Mark Carney doesn’t seem like much of a prankster, but you could forgive Liberals who supported Justin Trudeau’s policies for feeling as if the prime minister is endlessly pulling their collective leg.
uncertain
minister → seem → leg
The consumer carbon tax is gone.
asserted
tax → go → ?
A new oil pipeline is on the way and major resource-development projects are on track to receive faster approvals.
asserted
projects → receive → approvals
Big business has finally received its long-sought “mega-deduction” for new investment in Canada.
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business → receive → Canada
Regulatory sandboxes are being erected, and red tape is being cut.
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tape → erect → ?
The public service is being cut, too.
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service → cut → ?
It’s a similar story abroad.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
As Trudeau spends his days rock climbing with Katy Perry in the American West, his feminist foreign policy lies in tatters as Carney prioritizes the likes of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Carney → spend → Jinping
The fact that Carney spends more time with Stephen Harper in rooms full of bankers and foreign fund managers than he does with his predecessor tells you what he thinks about his political inheritance.
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he → spend → inheritance
The old joke was that the only thing that unites federal Liberals is power.
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that → unite → Liberals
But it’s not a joke anymore.
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it → ’ → ?
Carney wears the husk of Liberalism but has stripped out Trudeau’s corn.
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Carney → wear → corn
If you supported Trudeau and his vision for the country and now support Carney and his vision for Canada, then you have no ideological spine.
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you → support → spine
This includes the vast majority of cabinet, whose members yes-manned Trudeau and are now yes-manning the new boss.
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members → include → boss
L’état, c’est Carney.
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Carney → c’est → ?
Which isn’t to say there aren’t some hints at the old ways of doing business.
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Which → say → business
Carney’s decision to punt $1.6 billion into Cohere, the Toronto-based enterprise AI company, represents the classic Liberal picking of winners and losers from corporate Canada.
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decision → punt → Canada
But one can’t be without a play in AI these days, even if it scares the bejesus out of most voters.
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it → scar → voters
Not that those voters appear to mind.
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voters → appear → ?
Polls continue to show the Liberals in the stratosphere, with a healthy lead over the Conservatives.
asserted
Polls → continue → Conservatives
As long as U.S. President Donald Trump draws breath, Carney will be the winner.
asserted
Carney → draw → breath
To paraphrase Trump: right now, Carney could shoot union leaders on Bay Street and not lose a voter.
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Carney → paraphrase → voter
Indeed, union leaders are about the only ones raising a stink about Carney’s actions, whether toward the public service or corporate Canada.
asserted
leaders → raise → service
Not that it will knock Carney off-course.
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it → knock → course
While other nominally left-of-centre leaders around the world — including Andy Burnham in the United Kingdom — are promising to dismantle neoliberalism and Thatcherism, Carney is going back to that future, betting all his chips on corporate Canada to drive growth.
asserted
Carney → include → growth
This week’s budget should deliver a doubling-down on that front, with a rumoured focus on small to medium-sized enterprises.
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budget → deliver → enterprises
This week should also deliver some clarity on Canada’s future relationship with the United States, i.e., the other predictor of the country’s long-term economic well-being.
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week → deliver → being
And while predicting the actions of the Trump administration is a fool’s errand, the fact that Trump unilaterally amended some tariffs affecting Maine and talked up the prospect of a Canada-U.S. deal in the waning days of the midterm election campaigns suggests a resolution is near.
uncertain
resolution → predict → campaigns
With a second budget and an amended trade relationship with the U.S. in hand, Carney’s plan will have cohered.
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plan → amend → hand
The boogeyman of Trump will also have been removed as a central actor in Canadian politics.
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boogeyman → remove → politics
All that would remain to be seen is whether any of Carney’s plays work.
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any → remain → plays
It’s fine to set a direction of travel, but Canadians disappointed by Trudeau are in no mood for more failure.
asserted
Canadians → ’ → failure
They cannot afford to be fooled again.
asserted
They → afford → ?
The Aporia
