If you are reading this, are you part of a dying breed?
How are we to make sense of recent elections here and in the U.S.? Down there, Kamala Harris looked set to win, yet lost all key swing states. According to most mainstream media (MSM) reports, it shouldn't have happened.
Here, Mark Carney seemed headed for a strong majority but lost the youth vote to Conservatives. (Just 10 years ago, the Trudeau Liberals swept it.) The NDP vapourized. The NDP. For about a century they've been an almost automatic go-to for youth. Adolescence could've been called your NDP phase.
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Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Mark Carney says sacrifice is necessary to pay for defence spending. So what will Canadians be asked to do?
Mark Carney 's bold new plan to increase Canada's defence spending comes with two price tags. The prime minister's announcement was clear on one of them: more than $9 billion will be injected into military spending this year alone, and increases in the years after. The other price — 'sacrifice' — got a mention from Carney, but little more by way of detail. Federal Politics Canada plans huge boost in defence spending to hit NATO target by year's end, Carney says Prime Minister Mark Carney tore up Canada's timelines for boosted military spending on Monday 'None of these goals will come easily or quickly,' Carney said, listing the ways in which a stronger defence budget fits into his larger plans to make Canada a bigger, bolder, more independent nation. 'All will require ambition, collaboration and yes, on occasion, sacrifice.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Carney was asked at a news conference later what he meant by this. Did it mean, for instance, that all those dollars for defence would come ahead of health-care spending? This is where the prime minister got vague. He said: 'There's no true security without economic strength, and this is true for defence and security. It's true for our social programs as well. We can't redistribute what we don't have.' Carney, by his own admission, is still learning how to be a politician, but on this and in other areas, he is proving to be a quick study. It is very hard for politicians to ask citizens to make sacrifices. We saw this during the COVID pandemic, when governments and public-health authorities asked an awful lot of the citizens, whether that was mandatory vaccines, wearing a mask, or submitting to lockdowns for weeks and months on end. Canadians were remarkably good about these demands on them, by and large, but there's also no question that it took its toll on them too. The convoy protest was the most outward expression of the pent-up frustration among some of the population, but experts are also drawing some straight lines between the pandemic restrictions and the rising resistance to vaccines of other types too, such as measles. Star Columnists Opinion Andrew Phillips: Mark Carney takes a risk by choosing guns over butter The prime minister announced a 17 per cent hike in military spending on Monday. 'It will be a This is all to say that Carney is probably wise to speak in only general terms of what trade-offs the government — and Canadians — will have to make to turn Canada into a serious, fighting force. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Earlier this year, Kevin Page, the former parliamentary budget officer, laid out for Global News what could be required to bring Canada's defence spending up to the target of two per cent of gross domestic product — which Carney said on Monday would now happen by the end of this fiscal year. Page didn't sugar-coat it. He said it would require either big spending cuts, or a budget deficit or a tax hike, or some combination of these measures. Raising the GST by one percentage point, Page offered as an example, would bring an extra $10 billion — that's just slightly more than Carney is promising to give defence this year. That last option would be political poison in a time when Canadians are reeling from affordability challenges and the havoc that Donald Trump's tariffs are wreaking on the economy. Besides, a government that just cut the carbon levy because of its unpopularity, which just received unanimous support for tax-cut measures last week, is unlikely to turn around and ask Canadians to pay more GST. Opinion Althia Raj: Mark Carney can't be allowed to ram through his plan to build big Bill C-5 has been quickly panned by Indigenous groups, human rights organizations, and There's the option of increasing taxes only on the wealthy, but Carney is in the midst of building back Liberals' standing with business and corporate Canada, which saw itself — rightly or wrongly — as under siege from Justin Trudeau's government. Assuming that running a deficit is also not on brand with Carney's fiscal-manager reputation, thus, not on at all, that leaves this government looking for big savings. Everyone always thinks this is a good idea, right up until their services or benefits or jobs get cut. As former PM Jean Chrétien liked to say, everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. None of this is to pour cold water on the idea of this big, bold boost in Canada's defence ambitions. Carney's speech on Monday was eloquent, even occasionally poetic, on this score. One of my favourite lines: 'In a darker, more competitive world, Canadian leadership will be defined not just by the strength of our values, but also by the value of our strength.' The announcement too, is buying the Liberals a lot of good words from unaccustomed places: the defence community and Conservatives. It will also give Carney and Canada some added heft at this weekend's G-7 meeting, which this country is hosting in Kananaskis, AB. Federal Politics Analysis Mark Carney revives tough talk about America and warns 'a new imperialism threatens' A Canadian government official told the Star that it is 'difficult to say whether or not we'll The prime minister is, then, to borrow from his own phrase, seeing some immediate value for his strong words on defence. Where the value of that strength will be tested is in the cost — not just the $9 billion the government is promising to lay out this year, but in the as-yet unspecified 'sacrifice' it requires from Canadians. Politics Headlines Newsletter Get the latest news and unmatched insights in your inbox every evening Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Yes, I'd also like to receive customized content suggestions and promotional messages from the Star. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Politics Headlines Newsletter You're signed up! You'll start getting Politics Headlines in your inbox soon. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page.
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Canada invites Saudi Crown Prince to G7 summit
Canada has invited Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the Group of Seven summit in Alberta this month, an extension of hospitality to a kingdom Ottawa once shunned after the 2018 murder of a dissident journalist who criticized its rulers. A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the invitation and said there had been no response so far on whether Mr. bin Salman will attend the June 15-17 meeting in Kananaskis. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source, as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Mr. bin Salman is not the only leader Canada is inviting in spite of a strained bilateral relationship. Prime Minister Mark Carney is welcoming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi even though Ottawa has publicly accused his government of playing a role in the 2023 murder of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The G7 summit is being held just outside Calgary. Here's who will be there and what these meetings achieve Saudi Arabia and India are not members of the G7 but hosts of gatherings of this annual political and economic forum for top industrialized countries often invite other national leaders to join. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is also attending the summit in Alberta, as is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In 2018, Ottawa followed the United States in imposing sanctions on 17 Saudis for the slaying of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was murdered in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in October of that year when he entered to procure documents certifying a divorce. U.S. media, including the Washington Post, later reported that the CIA believes the Crown Prince ordered Mr. Khashoggi's killing – contradicting Riyadh's assertion that he was not involved in the murder. Canada's sanctions remain in place today. Canada and Saudi Arabia also suffered a major diplomatic rift for nearly five years starting in 2018 when Riyadh expelled Canada's ambassador after the department of Global Affairs and Chrystia Freeland, who was minister of foreign affairs at the time, publicly called for the immediate release of several imprisoned political activists in the kingdom. Riyadh also recalled its envoy, decrying what it said was 'blatant interference' in its internal affairs, and it froze new trade and investment with Canada. The Saudi embassy in Ottawa did not immediately return a request for comment on the invitation.
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Ex-cabinet minister says western separatism can fizzle out if Ottawa listens to grievances
Former federal Conservative cabinet minister Rona Ambrose says the secessionist sentiment in Alberta is an unwelcome source of uncertainty for investors — but it could fizzle out quickly if Ottawa handles it right. Ambrose, now deputy chair at TD Securities, said Tuesday there's a feeling of resentment in Alberta and in neighbouring Saskatchewan. "I think that it can dissipate quite quickly if some of these underlying issues around how the energy sector has been treated by Ottawa are dealt with," she told a panel discussion at the Global Energy Show. Prime Minister Mark Carney can't take those feelings lightly, she said. "We've had 10 years that have created a huge division, east-west, in between the federal and provincial governments. He's got to heal that," Ambrose said of environmental policies Carney's predecessor, Justin Trudeau, brought in. "And so decisions he makes are not just for the economic benefit of Canada, but it's for the benefit of national unity, which is the most important thing a prime minister should always have top of mind." Ambrose said outreach and trust-building is paramount and the federal-provincial relationship is "already better." The chief executive of one of Canada's biggest oil and gas companies said the complaints are valid even if the separatist talk isn't the most constructive way to go about expressing them. "The way this separatist movement has manifested itself is really rooted in some grievances that I think are real and have frustrated this region for a long period of time," Cenovus Energy chief executive Jon McKenzie told the panel. McKenzie told reporters on the sidelines of the conference he has not been hearing from investors about the separatist rumblings, and that he agrees the movement will "go away" if political leaders address the concerns. Separation talk ratcheted up since election Talk of Alberta going it alone or joining the United States has ratcheted up since the federal Liberals won a fourth term in office in April. In the province, where all but a few seats went Conservative blue, there is widespread discontent with federal environmental policies affecting the key oilpatch industry. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has introduced a bill that, if passed, would make it far easier for Albertans to launch referendums on various topics — including splitting from Canada. Last month, the top executive of another major Alberta company said mere talk of secession has already been hurting the investment climate. Atco Ltd. CEO Nancy Southern said Asian partners in a major hydrogen project indicated they won't make final investment decisions unless there is certainty around the issue. "There's just too many questions for them to be confident that they can move forward with large-scale investment decisions, and so I think the separatist discussion is very unhelpful and not constructive to Alberta," Southern said in a May interview. Questions include how an independent Alberta would get its products to coastal ports, what kind of trade deals it would have with its neighbours, what currency it would use and how stable the economy would be. Southern said she understands Albertans' frustration with the federal government. "We have had the short end of the stick on many occasions as a result of new regulations and legislation and rule of law," Southern said.
