Mark Carney’s ‘Canada Strong’ brand may be waning: Why brand politics can be so perilous

In March 2025, a month before Canada’s federal election, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Mark Carney of plagiarizing his policy ideas. Sure enough, Carney soon became a Liberal prime minister Conservatives could like, implementing Conservative policies while reportedly undoing Justin Trudeau’s legacy. The Carney government has borrowed another page from the Conservative playbook: the brand politics strategy of Stephen Harper’s government from 2006 to 2015. Domestic brand politics…