LILLEY: Mark Carney echoes Pierre Poilievre’s sentiments, but we need real change

The Prime Minister is maintaining all of Justin Trudeau’s existing policies while attempting to project an image of commitment to significant national projects.

As I listened to Prime Minister Mark Carney outline his new strategy for developing Canada on Friday, it became evident that Pierre Poilievre had won the debate, even if Carney emerged victorious in the election.

Carney remarked that Canada, once known for its ability to construct major projects, has faced increasing challenges in doing so in recent decades.

Anyone who has followed Poilievre over the past few years would easily recognize many of the initiatives Carney has proposed.

These weren’t merely campaign ideas that Carney adopted from Poilievre; they were concepts Poilievre had repeatedly discussed while traveling across the country, rallying support before the election, all while Justin Trudeau was still in office.

For instance, the idea of allowing Canadians to work wherever they choose in the country was a key point Poilievre advocated for, applicable to both tradespeople and professionals.

He also pushed for eliminating bureaucratic obstacles that hinder the movement of goods and services across Canada—another long-standing proposal of Poilievre’s.

These concepts were not merely reactions to the economic challenges posed by Donald Trump’s tariffs or his overhaul of the American economy and global trade. Instead, they formed the core of Poilievre’s vision to enhance personal economic freedom for Canadians and invigorate the sluggish Canadian economy.

It may provide little solace to the currently unseated Conservative Leader that his ideas are now being adopted by a party that once dismissed him when he raised these issues in Parliament.

Regardless of which party or leader advocates for them, these are the types of ideas we urgently need.

The latest unemployment figures reflect a declining economy, with the national rate at 7%. In Ontario, it stands at 7.9%, and in Toronto, it reaches 9.1%. Alberta’s unemployment rate is above the national average at 7.4%, with both Edmonton (7.3%) and Calgary (7.8%) also exceeding that average.

“We’re facing an economic crisis,” Carney accurately stated during his press conference on Parliament Hill.

The Prime Minister then mentioned the unjustified and illegal tariffs Canada is dealing with before shifting to the need for domestic construction. He emphasized the advantages of reducing barriers to facilitate trade with the U.S. rather than among ourselves.

“This will enable more goods and services to be transported, sold, and purchased across our nation without restrictions, creating new opportunities for Canadian businesses and lowering costs for consumers,” he explained.

This should have been Canada’s direction all along, but for a…

Video Transcript:

if it isn’t the most Canadian thing to ever happen in politics mark Carney just became prime minister by essentially photocopying Pierre Pouver’s homework and slapping his own name on it i’m not even kidding this is like watching your younger sibling steal your science project and somehow win first place at a science fair while you’re stuck in detention welcome back to Canadian Bulletin where we break down the political drama faster than you can say sorry a So here’s what happened mark Connie stood up on Parliament Hill this Friday and delivered what he called his new plan to start building Canada but here’s the kicker literally everything he said sounded like Pierre Pouver had been whispering sweet policy nothings in his ear for the past 3 years we’re talking about a political plot twist so obvious even a Tim Horton’s double double couldn’t wake up the pundits who missed it carney opened with this gem canada is a country that used to build big things but in recent decades it become too difficult to build in this country now if you’ve been following Canadian politics for longer than a hockey period you know that Pierre Pouver has been saying this exact thing at every rally every press conference and probably every family barbecue for years the man turned bureaucratic red tape into his personal catchphrase faster than Drake turned 6ix9ine into a brand but here’s where it gets juicy these aren’t just random policy ideas that Carney magically discovered while sipping his morning coffee and reading the Globe and Mail these are policies that Pouver has been championing since before Justin Trudeau started growing his current beard we’re talking about letting Canadians work anywhere in the country without jumping through more hoops than a circus performer cutting red tape that makes interprovincial trade more complicated than assembling IKEA furniture and basically giving Canadians the economic freedom to you know actually prosper the irony here is thicker than maple syrup on a cold February morning for years whenever poor stood up in a House of Commons to propose these exact ideas the liberals would roll their eyes so hard they probably needed chiropractic adjustments they dismiss him faster than a hockey ref calling a bogus penalty but now now these same ideas are suddenly the cornerstone of Canada’s economic salvation plan it’s like watching someone mock your outfit all day and then show up to the party wearing the exact same thing and speaking of economic salvation let’s talk about why we desperately need it canada’s unemployment numbers are reading like a horror story right now the national rate is sitting at 7% but that’s just the appetizer ontario’s unemployment rate is pushing 8% and if you’re in Toronto you’re looking at over 9% unemployment that’s not just concerning that’s time to panic territory even Alberta our economic powerhouse is struggling with unemployment rates above the national average carney himself admitted we’re in an economic crisis which is probably the most honest thing Canadian politician has said since someone admitted they actually do put pineapple on pizza but here’s where the comedy and tragedy collide like a Zamboni and a hockey player while Carney is out there talking about building big projects and unleashing Canada’s economic potential he’s keeping every single policy that got us into this mess in the first place it’s like saying you want to run a marathon while wearing concrete boots the West Coast tanker ban still there the emissions cap on oil and gas yep still choking the industry the industrial carbon tax that been crushing businesses oh that’s staying too and don’t even get me started on Bill C69 which has been killing natural resource projects faster than Canadian winter kills your car battery this is where Connie’s strategy becomes more confusing than trying to explain the offside rule to someone who’s never watched hockey he’s essentially trying to stand on both sides of the same road without getting hit by traffic on one side he’s promising to build big projects and unleash economic growth on the other side is keeping all the policies that make building those project about as easy as teaching a moose to tap dance it’s political gymnastics at its finest and frankly it’s exhausting to watch connie wants to sound like Piva without actually being poua he wants the economic growth without removing the barriers to that growth he wants to eat his cake and have it too but has forgotten that you can’t bake a cake if you banned all the ingredients the really painful part pierre Pouver is probably watching this from his currently seatless position thinking i’ve been saying this for 3 years and now you’re the prime minister implementing my ideas while I’m stuck on the sidelines it’s like watching someone else get credit for your group project after you did all the work cold Comfort doesn’t even begin to cover it but here’s what’s really happening behind the political theater carnie is trying to thread the needle between two completely incompatible positions he wants to keep the environmental lobby happy by maintaining all of Trudeau’s restrictive policies while simultaneously promising the business community and everyday Canadians that he’ll unleash economic growth it’s like promising to go on a diet while keeping your kitchen stock with nothing but donuts and beer the fundamental problem is that you can’t build big projects when you created a regulatory environment that makes building anything a bureaucratic nightmare you can’t boost the economy while maintaining policies that actively hamper economic activity and you definitely can’t reduce unemployment while keeping in place the very policies that are driving businesses away and preventing new ones from starting what we’re witnessing is a masterclass in political contradiction kani has Poua’s words but he doesn’t have Poua’s conviction he has borrowed the rhetoric without embracing the reality that implementing these ideas requires actually dismantling the barriers that prevent them from working it’s like trying to drive a car with a parking brake on and wondering why you’re not going anywhere fast the unemployment numbers tell the real story here when Toronto’s unemployment rate is pushing double digits when Alberta’s energy sector is struggling despite global demand when our interprovincial trade is more complicated than international trade you know the system is fundamentally broken these aren’t just statistics they are real Canadians who can’t find work real families struggling to make ends meet real communities watching their economic opportunities disappear faster than snow in April carney talks about facing unjustified and illegal tariffs from the United States and is not wrong but here’s the thing we’ve been imposing our own version of tariffs on ourselves for years through bureaucratic red tape regulatory overkill and policies that make it easy to trade with Americans and with other Canadians we’ve been our own worst enemy and now we’re surprised that our economy is struggling the solution isn’t rocket science and poa figured that out years ago remove the barriers cut the red tape let Canadians work where they want to wake let businesses operate without jumping through regulatory hoops that would make a circus performer dizzy and watch the economy actually grow it’s not complicated it just requires a political will to actually do it but Carney’s approach suggests he either doesn’t understand his fundamental reality or is too politically constrained to act on it he’s trying to satisfy everyone and will likely end up satisfying no one the environmental groups won’t be happy because it’s talking about building big projects the business community won’t be happy because it’s keeping the policies that prevent those project from actually happening and ordinary Canadians will continue to struggle with high unemployment and limited opportunities because the underlying problems remain unchanged this is where the rubber meets the road or in this case where the policy meets the pavement words are cheap especially in politics what matters is action and so far all we’ve seen from Carney is a lot of talk about building while maintaining every policy that prevents building it’s like announcing you’re going to climb Mount Everest while refusing to remove the ankle weights the really frustrating part is that Canada has incredible potential we have the resources the talent and the geographic advantages to be an economic powerhouse but we’ve spent years tying ourselves up in regulatory red tape like a Christmas present wrap by someone who’s had too much eggnog we’ve made it harder to build in Canada than almost anywhere else in the developed world and then we wonder why our economy is struggling so here we are watching a prime minister implement his predecessor’s opponent’s policies while keeping his predecessors restrictions in place it’s political theater at its most absurd and unfortunately ordinary Canadians are the ones paying the price for this performance until Connie decides whether he actually wants to build Canada or just talk about building Canada we’re stuck in this strange limbo where the rhetoric sounds promising but the reality remains disappointing the clock is ticking the unemployment numbers are climbing and Canadians are waiting for action not just words whether Carney’s business acumen can overcome his political constraints remains to be seen but one thing’s for sure Pierre Pouya must be watching this whole thing thinking he should have charged royalty for his ideas what do you think is Carnie actually going to follow through on these poo inspired policies or are we just getting another round of political theater drop your thoughts in the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe to Canadian Bulletin for more daily updates on the political circus that is Canadian politics we’ll keep breaking down the drama so you don’t have to wade through the spin yourself until next time keep your expectations low and your sense of humor high