Canada’s Corrupt Liberal Government

Just two days after the Liberals won the federal election, executives from companies linked to the new prime minister’s former employer, Brookfield Asset Management, began asking for his help.

On April 30, two oil and gas companies owned by Brookfield joined 36 others in signing an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney. The group urged him to speed up resource development by easing regulations and fast-tracking approvals.

For Brandon Anderson, the CEO of the Brookfield-controlled natural gas company NorthRiver Midstream Inc., it was a first, according to federal records. In more than 14 years of overseeing and contributing to lobbying efforts, he had never before contacted a prime minister directly.

With Parliament now back in business, pundits and politicos are focused on this session’s agenda. What will the government do about Trump and tariffs? How will Mark Carney perform in Question Period? When will Pierre Poilievre return to Parliament? And how will the NDP survive without party status?

But not much will happen on the Hill in the next few weeks: the PM will be busy hosting the G7 at Kananaskis, and the House will rise in late June. No, the real intrigue lies just over the horizon in the fall. The big question: can the Liberal minority morph into a majority by then, to secure four years of power and avoid tangling with the opposition?

Gerald Butts and David Lametti hold no official roles in the Liberal government, but Prime Minister Mark Carney informally seeks their advice on key political matters, say Liberal sources.

The federal Liberals owe their surprising comeback to Mark Carney who officially entered in the political arena just five months ago. A former central banker who led both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, Carney emerged as a compelling figure during the Liberal leadership campaign, particularly amid rising tensions from the trade war with the United States. Many Canadians believed Carney’s financial background uniquely positioned him to handle the sensitive and complex trade issues and U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada. Given that Canada and the U.S. exchange $1-trillion in goods and services every year, and more than a million jobs depend on this relationship, the stakes are high.

Contrary to what many in the West believe, some countries dislike democracy, preferring the strongman, the firm ruler, the dictator.

So it is with the Liberals who have shunned accountability and democracy in favour of the autocratic leader.

OTTAWA — Despite having complained about the lack of a formal process to eject prime minister Justin Trudeau mere months ago, Liberal MPs voted against the rules that would let them do exactly that with their current leader.

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with his caucus on Sunday afternoon for the first time since the election that brought the Liberal party just a few seats short of a majority.

Trudeau II

When the House of Commons resumes on Monday, it will have been 161 days since MPs met in the Chamber. That’s five months and 10 days without our Parliament sitting at a time when we are told we face a crisis, an existential threat to our future.

They will sit at most for 20 days before leaving Ottawa for the summer recess which is scheduled to last until Sept. 15.

Nice work if you can get it.