Time for another meeting of the mildly-partisan partisans. Say hello to The Panel — Allison, Marci, Garry, from lightly left to lightly right — as they return to discuss the events of recent weeks and to prognosticate about weeks ahead.
Topic One had to be Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remarks in Johannesburg, where he said “Who cares?” when a reporter asked him the last time he spoke to Donald Trump. This gave the Liberal leader’s Conservative opponents conniptions, and it also poses the eternal question of what the Canadian PM’s proper stance with regard to the U.S. President should be. The question is even fresher today, with news that Carney is “weighing” a trip to Washington next week.
We also discussed the complicated autumn on the Conservative benches, with Chris d’Entremont jumping to the Liberals and Matt Jeneroux briefly occupying a political Schrödinger box. All that jumping around makes it hard to count MPs right when it’s important to count them accurately, for a series of confidence votes — not yet finished! — on the budget.
And we discuss the appointment of Steve Outhouse as the Conservatives’ new campaign manager, whenever a campaign might happen. Outhouse is a faithful subscriber to your favourite Substack, and he helped get out the vote for Garry Keller’s near-upset in the spring election, so your panelists know him well. What does his appointment mean for the Liberals, and how should other parties respond? (For more on Outhouse, here’s his appearance on the Herly Burly podcast.)
Thanks as always for listening and watching.
