Mark Carney’s approach to governing is not difficult to understand. It is interventionist. And the politics of this Liberal government remain firmly on the left. This is not just about labels. It is about accountability and expectations. If policies are not described clearly, voters cannot evaluate them clearly. open.substack.com/pub/cfstee…

Check this if you’re one of those still thinking Carney is Centre-Right: “The Defence Industrial Strategy, unveiled in February, treats military procurement as a growth engine, channelling $657 million into commercializing defence and dual-use technologies. The Canada Strong Fund, announced two months later, goes further with $25 billion in borrowed federal capital directed at infrastructure, energy, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing that the government deems “strategic.” Last week’s AI strategy names five priority sectors and commits billions more, including a $500 million fund through which the government will take equity stakes in firms it considers champions. These are far from the only examples.” @TheHubCanada A Government Industrial Strategy choosing business winners and subsidizing with taxpayers dollars is Left politics. Carney has always been Left. thehub.ca/author/charleslamm…

"I have heard some proponents of the carbon tax defend it by suggesting that the world will require decarbonized oil barrels going forward. To be honest, Cenovus places over one million barrels a day across three continents, and none of our customers have ever suggested or even asked about the carbon intensity of Canadian crudes. If customers were willing to pay for decarbonized barrels, we would certainly see these price signals and not require government interference. The carbon tax escalates through time, making our industry less resilient at lower commodity prices, and will require the premature shut-in and reclamation of oil producing projects that would otherwise be economic to produce. Much of this is being orchestrated in the belief that we can build a functioning carbon market. The reality is that carbon markets are a political construct and there are no examples of functioning, enduring, or investible carbon markets to draw from." /5

Carney’s 2019 Central Banker “backdoor” ESG admission is alive in Canada. He sells new pipelines & oil expansion as ‘low-emission’ via CCS/tech & net-zero scenarios. Scraps consumer carbon tax for optics, but ramps industrial carbon pricing as the real disincentive. Regulatory fast-tracks are the carrot, provincial deals the cover. Now as Prime Minister doing the steering—opaque to voters. Still admire his credentials?

Nasty & punitive has been replaced by stealth & hidden — but the 'net-zero' objective remains, even with the added nuance. The Carneys have not suddenly ejected their family objective for Canada any more than they’ve ditched their Brookfield shares.

Mark Carney was a leftist central banker who only stayed near the centre because his Prime Ministers gave him a specific mandate. Now the socialist economist is writing his own mandate – stretching the limits of the one voters actually gave him. Just because he dragged the Liberals a little rightward from Trudeau’s hard-left lurch doesn’t make him centre-right. I’d argue he’s still barely centre-left — and is leading what remains a fundamentally leftist Liberal Party. The Carney track record to date: • Significantly increased deficits — now twice as high as his own budgets. • Expanded state intervention into business with activist industrial policy. • Ramped up defence spending promises (socialists love armed forces, too). • Delivered boutique wealth redistributions to compensate for rising prices. • Classic big-government picking of winners: “Build Communities Strong” Until he shows real fiscal restraint, Carney’s “pragmatism” is just Trudeau-era spending packaged in credentialled branding. As Corcoran states: “Carney continues the explosive Liberal legacy of deficit spending” epaper.nationalpost.com/arti… #cdnpoli

Carney must be pressed — in the House and by the media — to explain how moving Canada deeper into the Euro-orbit is supposed to protect us, an ocean away from the same Europeans who took three years to decide Ukraine’s war was their war. Until this past year, leading European nations treated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a distant conflict they could manage largely with sanctions and rhetoric — while relying heavily on American military and financial support. If it took them three years to respond meaningfully to a major war on their own continent, there can be no assurances for their support on ours. Canadians are integrated and integral partners with the Americans in NORAD, but last week Canada was shuffled out of the USA joint defence board. As a NATO member — not an EU member — Canada should be asking hard questions about what these recent events actually mean for our own commitments and resources. PMMC must be held to account for our national security. #cdnpoli

Carney’s Calculated Risk: A Bump in the Road for Net-Zero, a Financial Cliff for the Rest of Us PM Carney this week on Canada’s recession: “The data’s going to be uneven… foundations coming into place, settling in…” Flashback to Governor Carney in 2010: “Canada experienced a short, sharp recession.” Same man. Totally different script. Welcome to the Carney Recession. Full column on Substack open.substack.com/pub/cfstee… Word salad over straight talk. Again. #CarneyRecession #NetZero

The last of the Trudeau-era climate change zealots is gone. But notice what has happened: Guilbeault, McKenna and Wilkinson no longer pull the levers. Carney has deftly shifted the mode of execution. Public-facing nastiness isn’t his style. He prefers stealth moves and the occasional dose of passive-aggressiveness. Carney may be stepping over Trudeau’s implementation mistakes, but he’s still stepping around Canadians in his pursuit of net-zero hero status. How long the smiles and expansive answers that dodge the real questions will sustain PMMC remains the real political question in Canada. #cdnpoli

The electrical grid in New Brunswick — its economics, infrastructure, and affordability — appears to be in even worse shape than residents are being told. This is a critical issue for every household and business in the province. Can residents truly rely on NB Power, and can they have confidence that this government is providing proper oversight? #cdnpoli #nbpoli

Bill C-9 is likely to pass the Senate with only minor changes, leaving Canada’s deeper societal fractures unaddressed. Yet another contemporary law where Canadians remain at the mercy of how police, prosecutors, and courts choose how to interpret and enforce it. Clarity and objectivity are insufficient in the bill. It is a narrow Criminal Code tweak that fails to deliver a broader statement on legal pluralism, secularism versus multiculturalism, or the clear supremacy of Canadian law over parallel systems. While C-9 gives police and prosecutors stronger, faster tools against hate crimes, obstruction of worship, and public hate symbols, it does not confront the realities of 2020s Canada. Human rights remain vulnerable to foreign state interference in diaspora communities; Sharia and other non-conforming legal norms continue to be taught and applied in private homes and religious schools; and identity-based considerations in sentencing persist. Canada needs a Prime Minister more focused on net-Canada than net-zero. #cdnpoli

House of Commons seat numbers have long bothered some Albertans -- but as the province nears 6 million and likely 43 seats, it is time to work on other reforms. Canada does not have the bicameral regionally balanced Senate (like the USA)--in practice the Senate is a reviewer that allows the House to legislate. The guaranteed minimum seats of the original Confederation agreement now have minimal impact on votes in the House given the population and seat growth in provinces like Alberta and B.C. Messing with the House while not reforming the Senate to 3-E with regional balance, or devolving the Prime Minister power of appointments is mistaken. #cdnpoli

Perhaps the Prime Minister and Governor General could simply use Air Canada’s regular Business Class “Menu du Jour” and beverage list on government flights. It’s what his own Ministers get when they fly commercially. Security and dignity can be maintained with the caterer’s vetted staff in their facilities. Other countries successfully protect their heads of government while using far more modest catering standards. #cdnpoli

Worth repeating to Carney’s elbows-up anti-MAGA supporters; “Employing U.S. President Donald Trump’s marquee slogan, Prime Minister Mark Carney told a New York City business crowd on Thursday that “Canada strong will help make America great again.”

Important point by @MarcNixon And we need real data. The federal government should direct Statistics Canada to close the transparency gap so crime reporting and sentencing analysis are informed and evidence‑based. Canada lags peer countries on crime‑data reporting. We don’t publish regular breakdowns by immigration category or broad demographic group — unlike the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Australia. #Canada #CrimeStats

Still very relevant today: Young Canadians are not looking for Socialism or Conservatism — they want a way in. This is where the confusion begins. From the outside, it looks like a generation moving left even as it votes right. From the inside, it must feel like a generation searching. Read the full piece here: open.substack.com/pub/cfstee… #cdnpoli