Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vows he is staying to do combat in the next federal election. Pictured: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo Credit: Justin Trudeau/X.
For Canadians not mesmerized by the ongoing political soap opera south of the border, this week proved very entertaining in Canada’s national political theatre. Political leaders were jostling with one another, trash-talking and showboating for media headlines – all in an effort to provide their parties with momentum as MPs return to Parliament on Monday. If this past week is any indication of what Canadians may expect of their elected representatives, the Ottawa scene is sure to be an unruly parliamentarian mosh pit.
Like the dismembered knight taunting his victorious opponent in that infamous Monty Python skit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vows he is staying to do combat in the next federal election. At the Liberal caucus retreat this week he assured his MPs that he is confident the Liberals’ fortunes will improve. Trudeau made these comments even as he received news that the party’s national campaign director Jeremy Broadhurst had tendered his resignation. Having played a leading role in all Liberal campaigns since 2015, Broadhurst is rumoured to have told Trudeau he did not believe the Liberals would be able to win this next contest – so he was slipping away to spend more time with his family.
While at their retreat, the Liberal caucus also heard the breaking news that five of the most prominent chiefs of staff has skulked from Parliament Hill’s precinct. Two who have called it quits include the chief of staff for foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly and the chief for environment minister Stephen Guilbeault.
Still, Trudeau displayed a game face, and he was last heard saying, “I can’t wait to continue getting into it this fall with Pierre Poilievre… The reality is, all of us are focused on what to do to make sure that Canadians are being supported, are feeling confident about the future.” His cheer leading sidekick, minister Joly, also chimed in saying, “Canadians don’t want an election. They just want us to do the job. They just want us to govern – and that’s what we’re doing, we’re governing…”
It was a surreal display of confidence and bravado at the Liberal’s Nanaimo BC retreat, as it came on the heels of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh ending the Liberal-NDP parliamentary deal that gave the Liberals a free pass in office since their minority election win in 2021. Singh was stern in delivering the news: “Today I notified the Prime Minister that I have ripped up the supply-and-confidence agreement. The fact is, the Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people. They cannot be changed, they cannot restore the hope, they cannot stop the Conservatives. But we can.”
Singh has confided with the national press corps that he is “not afraid” to defeat the Liberals and go to the polls. The party issued a press release underlining “the NDP is ready for an election, and voting non-confidence will be on the table with each and every confidence measure.”
In response to this bravado, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre telecasted, “Conservatives will put forward a non-confidence motion at the earliest possible opportunity.” Poilievre than taunted the NDP Leader to topple the government, “Jagmeet Singh claims he has torn up the supply and confidence agreement. That means he has to vote non-confidence to trigger a carbon tax election. I am asking him to answer the question he has dodged 31 times: Will you vote non-confidence to trigger a carbon tax election at the earliest possible time, yes or no? It is put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
Channeling his most defiant look, Singh retorted, “I say directly to Pierre Poilievre, I am not going to listen to you… Unlike Pierre Poilievre who wants to play games, we actually want to get things done.”
In concert with the Conservative-NDP dust up, the Bloc Quebecois (BQ) were making noise, letting it be known that they are prepared to support the Trudeau Liberals in exchange for a series of favours for Quebec. In an Ottawa media scrum, the BQ called the NDP’s abandonment of their deal with the Liberals as “a window of opportunity” for Quebecers.
Apparently, the sovereigntist party has drawn up a list of demands which the Liberals are now considering retaining control of parliament, sidestep any non-confidence votes, and extend their government to the scheduled election call in fall 2025. It has been reported that the BQ conditions include giving Quebec more power and money for immigration matters, increased funds for health care, and a promise to cut money for western oil companies. BQ Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet admitted, “Let there be no ambiguity here, we are not here to artificially extend the mandate of a Liberal government… We are here to work in the interests of Quebecers.”
This insulting salvo by the BQ prompted a terse response from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who reasoned, “The federal government does not have a mandate to bargain with Quebec separatists at the expense of Alberta, the West and the rest of the country. If the Liberals go down this path we need an election to be called immediately.”
Putting all this heightened political rhetoric aside, the biggest development in Canadian politics this past week is surely the announcement that Mark Carney is formally employed by the Liberals as an advisor to Trudeau, with the official title of “Chair of the Leader’s Task Force on Economic Growth.” It’s a new political position that entails consulting “with different stakeholders such as the business community and unions” and reporting back to “Trudeau and the party’s platform committee to prepare for the next election.”
The surprise announcement that Carney was riding into the fray on his white horse was met with great expectation by the Liberal Party faithful. The hero’s welcome was not heralded with any fanfare by those, political and otherwise, who saw an immediate issue with Carney’s multiple conflicts of interest. The Liberals asserted there were no conflict-of-interest disclosures necessary because the new advisor was developing policy for their political Party and not the government.
However, the Conservatives have made a formal request to address ethics concerns about Carney’s role and the various corporate interests he is currently engaged in. Conservative MP Michael Barrett points out that Carney’s resume “represents a web of conflicts to navigate.”
Consider that Mark Carney is the chair of Brookfield Asset Management and its investment group – a Canadian multinational company that is one of the world’s largest investment management companies with more than $750 billion (US) of assets worldwide. He is a member of the Global Advisory Board of PIMCO (an American global investment management firm) and is chair of private media and finance company Bloomberg LP. He is engaged with the boards of Harvard University, Rideau Hall Foundation, Bilderberg, Stripe, and sitting on the boards of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Hoffman Institute for Global Business and Society at INSEAD, Cultivo, as well as Senior Counsellor of the MacroAdvisory Partners, Advisor of the Watershed – and he also serves as the Chair of Chatham House, the Group of Thirty, and the Advisory Board Chair for Canada 2020. He is also currently a finance adviser to the British Prime Minister. But seriously, what possible conflict of interests could Carney have?
And much more significantly for Canadians, Mark Carney holds the position of the UN’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance with specific responsibilities of advancing the agendas of the UN and World Economic Forum (WEF). Until recently, he was also a colleague of Chrystia Freeland on the WEF’s Board of Trustees.
As a financial point man for globalist interests, Carney is acting in international circles as part-broker, part-croupier to actively manage the financing of the UN member countries’ energy transition. Therefore, it is not a stretch to believe Carney’s policy thrust with the Liberals will be more of the same: a doubling down on the decarbonizing of the Canadian economy, a further entrenchment of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards, and the increased subsidization of green programs.
It is not often mentioned, but Carney is author of a book Value(s): Building a Better World for All in which he makes the claim that western society is morally rotten, corrupted by capitalism, and this rot has resulted in a “climate emergency” that threatens life on earth. His answer to the global crisis is a mix of rigid controls on personal freedom, and the coercion of corporate and industry players to finance a global climate plan.
There are so many twisted subplots with the Liberal’s white knight. In a parliamentary committee this Spring, the Conservatives were cross-examining Carney and criticized him for his anti-oil, anti-pipeline stance in Canada, while his investment firm Brookfield was cashing in millions invested in oil projects and pipelines elsewhere.
In related finance news this week, the Brookfield corporation mused publicly at an investor meeting that it is considering moving its head office to New York, where its board has determined there is more opportunity to manage its book of business.
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
