'Not the idea of the century': Opposition parties howl about Carney's rumoured pick for U.S. envoy
OTTAWA — Business executive Mark Wiseman has not yet been confirmed as Canada’s ambassador in the U.S. but early signs point to a chilly reception from opposition parties — especially Quebec MPs — because of past comments on immigration and supply management.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has not yet said who will be replacing Kirsten Hillman, who announced Tuesday she will be leaving her positions as ambassador and Canada’s chief trade negotiator with the U.S. in the new year . On Wednesday, Carney would not comment on speculation that Wiseman, a close friend of his, would be appointed to the role.
Carney said in French that he would be announcing his pick within the next week.
Wiseman previously served as chair of the board of directors of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, senior managing director at the U.S. investment firm BlackRock and president and CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Earlier this year, Carney appointed Wiseman to his advisory council on Canada-U.S. relations.
But Wiseman is also known as the co-founder of the Century Initiative, a controversial lobbying group which advocates for increasing Canada’s population to 100 million by 2100. In 2023, he retweeted a Globe and Mail column calling for that dramatic increase in immigration levels to become federal policy “even if it makes Quebec howl.”
During Wednesday’s question period, the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois took issue with the Century Initiative’s proposal and the unfortunate choice of words.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called Wiseman a “corporate crony” and “longtime Liberal elite” whose goal is to increase Canada’s population in order “to profit multinational corporations by driving wages down and housing costs up.”
“Why is it that, every time somebody comes along with an idea that harms Canadians and drives up their cost of living, the prime minister gives them a promotion?”
But, speaking in French, Poilievre came to the defence of the province.
“This is someone who has shown contempt for Quebec and cannot negotiate for Quebec,” he said. “Why does the prime minister want to name this person as ambassador?”
Bloc Québécois House leader Christine Normandin took issue with the use of the word “howl” which she said equates Quebecers to dogs howling in the night.
“Can the prime minister really think he can represent Quebecers in Washington?”
One after the other, ministers Steven MacKinnon, Dominic LeBlanc and Joël Lightbound said that the objective of increasing Canada’s population to 100 million people by the end of the century has never been, and never will be, the policy of the government of Canada.
But the financier is also on the record being skeptical of the supply management system.
In 2024, Wiseman penned an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail calling on the federal government to include in its budget “bold change to fix Canada’s falling productivity,” and pointed fingers at, among other things, the “sacred cow of supply management.”
“Any government that’s financially beholden to the interests of legacy actors will be incapable of embracing the large-scale reform we need to encourage competition and drive meaningful consumer choice and productivity growth,” he wrote.
With the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, Quebecers may be left wondering if Canada’s new ambassador will also be appointed chief negotiator and what could mean for the system regulating the dairy, egg and poultry sectors.
“To have an ambassador… that does not believe in supply management, even before negotiations start, it sends a very, very bad signal to the Trump administration,” said NDP Deputy Leader Alexandre Boulerice.
Quebec Liberal MP Sophie Chatel said the nomination of a new ambassador does not change the government’s view that supply management will not be up for negotiation.
A Bloc bill that protects supply management from future trade deal concessions received royal assent in June, after Carney’s government approved its swift passage in the spring.
“Supply management is a question of economic vitality and prosperity of our regions, of our villages. It’s very important that we keep it,” said Chatel.
Other Liberal MPs, when asked what they make of Wiseman’s possible nomination as Canadian ambassador to Washington, opted to keep their comments to themselves and said they would leave the prime minister announce his choice in time.
One Conservative MP from Quebec encapsulated how opposition parties in Ottawa feel about Wiseman’s name floating around.
“It’s not the idea of the century,” said Luc Berthold.
National Post
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