Liberals Playing Dirty in By-Elections? Carney’s Power Moves Under Fire in Explosive New Episode

Prime Minister Mark Carney is under the microscope, and the gloves are off.

In a hard-hitting new episode of Inside Politics with Koop and Klein, Winnipeg Sun columnist Kevin Klein and University of Manitoba political science professor Royce Koop dig into a series of decisions that critics say reveal a prime minister willing to tilt the democratic playing field in the Liberal Party’s favour.

At the centre of the discussion: four vacant seats, but only three by-elections called. Why skip the fourth? According to reporting highlighted on the show, the answer may lie in campaign finance rules that let parties combine spending limits across multiple ridings. By leaving a safe Bloc Québécois seat vacant, the Liberals can shift resources into a competitive Quebec contest while the Bloc cannot do the same. The result, Koop notes, is a potential spending edge of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a tight three-way race.

The conversation does not stop there. Klein and Koop examine the parachuting of candidates with little local connection, the use of government announcements timed around by-elections, and the broader pattern of floor-crossing that helped transform a minority into a majority Canadians never voted for. They question whether voters truly get the final say when state power is leveraged to change the composition of Parliament between elections, and they contrast federal rules with stricter approaches in places like Manitoba.

Media coverage, CBC funding, and the perception of uneven scrutiny also come under sharp examination. The hosts argue that declining trust in mainstream outlets is not happening in a vacuum, and that the combination of government spending and selective accountability is fuelling public cynicism.

This is not abstract theory. It is a direct look at how power is being used right now — and what it means for Canadian democracy. Klein and Koop do not pull punches, and the discussion raises uncomfortable questions about conventions, unwritten rules, and the incentives politicians face when they control the timing of elections and the flow of public money.

The full conversation is available now. Watch Inside Politics with Koop and Klein to hear the complete exchange, the specific examples, and the arguments on both sides of one of the most consequential political stories of the moment.