ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

His high point came in the White House as Trump babbled “never say never” about eventually snagging a property you covet, i.e., Canada, while Carney mischievously mouthed to camera, “Ne-ver.â€�

But it’s not all about him playing chess at big confabs as others watch. It’s the people making moves alongside him. You could see that in Canada Day’s flood of hopeful, ardent, indeed patriotic articles and posts, many likely penned before his Sunday backdown on the digital tax thing, so while Canada was rehearsing its pride and willingness to sacrifice, our glorious leader was preparing to bail in an important area.

Being out of sync like this isn’t always disastrous; each can compensate for gaffes of the other in the intricate dance between people and leadership. Still, one would prefer more synchronicity.

It took some of the Canada out of Canada Day. You can’t stand up to imperial power without serious popular support and Carney remarkably has had it. It fell on him like manna from heaven and saw him through to an improbable election victory and then he didn’t. Or not so much.

Even my friend, the Unrepentant Marxist, wrote sadly, “Not impressive.� As if he’d foolishly invested hope in Carney when he obviously — if theoretically — should’ve known better. Then he wrote again, as if he hadn’t fully scratched the itch: “this was a good time to call Trump’s bluff.� It rankled.

Nor does Carney seem to fully get the cultural point. By treating the digital tax as a minor marker in a contest between two gamers that would have to be given up anyway (I don’t disagree), he showed he didn’t quite understand the role of culture in rallying the country.

It’s not about doing an ad with Mike Myers. Canadian culture is less about content than connection, starting with pushing a railroad across a vast underpopulated space to connect us, whoever we are, which then became a cultural icon (, ).

The CBC filled that role more recently and it’s rightly said Canadians will support it as long as they don’t have to watch it. If that sounds irrational so is most deep human experience, like love eh, and it’s way less fatuous than thinking your invading, marauding nation (USA!) is a global exception because it alone in history based its foreign policy on sheer goodness versus robbing others, hence the need for a digital tax on their booty.

By not taking more of a stand, Carney showed he doesn’t fully get culture’s crucial role, while bailing on a source of connection — the digital realm — which, if we don’t own it we at least have the right to regulate, chez nous.

He’s clearly clearer on building corporate support, which is nice help if you can get it, but unstable as sand and no substitute, to an elected leader, for the people having your back. They are forgiving but not inexhaustible.

What did we expect from Carney — Malcolm X? Gandhi? Zapata? Louis Riel?

The guy spent almost his entire career banking. Granted it was central banking, not the Scrooge McDuck variety. But so far, not so bad. Everything still depends on what happens next.