Carney didn’t invent patronage. He just stopped pretending he cared

That is not diplomacy. That is a staffer being paid in a flag

Lametti to the UN. Wilkinson to the EU. Khera to Los Angeles. Pitfield to the Senate after they stripped the non-partisan fig leaf off the appointment rules. Now Dhillon to the UAE. The pattern is obvious: the people who ran the office are being parked in the posts that still look like honour. Media think if they pander like the insiders, maybe they can get a piece too

Career diplomats get Havana. The inner circle gets the investment file

If this were a Conservative PM stuffing missions with campaign hands, the same outlets would call it a raid on the foreign service. But because it is Carney, it becomes “deepening ties” and a biographical note about G7 meetings he staffed. Proximity to the prime minister is being treated as a foreign-policy credential. It is not. It is access dressed up as expertise

Canada’s ambassadors are supposed to represent the country. These appointments represent Carney's pals. Majority or not, that is what abuse of the appointment power looks like when nobody makes you defend it in a hearing... who cares will be Carney's answer

History books will explain it as the time when "government paid media became stenographers, afraid to be critical of abuse of power"

Carney didn’t invent patronage. He just stopped pretending he cared

A 35-year-old PMO fixer with no embassy behind him is Canada’s next man in Abu Dhabi. Last day Wednesday. Starts October 5. No public competition. No explanation. Salary withheld until the order-in-council… https://t.co/CbaK4xMcpv pic.twitter.com/ztri5z8Qk0

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher)September 29, 2026