First, Carney's National Corridor for Canada proposal is the kind of big-picture thinking that Liberals seem to do best.
Canada Just Checked Trump’s Ego: Carney’s Super-Corridor Sets Stage for a Global Power Shift Without AmericaNext, Carney is promising a national trade strategy, calling it "free trade by Canada Day":
The Maple Curtain Drops: Carney’s Corridor will turn Canada into a Global Superpower as America Watches Helplessly
...By trying to bully us, Trump only succeeded in awakening a sleeping giant north of the 49th. Canada’s answer? Build our own path to prosperity and power, no permission from Washington needed.
Carney’s masterstroke is a National Energy/Shipping/Travel/Digital Corridor, a coast-to-coast-to-Arctic strategy to unite the country like never before.
This isn’t just a pipeline or a highway—it’s everything. Imagine a multimodal lifeline spanning 7,000+ km—road, rail, pipelines, power lines, fiber-optic cables—all in one corridor. That’s the vision. The concept has been called a “visionary project that could unlock extraordinary economic potential.”
Now, it’s government policy.
Carney outlined a First Mile Fund to connect remote energy sites to the grid of roads and rails. There will be no more stranded resources; if we dig it up or pump it out, we’ll ship it out. A “one-window” approval process will blitz through red tape for nation-building projects while still upholding top safety and environmental standards. For once, Canada is acting with wartime urgency in peacetime—because economically, Trump declared war on us. Well, game on.
This corridor strategy is already putting runs on the board. The federal government chipped in $200 million for a new Indigenous-led LNG facility in BC, ensuring Canadian natural gas reaches global markets
Another $175 million is reviving the rail line to the Port of Churchill on Hudson Bay – our Arctic deep-sea gateway. That investment will “expand and open new transportation corridors” and help get Canadian products to the world. In short, we’re spending big to ship big. Ottawa is finally betting on Canada’s own infrastructure, not U.S. goodwill.
The corridor doesn’t stop at the Arctic Circle – it embraces it. Climate change is melting polar sea ice, opening up the coveted Northwest Passage for navigation. Canada isn’t going to watch from the sidelines as others rush in. “Climate change is increasing access to Arctic resources and shipping lanes… heightening competition”, warned Canada’s Defence Minister. Damn right, it is – and Canada now plans to win that competition. By investing in Churchill and northern infrastructure, we’re staking our claim as gatekeepers of an emerging superhighway of global trade.
Just how valuable are these Arctic routes? Hugely. Scientists project that summer sea routes over the pole could be 30–50% shorter than today’s Suez or Panama Canal paths, cutting transit time by 2+ weeks
That’s a logistics revolution, and those who control these routes will reap the rewards. The Arctic is loaded with natural resources, too – oil, gas, critical minerals, and fish stocks – a potential goldmine as the ice recedes. No one will gift us our share of this bonanza; we either assert control or get sidelined. As one analysis put it, control over Arctic waterways and resources are “ripe for dispute and potential conflict,” and a “race to build infrastructure to support and control navigation has already begun”. Canada is now decisively entering that race....
CBC: Carney aims to have 'free trade by Canada Day' between provinces and territories
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he and Canada's premiers have agreed to develop a national trade strategy and promised a slew of support for workers and businesses.
"We intend from a federal level to have free trade by Canada Day," he said, noting that the plan would be directed at easing transportation, energy, critical minerals and digital connectivity restrictions across the country.
The announcement comes after his meeting with premiers at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa on Friday, with some calling for trade barriers within the country to be swiftly removed in order to make Canada's economy more resilient.
"The agreement is to turn what has been a concept into a reality that will diversify and strengthen our economy… We are committing to removing all federal exemptions under the Canada free-trade agreement," Carney said. ...
That is an excellent initiative. Its going to take some work for Freeland to get this done in three months, without a plethora of exemptions and exceptions, but I am very hopeful.
(And on a side note, can I tell you also how glad I am that finally, FINALLY, somebody in the Liberals is thinking up some better names. "Canada National Corridor" and "Free Trade by Canada Day" are both just so easier to understand than the inaccurate "Carbon Tax" -- which was actually a "Carbon Cash Back" and that's what it should have been called all along)
Finally, Carney has released a second Mike Myers ad:
Meanwhile, Poilievre is finding himself stuck at Fuck around and Find Out. A major story yesterday in the Globe and Mail:
View on Threads
Robert Fife and Steven Chase / The Globe and Mail
CSIS alleges India organized support for Poilievre’s 2022 Conservative leadership bidOuch!
Agents of India and their proxies allegedly meddled in the 2022 election of Pierre Poilievre as Conservative Party Leader as part of a larger effort to cozy up to politicians of all parties, according to a source with top-secret clearance.
The source said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service learned that Indian agents were involved in raising money and organizing within the South Asian community for Mr. Poilievre during the leadership race, which he won handily. But the CSIS assessment did not indicate that this effort was done in a sweeping and highly organized way, the source said. Mr. Poilievre won on the first ballot with 68 per cent of the vote.
CSIS also did not have evidence that Mr. Poilievre or members of his inner circle were aware of the alleged actions of India’s agents and their proxies, said the source, who has national security clearance to see top secret reports.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to disclose classified information publicly.
CSIS did not share this information with Mr. Poilievre, the source said, because he does not have the necessary security clearance to access secret documents and receive classified briefings on foreign-interference activities in Canada. Mr. Poilievre is the only federal party leader who has declined an offer to obtain a security clearance...
There's only so much sputtering Poilievre can do in response to this.
I'm sure he will be trying his best to continue talking about how Carney stumbles sometimes in French, and he will try to continue making speeches about his trade training initiative Boots Not Suits -- hey, the Cons have finally come up with an actual idea for a national program, will wonders never cease!
(And on another side note: I have been hearing right-wing politicians promote trades careers for the last 50 years, while not actually doing much to increase apprenticeships, fund more trades training and support trade unions bargaining rights. Maybe this time?)
But I expect Poilievre is mostly going to be just answering media questions about India for the next six weeks, and come up with increasingly weak explanations about how he really doesn't need a security clearance, not really...
(And on another side note, I have believed for some time that Poilievre actually DID seek a security clearance months ago but was denied --who knows why -- but there would be no reason for the RCMP to embarrass him by announcing such a denial, he would just continue to not receive briefings. I think this is why Trudeau tried to figure out some way this fall to give him a partial clearance anyway so he could get the scoop on his caucus and clean up his shadow cabinet, but it didn't work.)
Anyway, back to Poilievre and the India story:
Kinsella pretty well sums it up:View on Threads
5 comments:
I worked 50 years in a Trade. Was always in a union , and subsequently get pensions. Conservatives supported scab labor laws which weaken unions. I find it rich that Pollievre, who has literally never worked , with his Boots not Suits plan. The man has likely never worn a pair of work boots, lived away from home, worked long shifts etc etc.
Yes I know. I would support the idea of such a plan but it is hypocritical that it is coming from the Conservatives, who have always supported capital not labour.
Sorry, but what is FAFO?
F around and find out.
Sorry I should have spelled it out!
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