I have finally finished Carney's book Values, and his ideas therein are not far off mine. The question of trust in the implementation remains. Carney has 3 key tasks before him. Appoint his cabinet, meet with Trump and submit a budget. I believe how he goes about completing these will tell us a lot about our prime minister.
"Protect Canada as top priority – our economy, our sovereignty and our history - not an idealistic version of it but the proud one that it is." This might seem a bit narrowly focused and even petty but we need to protect the Canada defined in our Constitution. The Canada that currently "is" has moved away from the Canada we agreed to in 1982. That Canada was, and should be, a federation of provinces with clearly defined responsibilities and a federal government with a different set of responsibilities. Protecting Canada is to honour that arrangement because it's key to making the country work for everyone. Canada is a very large country encompassing regions that have very divergent interests. We can live happily and successfully together if the regions are allowed to prosper according to their unique circumstances as the Constitution allows/demands. Recently our federal government cannot resist expanding it's purview into areas of provincial responsibility imposing the will of more populous regions on less powerful regions simply because they can. That’s not the Canada I signed up for.
Great article. Let’s hope Carney is pragmatic and thoughtful as he goes about his business. Trudeau and his gang left our country in a huge hole. I am not optimistic that Carney will get us out of that hole but for the good of the country I would love to be proven wrong. His call with Danielle Smith seems to have gone well which is a good first step but let’s see how the rest goes. Like you I am watching his cabinet choices as a pretty clear signal as to how things will go. This includes Guilbeault being left out entirely. Losing Joly would also be nice
I agree with your retrospective view and coming expectations. My favorite one liner was – “Fear was stoked, emotions poked and reasonability yoked” (resulting in us being provoked).
I recall my disappointment in 2015 but was willing to give Trudeau an opportunity to prove me wrong, I was overly optimistic.
With this go around we essentially have the same suspects except for Mr. Carney, and I am not impressed with his past record, intent to stay much of the past course, vague optimistic proposals and mixed messages during the campaign. I expect continued ideology not pragmatism. At least this time they only have a minority, which will hopefully stay that way with no one crossing the floor. The one thing I hope for is that they fall within 24 months if they don’t deliver on their wildly optimist promises.
Time will tell but I expect you will have no shortage of things to write about, which I look forward to reading.
Thanks, Brian. My 2015 approach was similar to yours as I offered benefit-of-the-doubt. I'm doing the same here but with even greater skepticism. It seems hard for things to get worse, and my list of concerns on Liberal policy positions remains long - but we'll know in short order.
I really hope they surprise us on the upside because goodness knows, Canada needs it.
I remain hugely skeptical. You're basically transposing the conservatives' platform onto the Liberals. Half of what you're hoping for is not in their DNA. "Govern with more fiscal sense." These guys promised $130 billion in deficit spending! I cannot imagine a situation where the Liberals feel less government is better than more government, so you can kiss any promise of deregulation out the door.
I could go on for every desire you've put forward. It's like folk don't recall that Mr. Carney was intimately involved with the Trudeau gov't. Goodness, he nearly became the Finance Minister!
Every indication is that Carney is not Paul Martin or John Manley. Sooner vs later, Canadians will rue the day they gave this guy a mandate. Thank goodness, they only have a minority.
I hope they get some stuff right over the next while. If they do, I will applaud it as being good for Canada. If they do not, I shall critique it. How wonderful it would be if I have cause for more of the former than the latter.
I agree with your synopsis of the various areas that Canada needs resuscitation.
I am worried (i.e. scared to death!) that Carney will lead us into the failing European Union. He is a staunch globalist, so he will have his sight on Europe and tell us that we need to join the EU to get out from Trump's acquisitive grasp.
I’m with you. I wish there were more voices like yours on Substack. All I seem to get is anti-Poilievre and pro-Carney content. I voted Conservative at an advanced poll on Good Friday. For all of April I felt very much like I was in the minority. Probably because I’m a 42 year old female and very unlikely to vote blue in this election. I think I was afraid of being labeled Maple-MAGA. Something I’m convinced was made up by the Liberals. My husband is a big fan of Poilievre and has disliked Trudeau really from the moment he was elected. I was really disappointed when Trudeau went to Mar-A-Lago, after Trump was elected but before he was sworn in, because I really believe that the President-elect had no business meeting with world leaders when Biden was still President. I really respect that Poilievre kept out of all that nonsense. I really feel Canada has made a mistake.
Great article, well written as always.
I have finally finished Carney's book Values, and his ideas therein are not far off mine. The question of trust in the implementation remains. Carney has 3 key tasks before him. Appoint his cabinet, meet with Trump and submit a budget. I believe how he goes about completing these will tell us a lot about our prime minister.
"Protect Canada as top priority – our economy, our sovereignty and our history - not an idealistic version of it but the proud one that it is." This might seem a bit narrowly focused and even petty but we need to protect the Canada defined in our Constitution. The Canada that currently "is" has moved away from the Canada we agreed to in 1982. That Canada was, and should be, a federation of provinces with clearly defined responsibilities and a federal government with a different set of responsibilities. Protecting Canada is to honour that arrangement because it's key to making the country work for everyone. Canada is a very large country encompassing regions that have very divergent interests. We can live happily and successfully together if the regions are allowed to prosper according to their unique circumstances as the Constitution allows/demands. Recently our federal government cannot resist expanding it's purview into areas of provincial responsibility imposing the will of more populous regions on less powerful regions simply because they can. That’s not the Canada I signed up for.
Agreed, that we also must get back to a proper separation of powers.
Great article. Let’s hope Carney is pragmatic and thoughtful as he goes about his business. Trudeau and his gang left our country in a huge hole. I am not optimistic that Carney will get us out of that hole but for the good of the country I would love to be proven wrong. His call with Danielle Smith seems to have gone well which is a good first step but let’s see how the rest goes. Like you I am watching his cabinet choices as a pretty clear signal as to how things will go. This includes Guilbeault being left out entirely. Losing Joly would also be nice
I appreciate your articles. It’s been a great learning experience. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind comment.
I agree with your retrospective view and coming expectations. My favorite one liner was – “Fear was stoked, emotions poked and reasonability yoked” (resulting in us being provoked).
I recall my disappointment in 2015 but was willing to give Trudeau an opportunity to prove me wrong, I was overly optimistic.
With this go around we essentially have the same suspects except for Mr. Carney, and I am not impressed with his past record, intent to stay much of the past course, vague optimistic proposals and mixed messages during the campaign. I expect continued ideology not pragmatism. At least this time they only have a minority, which will hopefully stay that way with no one crossing the floor. The one thing I hope for is that they fall within 24 months if they don’t deliver on their wildly optimist promises.
Time will tell but I expect you will have no shortage of things to write about, which I look forward to reading.
Thanks, Brian. My 2015 approach was similar to yours as I offered benefit-of-the-doubt. I'm doing the same here but with even greater skepticism. It seems hard for things to get worse, and my list of concerns on Liberal policy positions remains long - but we'll know in short order.
I really hope they surprise us on the upside because goodness knows, Canada needs it.
Those mandate letters would be great to see, for sure.
I remain hugely skeptical. You're basically transposing the conservatives' platform onto the Liberals. Half of what you're hoping for is not in their DNA. "Govern with more fiscal sense." These guys promised $130 billion in deficit spending! I cannot imagine a situation where the Liberals feel less government is better than more government, so you can kiss any promise of deregulation out the door.
I could go on for every desire you've put forward. It's like folk don't recall that Mr. Carney was intimately involved with the Trudeau gov't. Goodness, he nearly became the Finance Minister!
Every indication is that Carney is not Paul Martin or John Manley. Sooner vs later, Canadians will rue the day they gave this guy a mandate. Thank goodness, they only have a minority.
I hope they get some stuff right over the next while. If they do, I will applaud it as being good for Canada. If they do not, I shall critique it. How wonderful it would be if I have cause for more of the former than the latter.
There's a chance I have a winning lottery ticket in my purse, too.
I'm certain my odds are better.
I predict UBI paid via CBDC through a Social Credit Score app within 24 months.
I agree with your synopsis of the various areas that Canada needs resuscitation.
I am worried (i.e. scared to death!) that Carney will lead us into the failing European Union. He is a staunch globalist, so he will have his sight on Europe and tell us that we need to join the EU to get out from Trump's acquisitive grasp.
I’m with you. I wish there were more voices like yours on Substack. All I seem to get is anti-Poilievre and pro-Carney content. I voted Conservative at an advanced poll on Good Friday. For all of April I felt very much like I was in the minority. Probably because I’m a 42 year old female and very unlikely to vote blue in this election. I think I was afraid of being labeled Maple-MAGA. Something I’m convinced was made up by the Liberals. My husband is a big fan of Poilievre and has disliked Trudeau really from the moment he was elected. I was really disappointed when Trudeau went to Mar-A-Lago, after Trump was elected but before he was sworn in, because I really believe that the President-elect had no business meeting with world leaders when Biden was still President. I really respect that Poilievre kept out of all that nonsense. I really feel Canada has made a mistake.