Mark Carney couldn’t look more confident. He’s a central banker who’s treated like a rock star around the globe. He claims he’s been approached by a number of political parties to join their ranks. We all know a bunch of Liberals courted him for their party’s leadership. He’s leaving Canada to run the Bank of England, and cashing in a $400,000 yearly housing allowance in the process (even if that doesn’t go as far in the U.K. as it would in Canada). And then, last night, he strolled into a pub packed with the very same journalists who’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to get him on the record about all of the above. Carney ordered a beer, chummed around for 90 minutes, and then apparently left. Yowza.

Sun Media’s David Akin described the evening. “Many journalists at the pub Wednesday, most without notebooks, tape recorders and other tools of their trade, seemed surprised and confused by Carney’s presence,” wrote Akin, who noted the central banker had his photo taken with Human Resources Minister Diane Finley and her husband, Senator Doug Finley—a potential move, Akin wrote, to “tilt the balance among those who might think Carney was a closet Liberal.” Whatever Carney’s intentions, aspirations or motivations, the man with the stellar record among his peers might just be the most confident man in Ottawa—for now.

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What’s above the fold this morning?

The Globe and Mail leads with sluggish commodity prices tempering Alberta’s revenue projections—and hampering the country’s economic recovery. The National Post fronts the capture of a North Korean who’d abducted countrymen who defected to Canada. The Toronto Star goes above the fold with the investigation of mass animal graves at Marineland, a Niagara Falls tourist attraction. The Ottawa Citizen leads with the Supreme Court’s rejection of union claims that the feds wrongfully appropriated pension surpluses to pay down the national debt. iPolitics fronts former Liberal cabinet minister Martin Cauchon’s probable entry into the party’s federal leadership race. CBC.ca leads with the Supreme Court’s pending ruling on whether or not witnesses can wear niqabs in court. National Newswatch showcases Sun Media‘s look at Mark Carney’s surprise visit to an Ottawa pub packed with journalists.

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Stories that will be (mostly) missed

1. Gun shows. The Conservative government has decided not to enforce new rules that would have forced gun show organizers to inform local and provincial authorities of their events.	2. Skilled workers. Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced yesterday that the country’s reformed skilled workers program, frozen last June, will relaunch next May.
3. UN aid. The Toronto Star buried a brief about a United Nations request for $1.5 billion in international aid for millions of Syrians and Syrian refugees in five other countries—a record ask.	4. Egyptian politics. The Globe’s Campbell Clark sheds some light on Canada’s relative silence—and lack of influence—with respect to the internal political turmoil currently dividing Egyptians.

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