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Traditionally, this type of negotiating strategy leads to disaster, but the delta between support for the newly elected Carney government and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives has never been wider: according to polling by Nik Nanos, by a chunky 14 points. Anecdotally, grey-haired voters who helped put Carney over the top seem unperturbed by his government’s hasty 180-degree turn.

“Maybe Carney’s just being smart,” one pensioner told me. When I asked whether he felt misled — having voted for an “elbows up” negotiating stance only for Ottawa to play possum — he’d have none of it. “The Conservatives need to look in the mirror,” he said.

It matters not whether he was merely defending his electoral decision or intimating that he’d always lean toward the economist rather than the populist. The heart wants what it wants, and most Canadians — including some journalists — seem prepared to hope for the best at this stage.

The media’s double standard goes well beyond U.S. tariffs. When Carney as “the most European of non-European countries,” , but nothing like the roasting then-prime minister Stephen Harper received not so long ago for making a statement .

Team Poilievre would be justified in pointing out the hypocrisy of it all, and I sympathize. The truth is that no one seems to care.

Mainstream media still buy the storyline that Trump’s tariffs represent a thermonuclear threat to Canada’s economy, meaning Conservatives can’t necessarily rely on them for a complete picture. “We can’t underestimate the unspoken sense that, faced with an existential threat from Trump, (the media are) being a little more circumspect,” said Nanos. “Everybody understands how big the stakes are.”

Whether the Conservative approach to Carney’s early moves is a matter of design or inertia is unclear. As National Newspaper Award-winner , CBC hosts Rosemary Barton and David Cochrane “appear disgusted that Pierre Poilievre (continues) to behave like an Opposition Leader and criticize the government.”

While I’d be relieved if the Conservatives stopped referring to donors as “patriots,” they shouldn’t shy away from fair criticism — even in a crisis.

For Nanos, it’s not that the Conservatives are being too critical. It’s that they’re nowhere to be seen. “If this were a hockey game, the Conservatives aren’t even on the ice,” he said. “I’m not convinced people think (Carney)’s doing a good job. He’s the only one doing the job.”

My Tory friends would vehemently disagree with Nanos’s assessment that there’s a “complete absence of the Conservatives and NDP on the battlefield.” It’s as though the campaign never ended. If there’s a roller-coaster opening on a random Friday night in Bracebridge, Ontario, you’ll find Conservative MPs Scott Aitchison and Adam Chambers in attendance.

Retail politics may not suffice for a national communications strategy, but the party hasn’t taken the summer off. In fact, there could be wisdom in letting the chips fall where they may. Carney convinced the electorate that he was best positioned to handle Trump, and we’ll soon learn .

Trump will undoubtedly demand a reduction in Big Three auto imports, which could lead to the permanent closure of assembly plants in Brampton and Oakville. Dairy is the other obvious target, and the average voter will not countenance sacrificing a trade deal if Canada’s dairy industry is all that stands in the way of putting this tumult in our collective rearview mirror.

“Whatever deal will result in disruption,” said Nanos, adding that the Liberals “should be cautious.” Positive Liberal polling may reflect Canadians’ hope for glassy waters ahead, but the true test will come if it turns out this is just the calm before the storm.