Commentary

Our new government

May 8, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The votes are in, and the citizens have returned a Liberal government to Ottawa.

This is not what nearly half the population wanted according to the votes that were cast during the election, but that’s democracy.

It was one of the most stunning comebacks in Canadian politics over the past few decades.

Only a few months ago, Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives had a big lead according to the polls.

For whatever reason, many people believed that Carney was the best man for the job.

Carney has a solid financial background – of that, there is no doubt. He is well-educated.

He worked at an investment bank, Goldman Sachs, then as the Governor of the Bank of Canada where he was credited for playing a major role in helping Canada avoid the worst impacts of the 2008 financial crisis.

He then went on to become the Governor of the Bank of England – the first non-Briton to be appointed to the role since 1694.

However, he has no political experience. Prior to the federal election, he had never been elected to office and was not sitting in the House of Commons at the time of his appointment to the position of Prime Minister.

Being good with money doesn’t mean you’re going to be good with everything else that goes along with running a country.

I’ve met people who were geniuses at their job, both in finance as well as in the computer industry, but try sending them out to Tim Horton’s for a coffee run and it’s a disaster. 

Carney has already admitted, in a roundabout way, that the Liberal government of the last few years has made some major mistakes.

He said he plans to ‘unite’ the country. Does that mean the former Liberal government fragmented the country? Well, yes they did.

He said he plans to increase military spending and buy new submarines. That certainly would be welcome in military circles after the tough time they went through during the Trudeau era.

If you have a military, you have to support them – otherwise, people get killed.

Carney has a rather ambitious house-building plan in the works. He plans to build 500,000 houses per year.

However, he does not address why we have a housing shortage in the first place – and that was a failure of the previous Liberal government.

If you think developers are going to start selling houses for less just because they are allowed to build more, you’re mistaken. Housing prices are not going to go down.

Carney is also in favour of building houses closer together, allowing more high-rise buildings, and eliminating parking minimums.

That’s an easy thing to say from a guy who doesn’t have to live jammed on top of his neighbour and apparently has never driven a car.

Turning our cities into a Moscow-type situation where everyone lives in run-down apartments, is not a good thing. 

As for standing up to Donald Trump, don’t forget Carney spent several years in the U.S. as a student, rather than going to a Canadian University, then spent 13 years working at an American Bank headquartered in New York.

During that time, I’m sure he made many American business allies. That’s something to consider.

Here’s the thing to remember when it comes to politicians.

They don’t work only for the people who voted for them or those who contributed to their campaign to make it a success.

They work for all the constituents in their riding.

If you have a problem with what the government is doing or have a problem with a policy, make it known.

There is nothing to stop you from having your voice heard. You can either call you’re MP’s office or send an e-mail. If you have friends who are equally concerned about the same issue, have them call as well.

You’re MP will take notice when groups of people start sending in correspondence about a particular issue.

The Trudeau era policies created a lot of issues with many people across the country. Unfortunately for them, they did not get the mandate they wanted in this election.

But again, that’s democracy.

Hopefully, the new PM will follow through on his policies. We will know in a couple of years whether he was honest about his campaign promises.

In the meantime, jamming thousands of people into a square mile and calling it ‘housing’ is still not a solution.

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