Stripping the poor of voting rights and handing billionaires the keys to democracy? Sounds like a concept ripped straight from Donald Trump’s Truth Social account. Unfortunately, this dystopian idea originated right here in Canada.
Last week on X, a retired banking executive proposed a weighted voting system that would grant more votes to the highest income tax brackets and strip votes away completely from those who pay none. Tobias Lütke, Shopify’s CEO, responded “Good idea.”
Lütke went even further, suggesting that older people should receive a guaranteed pension, but they would then become a dependent and lose their voice.
These aren’t just anonymous trolls posting ragebait for engagement. These are respected “leaders” in the private sector and financial industry. And the scariest party? These are the people Carney is listening to.
We already know that when the private sector asks, Carney is happy to oblige. Last summer, he was more than willing to trample over the constitutional rights of Air Canada flight attendants at the request of airline executives – and despite overwhelming public support for the workers.
And evidence suggests that his return to office policy for public servants is nothing but a handout for the big banks. When commercial real estate moguls and four of the country’s largest banks were concerned about their exposure – about $10 billion total – on office buildings, Carney ordered public servants back into offices four days a week.
Does his return-to-office policy serve Canadians? No. It’s costing them in lost productivity and increased costs – up to $40 billion over the next ten years. But those costs are being paid directly to the financial institutions and commercial real estate interests that refused to cut their losses when it became clear that the 9-to-5 model was on its way out. Carney’s not just mitigating their losses, he’s helping them turn a profit on the backs of public servants and taxpayers.
So where does this all this leave ordinary Canadians? In crisis.
Carney has already moved to further integrate corporate interests into government operations. And who is helping to lead the charge? The same people who think their vote should matter more.
Lütke is also a founder and supporter of Build Canada – a platform of entrepreneurs seemingly inspired by Elon Musk’s DOGE. In 2025, the group published a proposal to embed business leaders into key government roles. And in December, the Liberal government launched the program – even naming it after the group itself.
And their CEO endorsed Lütke’s plan to strip older Canadians of their voting rights.
Corporations are not interested in how to improve government operations or build a more productive public service. Their goal is ultimately self-interest: how can they wring the most value out of taxpayers to improve their bottom line? And how can they ensure that the government is always there to bail them out when they need it?
Government doesn’t – and shouldn’t – be run like a business. Nor should it operate to serve the interests of businesses first. Yet Carney has continually made it clear that his priority will always be corporate insiders over ordinary Canadians. And the financial lobby over his own workers. Once a banker, always a banker.
All Canadians now need to come together to protect our institutions from this corporate takeover. Because it’s becoming increasingly clear that this is not just a fight over how our money is spent, but our fundamental values as a country. Carney’s approach increasingly seems to be elbows up for Canadian workers, and elbows down for corporate interests.
We need to get the big banks, corporate lobbyists and tech bros out of government so it can do what it’s designed for – support people across the country with effective programs and services, like wildfire monitoring and response. Carney’s cuts for ordinary Canadians and blank cheques for corporate interests will impact our quality of life for generations. Unless we all stand up to Carney now, it could soon be too late to change.
