Jen Hassum and Luke LeBrun analyze the Carney government’s decision making.
In Ricochet and the Toronto Star in recent weeks, Broadbent Institute Executive Director Jen Hassum and PressProgress Editor Luke LeBrun respectively published new opinion articles analyzing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s early policy choices since his government’s formation earlier this spring. While campaigning on progressive values, decisions like ordering striking unions back to work and conceding to the US Trump administration’s economic demands contradict this image.
Hassum and LeBrun call to defend workers rights and defend Canadian democracy against Trump’s aggression. In addition, Hassum called on the federal government to tax the rich and defend unionized public service jobs in the Broadbent Institute’s budget submission ahead of its fall release.
Jen Hassum: The Air Canada flight attendant strike was illegal. It was also profoundly Canadian
In Ricochet on August 21, 2025, Jen Hassum looked at the Carney government’s decision to order striking Air Canada flight attendants back to work, instead of calling for the employers to get back to the bargaining table. This decision upends the “Great Compromise” that flight attendants were fighting to defend.
The deal was clear: in exchange for the militant labour movement showing restraint, workers gained recognition and a collective bargaining system. Historians came to label post-war public policies like labour laws and new social programs, including housing and universal healthcare, the “Great Compromise.” […]
The flight attendants, in defying the law with their wildcat strike, did not break from the “Great Compromise,” but rather their militancy upheld its spirit — democracy belongs in the workplace, too.
Luke LeBrun: We knew he was a blue Liberal. But Mark Carney is alienating progressive voters
Writing in the Toronto Star on September 15, 2025, Luke LeBrun wonders: “It’s puzzling why Carney keeps doing things that alienate his own supporters, let alone his own MPs.” From inviting Trump’s far-right policy thinkers to brief cabinet, to folding on trade, to planned reductions in public service jobs, as one Liberal MP put it: “It’s a betrayal of Liberal voters, undermines the core theme of our campaign, and is an utter disgrace for a self-respecting democracy facing the rise of fascism next door.” LeBrun goes on:
Carney may genuinely believe he’s being pragmatic or putting the “national interest” above all else. But increasingly it looks more and more like Carney simply misunderstands the mandate he was handed by his own voters.
Ottawa Must Defend Public Services and Tax the Rich
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has made it clear that implementing a wealth tax on the richest families would take in well over $22 billion annually. The federal government is choosing to remove $21.5 billion annually from essential public services. Why are we asking already stretched Canadians to do more with less rather than make the ultra-rich pay their fair share?
Join us in defending public services and making the rich pay their fair share.