It was with utter chagrin that we saw this towering figure used as a prop by the cynical governing party of Canada, a background figure to legitimize Mark Carney at the Junos. Ostensibly lured into this trap to be rightly honoured for her career, Joni— seated regally next to Elbows Up man—  was an adjunct to Carney’s drive to win by-elections and gain a majority in the Commons. 

If, as CBC groupies say, the network has an audience to serve then the government can sell it to someone who can make a profit from the content. If no one takes the opportunity for profit then you have your answer about the value of CBC. It exists to prevent the dissemination of news, not promote it.

The 2024 “Time’s Up” intervention at Mar A Lago from Trump was rude. Like all addicts, Canada’s Laurentian elite reacted with shock to being confronted. “Us? You’re being harsh with your best buddies?” Yes, he was. After a decade of Trudeau smashing the furniture and generations of Canadian liberals taking America for granted, Trump was calling their bluff on tariffs. In retaliation Canada cozied up to China. Bad move.

Robert Bennett: 1952-2023. This past week marked the third anniversary of the death of my friend Rob Bennet from ALS. But his memory still burns bright in the minds of the great musicians and artists he brought to Canada over the decades. And to those of us who knew the total man. Here’s how I marked his passing on March 14, 2023.

If what you want is grand policy announcements, lavish promises of aid and photo ops in every corner of the globe then Carney is your man. He’s certainly the man for the Elbows Up crowd who continue to see him as equal parts Lester Pearson/ Pierre Trudeau/ Paul Martin. The antidote to Orange Man Bad down south.  But it’s an opinion that few outside Canada share. Least of all with Canada’s biggest trading partner.

Memories of Lotfi Mansouri: In the days of the 1970s Iran was seen as a potential Muslim Israel, an educated society on the precipice of a modern tech and business success story. Its oil reserves guaranteed the financing to make their dreams come true. Alas, that dream died when the hostages were seized and America put a target on the mullahs. Iran is now more known for blowing up its enemies than building a future.

How excited are the Americans with the two gold medals in Olympic hockey? President Trump gave U.S. men's goalie Connor Hellybucyk the Congressional Medal of Honor at his State of the Union speech for stopping 46 shots against the favoured Canadians in the gold-medal final. Canada, meanwhile is whining that they were the better team.

If Canada is looking for kindred spirits in Mark Carney’s quest for the Diversity Cult® they might best be advised not to count on the Brat Pack of AOC after her Munich mauling. Judging by polls gullible Elbows Up fans will move ahead with Carney’s own new-fangled world order of building jets and encouraging trans dysphoria. It’s the perfect blend of Canadian self delusion mixed with victim mentality.  Which means it’s got a good chance of succeeding in today’s Canada.

Where Alberta “leavers” had anticipated a sympathetic federal government they now are instead faced with a revived Liberal party extending its policies into the foreseeable future. Having seen the loathesome Liberals the past decade and doubting Carney’s honeyed promises to work with Alberta on energy projects, they’ve taken to the courts and American opinion.  One thing is certain. They’re not taking advice from CBC’s At Issue. Separation or a 51st state will be decided inside Alberta by Albertans.

How worried is Mark Carney about blowback? Not very. He’s watched the abject Billie Eilish surrender of the Canadian managerial class to land acknowledgements that harken to some half-remembered native nirvana. He knows that given the right circumstances (Trump saying something about Canada’s failing economy) he will have the Boomers in his palm. Again.

The noisy nature of American democracy is the thing about America that Canada’s toffs cite to puff themselves up is . The ability for people as diverse as Donald Trump and AOC to be allowed a voice offends many protected by Canada’s airless political environment. It’s why the impertinent Truckers Convoy shocked the Laurentian establishment and necessitated Trudeau’s overreaction, unlawfully invoking the Emergency Measures Act. 

With Justin is AWOL, Mark Carney’s still grinning. Despite making deals with former “enemies” like China he knows the Laurentian Elbows Up crew has an inexhaustible appetite for abuse and kow-towing to authority. Till that is drained expect more of the same— and a nasty turf war with Trump over China at his border wearing Canadian clothes.

Jean Chretien’s Sino legacy has resulted in a stealth inversion of Canadian politics and society— all performed with casual cynicism by the Liberals. The most recent example was Carney pinching a Conservative MP of Chinese origin to cross the floor to help him get to a majority in the House. Newly minted Liberal MP Michael Ma in now joining PM Carney on a friendship visit to Beijing. Plus ca change.

The hope is that they click their heels three times and Trump will be impeached or assassinated or sent to Mars by Elon Musk— allowing Carney to bring Greta Thunberg into his cabinet for business as usual. But in their secret hearts they must know time’s up. This new geopolitics has no time for a nation that mailed it in for a decade under Trudeau the Younger (and Stupider). The bill has come due ,and Trump means to collect.

In an age of victim status, traditional religion is suddenly a cuddly TikTok puppy. Hard to imagine that the force that spread imperialism and war across the globe for centuries being a victim. But yes. Burned churches ad descrated synagfogues will do that for you. The zeal to repeal God has backfired. Faith is off the cavas and punching back. (And we are NOT talking about the Woke pope.)

People were starting to notice that Justy was a Chinese trusty, his Montreal riding campaign funded by hundreds of Chinese “businessman” from far away. The tragi-comic Trudeuapian succession hit a speed bump with Mark Carney brought in to domesticate Canada in manner satisfactory to Brookfield and the EU. Now Crney stands on the brink of a purchased majority.

Like all people addicted, CDN Boomers don't want the truth. They want performance theatre, T-shirts and hockey games. They blame Trump for their predicament, caught between grim realities. Will they take the 12 steps? Or will their kids have to tell them the facts as they escort them to the home?” Because we’re now seeing the likely answer to that question everywhere in Canadian society.

The most amazing feature of the Mark Carney/Danielle Smith MOU is that both politicians probably want the deal to fail. Carney can tell fossil-fuel enemy Quebec that he tried to reason with Smith, and Smith can say she tried to meet the federalists halfway. Failure suits their larger purposes.

Getting a universal system that helps the needy, balances care levels while not degrading treatment is illusory. Alberta is willing to admit that fact. Like agreement on pipelines the province’s Bill 11 will face nothing but headwinds from the diehards (pun intended) who still believe Michael Moore’s fairy tales about a free system in Canada. And will do nothing to bind Canada’s warring factions.

For the forseeable future Poilievre scorn will be the order of the day. Just remember that Mark Carney is just a stop-gap, a guy to rag the puck for a few years till the Liberals have groomed Justin’s eldest for the PMO. Where he can complete the Woking of traditional Canada that Grandpapa Pierre started in 1968.