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But then there is the inconvenience of reality.

Earlier this week, Gregor Robertson, the newly minted Housing Minister, told reporters housing prices should go down. Not to be outdone, Steven Guilbeault explained to Western Canada that the country more pipelines right now. Both, predictably, drew media attention and public ire.

But the real and enduring problem for Prime Minister Mark Carney is not just that these statements directly contradict promises he made on the campaign trail 鈥� to bring down home prices and build greater energy infrastructure. Nor is it that, in this case, the political 鈥渞ookie mistake鈥� card is unplayable. Robertson was Mayor of Vancouver for a decade. Guilbeault is a cabinet veteran, and no stranger to statements that inflame Western Canada and its energy sector.

The real, more insidious issue for the Prime Minister is what these statements represent: the temptation to be distracted from the very mission that got them elected in the first place.

There鈥檚 a classic axiom in politics: most failures aren鈥檛 assassinations 鈥� they鈥檙e suicides.

And the weeks and months that follow an election are when governments are most prone to scoring on their own net. These are the kind of self-inflicted mistakes that drain a government鈥檚 credibility. The kind that comes back to bite you the next time voters head to the polls.

But crucially, these missteps almost always stem from the same source: a fundamental misreading of why you were elected 鈥� and what voters expected you to deliver.

It鈥檚 a strange and dangerous irony of politics that just when your mandate should be at its sharpest 鈥� fresh off a campaign 鈥� the temptation to misinterpret it is at its peak. The tunnel vision of the election clears and suddenly ministers begin seeing their new roles not as extensions of the public will, but as blank canvases for their personal agendas.

It is the leader鈥檚 job 鈥� above all 鈥� to arrest that drift. To enforce clarity. To instill message discipline. And to continually remind every member of their cabinet and caucus why they鈥檙e sitting on the government side of the House of Commons 鈥� and not wandering in the political wilderness.

In this election, Canadian voters were exceptionally clear on what they wanted: Mark Carney to take on Donald Trump. A decisive turn from the Trudeau years. Real answers on productivity, competitiveness, and growth.

For the new Prime Minister, the assignment couldn鈥檛 be clearer 鈥� or less forgiving. Because Canadian voters have left no margin for error. This is a relatively thin mandate. And to preserve it, Carney must not only stick to the plan 鈥� but communicate an unrelenting focus on delivering it.

So, here鈥檚 the bottom line. The biggest risk to Carney isn鈥檛 the opposition benches 鈥� it鈥檚 the risk of losing the plot. It鈥檚 misunderstanding the very assignment he was elected to complete. Of forgetting, too soon, what voters actually asked for.

A lot of commentators have described the challenge of this government as a balancing act. But that鈥檚 the wrong metaphor 鈥� because it鈥檚 the wrong message.

For Carney, this is no time for finesse. Voters didn鈥檛 ask for acrobatics 鈥� they asked for action.

That鈥檚 the test in the short term and that鈥檚 the test that will define him the next time Canadians cast their votes.