7 Comments
User's avatar
Andrew Koster's avatar

My major concern with Carney is the seemingly unbridled enthusiasm for energy projects. I understand the need to rely less on the US as they slide into authoritarianism and perhaps part of it is trying to keep Smith from opening her trap ( I understand Mission Impossible has hit the screens). But where are the announcements on renewables? We can't meet our climate obligations as it is. Claiming that the stuff that comes out of Alberta isn't as dirty as other countries' stuff isn't nearly good enough. Our stuff isn't virtuous. It still contributes to climate change.

Expand full comment
Avril Orloff's avatar

I so appreciate good, thoughtful, critical* analysis like this. (*as in “employing critical thinking” vs “merely oppositional”). Thank you.

Expand full comment
Joanne Pettis's avatar

I think Carney has great potential. I also think he’s needs to get a functioning PMO. Parliament is not Wall Street so he needs a strong organization around him so he can do his thing.

Expand full comment
Cameron D's avatar

IMO the Shannaplan should have ended and Core 4 broken up after the Leafs blew a 3-1 series lead to the Habs.

Expand full comment
Greg Millard's avatar

I agree with you on Carney’s potential. There will, however, be huge systemic pressure to revert to established pathways. Government is a behemoth and path-dependent inertia a constant temptation (as Donald Savoie has spent 30 years relentlessly documenting). This is where Carney’s inexperience is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it makes him less beholden to those established pathways. On the other, he may not fully understand what he’s dealing with and therefore become absorbed, or neutralized, by the blob. I suspect the results will be mixed: big moves on some files, inability to move the levers on others.

Expand full comment
Robert Burns McDonald's avatar

Why stop at criticizing Brendan Shanahan? The real villain of the piece, I suspect, is Gary Bettman and his team of cut-throat capitalists on the board of the NHL. They have been pushing the expansion of the league into the Sunbelt for years. It has become ludicrous; if it continues, I fully expect to wake up someday to a Stanley Cup between Mexico City and Buenos Aires!

Expand full comment
Judy Hudson's avatar

Is he a wolf in sheep's clothing? Does he support Ford's aquiences to Trump, "Fortress Am-Can"? Why is he in discussion about the orange dome plan? Just being polite? Waiting and watching.

Expand full comment