In anticipation of his Liberal leadership bid, Mark Carney appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Monday night. 

Carney’s broadcasted himself as a relaxed Liberal Canadian in staunch opposition to Conservatives in Canada, as well as the incoming Republican administration in the U.S. 

Given the American viewership knowing nothing about him, Carney was able to brand himself an outsider with the host failing to question that image.

When Stewart asked, “You’re running as an outsider,” Carney replied, “Yes, I am an outsider.” 

But in reality, Carney has advised the government for many years. In 2020, he stated that, among other political leaders, he was an advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Moreover, former Trudeau advisor Gerald Butts is part of Carney’s campaign team, although Butt’s has described his role as informal, a presumed attempt to preserve Carney’s outsider status. 

Stewart managed to stick the carbon tax policy onto Carney, who attempted to distance himself from the now severely unpopular levy. However, Carney previously praised the carbon tax, describing Trudeau’s policy as a “model for others” in his book Values, Building a Better World for All. 

Amid widespread disapproval towards the carbon tax, Carney walked back his full fledged endorsement of the levy in May of last year. Carney told a senate committee meeting that the carbon tax “has served a purpose up until now,” leaving the door open for a carbon tax pause, unlike the Trudeau Government’s plan to continue jacking it up every year until 2030. 

“I think one can always look for better solutions and as a country, we should always be open to better solutions,” he said.

Carney, a member of the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance, further said a change to the carbon tax would require “you put in place something better that still has that credibility and predictability.”