Instead of focusing on providing a welcoming environment for European capital, by shepherding their projects through our license Raj, we should be focusing on creating an environment where European, Canadian, and even American capital can be put to good and effective use in Canada.
But the Liberal government has no interest in doing so. We should reflect on why this is. At the end of the day, it's not "Maple MAGA" that is executing national suicide.
"Maple MAGA" is such a tiny, uninfluential cohort. They hold no power in government, in the bureaucracy, or in the media. They have never held any iota of political, cultural, or economic power in Canada. This is just eye rolling.
The vast majority of the media establishment, including the Line, is pro-government and pro-Carney. There are of course exceptions (thinking of a couple writers at NaPo). But the idea that there is not ENOUGH criticism of the govt is cowardly nonsense. We are in our powerless situation because the government, and their Canadian supporters, have neutered Canada. We lack raw power in the face of the USA because Canadians have been unwilling to be full throated in their criticisms of government policy and action. And full throated that we enact policies that grow our power. We are in this position because of decisions we have made about resource development, immigration, military procurement, health care decisions on and on. We continue to choose appearance over substance.
And that's why you get slop like this: "it’s time to draw a distinction between healthy good-faith skepticism, and the quisling slop that tries to pass for it. There is a sizeable portion of the Maple MAGA contingent that is emotionally invested in Canada’s failure."
The criticism here is just so unserious - but it does accurately reflect Canadians' own unseriousness. Let me know when we have a pipeline out east, or we can build resources in spite of FN veto, or we have a sensible immigration policy, or we do something on Chinese interference, or we can build a mine in <20 years (true stat), or we have actual free trade within Canada.
Of course the Canadian legacy media is pro government and pro Carney. They have gone from reporting facts (or at least observations) to singing for their government paid dinners aka per person subsidies. Just like in the old days when primarily Judaea-Christian charities asked homeless down and outers to sing hymns before eating their dinners.
It was a Quebec premier who stated that Canadians were like frogs (or lobsters - I forget which) in a pot of boiling water - when one tries to escape the others pull him back in. This seems to represent the cultural ethos of the majority of Canadian workers. Anyone who escapes the pot and achieved any degree of success gets vilified and soon realizes that the only compatible place where he/she gets accepted is south of the border.
IMO all that Carney can list as Canadian assets - besides all those untapped resources - is the docility of its workforce. Either because they are illiterate in English (ie much of Quebec)or are so addicted to subsidies and entitlements that they are paralyzed by the thought of losing these.
One thing that occurred to me is that Trump will try to stop Europeans from providing that which Carney has requested. A trillion $$ of investment is a target too rich for Trump to ignore — as well as Carney’s request to have a formal relationship of some sort with the EU.
Every thing that Carney says or does — Trump reacts to. Almost always negatively. Almost always with some additional penalty against us. Whether monetary or renaming geography or just plain silliness in his various and highly revealing memes.
We need Carney to succeed. Better yet we need Trump to be gone or at least neutered in the mid-terms.
"... Canada’s obstacle to investment has traditionally not been a lack of investor interest or global visibility. Canada’s biggest challenge has been, and remains, Canadians ..." All very true.
I follow your excitement about the upcoming "Summit" but I am skeptical. I offer a question and a comment in that context.
First, I know and understand that at the end of the "Summit" there will be no binding commitments, etc., etc.; that is simply not possible. I do expect that we will receive the usual bumph: a meaningless MOU or some such document full of fluff but not one heck of a lot of specifics. Quite frankly, that is to be expected. But ....
Second, the two days, and particularly the end of the two days, will be talk, talk, talk, something at which both this government and it's immediate predecessor were good at producing, but, but, but, when and how will we ultimately be able to adjudge this confab as being successful or otherwise?
The truth is that I don't think that we can ever come to any conclusion about this meeting except to say that MC was successful in getting bums in the seats. And, more or less the right bums in the seats. In that sense, MC was able to utilize his Rolodex / electronic address book. So, we can determine pretty much right now that the GOC is successful in getting bums in seats but will this be successful in any other sense? I don't know.
Now, if one goes back to the first paragraph above, given that MC has largely left alone the over/bad regulations and laws, the stifling bureaucracy, the go slow attitude of the process and has not even announced his intention to change it where what he has done is to announce new agencies, I am dubious that any of the attendees at the upcoming conclave will be eager to invest in Canada. Oh, there will be some investment, but not at the level that the government - and the deluded populace of Canada - hope for. Remember, hope is not a plan.
Oh, and the new agencies, such as the Build Canada people, the Major Projects Office, the Defense Infrastructure Agency and the like? They were established to do an end run around the bureaucracy but they have been staffed up by bureaucrats. They were established because the existing structure could not more quickly and now the new agencies have proven themselves to also be unable to move quickly. They were established to get around various laws, regulations, practices and the like but the government has not taken steps to even start or to announce starting the reform of the various laws, regulations, practices and the like.
I am not a believer that this particular "tiger" can change its spots.
Instead of focusing on providing a welcoming environment for European capital, by shepherding their projects through our license Raj, we should be focusing on creating an environment where European, Canadian, and even American capital can be put to good and effective use in Canada.
But the Liberal government has no interest in doing so. We should reflect on why this is. At the end of the day, it's not "Maple MAGA" that is executing national suicide.
"Maple MAGA" is such a tiny, uninfluential cohort. They hold no power in government, in the bureaucracy, or in the media. They have never held any iota of political, cultural, or economic power in Canada. This is just eye rolling.
The vast majority of the media establishment, including the Line, is pro-government and pro-Carney. There are of course exceptions (thinking of a couple writers at NaPo). But the idea that there is not ENOUGH criticism of the govt is cowardly nonsense. We are in our powerless situation because the government, and their Canadian supporters, have neutered Canada. We lack raw power in the face of the USA because Canadians have been unwilling to be full throated in their criticisms of government policy and action. And full throated that we enact policies that grow our power. We are in this position because of decisions we have made about resource development, immigration, military procurement, health care decisions on and on. We continue to choose appearance over substance.
And that's why you get slop like this: "it’s time to draw a distinction between healthy good-faith skepticism, and the quisling slop that tries to pass for it. There is a sizeable portion of the Maple MAGA contingent that is emotionally invested in Canada’s failure."
The criticism here is just so unserious - but it does accurately reflect Canadians' own unseriousness. Let me know when we have a pipeline out east, or we can build resources in spite of FN veto, or we have a sensible immigration policy, or we do something on Chinese interference, or we can build a mine in <20 years (true stat), or we have actual free trade within Canada.
Of course the Canadian legacy media is pro government and pro Carney. They have gone from reporting facts (or at least observations) to singing for their government paid dinners aka per person subsidies. Just like in the old days when primarily Judaea-Christian charities asked homeless down and outers to sing hymns before eating their dinners.
It was a Quebec premier who stated that Canadians were like frogs (or lobsters - I forget which) in a pot of boiling water - when one tries to escape the others pull him back in. This seems to represent the cultural ethos of the majority of Canadian workers. Anyone who escapes the pot and achieved any degree of success gets vilified and soon realizes that the only compatible place where he/she gets accepted is south of the border.
IMO all that Carney can list as Canadian assets - besides all those untapped resources - is the docility of its workforce. Either because they are illiterate in English (ie much of Quebec)or are so addicted to subsidies and entitlements that they are paralyzed by the thought of losing these.
For Canadian journalists, it's all about the feelz.
We should all hope that Carney’s strategy works.
One thing that occurred to me is that Trump will try to stop Europeans from providing that which Carney has requested. A trillion $$ of investment is a target too rich for Trump to ignore — as well as Carney’s request to have a formal relationship of some sort with the EU.
Every thing that Carney says or does — Trump reacts to. Almost always negatively. Almost always with some additional penalty against us. Whether monetary or renaming geography or just plain silliness in his various and highly revealing memes.
We need Carney to succeed. Better yet we need Trump to be gone or at least neutered in the mid-terms.
Trump will go, on schedule, in Jan 2029. Carney can neither hasten nor delay trust inevitability.
Indeed. Maybe even sooner. Problem is — Trump is just a symptom of a nation that has somewhat lost its way. We are in the way of their current path.
"... Canada’s obstacle to investment has traditionally not been a lack of investor interest or global visibility. Canada’s biggest challenge has been, and remains, Canadians ..." All very true.
I follow your excitement about the upcoming "Summit" but I am skeptical. I offer a question and a comment in that context.
First, I know and understand that at the end of the "Summit" there will be no binding commitments, etc., etc.; that is simply not possible. I do expect that we will receive the usual bumph: a meaningless MOU or some such document full of fluff but not one heck of a lot of specifics. Quite frankly, that is to be expected. But ....
Second, the two days, and particularly the end of the two days, will be talk, talk, talk, something at which both this government and it's immediate predecessor were good at producing, but, but, but, when and how will we ultimately be able to adjudge this confab as being successful or otherwise?
The truth is that I don't think that we can ever come to any conclusion about this meeting except to say that MC was successful in getting bums in the seats. And, more or less the right bums in the seats. In that sense, MC was able to utilize his Rolodex / electronic address book. So, we can determine pretty much right now that the GOC is successful in getting bums in seats but will this be successful in any other sense? I don't know.
Now, if one goes back to the first paragraph above, given that MC has largely left alone the over/bad regulations and laws, the stifling bureaucracy, the go slow attitude of the process and has not even announced his intention to change it where what he has done is to announce new agencies, I am dubious that any of the attendees at the upcoming conclave will be eager to invest in Canada. Oh, there will be some investment, but not at the level that the government - and the deluded populace of Canada - hope for. Remember, hope is not a plan.
Oh, and the new agencies, such as the Build Canada people, the Major Projects Office, the Defense Infrastructure Agency and the like? They were established to do an end run around the bureaucracy but they have been staffed up by bureaucrats. They were established because the existing structure could not more quickly and now the new agencies have proven themselves to also be unable to move quickly. They were established to get around various laws, regulations, practices and the like but the government has not taken steps to even start or to announce starting the reform of the various laws, regulations, practices and the like.
I am not a believer that this particular "tiger" can change its spots.
Jen, read @benwoodfinden 8 points on EU he put out today. Well worth it.