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2025 Federal Election - 28 Apr 25

none of the above. I see it as the shiny new car syndrome. The liberals have been building up Carney as the savior for at least the last six months. They "gave in" to the polls, dumped Trudeau, and appointed Carney (the election was a sham). He immediately flew to Europe and was seen meeting the right people, climbing out of our brand new airbus and then flew back via the north to make a prime ministerial announcement there. After suspending the gas tax which deflated PP's position, he purposely clouded the waters re: carbon taxation and called an election for the shortest time possible so people wouldn't discover the real Carney. He is a liar and the worst thing that could happen to this country. If you thought Trudeau was bad

There are a few excerpts from his book "Values" that should scare the crap out of everyone. Carney will be the final nail in Canada's coffin.
 
There are a few excerpts from his book "Values" that should scare the crap out of everyone. Carney will be the final nail in Canada's coffin.
Which ones? You seem to have read it. What stood out for you?
 
The name of a party has far more influence than most give credit to. "Liberal"... almost everyone sees themselves as liberal in some way or another. Classical liberal for example. For a good size of the voting public, enough to make a huge difference, I don't think they give their vote much more consideration than the name of a party and a some splashy CBC programming to validate. "I'm liberal so I'll vote LCP" - when in fact the LPC has demonstrated to be the most illiberal of them all. I think it really is that simple for many.
 
It would be funny, if it wasn't working on a depressing amount of people.
Funny thing is if the CPC had lured Carney in a few years back and he were hypothetically running as their more PC-aligned candidate in an election, they would just as happily trumpet his central bank and private sector investment banking experience. And they’d be right to.
 
To begin, I don’t like his idea of moving our monetary system to a Central Bank Digital system.

The way he appears to tie everything to his Net Zero Green Plan.

Mark Carney’s Ten-Point Plan for a Sustainable Recovery
  1. Embed Values in Market Systems: Restructure markets to reflect societal values like fairness, sustainability, and solidarity, rather than prioritizing short-term profit. Carney argues that markets should serve human needs, not dictate them, by incorporating non-market values (e.g., environmental health, social equity) into economic decision-making.


  2. Prioritize Climate Action and Net-Zero Goals: Accelerate the transition to net-zero carbon emissions through company-level transition plans, robust climate risk assessments by financial institutions, and central bank oversight of climate risks. Carney emphasizes the urgency of aligning financial markets with sustainable environmental goals.


  3. Promote ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Investing: Encourage widespread adoption of ESG metrics to ensure companies are accountable for their environmental and social impacts. Carney sees ESG frameworks as a way to align corporate behavior with societal values, though he acknowledges challenges like greenwashing.


  4. Enhance Transparency and Disclosure: Implement rigorous reporting standards for corporations and governments, such as ESG disclosures, to make negative externalities (e.g., pollution, inequality) visible to investors and policymakers. Transparency enables values-based decision-making.


  5. Foster Inclusive Economic Growth: Address inequality by promoting policies that ensure more equitable distribution of income and opportunities. Carney cites evidence that more equal societies are more resilient and growth-oriented, advocating for measures like stronger unions or progressive taxation (though he stops short of endorsing specific policies like higher top marginal tax rates).


  6. Strengthen Financial System Stability: Build on post-2008 reforms like macroprudential regulation and the work of the Financial Stability Board to prevent financial crises. Carney stresses the need for resilient financial systems that support long-term societal goals rather than speculative bubbles.


  7. Cultivate Purpose-Driven Leadership: Encourage leaders in business and government to prioritize long-term societal benefits over short-term gains. Carney highlights examples like Jacinda Ardern and Christine Lagarde, emphasizing leadership grounded in values like humility, responsibility, and compassion.


  8. Rebuild Social Capital: Restore trust in institutions by addressing the erosion of civic spirit and solidarity. Carney argues that market societies have undermined values like altruism and community, and rebuilding social capital is essential for collective action on global challenges.


  9. Invest in Resilience for Future Crises: Learn from the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19 to prepare for future shocks, including climate change and technological disruption (e.g., the Fourth Industrial Revolution). This includes better planning, clear communication, and proactive governance, as Carney notes there are “no libertarians in financial crises.”


  10. Empower Collective Action Globally and Locally: Engage individuals, businesses, and governments in a collaborative effort to address systemic challenges. Carney’s vision, inspired by Pope Francis, calls for “50 Shades of People for 50 Shades of Green,” emphasizing inclusive, participatory solutions to transform markets back into tools for humanity.

 
5) The CPC looked like they were going to win and most "ABC" NDP voters couldn't bring themselves to vote for Trudeau. When Trudeau was replaced, the "ABC" vote cascaded into effect; NDP votes collapsed to the LPC. For those people no CPC leader or platform is acceptable; it was beyond Poilievre's or the party's power to court them. For its part, the LPC could have chosen almost any other leader and the result would be similar; Carney being the leader is not particularly important (at the edge, probably a slightly larger "ABC" shift than, say, Freeland would have triggered).
I disagree, but this is personal and/or anectodal so I could be wrong, but most of the people I know who are now voting liberal would not necessarily have voted liberal if it wasn't for Carney. Most of my social circle (being mostly current and former military) consider ourselves "centrist" with varying flavors of center-left and center-right. Several of them said they would vote conservative in the next election if the leader was Gould or Freeland, or maybe someone else who didn't actually enter the running (can you imagine an LPC under Guilbeault?!). Others who didn't plan on voting conservative weren't sure what they were going to do. However, when Carney was selected, almost all changed their minds and decided to vote liberal, expressly because of his background, his education, and his experience. They (as do I) see him as a true "Blue Grit" with the exception of his strong stance on the environment, which is just fine with most of us. Out of all potential leaders, he seems like the only one who could achieve a "environmentally friendly but effective and prospering economy", if such a thing is possible at all.

What I find... "telling" is amongst those people, none of them think that a Canada under PP is "all doom and gloom". We don't like him, but he's not Canadian Trump. In fact, I have regularly defended PP when people in my circle have claimed that a Canada under PP would turn Canada into Gilead. HOWEVER, PP supporters on here don't afford the same calm headedness with respect to Carney. Y'all think the second he has power, he's going to burn the country to the ground before the end of the first session of parliament.
 
Well, if they get the guns, better brush up on the bow hunting skills.

This report came from the Privy Council who work directly for the PMO and Ministries within that portfolio. The PM's Think Tank.

It pretty well states that carrying on down the current Carney/Trudeau path will not bode well for Canadians.

Government report predicts 2040 dystopia: Collapsed economy, hunting for food​

Government report warns declining social mobility could revert society to land-baron aristocracy where societal advancement is impossible




 
I disagree, but this is personal and/or anectodal so I could be wrong, but most of the people I know who are now voting liberal would not necessarily have voted liberal if it wasn't for Carney. Most of my social circle (being mostly current and former military) consider ourselves "centrist" with varying flavors of center-left and center-right. Several of them said they would vote conservative in the next election if the leader was Gould or Freeland, or maybe someone else who didn't actually enter the running (can you imagine an LPC under Guilbeault?!).
Sure, but I don't see a high degree of relevance to my hypothesis. Typical NDP vote shares for past elections are 18%-20%, which have been halved this election. I doubt many of the people consistently making up those numbers were ever seriously considering voting CPC. I realize that from election to election the exact people who make up that 18%-20% varies, but I doubt they are enough to matter.

I don't see Carney as a "Blue Grit". He's a progressive, not much different from NDP supporters who also happen to be entrepreneurs or otherwise business-focused. Looking at the first three of the "10 points" above, I see conflicting objectives. Markets already serve human needs, decided by humans - that's why markets exist. All the societal needs, "green", ESG, etc claptrap is just a way of saying that some humans should be able to impose their needs on other humans in a way that effectively taxes the latter to serve the interests of the former. "I believe in markets, but...". Cue "everything before "but" is BS".

The question is this: are "long term societal needs" best served by the sum of individual decisions (Smith's "invisible hand") or by small groups of technocrats? I have no doubt it is the former.

See also:

The Use of Knowledge in Society. People like Carney are insufficiently realistic and humble about the limitations of small councils of people captivated by the supposed promise of central direction.

and:

Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y."
 
CBC wouldn't even acknowledge the report was out until it became apparent they couldn't ignore it.

Just another opinion amongst the myriad of other diverse opinions out there.
Like I said, they lost Paul Wells on that one. That takes some effort.

But by all means let’s see if they can top this before the week is out. I expected something like this on Friday afternoon so it should be something really big by then.
 
CBC wouldn't even acknowledge the report was out until it became apparent they couldn't ignore it.

Just another opinion amongst the myriad of other diverse opinions out there.

There is some interesting reporting on these kinds of reports out there, like this one posted here before:
 
Like I said, they lost Paul Wells on that one. That takes some effort.

But by all means let’s see if they can top this before the week is out. I expected something like this on Friday afternoon so it should be something really big by then.
Seems a wee bit desperate. They have a few days’ breather; early voting is done, E-day is Monday. They can shoot a good hard shot Friday or Saturday, try to drum up attention and hope the full-court buzzer beater goes through the hoop. Playing a card liked this with most of a week to fade seems wasted.

Surely they have something bigger and better that will actually meet us where we are and speak to us? Story time won’t cut it.
 
Good to see the CPC continues to show this election cycle that they have a real grasp on what ranks high on the countries list of immediate priorities. 🤡

Conservatives update platform to include omitted 'anti-woke' promise

For reference to the discussion of "woke",

The vibe shift, end of "wokeness"?​


9 pages.

That’ll definitely fix things for them. I’m sure that’s the missing ingredient blue grits have been waiting for.

If any readers are interested,

Here’s how much the 2025 federal election is expected to cost taxpayers​


The estimated total cost of this election is $570 million.

 
I'm in a safe conservative riding, and the MP will easily be re-elected. The fact that I'm both an undecided voter, and party agnostic makes me feel like my vote either way won't matter in this election. However, I have a question for the ardent, true blue conservative supporters on the forum, if the Conservatives don't win, where would you lay the blame:
1) Pierre Poilievre - either the inability for him to keep the anti-liberal sentiments going, or some overall mistrust in his leadership
2) Conservative Platform - there wasn't enough there to swing centrists to vote blue for no other reason than change
3) Mark Carney and his ability to change the narrative (whether it is all lies and fluff or not)
4) The Canadian Public - not understanding or caring about the political landscape enough
According to Darrell Bricker at IPSOS and a couple others, he says that without both Trump going full retard and Trudeau resigning, the Tories would have won handily. If only one of those two things happened, the Tories would be cruising to victory. The double whammy took the wind out of their sails and they had a shocking inability to adapt.

That alone is disqualifying. Trudeau failed to adapt when circumstances changed. Poilievre is learning that as well.
 
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