Beware Pierre Poilievre’s “Common Sense” Revolution

‘And you can call it something silly like the Common Sense Super Plan and people will just eat it up, assuming they’re not paying attention’ Author: Andrew Scheer. Source: Flickr, Public Domain

During his marathon keynote, Poilievre mentioned common sense several times. The speech stretched so long it would have made Fidel Castro proud, so there was plenty of time to pontificate on the virtues of common sense, without filling in too many details, of course.

Contrasting the Conservative and Liberal parties, the blue-side leader noted he offered “A common-sense Conservative government that frees hardworking people to earn powerful paycheques that buy affordable food, gas and homes — in safe neighbourhoods.”

Later, Poilievre touted his “common sense” plan that “cuts waste and caps spending to bring down inflationary deficits and interest rates.” What was that again? What kind of plan? In case you’d forgotten, he returned to the chorus, adding “My common-sense plan is to have a new funding formula that links the number of federal dollars cities get for infrastructure to the number of houses they allow to be completed.”

The night before Poilievre’s speech, retired Canadian Forces members Michel and Barbara Maisonneuve did the Conservative leader’s dirty work for him in their speech to delegates, hammering on the “anti-woke” agenda that the brass seem to think the made-over Poilievre should leave to others. The Maisonneuves, when not frothing at the mouth while denouncing “wokeness,” were citing Poilievre’s common sense plans. |Read more https://www.davidmoscrop.com/p/beware-pierre-poilievres-common-sense|

#PierrePoilievre #AndrewScheer #cdnpoli #commonsense #politics #wokeness #vauge #empty #lacking

Nick Kadysh: Canada’s new gilded age

We need a Teddy Roosevelt to save us from the rings strangling our prosperity

Mark Twain, a product of the Gilded Age, is said to have quipped that “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” Much ink has been spilled over the past few years about what historical comparisons to make about Canada in the modern day. Are we living through the inflation crisis of the 70s? The housing crash of the 80s? Is it the Roaring Twenties, back again? These comparisons are important, because they inform the policy approach that government must take.

In Canada, as we suffer through rapidly slowing labour productivity and a major cost-of-living crisis, I think the correct comparison is clear: We are actually living through another Gilded Age. This period in U.S. history, stretching from roughly 1875-1900, brought great wealth from industrialization. Similarly, Canada had a brilliant run, gaining the benefit of the revolution in information technology. We avoided the recession of 2008 quite well. But just like U.S. at the end of the gilded age, the Canadian economy has grown stagnant with the weight of the accumulated vested interests created by our economic run.

Across the economic landscape, whole sectors are held captive by monopolistic entities. Oligopolies control our telecommunications, our food supply, our transportation networks. Entrenched labour interests hold vital ports hostage. NIMBY sentiment prevents infrastructure and housing construction. By the end of the gilded age these were known as “rings” — monopolistic consortia of capitalists and bankers that controlled coal, the railroads, all of the necessary elements of commerce.

It has become self-evident that Canada is truly under the control of our own modern-day rings. After all, we’re a country where the competition commissioner is punished for daring to intervene in the Rogers/Shaw merger. |Read more https://theline.substack.com/p/nick-kadysh-canadas-new-gilded-age|

#TheodpreRoosevelt #GildedAge #politics #Oligopolies #economy #stagnant