Unpacking claims that Canadian PM Mark Carney plagiarized economics thesis
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Canada: Carney Responds to Plagiarism Allegations
Above: Mark Carney, Canada's prime minister, speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Image copyright: David Kawai/Bloomberg/Contributor via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
While the reply to the full list of allegations demands a more complete response, what can be said is that even if all the allegations were true, it would amount to just over 200 words — roughly 0.21% of Carney's dissertation. With such a small figure and the dissertation being from 30 years ago, it doesn't require a formal response. This was just the latest instance of using allegations of plagiarism as a political weapon.
Establishment-critical narrative
When you have language that's lifted verbatim from a source and it's used without quotation marks or attribution, that's plagiarism plain and simple. There need to be repercussions for these serious lapses of judgment. Carney should face scrutiny over these allegations in the court of Canadian public opinion.