I like to consider myself well read with political and economic terms but admittedly, had never heard of a vibecession until Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland dropped the term in a press conference while trying to defend Trudeau’s ridiculous, proposed GST holiday.At first, I thought Freeland had made up the term. Her boss has never been afraid to create new words out of thin air when failing to express himself in conventional English. It turns out though, the term was coined by a TikTok influencer with a Substack page. I think I would have been more comfortable if Freeland had made the word up. At least then I wouldn’t know she is getting her economic advice from TikTok personalities.The notion behind a vibecession is that common citizens don’t understand reality or economics. They are incapable of understanding just how fantastic the economy is running and they are basing their negative views on bad vibes rather than reality. It is a pompous assumption that citizens don’t know what’s good for them wrapped up in what the finance minister had hoped and assumed was innocuous and trendy terminology.Imagine this: you're at the grocery store, the price of your favorite Tim Hortons coffee has gone up for the third time this year, your rent payments just took a leap while your retirement savings take a dive with the Canadian dollar and yet, there's Freeland, telling you, "It's just a vibe, folks!"As the Trudeau government ever so slowly makes its final lap in power, Freeland is doggedly trying to rehabilitate the “Sunny Ways” attitude that ushered Trudeau into power. We don’t need to lose sleep over economic reality. We just need to embrace positive vibes and wish the hard times away.Instead of worrying about the actual numbers, we should perhaps focus on how we feel about those numbers. Maybe if we all just smiled more at our bank statements, we'd see the numbers smiling back.While the memes and humorous takes on Freeland’s latest utterances have been entertaining, it’s a dark comedy at best. Canada is facing terrible challenges while the GDP per-capita plummets and inflation still looms. While Montreal burns, Canada’s clown-prince dances at pop concerts and his top government lieutenant assures us we are just suffering from negative vibes.The vibecession is sure to become more acute if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threats to impose massive tariffs on Canadian goods. It may turn into a full-blown recession or depression making it difficult for Canadians to turn those frowns upside down.Perhaps Freeland should try to call Trump and explain to him that there isn’t really a problem with illegal immigrants and drug exports leaking into the USA. Trump is just getting the wrong vibes. It’s a vibegration issue and a vibeaddiction issue. I am certain it will be well received.Canadians are living in serious times, while enduring the most unserious government in history. The nation appears to be locked in this holding pattern of legislative idiocy and has no immediate means to break it. I guess we must accept it.So, let's all raise our coffee cups to the great Canadian vibecession — may our vibes be ever high, even if our bank balances are not. One day, we will regale our grandchildren with tales of how we endured the Great Vibecession of 2024.
