In the Age of Carney, Who should Lead the Conservative Charge?

Carney stole the Conservative message, Trudeau’s gone, and Pierre’s lost his seat — it’s time to ask who should really lead the fight.

So, Pierre Poilievre the man I once said was destined to be Prime Minister lost his seat in Carleton. And let’s be clear, because the media certainly won’t be: this isn’t the Carleton riding he won in the 44th Parliament. The boundaries were redrawn. They tacked on Liberal-heavy suburbs bedroom communities full of public sector professionals who vote Liberal the way they breathe automatically, unconsciously. So yes, Pierre lost. But let’s not pretend this was a rejection of his ideas. It was a rigged map.

Now, he’s set to return in a by-election out west Battle River–Crowfoot the bluest riding in Alberta. He’ll win. No question. But there’s something else coming: a leadership review. And I can’t help but wonder, out loud: is Pierre Poilievre the right man to beat Mark Carney?

Look, I like Poilievre. I really do. This is the guy who tore Trudeau to pieces during the WE scandal when everyone else in the Conservative caucus was whispering behind Erin O’Toole’s back, Pierre was in committee meetings making Trudeau squirm. He was relentless. Smart. Precise. That was the guy who could destroy the Liberal machine.

But Trudeau’s gone. He resigned. He vanished like a man escaping the scene of the crime. And in his place: Mark Carney the most dangerous kind of Liberal. He’s not promising “free college” or gender unicorns. He’s talking about “middle-class stability.” He’s invoking economic patriotism. He’s saying things like: we’ll protect Canadian manufacturing jobs from American Trump tariffs. That’s not a far-left appeal that’s the Conservative platform from 2011.

In other words: they stole the message.

And worse Carney can sell it. He’s not a drama teacher, he’s a central banker. He ran the Bank of Canada. Then the Bank of England. He chaired the Financial Stability Board during the 2008 crash, which makes Boomers feel safe. It makes them nostalgic. They remember their house doubling in value. And let’s be honest Carney made Boomers rich while everyone under 40 got priced out.

So here’s the problem: Pierre Poilievre was the antithesis of Trudeau. That was his role the responsible adult in a room full of ideologues. The guy who knew what the Bank of Canada was actually doing. The guy who could quote the monetary supply in committee while Trudeau blinked like a deer on shrooms. Poilievre could call Trudeau’s economic fantasyland what it was fantasy.

But Carney? He’s the real thing. He is the monetary establishment. He speaks in fiscal code. He doesn’t flinch under pressure. And whether Conservatives want to hear this or not he has the female vote. The Liberals aren’t obsessed with rainbow flags anymore they’re courting moms with mortgages. It’s a return to the center. And if that holds, it’s a problem for Poilievre.

Now, let’s talk opposition. The NDP is leaderless. Jagmeet Singh is gone. A footnote. And unless the NDP drops the flag-waving identity politics and goes back to a working-class, job-first, union-second platform, they’re irrelevant. Which means we’re staring at a two-man slugfest between Carney and Poilievre.

And honestly I don’t know if Pierre’s built for this fight.

Because his appeal and it was real came from being the shadow finance minister to a PM who thought budgets balanced themselves and interest rates were magic. That worked when Trudeau was lecturing Canadians about the climate from the cockpit of his private jet. But now Carney steps in and says: “I ran the global financial system during the worst collapse since the Great Depression. Trust me.”

And they do.

Carney doesn’t need to attack. All he has to do is remind people of 2008, and the Boomer vote is locked up by default. The man’s a financial security blanket. Pierre’s biggest weapon his economic credibility just got outflanked by a central banker with Oxford polish and Goldman Sachs pedigree.

So where does that leave us?

We’ve got a Conservative leader who’s still in the game bruised, maybe humbled but not out. Pierre Poilievre will be back in the House by August, no doubt. But the question isn’t whether he’ll return. The question is: should he still be leading this party into battle against Mark Carney?

Because Carney isn’t Trudeau. He’s not going to trip over his socks on the tarmac or lecture Canadians about “privilege” while vacationing in Tofino. Carney’s cold. Calculated. He’s a technocrat in a tailored suit with a Bay Street mind and a bank vault full of talking points. And he knows how to use them.

So if the Conservative base and caucus start to look around and wonder who else might carry the torch… I wouldn’t be surprised. And I see a few names surfacing.

Let’s start with Raquel Dancho.

Now, don’t roll your eyes. This isn’t a token pick. This is strategic. She’s young, sharp, well-spoken. She doesn’t sound like she’s reading from a script because she isn’t. She’s authentic. She’s tough on crime, pro-family, and yes she’s unapologetically pro-gun. That matters in rural and Western Canada, and it sends a clear message: this isn’t another Red Tory in a pantsuit.

She’s not your typical Conservative MP. She’s not some bland party apparatchik or recycled Harper-era staffer. She’s sharp, articulate, and has the kind of clarity and conviction that makes even seasoned ministers squirm in committee. And she’s just 35 years old.

Raquel Dancho is the MP for Kildonan–St. Paul, Manitoba. Yes, she has the credentials a degree from McGill University, one of the most elite institutions in the country but don’t mistake her for some Laurentian ivory tower climber. She’s working-class smart, not cocktail-circuit clever. She understands the real Canada the one outside of downtown Ottawa and more importantly, she knows how to talk about it.

You might remember her from the famous gun control debate in 2022 back when the Liberals, backed by their NDP stooges, tried to ram through Bill C‑21. It was a bloated, confused attack on law-abiding gun owners, dressed up as public safety. Dancho wasn’t having it.

She stood up in the House of Commons and gave a blistering six-minute speech unfiltered, precise calling out the government for what it was really doing: punishing licensed rural Canadians while doing absolutely nothing about urban gang violence. It was fact after fact, calmly delivered, unshaken. The Liberals tried to shut her down mid-speech. And she didn’t flinch. That video still circulates because it captured something rare in Canadian politics: spine.

And here’s why she matters right now: Raquel Dancho connects.

But here’s what makes her dangerous to Carney. She has that girl-next-door look, but she’s a killer in committee. She doesn’t come across like a backroom operator or a firebrand ideologue. She comes across like someone who’s been stuck paying rent, buying groceries, and dealing with daycare shortages like every other young woman in Canada. And she’s relatable something Carney can’t fake.

She could pull in the female vote that the Liberals count on, hold the center, and keep the social conservative base from bolting. That’s not easy to do. But Dancho might be able to pull it off. And if she steps forward the contrast with Carney would be devastating. She’s new, he’s establishment. She’s accessible, he’s elitist. She’s grassroots, he’s Davos.

But there’s another name. And I need you to hear me out.

Ben Mulroney.

In case you don’t know let me explain who is Ben Mulroney, really?

Well, besides being the son of Brian Mulroney, one of the most electorally dominant Conservative Prime Ministers in Canadian history the guy who won back-to-back majorities and signed free trade with the U.S. Ben carved out his own career. And no, it wasn’t in a law firm or a political backroom. It was in the media. National television.

He hosted Canadian Idol, the most-watched show in the country for a stretch. Then he moved on to etalk, CTV’s flagship entertainment program. For nearly two decades, he was in millions of Canadian living rooms not lecturing, not politicking just talking, just listening, just being someone the average person didn’t hate on sight. That’s rare these days.

He’s bilingual. Educated. He has a law degree from Université Laval and a history degree from Duke University. He’s media-literate. And now? He hosts The Ben Mulroney Show on Corus radio a syndicated national talk show airing coast to coast. That’s a platform most MPs would kill for. It gives him reach, but more importantly, it gives him relevance. He’s not stuck in Ottawa committee rooms. He’s in touch with real people, real frustrations, real stories.

And politically? He’s not naive. He’s been watching from the outside, yes but lately, he’s been speaking up. On X, he’s been calling out the media’s cowardice, the race-baiting leftist antics, and the bureaucratic rot that’s made Canada unrecognizable to working families. He’s not dropping white papers he’s asking common-sense questions, and people are listening.

Now, some will say: but he’s never run for office. True. But you know who else hadn’t before their breakout moment? Pierre Trudeau. Justin Trudeau. Even Mark Carney, technically, hadn’t either he was appointed to a safe seat in Nepean by the Liberal machine after a ten-year vacation in the world of global finance. Let’s not pretend this is new.

Ben Mulroney has three things no other potential Conservative contender has right now:

1. Name recognition across every demographic.

2. Media fluency in a political era where communication is everything.

3. And a reputation untainted by the Ottawa swamp.

He can stand beside Carney on a debate stage, and unlike Poilievre who plays aggressive, or Dancho who’s still rising, Ben doesn’t have to prove he belongs there. He already does. He’s been on bigger stages. And he knows how to hold a room.

So let me ask the question no one wants to say out loud in CPC HQ:

If it’s a battle for the middle, for the women’s vote, for the urban vote, for the disillusioned centrist who’s done with climate cultism but still wants competence… who do you want leading that fight?

Because I’m looking at Carney, and I’m looking at Poilievre, and I’m asking myself: which one of these guys can speak to a suburban mom in Mississauga and a blue-collar dad in rural Alberta — without sounding like he’s faking it?

And maybe, just maybe it’s Ben Mulroney.