Mark Carney mocked for hugging man in thong at Pride parade

Prime Minister Mark Carney surprised revellers at Vancouver’s Pride Parade over the weekend.

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While his attendance wasn’t announced, Carney was in the city to meet with Vancouver Fraser Port Authority president and CEO Peter Xotta and DP World Canada chief operating officer Joel Werner in the morning for a photo op after visiting the port facility.

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The prime minister followed that with a meeting with B.C. Premier David Eby as the U.S. hit Canada with a 35% tariff on goods not compliant with CUSMA on trade, as well as renewed animosity in the long-running softwood lumber dispute.

But he wrapped his visit on the parade route, marching for about a kilometre.

While Carney kept his outfit business-casual — navy suit, blue dress shirt and burgundy sneakers — he did have an orange-pink lesbian flag tucked into his pocket like a makeshift pocket square that served as a symbolic sign of support for the LGBTQ community.

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Carney was greeted by loud cheers from parade-goers lining the sidewalks along the route, as he shook hands with the crowd and posed for photos with participants.

But it was one photo of the PM hugging a nearly naked man who had nothing but a pink thong separating him from Canada’s normally buttoned-up leader that caught people’s attention.

The internet went wild for the embrace, with many on social media taking jabs at Carney.

Prime Minister Mark Carney greets people while he marches in the Vancouver Pride Parade in Vancouver, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press) Photo by Ethan Cairns /THE CANADIAN PRESS

“Elbows down, asses up…. in front of kids. Nice flex,” one person sneered.

Another noted: “Canada has fallen into a sad state,” while another agreed asking, “Wait aren’t we in a trade CRISIS??”

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They continued: “Isn’t Carney the expert in dealing with a crisis? Don’t we need a trade deal? Shouldn’t Carney be in DC — negotiating a trade deal??“

At one point, the PM was handed a microphone by a drag queen who thanked him for coming, to which Carney replied saying the parade was “the best of Canada.”

He noted that Pride celebrates diversity in a “very positive way” and represents the “essence of Canada.”