Personally, I’m incredibly angry at the era of “progressive” politicians that used performative positions to dodge substantive policy elsewhere.
There is absolutely nothing fundamentally incompatible with even the most aggressively socially progressive positions, and also addressing other policy needs. But you need to actually do both! When voters ask you hard questions on other policies, drowning them out by yelling “we’re progressive!” ends up where we are now, with socially progressive policies discredited and still stuck with the hard questions they were sacrificed to avoid addressing
100%. First term Trump response is the exact correct characterization.
In favour of Gould it is probably a blessing for her to not be in this Cabinet - it offers enough distance if we come back to a world in a few years where the infinite progress pathway is back on the table. Or, much more likely, and in line with your comments on the purpose of the Liberals - if she can learn from this, shift and align herself to what the electorate does want, she doesn't have to be tied to the Carney version of the party if it fails.
I agree with you also. After debate … I felt she was totally unqualified. I was listening to power and politics minute ago and David Cochran was just obnoxious with his interview of bill blair…re media coverage again you are correct.
Thanks for this frank assessment. I kept wondering why I couldn't get excited about Gould and you've hit on all the reasons. I found myself tuning out whenever Gould was speaking...because I'd heard it all before, and I guess I expected something new and different from the youngest of the candidates. There was something slightly snippy and entitled about her. I doubt she'd have been happy in Carney's cabinet -- she's got some growing up to do.
I take issue with your referencing Christy Clark as Liberal or Centerist she's neither never has been she far right conservative at best and let's Talk about that disaster of a Minister Kamel Khera who can't even pass a smell test for hardworking or effective.... seriously why is she still in Cabinet? She was a failure in her last Cabinet position... seriously since when does doing videos about car theft have anything to do with Disability diversity & inclusion or Employment??
I think it is true that pragmatism is more highly valued than progressivism among Liberals and Canadians generally. Getting shit done is the ultimate litmus test. Mackenzie King, Pearson, and PET were all great at doing what could get done (and stealing ideas from other parties as well if they made sense). The more ideological, the less successful. Ultimately this is what is going to win the day for Carney. His "I am a pragmatist" resonates with many voters who would not call themselves "Liberals" (as in party members), and that is the secret to winning.
That said, I liked Gould's ability to communicate--if she sticks and mellows a bit she could be a leader in the future.
Hard disagree. It was a leadership race for Liberal party and who would be best to go head-to-head against the T regime; not on Karina Gould policy ideas. They were united for Carney to be leader.
Gould will help bring 3rd party voters into the fold for the Federal election who will better be able to stomach voting strategically if they’ve been consistently NDP or Green. Look at the US, what is sticking NOW? Working people messages, affordability issues, health & housing. Social issues. REFORM. Not Status quo.
Evan, since you accuse Gould of being a pure progressive ideologue, I am curious as to what you think of her views of increasing military spending sooner and creating a foreign intelligence-collection agency. You seemed to caricature somewhat what she actually campaigned on, portraying her as something of a Trudeau loyalist where she joined the party long before he was leader.
Also, you completely omit that she was distinct from Freeland and Carney for talking about making policy conventions relevant to the party again. You have acknowledged that the 2016 constitutional reforms were something of a disaster for the LPC, but she obviously understands that better than Carney does. (And few people in the party can propose constitutional amendments beyond the Leader.)
Karina Gould is a good example of “just not ready”. And I don’t mean this in a mean way. It was a surprise she decided to run for the leadership, but I think the decision to run was rushed. She clearly had not thought about her positions and it resulted in an incoherent mess.
Now, she a great communicator. After an election I believe there will be an opportunity to take on a larger role again.
I loved this column and while everything JT stands for really matched my views, you are absolutely right: the Liberal party exists to block the monstrous Conservatives!
I like Karina but again, I realize now that’s not what a lot of people care about - maybe one day…
The great error of the Trudeau years was to seriously misjudge the role of government. Instead of managing policy to benefit Canadians, they prioritized guiding Canadians' opinions to a particular moral or ideological position. We may accept that role from churches, newspaper editorials or even late night talk show hosts. But if we accept that democratically elected governments should not only respect, but also defend individual freedom, using taxpayers dollars to promote particular ideological positions should not be acceptable. The government has no place in the bedroom (to quote Trudeau pere), equally it has no place in the editorial page! Manage the economy, protect the environment, deliver social services including health care, ensure stability and the common defence. Most of the rest is excess baggage!
I am fucking all for this. I saw a post last week that spoke from the progressive wing and were mad Carney won. They exact people who need to give their heads a shake. Vote NDP with the rest of your hardcore socialist people and see where that lands you. Tired of the Gould types.
Hi Evan. A couple of points. An interesting part of what you said is that the goal or purpose of the Liberal Party is to keep the conservative party from forming government. I am sure you would also have Conservative alignment in that their goal is to win to keep the Liberals at bay. I'm not naive here, but it is telling that politicians on both sides seem to view it as more important to win, than to have and advance a vision for the country.
The second point would be that Ms Goulds campaign can be judged a success or failure only based on the true objective. If her true objective was to win the leadership than it was a failure. But I doubt that was the true objective. She would have known going in that she would not be a serious contender.
Trudeau was at best performative progressive while actually doing very little. It’s an incredibly complex topic that challenges status quo behaviours reinforced for generations, so Trudeau was massively out of his depth but his ego could not see that. His inauthenticity eventually caught up to him and the progressive base had enough of him to stay home or back NDP. Worst still is it gave the corporate conservative media ammunition to claim Canada has had enough of woke and it’s time to lurch right. And you,re joining in. A real asshole you are. Unsubscribing.
Personally, I’m incredibly angry at the era of “progressive” politicians that used performative positions to dodge substantive policy elsewhere.
There is absolutely nothing fundamentally incompatible with even the most aggressively socially progressive positions, and also addressing other policy needs. But you need to actually do both! When voters ask you hard questions on other policies, drowning them out by yelling “we’re progressive!” ends up where we are now, with socially progressive policies discredited and still stuck with the hard questions they were sacrificed to avoid addressing
100%. First term Trump response is the exact correct characterization.
In favour of Gould it is probably a blessing for her to not be in this Cabinet - it offers enough distance if we come back to a world in a few years where the infinite progress pathway is back on the table. Or, much more likely, and in line with your comments on the purpose of the Liberals - if she can learn from this, shift and align herself to what the electorate does want, she doesn't have to be tied to the Carney version of the party if it fails.
I agree with you also. After debate … I felt she was totally unqualified. I was listening to power and politics minute ago and David Cochran was just obnoxious with his interview of bill blair…re media coverage again you are correct.
Thanks for this frank assessment. I kept wondering why I couldn't get excited about Gould and you've hit on all the reasons. I found myself tuning out whenever Gould was speaking...because I'd heard it all before, and I guess I expected something new and different from the youngest of the candidates. There was something slightly snippy and entitled about her. I doubt she'd have been happy in Carney's cabinet -- she's got some growing up to do.
I take issue with your referencing Christy Clark as Liberal or Centerist she's neither never has been she far right conservative at best and let's Talk about that disaster of a Minister Kamel Khera who can't even pass a smell test for hardworking or effective.... seriously why is she still in Cabinet? She was a failure in her last Cabinet position... seriously since when does doing videos about car theft have anything to do with Disability diversity & inclusion or Employment??
“Christy Clark is Far Right Conservative” 😂
I think it is true that pragmatism is more highly valued than progressivism among Liberals and Canadians generally. Getting shit done is the ultimate litmus test. Mackenzie King, Pearson, and PET were all great at doing what could get done (and stealing ideas from other parties as well if they made sense). The more ideological, the less successful. Ultimately this is what is going to win the day for Carney. His "I am a pragmatist" resonates with many voters who would not call themselves "Liberals" (as in party members), and that is the secret to winning.
That said, I liked Gould's ability to communicate--if she sticks and mellows a bit she could be a leader in the future.
The truth doesn't have to be mean.
It's becoming clearer by the day that "mean" is just stupid.
Hard disagree. It was a leadership race for Liberal party and who would be best to go head-to-head against the T regime; not on Karina Gould policy ideas. They were united for Carney to be leader.
Gould will help bring 3rd party voters into the fold for the Federal election who will better be able to stomach voting strategically if they’ve been consistently NDP or Green. Look at the US, what is sticking NOW? Working people messages, affordability issues, health & housing. Social issues. REFORM. Not Status quo.
Evan, since you accuse Gould of being a pure progressive ideologue, I am curious as to what you think of her views of increasing military spending sooner and creating a foreign intelligence-collection agency. You seemed to caricature somewhat what she actually campaigned on, portraying her as something of a Trudeau loyalist where she joined the party long before he was leader.
Also, you completely omit that she was distinct from Freeland and Carney for talking about making policy conventions relevant to the party again. You have acknowledged that the 2016 constitutional reforms were something of a disaster for the LPC, but she obviously understands that better than Carney does. (And few people in the party can propose constitutional amendments beyond the Leader.)
Karina Gould is a good example of “just not ready”. And I don’t mean this in a mean way. It was a surprise she decided to run for the leadership, but I think the decision to run was rushed. She clearly had not thought about her positions and it resulted in an incoherent mess.
Now, she a great communicator. After an election I believe there will be an opportunity to take on a larger role again.
I loved this column and while everything JT stands for really matched my views, you are absolutely right: the Liberal party exists to block the monstrous Conservatives!
I like Karina but again, I realize now that’s not what a lot of people care about - maybe one day…
Super pumped for a Liberal majority 🤞🏼
The great error of the Trudeau years was to seriously misjudge the role of government. Instead of managing policy to benefit Canadians, they prioritized guiding Canadians' opinions to a particular moral or ideological position. We may accept that role from churches, newspaper editorials or even late night talk show hosts. But if we accept that democratically elected governments should not only respect, but also defend individual freedom, using taxpayers dollars to promote particular ideological positions should not be acceptable. The government has no place in the bedroom (to quote Trudeau pere), equally it has no place in the editorial page! Manage the economy, protect the environment, deliver social services including health care, ensure stability and the common defence. Most of the rest is excess baggage!
I am fucking all for this. I saw a post last week that spoke from the progressive wing and were mad Carney won. They exact people who need to give their heads a shake. Vote NDP with the rest of your hardcore socialist people and see where that lands you. Tired of the Gould types.
Hi Evan. A couple of points. An interesting part of what you said is that the goal or purpose of the Liberal Party is to keep the conservative party from forming government. I am sure you would also have Conservative alignment in that their goal is to win to keep the Liberals at bay. I'm not naive here, but it is telling that politicians on both sides seem to view it as more important to win, than to have and advance a vision for the country.
The second point would be that Ms Goulds campaign can be judged a success or failure only based on the true objective. If her true objective was to win the leadership than it was a failure. But I doubt that was the true objective. She would have known going in that she would not be a serious contender.
Trudeau was at best performative progressive while actually doing very little. It’s an incredibly complex topic that challenges status quo behaviours reinforced for generations, so Trudeau was massively out of his depth but his ego could not see that. His inauthenticity eventually caught up to him and the progressive base had enough of him to stay home or back NDP. Worst still is it gave the corporate conservative media ammunition to claim Canada has had enough of woke and it’s time to lurch right. And you,re joining in. A real asshole you are. Unsubscribing.
Good call on Gould although I think 350 grand was a good deal for getting name recognition.
You referenced her relative to Trumps first term.. did you mean Trudeaus first term?