CanadaPolitics

OK this title is a deliberately provocative statement, but I'll explain what I mean.

First of all, "Canada has deserved" does not imply that everyone should support PM Carney in the next election. When I talk about what Canadians deserve in this context, I mean that every political viewpoint deserves a good person to represent it. Not everyone thinks like me, and not everyone has the same objectives and preferences as me, and that's of course completely fine. Encouraged, even. If you're a dedicated lifelong leftist then yes indeed Carney is not the PM that represents your viewpoint and thus you deserve a leader who represents you. (That person's name is Charlie Angus, and the fact that he's stepping down makes me want to cry, but that's a digression).

And then for the second easy objection, obviously yes PM Carney is not a Conservative, he's the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Which is why my clickbait title said conservative, not Conservative. Carney does not fit amongst the likes of the reprobates in Canada's Conservative Party, or BC's Conservative Party, or Alberta's MAGA. Sorry if I got you all worked up about that.

But let's combine these ideas. It's great that people have diverse opinions and different preferences. In recent times, the excellent market-based economics of the now-failed "carbon tax" originated from within the CPC, the NDP and the left wing of the LPC brought us Pharmacare and dental care and decriminalized marijuana and much more. Going back a bit further, Paul Martin's stewardship of the economy produced a low national debt to GDP level that still lives on despite the deficits of Harper and Trudeau. These good policy ideas from across the political spectrum help enrich Canada, and they came about from having good people representing them earnestly. But to do this, we need the best people to represent the various viewpoints and perspectives that we share.

However Canada's conservatives have had -- and continue to have -- extremely poor-quality representation amongst their political parties. Let's contrast what the Conservatives bring to the table vs our new Prime Minister.

Mark Carney brings a level head, a combination of highly regarded public service and private sector experience, and a steady hand and plan to move our economy forward in these hard times that demand it. He understands economics and how markets function, and how a lack of competition and perverse incentives have led to a GDP with low levels of productivity. He wants to reallocate public sector resources to deliver more value to Canadians. He is not participating in the bullshit "culture war".

And now to the actual Conservatives we get. The leader of the CPC, Pierre "lil" Poilievre, is a hateful weasel of a man. Some compare him to Donald Trump but he's not even that -- he's what the kids these days call a "simp", a loser and wet paper bag who tries to act tough. PP embraces the culture war on the side of the anti-woke, going out of his way to try to hurt and bully vulnerable people so that he and his followers can feel strong by punching down. He wants to gut and slash services that are essential and beloved by Canadians, following in the footsteps of his American idols who are actively doing this today. PP is full of populist slogans that are full of hot air, and pettily torpedos market-based solutions like the Carbon Tax when it's politically expedient.

But it's not enough to say that PP is a bad guy. Fucking duh, he is. But he's also an incredibly poor-quality representative to the Canadians who have the entirely legitimate viewpoint that Canada needs to focus more on economic strength, to encourage entrepreneurial success, and so forth. The Canadians who have that political viewpoint deserve to have a leader who doesn't take marching orders from Republican talking point memos. Lowercase-C conservatives deserve better.

Frankly it should be an embarrassment to Canada's conservatives that they haven't nominated Carney or someone like him. Because it was always possible for them to do that. Drop the hate and bullying, replace the empty slogans with experience and real plans, drop the MAGA and American propaganda in the trash where it belongs. Lowercase-C conservatives deserve this -- not just for my sake but for their own sake.

As someone who has long held policy preferences that tend towards preferring market-oriented solutions, yet using sensible regulation to guide that invisible hand towards beneficial outcomes for the public, someone who is not full of spite towards vulnerable minorities -- I will enthusiastically support Mark Carney in the upcoming election. And if Carney wins and fails to live up to his promises, then I double-dog-dare the Conservatives to replace PP with someone they -- and we -- actually deserve.