Carney caught on hot mic saying MPs are just ‘useful for votes’

CALGARY — Prime Minister Mark Carney has once again been caught on a live microphone, this time appearing to tell the Croatian prime minister that his MPs are just “useful for votes.”The comments were overheard by a media camera pool in Ottawa on Monday when Carney welcomed Croatian leader Andrej Plenković during his first-ever visit to Canada.Before the two leaders announced a new commercial deal between Canada’s Remote Robotic and Croatia’s Orqa to expand drone manufacturing in Canada, they could be seen making small talk about the differences between their respective political systems..“You just have MPs, and they’re not ... they’re useful for votes,” Carney said, before laughing.“No, but your model is the British system. If you’re not elected, you couldn’t be the PM,” Plenković responded.“Yep, yep, yep,” Carney replied, appearing to backtrack.“Same with all the cabinet members, exactly.”The exchange quickly circulated online, with critics arguing it reflected a dismissive view of elected MPs..Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar (Calgary Heritage) criticized Carney’s comments on X, saying, “‘MPs are useful for votes.’ Not voices for their communities. Not legislators. Just warm bodies to clap, sit down, and vote when told.”“I now understand why there are more than a handful of Liberal MPs who dislike Carney,” one X user wrote.“What Carney revealed though, in this hot mic moment, is that he too recognizes that majority of his MPs. If not all, are dumb AF and incompetent.”Former Conservative MP Damien Kurek also weighed in on the controversy..“This is telling... for him and the Liberal MPs are useful for nothing more than votes,” Kurek wrote.“Those of us that have seen how the Liberals treat our democracy and Parliament have known this for a long time. Mr. Carney just said the part they try to keep secret out loud.”This is not the first time Carney has been caught on a hot mic in recent months.In May, he was caught scolding Housing Minister Gregor Robertson following a housing announcement the two made together.“What are you doing? This is stupid. You’ve got an off-ramp. Take it,” Carney was heard saying to Robertson.Earlier this month, the Toronto Star reported several anonymous Liberal MPs had said that the prime minister was known for lashing out at caucus members and ignoring their concerns.However, Liberal Caucus Chair James Maloney later vehemently denied the allegations, saying they were “absolutely false” and that he had never heard the prime minister “yell.”

Carney caught on hot mic saying MPs are just ‘useful for votes’

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