priorities," Carney said.

"In order to sweep away the barriers that are preventing the good products of Kelowna and surrounding regions (to be traded.)"

Beyond trade, he pointed out that he intends to balance Canada's spending budget, should he become party leader and then be elected to lead the country, offer up a middle class tax cut and "build, baby build."

"Some of it's going to be energy infrastructure, some of it's going to be clean energy, some of it's going to be trade corridor and a lot of it is going to be housing."

Carney pointed out that the country can only have a "little bit" of influence over US president Donald Trump, but noted that one day the countries would come together again, and there are some serious issues at play.

"Part of it we got to respect is that fentanyl is an absolute crisis in the United States— It's a challenge here, but it's a crisis there and us doing what we can to help them with that is absolutely appropriate," he said. "And of course, securing our borders is in our interest as much as it is in their interest."

The Liberal Party of Canada will vote for a new leader on March 9.

ORIGINAL 8:58 a.m.

The former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, is in Kelowna Wednesday campaigning in the leadership race for the Liberal Party of Canada.

During a morning whistle stop at Kelowna's Ramada hotel, Carney reiterated the message that there are ways to deal with the ongoing tariff threat and he's the leader to help Canada pull through.

Photo: Mark Carney/Facebook

The former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, is in Kelowna Wednesday campaigning in the leadership race for the Liberal Party of Canada.