Does Mark Carney know hoe to speak to and relate to average Canadians?

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Is Mark Carney the next leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister of Canada?

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There are definitely some Liberals hoping that is the case, but likely more Conservatives.

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For all the hype around the smart, well-traveled, well-educated and handsome former Bank Governor, Carney would be an awful candidate for the Liberals and a dream for the Conservatives.

This isn’t said with any animosity towards Carney, who worked well with Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty to guide Canada through the 2008-09 global economic meltdown. It’s just that Carney has never been a politician – interested in public policy, yes, but he has never had to stand in a sweaty Legion Hall or crowded church basement in a small town asking people for their votes.

I have a very hard time imagining Carney engaging in that kind of retail politics and, if he did engage, actually connecting with anyone but those already converted.

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Carney was born in the small town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories but grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. After high school, he did a bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard before getting a master’s and then PhD from Oxford in the same subject.

He then worked at Goldman Sachs in cities around the world before joining the Bank of Canada in 2003.

This impressive work and educational history might be why, despite his small-town roots, Carney doesn’t speak like the average Canadian. That’s not a problem if you are a private bank executive, a central bank governor or a United Nations appointee, but it is a problem if you are asking average Canadians for their votes.

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During the financial crisis, while Carney was the Governor of the Bank of Canada, he would give regular news conferences updating Canadians on the state of the economy. His language was dense, filled with central bank jargon and meant for C-Suite executives and the financial markets, not Canadians watching on television and wondering what these global forces meant for their daily lives.

“Can you please explain what you just said like you are talking to your Aunt May in Whitby?” was one of my regular questions for Carney in those days.

He always laughed and tried his best to explain what he was talking about in layman’s terms. That, however, is not his first instinct, and on the campaign trail, first instincts matter.

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There is no doubt Carney is smarter and more qualified to run the Canadian economy than the perceived frontrunner, current Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. In her time at Finance, Freeland has shown that her disastrous record at Reuters was not a one-off – she doesn’t have what it takes to be making policy decisions that affect the Canadian economy.

Carney does, but his political instincts have never been tested.

Liberals who are less than enamoured with Carney are quick to point out that he has never run for office. Conservatives eager to run against Carney point out that he loves putting his name in the mix of potential future leaders and does nothing to squelch the rumours.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called Carney the successor to Trudeau while quizzing the PM in Question Period. This coming week, the Conservatives will move a motion to have Carney testify before the Commons finance committee.

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“It’s clear that Carney is positioning for Trudeau’s job and since he’s attempting to get as much media attention as possible, he should welcome the Conservative invitation to appear at Committee,” the Conservatives said in a news release issued Friday.

The request to have him appear is a political stunt, but it’s one that will irritate Carney and continue to stoke speculation about Trudeau’s future and hold on power as his popularity slips.

It’s also the type of thing Carney will need to learn to deal with if he attempts to enter the world of elected office.

Which isn’t a sure thing.

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