Mark Carney on back foot after getting Polytechnique school, massacre survivor names wrong

Liberal Leader Mark Carney says the blunders he made during the third day of campaigning were a case of expressing himself poorly in French – and not a lack of knowledge of Quebec.

During a speech in Nova Scotia on Tuesday afternoon, Carney described Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost as a survivor of the Concordia University massacre rather than Polytechnique Montréal, where 14 women were shot dead in 1989.

The Liberal leader also called Provost by the wrong name, adding a syllable to her family name — calling her “Pronovost” instead.

Carney defended himself Wednesday when pressed by reporters.

“First of all, I regret it greatly,” he said. “It’s clear that I expressed myself poorly. And my respect and gratitude to Nathalie Provost for joining our team and working with her. I love Quebec. I’m not from Quebec, that’s obvious. I just warned, it’s obvious that my French is far from perfect. I love Quebec, the language, the culture, the history, the initiative, the businesses of Quebec. I’m very involved in Quebec and Quebec issues.

“And I spent more days in Quebec during the (leadership) campaign than any other province, for example.”

The 1989 mass shooting is impressed on the psyches of Quebecers, with solemn tributes every year in the lead-up to Dec. 6. Knowing about the shooting is important to those in the province, with even Quebec’s biggest stars not immune from backlash.

“The horrors of December 6, the massacre at Polytechnique, are very much with us, and the lessons are still being learned,” Carney said Wednesday.

In a statement sent to CityNews by Provost’s team, they said the gun-control advocate “understands that Mr. Carney made a mistake with her name, was not offended that he does not know her personally. She knows the leader will not forget her again, AND he is the only candidate who can act on what she cares about. She made sure of it with her team, and that’s what they are: a team.”

Under fire from party leaders

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet was quick to react to Tuesday’s mistakes, calling them “distressingly sad and so revealing of a leader who knows nothing about Quebec, who ignores Quebec.”

It’s not the first time on the campaign, or earlier during the Liberal leadership race, that Carney has been under fire regarding his French.

Just a day earlier, Carney’s team announced he would not be participating in TVA’s “Face-à-Face,” which led to the cancellation of the second French debate. Carney said it was because the Green Party’s co-leaders would not be included.

Blanchet again took aim at the Liberal leader, saying Carney is “not interested in Quebec.” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called Carney “too fragile” to debate other leaders — and by extension U.S. President Donald Trump.

During the French Liberal leadership debate, Carney’s ability to speak French came into question when he misspoke, saying all four Liberal candidates were in agreement “with” Hamas — instead of in agreement “regarding” Hamas.

After apologizing Wednesday for the Polytechnique blunder, the Liberal leader said he surrounds himself with Quebecers, listing out six ministers from La Belle Province on his cabinet, and a series of advisers on the campaign trail.

“We have a team of over 150 people now, a large team, and a strong team from Quebec,” Carney said.

“I have very strong ties to Quebec society. Of course, I’m not from Quebec, not all of them are from Quebec. I’m from Alberta, I was born in the north, and my French is good, but it’s not perfect.”