Brief: Mark Carney, Davos Catholic

October 3, 2026 · 31 min

Show notes

Matthew examines how Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has paired an 18-month austerity rampage with approval ratings near 60%.

Centralized power, new surveillance and protest laws, refugee restrictions, public-service cuts, a tripling of the military budget, climate rollbacks, a seeming refusal to protect the basics of Medicare. Why do so many people love him?

Carney's appeal and ability to absorb critique rests on more than managerial competence. A devout Catholic, Carney manages to make many people feel like they should be respectful and polite and not make a fuss during the high mass of finance, in which crisis is transformed into eternal life.

Matthew traces Carney's low-key Catholicism through the Pope Francis parable that opens Value(s), his role in the Vatican-backed Council for Inclusive Capitalism, and his practice of the Ignatian daily examen, and how he appeals to medieval canonists as forerunners of stakeholder capitalism.

Show Notes

Prime Minister of Canada – Statement on the passing of Pope Francis

Open Canada – Book Review: Value(s)

Vatican – Pope Francis to the Members of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism (11 November 2019)

The Catholic Register – The Catholic or the Davos Man?

The Catholic Register – Carney can confirm his Catholic credentials

The Catholic Register – A little Catholic, a bit Davos

APTN – Former day school students say Robert Carney was their principal

Greenpeace Canada – Carney's bills explained: C-2, C-12, C-8 and C-9

The Hub – The Carney government's expanding power to identify Canadians online

Littler – Bill C-39 and federal collective bargaining

National Observer – Budget vows to cut 40,000 jobs from public service by 2029