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In the weeks leading up to Canada鈥檚 recent federal election, political journalist and Max Bell Foundation Fellow, Paul Wells, visited students at the Max Bell School of Public Policy to offer his reflections on where Canadian politics stood and where it might be heading. At the time, he described it as 鈥渢he most interesting election鈥� he鈥檇 covered in his long career. Now, with the election behind us, his observations feel all the more relevant.聽

Wells, who has covered ten federal elections, made it clear that this one stood apart not because of any dramatic, single event 鈥� but because of the deeper shifts reshaping Canadian politics and how the country fits into an unstable global landscape.聽

Mark Carney: The Prime Minister Who Didn鈥檛 Want to Run聽

At the time of the talk, the Liberals were pinning their hopes on Mark Carney, the globally respected former head of two central banks. He had prestige. He had credentials. What he didn鈥檛 have was any appetite for actual politics.聽

鈥淗e told a stranger he doesn鈥檛 want to campaign 鈥� he just wants to be prime minister,鈥� Wells recounted. That attitude was reflected in how Carney had twice paused his campaign activities, partly due to events in the U.S. under Trump, which raised eyebrows even within Liberal circles.聽

Beyond Carney鈥檚 reluctance to campaign, Wells noted how little was known about his leadership style beyond his reputation for running high-pressure workplaces where disagreement wasn鈥檛 always welcome. That might have worked in central banking, Wells argued, but leading a political party, especially one trying to distance itself from the long tenure of Justin Trudeau, would demand more flexibility and openness than Carney had shown so far.聽

Poilievre鈥檚 Rise聽

On the other side stood Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader. Wells offered a more nuanced take than much of the coverage at the time. Raised in a working-class household, not academically distinguished, and deeply committed to conservative politics since his teens, Poilievre had methodically positioned himself to lead.聽

鈥淗e鈥檚 a formidable debater and a skilled demagogue,鈥� Wells said plainly. He鈥檇 consolidated Conservative leadership with ease, but questions lingered. Was he Canada鈥檚 version of Trump? Some of his rhetoric, such as promising to pull funding from 鈥渨oke鈥� universities or positioning himself as a friend of Elon Musk, invited the comparison.聽

Yet Wells also emphasized that Poilievre鈥檚 popularity, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, was underestimated. He had managed to channel economic frustration and political fatigue into a message that resonated more deeply than many Liberals wanted to admit.聽

Wells noted a key dynamic: the Liberal-NDP split, with Bloc Qu茅b茅cois factors in Quebec, had repeatedly handed the Liberals just enough support to stay afloat. The question was whether that coalition could hold long enough to keep Poilievre out 鈥� and whether voters still saw the Liberals as capable of delivering meaningful change.聽

The Broader Stakes聽

What made this election different, according to Wells, was the context.聽

鈥淐anada needs to make large decisions and shifts on the order of what you need to do after a war,鈥� he said. Coming out of COVID-19, facing rising geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty, Canada had to decide whether to actively shape the international landscape or passively adapt to decisions made elsewhere.聽

He suggested the Liberals faced a tough balancing act. How do you represent change when you鈥檝e been in power for almost a decade? And could Carney build a government that felt meaningfully different from Trudeau鈥檚?聽

In the end, Canadians gave Carney a chance to answer the very questions Paul Wells raised. As he forms his government, he will need to offer a vision that feels distinct from the past, build trust with voters and show that he can deliver the change they expect.聽