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Yet Carney has historic challenges and large promises to fulfil.

What he needs now is backbone, courage and world-class negotiating skills. That, at least, was the message from a 海角社区官网Star panel discussion comprised of voters who have been sharing their journey to a decision over the weeks leading up to the election.

Canadians feel threatened on many levels: by the United States, of course, and by crime, fraying health care and an affordability crisis. They want maturity, a steady hand and solutions, not slogans and stunts.

To the panellists, there is opportunity.

This week, it was as if the participants had all been reading Goethe on commitment:

鈥淲hatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. /聽Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. /聽Begin it now.鈥�

They noted that the platforms of Carney鈥檚 Liberals and the Conservatives who will form official opposition 鈥� parties that in total took almost 90 per cent of Canadian votes 鈥� have a good deal in common.

Rob Fulford, a labour relations specialist and father of two in the 海角社区官网riding of Don Valley West, noted that the major parties had 鈥渁 lot of common front, particularly in terms of the U.S. So there should be some common ground to be found there.鈥�

While there is politics involved in any initiative, 鈥渋t really speaks to the bigger issue of that unifying鈥� that鈥檚 happening across the country that all party leaders praised and called for, said Fulford, who voted Green.

John Penturn, an executive headhunter in the riding of Spadina-Harbourfront, said 鈥渘ow we鈥檙e going to find out what he鈥檚 actually ready to act on.

鈥淓veryone is holding their breath waiting to see how decisive Carney鈥檚 going to be,鈥� he said.

鈥淚f he doesn鈥檛 act decisively in some way that looks convincing, that鈥檚 more than tone, there鈥檚 gonna be a problem.

鈥淪o our eyes are really peeled to see what he comes up with, how decisively he does it, how energetically, how much he looks like he鈥檚 actually doing something rather than saying he鈥檚 doing something.鈥�

Penturn expected that Carney will 鈥渉ave a bit of a honeymoon period. He might even have a honeymoon period in Quebec鈥� where the Liberals elected a solid group of MPs.

Such phases of goodwill and harmony are terrible to waste.

This honeymoon, however, if it occurs, will be played out under existential threat from the United States and along the dangerous fault-lines of regional sensitivities at home, most particularly in Quebec and Alberta.

The promise of an east-west energy corridor intended to make Canada, as Carney put it during the campaign, 鈥渁n energy superpower,鈥� will be an issue laden with sensitive tripwires on which his efforts will be closely scrutinized.

鈥淚鈥檇 love to see them be able to navigate on a pipeline,鈥� said Tom Curran. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e asking somebody who鈥檚 never been in that position of trying to bring people together from a political standpoint to suddenly do it.鈥�

For Curran, a retired lawyer from Ottawa now living in Prince Edward Country, Carney should 鈥減ush the pipeline through and start saying, 鈥極K, we are going to sell LNG. We are going to sell oil and it鈥檚 going to happen.鈥� The only problem for him is, boy, that鈥檚 going to be a tough sell.鈥�

鈥淗e has to move very quickly on that,鈥� said Curran. 鈥淵ou know the old saying, 鈥楧o everything that people are going to hate in the first year of your mandate.鈥欌��

In fact, a Harvard Business School book titled “The First 90 Days in Government,” by Peter H. Daly, and Michael Watkins with Cate Reavis, said 鈥渢ransitions are times of opportunity and vulnerability.

鈥淭he people who selected you did so because they expect you to add value 鈥� and the quicker they see that you are doing so, the better it will be.鈥�

Key players on a leader鈥檚 team will be waiting for them to 鈥渆stablish a tempo鈥� and will take their cues about the urgency and importance of their own contributions from you.

鈥淟eadership is ultimately about leverage,鈥� the authors wrote. 鈥淪mall initial successes yield leadership capital that can be invested to yield even larger returns.鈥�

By contrast, slow and disorganized starts can undermine a leader鈥檚 ability to succeed, they said.

This is especially true when there are actors in the piece not necessarily co-operating in your success.

Blaise MacLean, a law professor originally from Nova Scotia now living in Bogota, Colombia, noted that in Premier Danielle Smith鈥檚 Alberta, 鈥渢he premier doesn鈥檛 seem to be pulling along with the rest of the (Canadian) team.鈥�

Tom Curran agreed, saying 鈥渟he鈥檚 not someone that can be easily dealt with. It鈥檚 funny in a way because I鈥檓 not seeing a huge difference between what she is doing out there and what Quebec politicians have done for decades.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not used to hearing it from elsewhere,鈥� he said. 鈥淨uebec has been highly successful in this regard: 鈥楰eep your nose out of our business. If it鈥檚 provincial jurisdiction, we鈥檒l make the decisions.鈥欌��

Blaise MacLean noted that while Quebec famously had an external actor in French president Charles de Gaulle fomenting separatist feeling, Alberta now has its own in the form of Donald Trump, encouraging the Western province鈥檚 separatist element.

All of it is going to demand considerable political skill from Ottawa, and from a man who said, until recent days, that he wasn鈥檛 a politician.

For his part, the man who has never been anything else, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, should be grateful the Star panel won鈥檛 be voting on his fitness to carry on after blowing a huge lead in polls and losing his own seat in Carleton.

For Penturn, who voted NDP, Poilievre didn鈥檛 adapt to former prime minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 departure and Carney鈥檚 scrapping of the consumer carbon tax.

鈥淗e just did the same old things he knew didn鈥檛 work.鈥�

Tom Curran, who voted Green, said 鈥渉e didn鈥檛 need to pander to the social conservative side. They were going to vote for him no matter what. He had to get those disaffected Liberals, and instead he kept coming up with another policy position for social conservatives.鈥�

Blaise MacLean, who voted Conservative in the riding of Oshawa, mused about a Conservative gene that disposes them to public recrimination, as was seen between Poilievre鈥檚 campaign and Progressive Conservative premiers Doug Ford in Ontario and Tim Houston in Nova Scotia.

鈥淲hy don鈥檛 they join together?鈥�

In a way, it will be just such a question that Canadians across the country will regularly confront as Prime Minister Mark Carney leads us into a new age of uncertainty.

(The Star thanks readers from across Ontario and abroad who volunteered their time to contribute to the panel and to discuss their personal decision-making journeys on this most important of elections.)