Nothing will change for the better as long as we are governed by this incarnation of the Liberal Party whose daily, prime obsession is performative politics. ie. The need to be SEEN to be doing something, and always angling to dominate the news cycle, for good and for bad.
To bolster my argument, I ask The Line readers to consider what was one of the fastest, from order book to operational status procurements in recent RAF history? The acquisition of an eight-year-old Airbus A-330-200 for the Prime Minister to travel in. It took ONE year to buy the aircraft and have it in service. Good for the Prime Minister, who was humiliated numerous times by travelling in an outdated aircraft that was long overdue for retirement.
But, it’s not lost on me that the new Airbus plane’s primary purpose will be to allow the Prime Minister to carry out the performance aspects of his job hither and yon, while the rest of the RAF struggles with a list of challenges beyond the scope of this article.
We really need a government that does more than talking about what they are doing. A government that identifies needs in the military and finds the money to do it. (In less than two generations).
What's your evidence that the government isn't actively obstructionist? It's clear from their environment Minister that they oppose all development.
Oil and mining companies make ultra long term investments all the time, but policy uncertainty is death to long term investments.
The fact that one of the two main federal parties is perfectly willing to enact and enforce obviously unconstitutional legislation creates more policy uncertainty than any legal framework.
Do you really think nobody in Ottawa knew the legislation violated the constitution?
The far more parsimonious explanation is that the government is full of people who think that resource development destroys the environment and empowers just the wrong sort of Canadians: rural, blue collar, Western.
And is therefore something to be tolerated only when there is an absolute political necessity.
I'll take a crack at what the problem is. One word. LEADERSHIP.
Getting big stuff done is hard work. You need relentless champions to accomplish big things. People with real skills and ability, who aren't the least bit afraid to get their hands dirty with the nitty-gritty of getting stuff done, and with the stick-to-it-iv-ness to see it through. People who aren't slaves to the news or election cycle, who have a vision, understand the concept of "national interest" and aren't afraid to stick their necks out to see it through.
There's a word for those people. They're called LEADERS. We don't have any. We need a bunch, starting at the top.
And one more thing… Much was made this week of the announcement that Canada was joining a coalition of nations to keep shipping routes open through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Does anyone want to guess what our contribution actually is? Three (count 'em...3) staff officers from DND. Seriously. Read the release:
Great article. Can't imagine though how anyone can state the Trudeau government isn't obstructionist regarding energy when he and his activist minister spend so much time and energy telling and showing us how they want to shut down oil & gas industry.
“Someone” said JT is “not ready” before he was elected. That assessment (in hindsight) was too generous and kind. He has never been ready, never would have been and never will be. We elected a PM based on his name and his looks (and possibly his socks). He had zero other qualifications to be the leader of Canada. Thanks almost exclusively to JT, we are viewed more frequently now (internally and externally) as an unserious nation. Several other such indicators have occurred under JT’s watch that clearly demonstrate that. Too many of them to enumerate. We deserve where we are at now.
or maybe c) we dont think we have to do them. Thoughts will magically manifest into reality. Our country reminds me of a line from the Importance of Being Earnest.
Lady Bracknell. Upon what grounds may I ask? Algernon is an extremely, I may almost say an ostentatiously, eligible young man. He has nothing, but he looks everything. What more can one desire?
.... Nothing of substance, but all show and thats the point. Its like the post modern obsession with controlling words. We just need to get rid of a few bad words and come up with new ones and voila, the problem is solved... But we elect the politicians we deserve :)
A major complication to coordinating our national efforts was the Liberal invention of “social licence”. Inserting this concept into infrastructure projects has given a veto to people and NGOs on the very fringes of the action, either by a complete refusal to accept projects in any way shape or form or to litigate the project into the ground. (Or worse, slow down projects by endless blockades and demonstrations.)
Canadians need to galvanize public support around the need for projects to proceed in the public interest, instead of pitting us against each other.
We most certainly can get mines built and in an environmentally way. We just need ministers who will hold people accountable and be accountable themselves.
On the military front, well this train-wreck has been coming for decades. Maybe we should look back to about 1956 when the Canadian Army, RCAF, and RCN were pretty damn efficient and well booted and spurred to support NATO and NORAD, and our Foreign Service was top notch and very well respected around the world. This was with half the population we have today. What the hell happened.
Matt you also have a typo - It was Russia who invaded Ukraine.
My daughter wanted to join the military FT and she was discouraged from doing so by the person she contacted when she inquired. My son joined the reserve and went FT. It provides structure and etc young people need now. This isn’t rocket science.
Canada could solve several things if we implemented mandatory conscription after high school. I’m dead serious. Like CH has. I have been listening to lots of people with military training and experience since October 7, especially Israelis and I can see the difference that training makes.
Canada has progressively concentrated power in the Prime Minister's Office over several decades, facilitating micromanagement of almost every issue and making the PMO a bottleneck for the entire federal government. The government is too big and complicated to be run by a handful of people, particularly relatively young political staffers with next to no experience. What allowed the system to hobble along was that we had fairly competent prime ministers who also had a group of capable allies they trusted enough to delegate important portfolios.
The role of the PM had become a vulnerable single point of failure for how the government was run. Our control-freak PMs have also never had enough trusted allies to fill every portfolio, nor did any since Mulroney consider defense an important topic worthy of much attention.
Since 2015, Canada's had an incompetent prime minister who's not up to the job. He's not only failed to grow into the role, he's actually embraced bad habits of micromanagement and purged his cabinet of potential political rivals. There's going to be no chance of improving the performance of Canada's government until Justin Trudeau is no longer Prime Minister. I don't know that his successors will be better, but we need to explore that possibility.
Any chance we have of actually making headway on many of these issues are entirely contingent upon the removal of a government infested with activist thugs imposing their ruinous ideologies on a country that thus far seems blind to this simple fact.
Matt, you're bumming me out man. I wish I could refute your claims but I can't. I wish I could offer clear suggestions that would help but I can't do that either. Canada seems to be one gigantic, naive, sweet summer child, la-la-la, going on it's blissful ways. Our current government thinks everthing is just hunky-dory. Our bureaucrats, protected from the real world, with job security and golden pensions, pfft, no problems here. Our corporate leaders in massively protected oligopolies, fight over a share of the minor Canada-sized pie knowing they are secure .
My one saving grace, I'm old and will probably be gone before this country completes its "Argentinization". Oh and Merry F-ing Christmas to you too.
Thanks Matt for your thoughtful observations about the Trudeau government’s pathetic record of delivering on promises both national and international. Sadly it’s exactly what I’ve come to expect every time our PM or any of his ministers engage their mouths before their brains have processed how to fulfill their commitments.
Nothing will change for the better as long as we are governed by this incarnation of the Liberal Party whose daily, prime obsession is performative politics. ie. The need to be SEEN to be doing something, and always angling to dominate the news cycle, for good and for bad.
To bolster my argument, I ask The Line readers to consider what was one of the fastest, from order book to operational status procurements in recent RAF history? The acquisition of an eight-year-old Airbus A-330-200 for the Prime Minister to travel in. It took ONE year to buy the aircraft and have it in service. Good for the Prime Minister, who was humiliated numerous times by travelling in an outdated aircraft that was long overdue for retirement.
But, it’s not lost on me that the new Airbus plane’s primary purpose will be to allow the Prime Minister to carry out the performance aspects of his job hither and yon, while the rest of the RAF struggles with a list of challenges beyond the scope of this article.
We really need a government that does more than talking about what they are doing. A government that identifies needs in the military and finds the money to do it. (In less than two generations).
What's your evidence that the government isn't actively obstructionist? It's clear from their environment Minister that they oppose all development.
Oil and mining companies make ultra long term investments all the time, but policy uncertainty is death to long term investments.
The fact that one of the two main federal parties is perfectly willing to enact and enforce obviously unconstitutional legislation creates more policy uncertainty than any legal framework.
Do you really think nobody in Ottawa knew the legislation violated the constitution?
The far more parsimonious explanation is that the government is full of people who think that resource development destroys the environment and empowers just the wrong sort of Canadians: rural, blue collar, Western.
And is therefore something to be tolerated only when there is an absolute political necessity.
I'll take a crack at what the problem is. One word. LEADERSHIP.
Getting big stuff done is hard work. You need relentless champions to accomplish big things. People with real skills and ability, who aren't the least bit afraid to get their hands dirty with the nitty-gritty of getting stuff done, and with the stick-to-it-iv-ness to see it through. People who aren't slaves to the news or election cycle, who have a vision, understand the concept of "national interest" and aren't afraid to stick their necks out to see it through.
There's a word for those people. They're called LEADERS. We don't have any. We need a bunch, starting at the top.
And one more thing… Much was made this week of the announcement that Canada was joining a coalition of nations to keep shipping routes open through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Does anyone want to guess what our contribution actually is? Three (count 'em...3) staff officers from DND. Seriously. Read the release:
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2023/12/canada-to-participate-in-united-states-led-operation-prosperity-guardian.html
It's a new low in pathetic embarrassment. It is to weep.
Great article. Can't imagine though how anyone can state the Trudeau government isn't obstructionist regarding energy when he and his activist minister spend so much time and energy telling and showing us how they want to shut down oil & gas industry.
Maybe a third thing is true? We don’t mean what we say AND we don’t think we need to do anything other than say it.
“Someone” said JT is “not ready” before he was elected. That assessment (in hindsight) was too generous and kind. He has never been ready, never would have been and never will be. We elected a PM based on his name and his looks (and possibly his socks). He had zero other qualifications to be the leader of Canada. Thanks almost exclusively to JT, we are viewed more frequently now (internally and externally) as an unserious nation. Several other such indicators have occurred under JT’s watch that clearly demonstrate that. Too many of them to enumerate. We deserve where we are at now.
or maybe c) we dont think we have to do them. Thoughts will magically manifest into reality. Our country reminds me of a line from the Importance of Being Earnest.
Lady Bracknell. Upon what grounds may I ask? Algernon is an extremely, I may almost say an ostentatiously, eligible young man. He has nothing, but he looks everything. What more can one desire?
.... Nothing of substance, but all show and thats the point. Its like the post modern obsession with controlling words. We just need to get rid of a few bad words and come up with new ones and voila, the problem is solved... But we elect the politicians we deserve :)
It may be both of those things. And also maybe a bureaucracy that has learned it doesn't actually need to produce much.
A very interesting post.
A major complication to coordinating our national efforts was the Liberal invention of “social licence”. Inserting this concept into infrastructure projects has given a veto to people and NGOs on the very fringes of the action, either by a complete refusal to accept projects in any way shape or form or to litigate the project into the ground. (Or worse, slow down projects by endless blockades and demonstrations.)
Canadians need to galvanize public support around the need for projects to proceed in the public interest, instead of pitting us against each other.
We most certainly can get mines built and in an environmentally way. We just need ministers who will hold people accountable and be accountable themselves.
On the military front, well this train-wreck has been coming for decades. Maybe we should look back to about 1956 when the Canadian Army, RCAF, and RCN were pretty damn efficient and well booted and spurred to support NATO and NORAD, and our Foreign Service was top notch and very well respected around the world. This was with half the population we have today. What the hell happened.
Matt you also have a typo - It was Russia who invaded Ukraine.
A fish rots from the head down and with our government we have a very old fish.
My daughter wanted to join the military FT and she was discouraged from doing so by the person she contacted when she inquired. My son joined the reserve and went FT. It provides structure and etc young people need now. This isn’t rocket science.
Canada could solve several things if we implemented mandatory conscription after high school. I’m dead serious. Like CH has. I have been listening to lots of people with military training and experience since October 7, especially Israelis and I can see the difference that training makes.
Canada has progressively concentrated power in the Prime Minister's Office over several decades, facilitating micromanagement of almost every issue and making the PMO a bottleneck for the entire federal government. The government is too big and complicated to be run by a handful of people, particularly relatively young political staffers with next to no experience. What allowed the system to hobble along was that we had fairly competent prime ministers who also had a group of capable allies they trusted enough to delegate important portfolios.
The role of the PM had become a vulnerable single point of failure for how the government was run. Our control-freak PMs have also never had enough trusted allies to fill every portfolio, nor did any since Mulroney consider defense an important topic worthy of much attention.
Since 2015, Canada's had an incompetent prime minister who's not up to the job. He's not only failed to grow into the role, he's actually embraced bad habits of micromanagement and purged his cabinet of potential political rivals. There's going to be no chance of improving the performance of Canada's government until Justin Trudeau is no longer Prime Minister. I don't know that his successors will be better, but we need to explore that possibility.
Any chance we have of actually making headway on many of these issues are entirely contingent upon the removal of a government infested with activist thugs imposing their ruinous ideologies on a country that thus far seems blind to this simple fact.
Matt, you're bumming me out man. I wish I could refute your claims but I can't. I wish I could offer clear suggestions that would help but I can't do that either. Canada seems to be one gigantic, naive, sweet summer child, la-la-la, going on it's blissful ways. Our current government thinks everthing is just hunky-dory. Our bureaucrats, protected from the real world, with job security and golden pensions, pfft, no problems here. Our corporate leaders in massively protected oligopolies, fight over a share of the minor Canada-sized pie knowing they are secure .
My one saving grace, I'm old and will probably be gone before this country completes its "Argentinization". Oh and Merry F-ing Christmas to you too.
Thanks Matt for your thoughtful observations about the Trudeau government’s pathetic record of delivering on promises both national and international. Sadly it’s exactly what I’ve come to expect every time our PM or any of his ministers engage their mouths before their brains have processed how to fulfill their commitments.