Great piece. The end of delegated conventions has fundamentally changed our political parties. In the era of delegated conventions, party members were somebodies in their local communities and had the potential to be mobilized. The current Liberal Party is Justin Trudeau’s party. Love, like, dislike or hate him, he is the most formidable retail politician Canadian politics has ever seen. In a very fundamental sense, he is the Liberal Party. Succeeding him will be no easy task. Carney may be right that politicians do not understand markets (the track record of business leaders is not great on markets either, but I digress), but does anyone understand the challenge of taking over a post Trudeau Liberal Party?
Excellent column, hilarious and insightful, reminds me why I became a fan in the first place. Your takedown of Mark Carney reminds me of the stuff you used to write about Paul Martin back when most Liberals thought *that* guy was good at stuff. Thanks for twenty years of entertainment, Paul.
So I'm not going to go looking for it now, because these are two of my very least favourite people to listen to, but I once saw a committee meeting a few years ago where Poilievre was questioning Carney. Poilievre's doing the one thing Poilievre does - we all know the Liberals are taking bribes from Martians, and I demand to know when the Martians landed! Date and time! Date and time! DATE AND TIME! - and, I mean, whatever you think of his shtick, he's extremely good at it. And Carney just can't get a word in. And on the occasions Poilievre lets him talk, he prefaces his responses with a lengthy, ponderous, "Duhhhhhhh....", reminiscent of a dumb-guy breakout character who's always getting up to shenanigans on a bad sitcom.
I understand there's a school of thought that says Poilievre's elbows-up populism could best be countered by a frosty patrician type who holds Poilievre and his type in contempt. (This strategy worked really, really well for my guys in 2011.) But, man, even if it weren't a bad strategy, Carney is the maximum amount not the guy to do it.
I will quibble with this statement. Their newfound realism on immigration is just a PR exercise. They’re still increasing their immigration targets to 500k per year and haven’t talked about putting a cap on non permanent residents. They are still on track to stuff this country with 1 million + people per year with no regards whether cities and provinces can properly absorb this population.
After four decades of being afraid of my own government, he pretty much gets lifetime support for legalization of cannabis. Even if I went all "what have you done for me lately" on that, he gets one more thumbs-up just for the pandemic response; I can see from the States how much worse it would have been if Conservatives were in power. Talking about a lot of lives, there; it deserves recognition.
I doubt this is a significant factor in his decision to stay on, but one thing to consider is that Trudeau will very likely be PM a year from tomorrow, when all hell could break loose south of the border. I am absolutely not a fan of Trudeau, but I’d rather have a Prime Minister with years of experience on the international stage than one with none at all if the next US Presidential election ends, as seems reasonably likely, in a nation-fracturing political crisis and potentially even civic violence. I trust that someone in the national security apparatus is already thinking about that, but I’d rather not have a rookie PM trying to execute whatever highly complicated playbook we end up with.
The final paragraphs of this well written article are telling.
The can do nothing wrong magic of Justin Trudeau is long gone. He has made a series of poor decisions that has rightly or wrongly affirmed his inability to adapt his government to the challenges facing us today.
Canadians need a government of fiscal discipline that encourages investment in projects all across Canada. There is lots of potential for a strong economy beyond Ontario and Quebec. If Trudeau is too blinkered by his political ambitions to see that, then the problem spills out farther than internal Liberal discontent.
Perhaps the only solution is for the big money donors to sit on the sidelines and give the fundraisers a message to take back to Ottawa.
What is sad here is a PM who is unable to understand that it is time to go. However he is not the only PM who has been in that position. Justin does sees himself as a Head of State not as Head of Government, the power of all PMs are too great and unchallenged. What we see now is a very unserious government and Parliament. The country needs a Canadian vision of the future with a clear agenda to favour all Canadians. We are not going to get it of course, no matter who assumes the office of PM in the next few years. Sad for our country which is clearly in decline.
A qualified general practitioner from the UK is being deported (as we speak) because he "failed" an English test set by the Immigration board of Canada. He and his family are happily settled in Sidney BC and he has a 1000 happy patients. His costly appeal was rejected because he didn't take the correct version of the English test.
Geesh, we tell the Germans there is no business case for their legitimate requests and we tell qualified medical practitioners to go back to the UK. When is voting day? I can't wait.
Trudeau will hang on until the next election - probably 2 years from now. Just enough time for Liberals to *finally* mount large numbers of attack ads against a mendacious, inept, clownish, low-information opposition leader, who, if elected will set Canada back a generation. A buffoon who will make a fool of Canada on the world stage. Trump-lite. And we all know how that presidency worked out for Americans.
While I often disagree with you I wholeheartedly think that you are one of those journalists whose opinions and perspectives that I truly value and respect. Your wonderful sense of humour is a most appreciated bonus!!
Hollow crown
And posts like this are the reason I read and subscribe to Paul Wells.
Great piece. The end of delegated conventions has fundamentally changed our political parties. In the era of delegated conventions, party members were somebodies in their local communities and had the potential to be mobilized. The current Liberal Party is Justin Trudeau’s party. Love, like, dislike or hate him, he is the most formidable retail politician Canadian politics has ever seen. In a very fundamental sense, he is the Liberal Party. Succeeding him will be no easy task. Carney may be right that politicians do not understand markets (the track record of business leaders is not great on markets either, but I digress), but does anyone understand the challenge of taking over a post Trudeau Liberal Party?
Excellent column, hilarious and insightful, reminds me why I became a fan in the first place. Your takedown of Mark Carney reminds me of the stuff you used to write about Paul Martin back when most Liberals thought *that* guy was good at stuff. Thanks for twenty years of entertainment, Paul.
So I'm not going to go looking for it now, because these are two of my very least favourite people to listen to, but I once saw a committee meeting a few years ago where Poilievre was questioning Carney. Poilievre's doing the one thing Poilievre does - we all know the Liberals are taking bribes from Martians, and I demand to know when the Martians landed! Date and time! Date and time! DATE AND TIME! - and, I mean, whatever you think of his shtick, he's extremely good at it. And Carney just can't get a word in. And on the occasions Poilievre lets him talk, he prefaces his responses with a lengthy, ponderous, "Duhhhhhhh....", reminiscent of a dumb-guy breakout character who's always getting up to shenanigans on a bad sitcom.
I understand there's a school of thought that says Poilievre's elbows-up populism could best be countered by a frosty patrician type who holds Poilievre and his type in contempt. (This strategy worked really, really well for my guys in 2011.) But, man, even if it weren't a bad strategy, Carney is the maximum amount not the guy to do it.
“or a turn toward greater realism on immigration”
I will quibble with this statement. Their newfound realism on immigration is just a PR exercise. They’re still increasing their immigration targets to 500k per year and haven’t talked about putting a cap on non permanent residents. They are still on track to stuff this country with 1 million + people per year with no regards whether cities and provinces can properly absorb this population.
After four decades of being afraid of my own government, he pretty much gets lifetime support for legalization of cannabis. Even if I went all "what have you done for me lately" on that, he gets one more thumbs-up just for the pandemic response; I can see from the States how much worse it would have been if Conservatives were in power. Talking about a lot of lives, there; it deserves recognition.
I doubt this is a significant factor in his decision to stay on, but one thing to consider is that Trudeau will very likely be PM a year from tomorrow, when all hell could break loose south of the border. I am absolutely not a fan of Trudeau, but I’d rather have a Prime Minister with years of experience on the international stage than one with none at all if the next US Presidential election ends, as seems reasonably likely, in a nation-fracturing political crisis and potentially even civic violence. I trust that someone in the national security apparatus is already thinking about that, but I’d rather not have a rookie PM trying to execute whatever highly complicated playbook we end up with.
Paul, you'd make a great backup dancer for Taylor Swift. You've got the moves.
A serious treatise on the failings of Justin Trudeau..
For balanced reporting..
What are the specific strengths of Pierre Poilievre that make him a better choice?
I have not seen any pollster or journalist quantify his advantages.
The final paragraphs of this well written article are telling.
The can do nothing wrong magic of Justin Trudeau is long gone. He has made a series of poor decisions that has rightly or wrongly affirmed his inability to adapt his government to the challenges facing us today.
Canadians need a government of fiscal discipline that encourages investment in projects all across Canada. There is lots of potential for a strong economy beyond Ontario and Quebec. If Trudeau is too blinkered by his political ambitions to see that, then the problem spills out farther than internal Liberal discontent.
Perhaps the only solution is for the big money donors to sit on the sidelines and give the fundraisers a message to take back to Ottawa.
Photo of Trudeau checking his chair and comment made me laugh. Keep up the great writing and photos!
What is sad here is a PM who is unable to understand that it is time to go. However he is not the only PM who has been in that position. Justin does sees himself as a Head of State not as Head of Government, the power of all PMs are too great and unchallenged. What we see now is a very unserious government and Parliament. The country needs a Canadian vision of the future with a clear agenda to favour all Canadians. We are not going to get it of course, no matter who assumes the office of PM in the next few years. Sad for our country which is clearly in decline.
"I haven’t ruled out becoming a backup dancer for Taylor Swift"
Never give up on your dreams, Paul.
A qualified general practitioner from the UK is being deported (as we speak) because he "failed" an English test set by the Immigration board of Canada. He and his family are happily settled in Sidney BC and he has a 1000 happy patients. His costly appeal was rejected because he didn't take the correct version of the English test.
Geesh, we tell the Germans there is no business case for their legitimate requests and we tell qualified medical practitioners to go back to the UK. When is voting day? I can't wait.
Trudeau will hang on until the next election - probably 2 years from now. Just enough time for Liberals to *finally* mount large numbers of attack ads against a mendacious, inept, clownish, low-information opposition leader, who, if elected will set Canada back a generation. A buffoon who will make a fool of Canada on the world stage. Trump-lite. And we all know how that presidency worked out for Americans.
This is so good, made me laugh, made me think and made me mad that there are still illiterates thinking voting for "cute" is forgivable.
While I often disagree with you I wholeheartedly think that you are one of those journalists whose opinions and perspectives that I truly value and respect. Your wonderful sense of humour is a most appreciated bonus!!