Canada’s Corrupt Liberal Government

When federal public service unions recently threatened a summer of discontent(opens in a new tab), it would have been easy pickings for Justin Trudeau to clear his throat and deliver a heartfelt “fuddle duddle(opens in a new tab)” for and on behalf of hard-pressed Canadian voters.

It wasn’t to be.

Having recently signed generous collective agreements with the major public sector unions, one could have expected Trudeau’s Liberal government to be given a bit of a break, but just the opposite happened.

OTTAWA — Conservatives are calling once more for Greg Fergus to resign as House of Commons Speaker, arguing that an advertisement for an event in his riding used “very partisan, inflammatory language” concerning Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

In a new report, a think-tank within Employment and Social Development Canada cites 35 “plausible” global disruptions that could reshape Canada and the world in the near future.

The Policy Horizons Canada (PHC) panel drafted the list and then asked more than 500 stakeholders within and outside government to suggest which ones were more likely, when they might happen and how one might trigger others.

The authors of the report point out that the list is an exploration of theoretical — not guaranteed — threats. They say that even “seemingly distant or improbable” calamities can become reality and thinking about them helps governments create “robust and resilient policies.”

It is the single greatest step the Trudeau government has taken to encourage corporate investment and to boost productivity – and all by letting companies decide on their own where their dollars should best be spent.

Called the Accelerated Investment Initiative and launched in late 2018, the policy aimed to bolster capital investment by speeding up how quickly companies could expense the cost of anything from new factory equipment to new computer systems. The result was a wave of corporate investment without the need for any additional administrative apparatus.

Should Canada be tougher or more lenient on those who commit heinous crimes? Ask most Canadians, and they will have little sympathy for Paul Bernardo, Russell Williams, Luka Magnotta or Alexandre Bissonnette who carried out the Quebec City mosque massacre.

Polling says “Desperation has set in”

Federal Polling:

CPC: 43% (+9)
LPC: 24% (-9)
NDP: 17% (-1)
BQ: 7% (-1)
GPC: 4% (+2)
PPC: 3% (-2)
Others: 1%

Abacus Data / May 15, 2024 / n=2000 / Online

(% Change With 2021 Federal Election)

Check out federal details on @338Canada at: https://t.co/kg1xi0UiUP pic.twitter.com/VYO2dn7BXe

— Polling Canada (@CanadianPolling) May 20, 2024

It seems a little early for the kitchen sink.

But Justin Trudeau and his Liberals saw an opportunity, however slim, to attack Conservatives on abortion – and they grasped at it.

Abortion is one of the holy trinity of explosive issues that the Liberals lob at the Tories in every election campaign, along with guns and privatization of health care. But usually they wait until late in the writ period before they reach for those weapons.

On CTV Question Period yesterday, Bob Fife: “You know the Liberals are really, really in trouble when they bring out all of their attack stuff that they usually use during an election campaign… If they can’t make it work now, what happens during an election campaign?” #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/VbIRlKIQaH

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) May 20, 2024

Canada, once admired for its robust economic health and high living standards, now faces a worrying decline. The nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth trails its peers in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), while Canadian workers clock more hours for less output.

Business investment is shrivelling while government expenditure is ballooning, creating an unhealthy fiscal cocktail. The health-care system in Canada is also lagging behind its European counterparts.

The legal system has grown expensive and slow; the justice system is also experiencing a chronic under-staffing crisis. Young Canadians, feeling dissatisfied, have reported low happiness scores compared to their international counterparts (in 58th place, just before Ecuador).

This palpable downturn begs two urgent questions: what underlies this fall in living standards? And what can be done to stop, and perhaps even reverse, this unsettling trend?