Mark Carney is mean say some Liberal MPs...

Does this matter to voters?

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The Toronto Star first report this last week, that Mark Carney can be mean and sometimes yells at MPs. It was an interesting piece by columnist Althia Raj that pulled back the curtain on Carney and the Liberal caucus.

In her column, Raj detailed several instances of Carney pushing back against MPs including Jaime Battiste, Doug Eyolfson and Angelo Iacono.

Here’s part of the piece.

“He yells,” said one MP who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution from the Prime Minister’s Office. “He punches down at caucus all the time.”

Carney has told his caucus members he doesn’t want to hear their concerns, he wants solutions. While it’s a message that resonates with some, hearing complaints can be useful. It’s an early warning system for the government that certain policies or bills are not properly understood, and that the message needs to be tweaked or the legislation amended to address legitimate and unforeseen criticism.

The Globe and Mail followed up with their own piece a few days later giving more details about the showdown between Carney and Battiste and his recent message to caucus about not brining him complaints.

Two MPs disclosed to The Globe that the Prime Minister told caucus last week that he’s not interested in complaints, a message essentially the same as one recently delivered to a business crowd.

“We don’t want to hear what people are against. We want to hear what they’re for,” Mr. Carney told the Vancouver Board of Trade on May 20. “And if you’re for something, we will get behind it.”

There are 174 MPs in Mr. Carney’s caucus, and there is broad support for the direction he has set. But the MPs who spoke with The Globe said it comes with a caveat: running a caucus is not the same as leading a company.

That’s why the exchange with Mr. Battiste generated a lot of raised eyebrows.

Does any of this matter? That’s what we discussed this week with Batra’s Burning Questions when I joined Adrienne Batra and Warren Kinsella.

I don’t think this matters with voters at the moment. If an election were held today, Carney would get an even bigger majority.

It could hurt with his caucus though and that could hurt him down the road.

If caucus doesn’t feel appreciated will they have his back when he needs them? Will MPs put in the extra effort for Carney if they feel he doesn’t respect them?

Time will tell.

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