I don’t disagree with his faults- faults that make his legacy more mixed than it should be.
However, your analysis is heavily slanted by your rage and, frankly, leaves out a fair number of accomplishments that affect the overall picture.
These accomplishments include:
- two tax cuts- the 2015 rate cut and the 2019 increase in the basic personal amount;
- the fully funded increase to CPP- meaning people under 30 will have a much more secure retirement than my parents did- and reduces the deficit long term because fewer people will need the GIS;
- setting us on a path to 85-90% of our climate goals- altering the trajectory from getting further away from them;
- effectively responding to three epoch-altering crises that weren’t of his own making- Trump 1.0, COVID, and Trump 2.0.
These are in addition to the successes you’ve mentioned- CCB, child care, dental- and the smaller ones you didn’t- the GIS increases, the OAS increase, returning the retirement age to 65, legalizing cannabis, the CDB, the additional five weeks parental leave, actually setting a way to measure poverty (which we incredibly did not have before), recapitalizing the military, getting the feds back into housing after a more than 20 year absence.
While I agree that we need to focus on economic growth, don’t downplay distribution- the US is a great example of what happens when you don’t have a focus on distribution. After 20 years of focus on growth at the federal level, it was important to shift some focus on distribution.
Plus, he lifted 400k kids out of poverty.
His failures are manifest- you’ve mentioned some of them- and his flaws- the arrogance, the ethical lapses, the focus on performance over details, the desire to please everyone- are obvious. He overpromised and under delivered- the reverse of Chrétien’s rule.
Trudeau has definitely earned reasoned criticism. I get why people are disappointed in him.
That said, if you told me I could be Prime Minister and I would lift 400 000 children out of poverty, reduce costs for families, increase supports to seniors, strengthen the future retirements of those starting in their careers, and get us 85-90% of our way to our climate goals (after being on a path to never reach them), I would consider that time well spent.
Evan, would you care to back up your claim of “It was a wildly corrupt government, …”?
Can you point me to a single conviction of a government official during the Trudeau period? Or perhaps a single charge of fraud? It should not be that hard if the government was “wildly corrupt”, right?
Like it or not, immigration is a massive issue with many downstream impacts. I certainly hope Carney is much more aggressive - and vocally so - than we can even begin to imagine on this issue.
Thanks for acknowledging the carnage and not attempting to whitewash the stains. The bar left for Carney is so low as to be a tripping hazard. If Carney can avoid corruption and appoint by talent and not patronage, he should do just fine. There’s a lot to cleanup in Aisle 2 (and likely 3 and 4) that, if accomplished, will continue to suck the oxygen out of CPC arguments and convert those voters on the fence who couldn’t quite pull the trigger to swing to Carney.
You need to develop the backdrop of what is going on in the world. The Covid response was a lot better than it was in other places. Did you watch American news? Did you understand the global economic fallout from Covid? Inflation. Just a Canadian problem?
You are exhausted. Take a couple of weeks. Then you can jump on the PP train.
I wasn’t aware that the sole source contracting to WE did far greater damage than the loss of grants to deserving students.,Thanks but no thanks Pierre!
I really think it's too early to make pronouncements on the JT legacy. Given the time he was in office - when he was first elected, what he replaced, what he led the country through (pandemic and resulting economic impacts) and the shifting global picture, its likely very important to choose criteria important to this judgement and then ensure a similar comparator to predecessors. A time perspective is also required.
I am always confused on the immigration stuff so maybe someone here can help and explain for me. From what I've followed living in Alberta, Danielle Smith and Ford always complain that federal immigration caps are hurting their economy and they need more.
On the same hand their supporters and voting base always yell loudly blaming every problem in their life on immigration- yes I hear this daily living outside Edmonton.
We took in about 2 million temporary residents post-Covid, on top of our usual 300-400,000 immigrants.
Three types of temp:
Foreign Workers, because of pandemic-induced labour shortage, so companies and provinces pressured the fed govt to expand permits.
Foreign students: provinces increasingly rely on them to subsidize Canadian students and programs. Ontario took in 50% and also funds postsecondary educ the lowest per capita.
Refugees: we took in 300,000 Ukrainians in 2023.
The Lib govt has reduced immigrant level and will absorb/convert many of these temps to permanent-citizenship. Too costly to evict them and they now have valuable Canadian education and experience. Not as skilled, perhaps, as our immigrant point system. But it is what it is.
Ok, and I see Danielle Smith was yelling loudly about the federal government hampering Alberta economy by not allowing more immigration for Alberta even last year in 2024. Yet Conservative Albertans yell loudly that the Federal government has forced to many immigrants upon them and it's killing their economy and housing prices.
I believe J.T. Will be treated very well by historians but he didn’t have the political sense to know when his influence had run out . He stayed way too long and his ego left a weakened bench this is why he was so vilified! I am anxious for Carney to start but he has a monumental task ahead.
OK, I’ll bite. Mediocre relative to what? By the world’s standards, he symbolized, progressive, inclusive, multicultural, multilingual. What a good symbol to be.
I don’t disagree with his faults- faults that make his legacy more mixed than it should be.
However, your analysis is heavily slanted by your rage and, frankly, leaves out a fair number of accomplishments that affect the overall picture.
These accomplishments include:
- two tax cuts- the 2015 rate cut and the 2019 increase in the basic personal amount;
- the fully funded increase to CPP- meaning people under 30 will have a much more secure retirement than my parents did- and reduces the deficit long term because fewer people will need the GIS;
- setting us on a path to 85-90% of our climate goals- altering the trajectory from getting further away from them;
- effectively responding to three epoch-altering crises that weren’t of his own making- Trump 1.0, COVID, and Trump 2.0.
These are in addition to the successes you’ve mentioned- CCB, child care, dental- and the smaller ones you didn’t- the GIS increases, the OAS increase, returning the retirement age to 65, legalizing cannabis, the CDB, the additional five weeks parental leave, actually setting a way to measure poverty (which we incredibly did not have before), recapitalizing the military, getting the feds back into housing after a more than 20 year absence.
While I agree that we need to focus on economic growth, don’t downplay distribution- the US is a great example of what happens when you don’t have a focus on distribution. After 20 years of focus on growth at the federal level, it was important to shift some focus on distribution.
Plus, he lifted 400k kids out of poverty.
His failures are manifest- you’ve mentioned some of them- and his flaws- the arrogance, the ethical lapses, the focus on performance over details, the desire to please everyone- are obvious. He overpromised and under delivered- the reverse of Chrétien’s rule.
Trudeau has definitely earned reasoned criticism. I get why people are disappointed in him.
That said, if you told me I could be Prime Minister and I would lift 400 000 children out of poverty, reduce costs for families, increase supports to seniors, strengthen the future retirements of those starting in their careers, and get us 85-90% of our way to our climate goals (after being on a path to never reach them), I would consider that time well spent.
So well written, Alex.
Trudeau really was an eh PM. His accomplishments and blunders average him out.
Evan, would you care to back up your claim of “It was a wildly corrupt government, …”?
Can you point me to a single conviction of a government official during the Trudeau period? Or perhaps a single charge of fraud? It should not be that hard if the government was “wildly corrupt”, right?
Like it or not, immigration is a massive issue with many downstream impacts. I certainly hope Carney is much more aggressive - and vocally so - than we can even begin to imagine on this issue.
Evan- the Cons gained 5-10% in ON from the PPC.
They are pushing the narrative that they picked up NDP voters.
In some places, yes. And some brutal splits on the left helped.
But the Cons gained far more from the far right.
2021: almost 900,000 PPC
2025: 140,000
If PP or the Cons moderate, they will lose these MAGA nutters.
If they don't moderate, they will never grow.
(Will be so much fun watching Roman Bader, Kerry Diotte, and the hellscape video guy from Vancouver Island in Parliament.)
Looks bad for them either way.
Poilievre crawling to the safest seat in AB is just the beginning of his humiliation.
Thanks for acknowledging the carnage and not attempting to whitewash the stains. The bar left for Carney is so low as to be a tripping hazard. If Carney can avoid corruption and appoint by talent and not patronage, he should do just fine. There’s a lot to cleanup in Aisle 2 (and likely 3 and 4) that, if accomplished, will continue to suck the oxygen out of CPC arguments and convert those voters on the fence who couldn’t quite pull the trigger to swing to Carney.
You need to develop the backdrop of what is going on in the world. The Covid response was a lot better than it was in other places. Did you watch American news? Did you understand the global economic fallout from Covid? Inflation. Just a Canadian problem?
You are exhausted. Take a couple of weeks. Then you can jump on the PP train.
I wasn’t aware that the sole source contracting to WE did far greater damage than the loss of grants to deserving students.,Thanks but no thanks Pierre!
I really think it's too early to make pronouncements on the JT legacy. Given the time he was in office - when he was first elected, what he replaced, what he led the country through (pandemic and resulting economic impacts) and the shifting global picture, its likely very important to choose criteria important to this judgement and then ensure a similar comparator to predecessors. A time perspective is also required.
Like with most issues, most people don't have the accurate data and politicians rarely communicate clearly or honestly.
The simplest fact is that Canada desperately needs more immigrants: our falling birth rate cannot sustain our standard of living.
We need to compete to get the best skilled immigrants.
Lots of work to do better on this issue.
Try to inform your neighbours and de-escalate the hot emotional buttons that arise from insecurity and fear.
All these workers keep our farm and food supply system going as well as health care.
I am always confused on the immigration stuff so maybe someone here can help and explain for me. From what I've followed living in Alberta, Danielle Smith and Ford always complain that federal immigration caps are hurting their economy and they need more.
On the same hand their supporters and voting base always yell loudly blaming every problem in their life on immigration- yes I hear this daily living outside Edmonton.
Which one is it?
We took in about 2 million temporary residents post-Covid, on top of our usual 300-400,000 immigrants.
Three types of temp:
Foreign Workers, because of pandemic-induced labour shortage, so companies and provinces pressured the fed govt to expand permits.
Foreign students: provinces increasingly rely on them to subsidize Canadian students and programs. Ontario took in 50% and also funds postsecondary educ the lowest per capita.
Refugees: we took in 300,000 Ukrainians in 2023.
The Lib govt has reduced immigrant level and will absorb/convert many of these temps to permanent-citizenship. Too costly to evict them and they now have valuable Canadian education and experience. Not as skilled, perhaps, as our immigrant point system. But it is what it is.
Ok, and I see Danielle Smith was yelling loudly about the federal government hampering Alberta economy by not allowing more immigration for Alberta even last year in 2024. Yet Conservative Albertans yell loudly that the Federal government has forced to many immigrants upon them and it's killing their economy and housing prices.
So which one is it?
I believe J.T. Will be treated very well by historians but he didn’t have the political sense to know when his influence had run out . He stayed way too long and his ego left a weakened bench this is why he was so vilified! I am anxious for Carney to start but he has a monumental task ahead.
OK, I’ll bite. Mediocre relative to what? By the world’s standards, he symbolized, progressive, inclusive, multicultural, multilingual. What a good symbol to be.
Dear Evan, after melancholy this latest post is entirely upbeat!