Oh that’s gotta hurt
It’s like playing t-ball with a 50 foot fence
https://x.com/gmforbes35/status/1895185055770910876?s=46&t=o3XUPKxiqJH7KZYdWMCtqg
Mark Carney is a lousy politician. He can’t even lie competently
I’d say that that makes him perfectly qualified.
Living standards continue to fall under the Liberals
Funny, this is what Harper said when Carney left BofC for Bank of England
"valued partner as the government has worked to steer Canada away from the worst impacts of the global economic recession.
“As a result, Canada remains an example to the world with its strong banks, effective regulatory environment and sound economic policy,”
Harper has actually not denied asking Carney to run and become Finance Minister in his government in 2012.
Of course, that was before Carney was possibly going to run against the Conservatives. Who would have thought that a lifelong partisan would take a partisan view on that? I have the deepest respect for Harper, I voted for him in every election from 2004 to 2015. Pierre Poilievre isn’t Stephen Harper.
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Yeah, and?
Anodyne statements about the departures of staff are commonplace in government and business.
What the hell is Carney talking about? I thought he was supposed to be good at economics.
https://x.com/rickperkinsmp/status/1896634409295774199?s=46&t=o3XUPKxiqJH7KZYdWMCtqg
I never understood this argument about anyone saving the country. Canada has an extremely sound financial system.
The question to ask yourself then is, who is the closest to Harper and who is the furthest from Trudeau?
Here is and interesting comparison of Canada’s fiscal responsibilities:
The median family earning $101,821 in 2024 would
be spending $109,982 if it spent the way the federal
government does. To cover the difference, it would
put $8,161 on a credit card, despite already being
$427,759 in debt.
To be clear, this is not a liberal,conservative, ndp thing, it a Canadian habit.
Well, I can say I am a damn sight happier not to face the choice between Poilievre and Trudeau. Both are grotesquely unqualified, particularly around the finances of a country. Poilievre is a creature of Parliament Hill. A creature that grew under Harper’s watch, to be sure, but in the end not a truly serious person - he lucked into Nepean-Carleton in 2004 (and campaigned hard, to be fair, against a Liberal MP who was very complacent). However, in terms of real understanding of what the Harper government needed to in 2006, he was nowhere close to some of the brilliant people in that PMO. Hence being distracted by ideas like putting the CPP into cryptocurrency, etc.
Without question, our finances need to be cleaned up (again). Unfortunately, the last Harper government was more concerned with survival than fiscal health, and lacked the discipline. They were then succeeded by a PM who said in all seriousness that the budget would balance itself, and has spent accordingly. I don’t actually begrudge the pandemic spending, but it was already out of control.
Now, when we really need it, we don’t have much fiscal leeway. I actually was pleasantly surprised by Freeland, too little too late though.
The Federal deficit also needs to be understood in the context of the woeful imbalance of revenue collection and spending responsibilities between the Feds and the Provinces (let alone the municipalities). That was one of the fundamental reasons I drifted from the Liberals in 1993 to the unified party in 2004, and it has scarcely improved at all.
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I sort of feel bad for the next administration as I don’t think anyone can come close to fixing what needs to be fixed, especially within 1 election cycle. Any of Poilievre suggestions will take over 4 years, at least, in my very humble opinion, and that just taking infrastructure into account. Any NDP or Liberal suggestions are irrelevant as they have not suggested anything different so basically the status quo. NDP will definitely be the official opposition, however have been severely tainted by the Liberal party.
A DOGE type strategy wont work here as most of the saving would be in the 10% federal workforce, which is just NEVER going to happen.
Stuff like green initiatives and policies will have to be completely gutted as they are at complete opposition to Canada’s strengths, which are natural resources based.
I need something to cheer me up, thanks Liverpool.
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Canadians ain’t in a good place at the moment
https://x.com/cbcwatcher/status/1897771704987901991?s=46&t=o3XUPKxiqJH7KZYdWMCtqg
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It is important to note that the MNP Index is sentiment, not an empirical assessment of the actual situation of that many consumers - it dropped 10% in a quarter, far more than any real indicators. But, yeah, that is telling, particularly because it has nothing to do with current developments. The underlying data is from early December. Consumer confidence in both Canada and the US is weak and weakening.
I am reminded of the aphorism about any society being just three missed meals away from revolution. People here have been upbeat about the consequences of a trade war with the US, which are going to be brutal on a per capita basis to Canadians. I have been suggesting to Americans I know that they not visit Canada this summer, contrary to many Canadians I know who rush to say ‘we don’t hate Americans, we know it is just the government’. Give it a quarter or two of job losses, sneering American politicians like De Santis, etc., and the hatred will come. I do sort of wonder if that is working as intended.
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It matches what I see and hear, and even if the numbers are unreliable, it 100% highlights the direction a huge number of average Canadians are/have moved, from a fiscal perspective.
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We have made a real mess of immigration (too many in too short a time, in a period where we needed to be pulling spending in and getting our fiscal house in order. That has put a lot of pressure on some of the less affluent population. The education sector is a disaster, especially in Ontario. It sort of irks me that Trudeau is riding off in the sunset with a vaguely heroic aura, because the mess his government made is going to take years to clean up - and we may not have years. Chretien had the luxury of an economic boom in the US and open trading, it doesn’t look we will see either of those conditions.
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I’m a pro-immigrant immigrant who hires immigrants. And I think Canada should continue to attract high value immigrants. We need them.
But I’ve seen firsthand how this government’s mass immigration policies are hurting the poorest most vulnerable Canadians.