The new Prime Minister has revived a sense of adult gravitas after the frivolity of his predecessor. Having single-handedly revived the political fortunes of the federal Liberals, he has almost complete freedom with respect to current and future policies and, unfortunately, the imposition of his values. This piece reviews his policies to date, and the sequel will fully examine the values underlying policy changes to date and expectations for the future. Comments quoted are by Mark Carney.Constantly traveling in a government aircraft, consistent with him flying the globe as a climate leader, one would be remiss not to highlight the hypocrisy of our Prime Minister, his colleagues at Brookfield and Bloomberg, and his peers at the World Economic Forum.They all consume vast amounts of jet fuel to proclaim we lesser people need to “reorder our lives” to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Likewise, his spouse is employed at the Eurasia Group, another anti-fossil fuel organization led by Gerald Butts — who has forgotten him? With his frequent braggadocio such as “I saved two economies”, expectations to “build” a prosperous country are high. We all know Canada is experiencing slow growth, low productivity, internal tensions, and is forecast by the OECD to be at or near the bottom of the 30-plus member countries in economic performance 40 years from now..RUBENSTEIN: 'Garbage in, garbage out' characterizes public opinion polls about complex, divisive indigenous issues.Much overdue, perhaps his best policy change to date is a commitment to a more robust military and improved pay required for recruitment. The Trudeau government naively allowed the military to decline and become a woke joke that is not amusing. These important steps clarify our long-term role in NATO and potentially impact the more urgent trade discussions with the US.However, even understanding that often planning needs to be undertaken in private, not much else has been visibly achieved in a time of urgency for the country. Following the election of Trump, many members of the anti-pipeline Cabinet experienced an epiphany. Rather than removing the layers of legislation ensuring no pipeline approvals, the mostly same old gang of Liberals passed Bill C-5, which grants Carney the authority to bypass any existing legislation.This was described by National Post writer Jamie Sarkonak as the Prime Minister “giving himself a power to suspend the entirety of federal law and, by extension, democracy.” His autocratic tendencies will be further explored in the follow-up..Uncertainty, which adds to already reticent capital investment, has been enhanced because Carney has assured Aboriginal bands and provinces their consent for relevant pipelines is required. Or will it just be a convenient reason for failure? Mostly led by the provinces, the possibility of developing the Port of Churchill as support for oil and other exports is being explored. There are also continuing murmurings of the Pathways Alliance, a potential pipeline to move and bury carbon dioxide emissions from the oil sands, presumably still under negotiation with oil sands producers.Carney's dilemma — building to share Canada's abundant oil and other resources, while also satisfying his climate crisis leadership peer group, including those of the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Economic Forum — is self-made and perhaps insoluble..HANNAFORD: The making of revolution in Alberta....It would be helpful to Canadians for him to explain how an odorless and colourless gas, a plant food on which all life depends, extracted at great cost, will make oil cleaner. The only way to ultimately reduce the production of fossil fuels is to stop consuming them.Nor has the Prime Minister addressed the persistent pleas of desperate automobile manufacturers and dealers to withdraw the arbitrary electric vehicle (EV) mandate that, by 2035, only EVs will be allowed to be sold. EVs make some sense for short-haul big-city residents, but Canada is a low-population, large-geography country, and cold, rendering the success of this policy as impossible as it is authoritarian. It is another unfortunate example of the triumph of Liberal ideology over common sense, and the need for lawmakers to limit choices of supposedly free citizens, even as our shiny new PM “understands these things better than others.”.This cagey Prime Minister co-opted many Conservative policies in winning the recent election (but not a majority), including especially the removal of the retail carbon tax, long advocated by Poilievre. Rather than removal, it was moved to the industrial level of the economy, and consumers will still ultimately suffer the additional cost. Cagey indeed.One of the accomplishments of the Harper government was leaving a strong balance sheet to the Trudeau government. Even understanding the special circumstances of COVID-19, the irresponsible spending of the federal Liberal government resulted in current interest-carrying costs of $1 billion EVERY week. .BERNARDO: Grandfathering is slow-motion confiscation.The debt of $616 billion when Trudeau assumed power from Harper will hit $1.3 billion this year, according to a recent report in the Canadian Taxpayer newsletter.In this context, it is troubling that Carney is ramping up spending. As a former board member for 10 years, I can attest to the bona fides of the CD Howe Institute, which forecast this year’s deficit to exceed $90 billion versus Carney’s election platform of $62 billion. Surely such an experienced central banker understands that borrowing expands the money supply and pushes interest rates higher. Money supply growing at a rate higher than our slow-growth economy is inflationary.He also knows the erosion of the balance sheet results in lenders commanding a greater bond premium, further escalating carrying costs. Certainty on this issue is difficult because the Carney Liberal government, incredibly, has yet to present a budget for this fiscal year to Parliament for approval and thereby inform those who are ultimately at risk — all Canadians who pay taxes..Trump tariffs are a difficult issue. The mostly acquiescence of the PM to date is probably wise as was the withdrawal of the Digital Services Tax a few days after its introduction, however embarrassing. Even more embarrassing is the comment during the leadership campaign by Carney, “I know the president, I've dealt with the president in the past in my previous roles when he was in his first term, and I know how to negotiate.” This hubris is yet to be validated.To his credit, the US President is honoring the terms of the current free trade agreement — CUSMA — which he negotiated during his first term. But our not cagey enough PM passed legislation entrenching the dairy supply cartel, a sore point voiced by Trump who thought this trade preference was eliminated during the previous negotiation. Although this trade preference is unlikely to endure, it is noteworthy that many Conservatives, including Poilievre, supported the legislation, further affirming the road to power in the Canadian federation is through Quebec — special treatment for Quebec, even when the articulated imperative is to eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers? This additional and timely example is relevant to the forthcoming Alberta referendum. The West has suffered little voice since 1905, unlikely to change in the Carney administration..EDITORIAL: Canada shut out: Carney’s absence in Washington is a national humiliation.It won't unless we force it or move on to honour the self-determination sought by the original immigrants seeking freedom and prosperity. Interesting that Carney, announcing support for a two-state solution in Gaza, was based on the need for “rights of people to self-determination.” Apparently not so, however, for Western Canadians. It was disappointing and frustrating to hear our Prime Minister, speaking at the Canada Day celebrations, refer to “a united Canada.” Is he unaware of the growing hostility; or more likely, like other Laurentian Elitists, doesn’t really care about Canadians who live in the West (other than our equalization and pension contributions, of course)? The policies above and his actions to date are driven by his value system. Over the years, his behaviour and language in his many prominent positions, his campaign for public office, and in his book entitled VALUES, have provided a vivid picture of our future under his leadership. His values are the topic of the next and final edition of this series.
