OTTAWA – In hallways where Canadian ambition once felt real, a hard truth has settled in. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s much-hyped “elbows up” stance toward the Trump White House is not holding the line. It is a managed retreat dressed up as grit. What started as a hockey-style rallying cry has slumped into a quiet fold.
As of October 27, 2025, seven months into his mandate, Canada’s economy strains under American tariffs that are choking exports like a noose on a proud nation. Families tied to Windsor’s plants and Calgary’s rigs are stretched thin, their pay cheques clipped by inflation and layoffs, while their prime minister hops from climate forums to banker galas.
That is not leadership. It is a sellout. And from the Maritimes to the Prairies, people see it. Carney’s elbows are not up. They are in his pockets, padding a globalist agenda.
Carney, the Oxford-trained financier who slid into the Prime Minister’s Office after a Liberal leadership coronation in March 2025, rode a tide of anti-Trump anger. His first speech hit all the nationalist notes: “Donald Trump has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, on how we make a living.
He’s attacking Canadian families, workers, and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed… In trade as in hockey, Canada will win.” It worked, turning a tired Liberal brand into swaggering defenders of the flag.
Polls jumped, the party stormed back from Conservative leads, and a minority win followed in April’s snap vote. Now the scoreboard is ugly. The slogan was never a pla; it was a billboard, inked for an election while the real deals were cut in quiet rooms.
From Campaign Heat to Economic Stranglehold: The Tariff Crisis Deepens
Go back to spring 2025, when Trump’s second term lit a fresh trade fight that Carney swore he would snuff out. By March, the U.S. had slapped 25 percent tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and autos, calling them security threats, a protectionist swipe by any measure. Lumber, potash, and critical minerals were hit next, with talk of 35 percent blanket tariffs by August 1.
This was not numbers on a spreadsheet. It was a gut punch to an export-heavy economy. More than 75 percent of our goods head south, about $800 billion a year in trade that has fed families for generations. When those walls went up, plants went dark, trucks stopped, and households in Sarnia and Red Deer stared at foreclosure notes.
Carney’s answer was noise and optics. “Elbows up” became the Liberal chant, splashed on signs from Vancouver to Halifax. He toured swing ridings, pounded lecterns about “defending Canadian sovereignty,” and vowed tit-for-tat tariffs that would “hit back hard.” In Calgary, he tried on the roughneck cap, promising an “energy superpower” push with faster approvals and fewer rules, a nod to Alberta that cooled some Western anger. It helped at the ballot box. Liberals climbed to 44 percent nationally, backed by city voters scared of becoming America’s 51st state.
Governing showed the limits. At the G7 in Kananaskis in June, Carney’s Oval Office charm offensive with Trump produced photos, not relief. He waved off rebukes over the president’s Putin praise and offered compliments about “G7 leadership.” The chorus began, W What happened to elbows up? Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe called it juvenile and pushed quiet diplomacy.
Carney then dropped retaliatory tariffs on USMCA-compliant goods in August as a “goodwill gesture.” Pierre Poilievre called it “bait-and-switch.” Steel and auto tariffs stayed in place, but the signal was clear. U.S. levies now sit near 35 percent across key sectors, driving up costs from Tim Hortons cups to GM parts.
July 2025 was the collapse point. At a July 21 cabinet retreat, Carney declared, “We will negotiate a win, a tariff-free deal that puts Canadians first.” It capped the elbows-up story, timed for backyard grills and back-to-school budgets.
The PMO floated talk of breakthroughs, with a security sweetener, from border fentanyl crackdowns to a promise to hit 2 percent of GDP on defence by 2030. Hopes rose. An Ipsos poll found 60 percent saw the Liberals as best to handle Trump.
Then came the check. On July 23, Carney conceded, “There’s not a lot of evidence right now” for a tariff-free deal. Trump, fresh off tariff-heavy deals with the UK and Vietnam, had no interest in cutting Canada a break.
Forecasts pointed to a 5 percent GDP slide, and the grip tightened. Steel exports fell 40 percent, auto plants shed 15,000 jobs, and B.C. lumber mills parked shifts. Inflation climbed to 4.2 percent, food banks saw demand jump 20 percent, and the loonie sank below 70 U.S. cents, a 15-year low.
This is not a policy paper failure. It is a hit in daily life. In Hamilton, single mom Sarah Jenkins, a welder at Stelco, lost overtime when U.S. orders dried up. “Carney promised he’d fight for us,” she told Nationalist News over a lukewarm Tim’s. “Now my kid’s on free school meals, and he’s talking clean energy dreams.
Elbows up? More like elbows in, his own back.” Her story repeats across the country: Manitoban truckers idled by delays, Newfoundland fishermen caught by spillover duties. The tariff squeeze has erased an estimated 250,000 jobs, according to Bank of Canada estimates, with USMCA reviews looming in 2026.
The July Letdown: A Broken Pledge and the Collapse of Trust
That July promise was not just campaign fluff. It was a lifeline that got yanked. On July 21, during meetings with premiers in Toronto, he vowed, “By fall, we’ll have a framework that resolves this, free trade restored, sovereignty intact.” Doug Ford backed him, talking up unity. The media cheered. CBC headlines read “Carney’s Bold Play,” and the Globe lauded “hockey diplomacy.”
Three days later, the bravado cracked. Carney’s “not a lot of evidence” line sent support tumbling. Abacus Data tracked approval down from 53 percent in June to 45 percent by August. Poilievre pounced, “Gigantic bait-and-switch. Sold as a brilliant negotiator, delivered as a banker begging for scraps.” By October, Leger had the Liberals at 44 percent, Conservatives at 38 percent, and the honeymoon gone.
Trust split like spring ice. Early numbers cast him as an upgrade on Trudeau, 58 percent approval in September, 91 percent among Liberals. By October, only 42 percent believed he could “bring a deal home,” said Angus Reid, and 55 percent called him “out of touch.”
Focus groups from Halifax to Victoria were blunt. “He’s more Davos than Dawson Creek,” said Tom Reilly of Yellowknife. “Tariffs cut into my investments, and he’s going on about net-zero. Forget polar bears, my groceries cost 30 percent more.”
The shame ran deeper after Carney’s October trip to the White House. Trump patted his shoulder, “We want to be very good to Canada. I like Carney a lot.” No deal, only airy lines about fairness. At home, 63 percent wanted a hard line, yet the PM pitched trade diversification to Asia. It sounds tidy on paper, but it is a decade late. With $70 billion deficits and mortgages near 4 percent, people see a prime minister chasing global applause while kitchen tables creak.
Personal Gain Over Country: A Climate Fixation That Leaves Workers Behind
Ottawa insiders describe Carney as a global operator, not a home-team leader. Born in Fort Smith and raised near Edmonton’s oil world, he traded rig country for boardrooms at Goldman Sachs, the Bank of England, and the UN.
His network is Davos and Bay Street, not diners and shop floors. Critics argue he is closer to Brookfield Asset Management, where he led green investments, than to Canadian workers. Poilievre’s shot lands for many, “Carney’s net-zero crusade lines his pockets while taxpayers foot the bill.”
Look at the climate file. In October, Carney pushed the Darlington SMR plan, a $1 billion Ontario subsidy for “clean energy” jobs. Worthy goal, wrong moment. With tariffs biting, Oshawa autoworkers need market access, not small modular reactors. His “energy superpower” pitch that blends oil with renewables reads like lipstick on a pig. Oilpatch leaders scoff. “Skeptical of his support,” said RBC’s Maurice Choy.
Taxpayers carry the weight. EI claims are up 25 percent, food insecurity is at a 20-year high, and the PM talks about reducing reliance on the U.S. through Asia pivots. That does not help now. Liaison Strategies pegs disapproval on cost-of-living at 54 percent, worse than crime. “
He’s helping hedge funds go green, not helping me heat my home,” said Raj Patel, a mechanic in Edmonton whose fuel bills jumped 15 percent from tariff spillover. His “grand bargain” with oil, still foggy. Emissions caps linger, and Bill C-69 rules still bind projects.
Alberta at Boiling Point: Energy Promises Broken, Separation Talk Rises
Nothing cut deeper than the energy flip-flop in Alberta. On the trail in Calgary, Carney promised fast-tracked projects, national corridors, and a plan to make Alberta the core of our energy strength. He hinted at easing the emissions cap and loosening C-69. Danielle Smith met him in March with demands for tidewater access and cap relief. “Frank discussion,” she said, after getting pledges to work together.
It did not hold. The May throne speech put “net-zero targets” and European defence commitments ahead of pipelines. The June G7 delivered no wins for Alberta. Instead, Ottawa chased foreign talking points, from Palestinian recognition to an India reset.
Smith fired back on May 16, demanding corridors to the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic, or else. The reply from Ottawa was silence, aside from foggy lines about co-operation.
Voters in Alberta took the hint. “Carney’s no ally,” Smith said after the election. Polls mirror the anger. Support for separation sits near 30 percent, up from 25 percent before the vote, with strong support rising to 17 percent. The Alberta Prosperity Project’s referendum petition, filed July 4, cleared new hurdles under Bill 54, which lowered signature thresholds. Rallies now draw thousands, MAGA hats swapped for “Alberta Republic” shirts. Trump could not resist, “Canada’s Texas wants in? Welcome!”
Momentum grows. Angus Reid’s May numbers show 36 percent would lean to leave if Liberals stay in power. A 2026 referendum is on the horizon, pitting economic fury against constitutional walls. First Nations leaders vow full opposition and cite treaty rights. Economists warn that secession talk scares capital, but inaction does too, and Alberta’s GDP could shrink 10 percent without pipelines.
Carney’s energy shuffle, promising superpower status while keeping caps, fans the blaze. “He grew up here but forgot the grit,” said Calgary Chamber’s Deborah Yedlin. The Fraser Institute piled on, calling Ottawa’s approach damaging in the face of rising separatism. Without clear action, Alberta’s alienation hardens and puts the federation at risk.
A Country Let Down: Time for Real Canadian Backbone
Mark Carney’s elbows-up era is a costume. Under the weight of tariffs, the economy is bound in chains. His July pledge evaporated. Trust drained away. Alberta’s anger is white hot. As winter closes in and Trump’s shadow stretches north, one fact stands out. This banker prime minister puts Paris before prairie paycheques and global green before the good of the True North.
Canadians have a choice. Demand the real elbows, up, out, and fighting. Poilievre’s Conservatives are lining up for 2026. Separatists are building momentum. Carney’s story will read as a warning about elite distance from real life. We built this country with grit, not gloss. It is time to take it back before tariffs tighten and the True North cracks apart.
