Blogging is slow. And in search engines, something that was written years ago can suddenly take off again as people seek out information, history or news. Mainstream media can fulfil this when it is not firewalled. A blog is there so long as the website remains and the author keeps their posts up.
I have rarely removed any past posts except where links might not be around anymore. I have fixed poor formatting or typos which there are many. In other word, I tend to leave things alone. Prior to the pandemic the views steadily rose till just prior to the pandemic. For a few short months saw 45,000 people a month in viewers, It dropped in the pandemic and has been steadily rising again till this past June it has reached 45,000 people once more.
Thanks to those readers. I really don't look all that much or try to write anything that is clickbait. I write what interests me. Take pictures of what I see. I don't limit myself to any one topic. So thank you in this short note.
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Some conservative media is back and forth on what to think about Mark Carney. Many conservative voters are still scratching their heads about what happened in the election and are now looking closely at Pierre Poilievre's performance. He is still months away from getting a seat back in the Commons. To that end, he appeared on CBC in a interview this week. It is the first time he has done that as leader. Before he had his list of enemies who were never to be engaged. Once he was to become PM it would be the end of the CBC.
Even conservatives seemed to quail at the raw vitriol. Some in the base loved it and even raged further but others, many of them women, sensed this was an anger that could turn on them. There will be a lot of analysis done of of what happened in the election. The truth is that is that the Liberals chose exactly the right candidate and platform for the moment.
I have said here before the Liberals have both left and right contingents in the party. The Conservatives have driven off the progressives in their party federally. More critically, the Conservatives have driven the NDP to near extinction by appealing to working men in labour while at the same time driving women and those afraid of the right to the Liberals. It is not a recipe for a national win. The wind went out of the sails of the federal campaign when Justin Trudeau stepped and when Mark Carney won the leadership.
To distinguish himself in the campaign, Carney said he was ending the carbon tax on gas. He also said he was raising military spending. Much of this was in response to election of Donald Trump. The Justin Trudeau government showed no intent on changing those policies but the Pierre Poilievre-led opposition couldn't seem to benefit from any of this because every time Trump talked about the 51st state, it shifted voters to the party in power.
Even before this, Liberal members were convinced that a fourth term under Trudeau was unrealistic and that it could lead to the party being wiped out. I'm not sure why Conservatives were surprised Trudeau left. In fact, at times they seemed to suggest that it was somehow illegal for them to change leaders or use proroguing as a strategy. It should have come as no surprise. The Conservatives have used such tactics themselves as they are perfectly legal in our system.
The NDP and the Conservatives often say the Liberals steal their policy platforms. They should be flattered. However, if their policy platforms were completely gold, one would think they would propel said parties to victory. The truth is that some parties still have parts of their policy platform or candidates that don't inspire faith. And while some federal parties might say that electoral reform in needed nationally, they make no attempt to change the system provincially when they are in power.
However, back to Carney. He was elected because he appeared to be the person to best deal with Trump and to steer the Liberals back a bit from cliff they were headed to. This is not to say the Liberals are withdrawing from being progressive. On issues like marriage and abortion, they are not about to head in the opposite direction. The Conservative platform in the election chipped away at those areas of law.
I mention the social issues because women played a huge role in the election outcome. There are conservative women to be sure but the over the top hyper masculine approach was only going to go so far. If women don't trust a leader or the policies as they apply to her and her family, she will vote against that leader and party even if a partner votes the other way. The value of the secret ballot remains a woman's best opportunity for change.
The changes on taxes, carbon and otherwise is a right of center Liberal move. But we are not seeing a cut on daycare, dental and pharmacare changes made under Trudeau. Those are progressive ideas. The NDP have all but been wiped out so there is less influence and chance they want to go straight into another election with no leader. Likewise, the Tories have no leader. And the BQ were badly bruised. The one thing that everyone seems to agree on nationally and provincially is the economy needs to be juiced with everything that is happening in the U.S.
So far many premiers are supportive of Carney and his approach to nation-building programs. Federally, the Conservatives supported the bill to try to speed through projects. First Nations leadership has expressed alarm at speed but with 600 chiefs, some are in support of moving forward. It seems unlikely that Carney would push through a project without consultations or support.
And to be fair there are many projects with First Nations, Metis and Inuit already on infrastructure, housing and a host of other areas. Expediting those already agreed upon would be a boost to economies across Canada. The federal government has a duty to consult in a meaningful way. It does not give 600 First Nations sweeping vetoes according to legal experts. Carney will be looking to get discussions going. It can't be easy. The chiefs wanted to bring lawyers, experts, elders and others to the talk. Assuming a max of 10 people and six thousand or more, an arena would be needed and probably a few weeks/months of discussions. So far it has been limited to chiefs which is a lot.
It is unclear what sort of legal challenge might be coming but there are a number of chiefs who wish to move forward and if some don't want to proceed, it is likely money will be re-directed elsewhere. However, Carney has negotiated with businesses and governments for years. It seems likely he can navigate the waters.
In recent weeks, more conservative media commentators have considered whether Carney is actually a conservative. Or at the least a progressive conservative. This is not great for the Conservative party because when Liberal have been more conservative, the party was wiped out like with Chretien. If Conservatives veer too far to the right, it will hurt them more than they think. They eventually only beat Paul Martin when the party went left with NDP support and corruption in Quebec.
Carney will find that more progressive conservatives might move to him and the party if he continues a path that appears to looking to the right the ship. Poilievre will find it harder to tap into the visceral hatred of Trudeau in dealing with Carney. And the fear and dislike by Canadians for Trump means they are not interested in hearing how everything is broken over and over.
Chretien and Paul Martin were able to convince a large number of Canadians of their goals while splitting the conservative vote. Now, with the progressive vote not split, the Liberals now are just short of a majority. If they can convince enough Conservatives voters to to change their votes next election, the Conservatives might be looking at being longer in opposition. A lot can happen but already Carney is doing things that a Trudeau government would never do.
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