Bill C-78: Vote grab or chess move?

I’ve been asked a lot what my views are on this Bill. My short answer is that it’s a maniacal, desperate, ill-advised, financially detrimental, and not to mention, an incredibly insulting vote grab. More dramatically, it’s the equivalent of a kidnapper giving their captives 3 square meals a day, in exchange for their compliance and good behaviour while they’re in captivity. The Liberals continue to rely on Canadians being ill-informed every time they dangle some cash in front of people who are becoming increasingly more dependent on the government, because the government has created an unprecedented level of dependence and perpetual state of mass disempowerment.

Could this be the final nail in the coffin for Chrystia Freeland, though? Trudeau is known for launching his cabinet ministers under the bus every time the Liberals are on the verge of collapse, or when Trudeau himself is on the verge of being exposed for his heinous lack of ethics, and depth of corruption. Just do a quick Google search if you’re unfamiliar with who he’s fed to the wolves in the past. The level of public scrutiny of this bill has been high, too - even in the media. So has the perfect storm been created? The Libs might just be “forced” to blame their fiscal chaos on the Finance Minister herself. I mean fair enough, though….if a CFO of a company had Freeland’s fiscal track record, she would have been let go a looooong time ago. But remember, Trudeau doesn’t know how to run a business, he just knows how to play chess. So if Freeland gets the boot, is this good news? Is this bad news? While I’d happily pop a bottle of champagne at the idea of never having to see our Deputy Minister of Monopoly Money cross my feed every again, it’s likely that celebration would be short lived. Because all of a sudden, a seat would be available - the Deputy Finance Minister’s seat at that - and it would be the perfect “in” for Mark Carney.

I’ve shared in the past that Carney might be the only weapon left in Trudeau’s arsenal to save the party’s face in the next election. Why? Well for starters, he has a financial track record that rivals Stephen Harper. I won’t get into Carney’s whole history, but let’s just say it would be EASY for him to be painted as Canada’s fiscal hero as he was the Bank of Canada Governor alongside PM Stephen Harper, as Canada narrowly avoided a harrowing economic plummet during the 2008 recession. Carney’s portfolio is much, much larger than that though. And we have to consider what Poilievre’s main edge has been during his leadership - the economy. What if all of a sudden there was a fiscally sensible Finance Minister (turned party leader) planted in the Liberal party? One that actually started to fix these fiscal issues and turn the ship around? What if “Carbon tax Carney” actually came in and axed the tax? How dull would the Conservative’s blade become, if there all of a sudden appeared to be a light at the end of this dark economy’s tunnel? Poileivre better be ready.

You may say there’s no possible way the Liberals could resurface in the next election after the sheer amount of carnage that has been caused over the last 9 years, specifically in the last 4. If so, how quickly you must have forgotten how the worst rated VP in American history became a sensation and role model for women, almost overnight. While the power of the media is waning, it doesn’t mean they have none left. Remember, sooooo many people still vote based on the person instead of the party they represent - the “swing voters”.

“I don’t like this guy anymore, I’m going to vote for the other guy.”

“Now I don’t like that guy after 8 years so I’m going to vote for the other guy again.”

This is why simply swapping a face in an election is still, unfortunately, a good strategy. The people who have fled Liberal politics because of Trudeau might still have a chance to be won over, solely based on Freeland and Trudeau no longer being there…And so I sigh, because Liberal policy, is Liberal policy, is Liberal policy - regardless of who’s smile you’re being dazzled with.

So, was Bill C78 tax break bill really just a vote grab? Or is it part of a larger play to get Carney into parliament, to eventually lead the party through the next election? Who ever really knows? We can only ever speculate. But this tax break bill is so incredulous, and has so much public attention, that one does have to wonder what else might be going on here. If I were Poilievre, and if anyone in the CPC is reading this, I’d make damn sure I had a bigger, better plan that doesn’t revolve around 30-year olds living in their parents basement. Because with a move involving Carney, that overplayed Conservative talking point might become moot - and quickly. The Conservative talking points have been handed to them on a silver platter with the abhorrent performance by the Liberal government, so they need to be ready to work harder and far more strategically in the public eye to overcome a potential curveball, just 9 months ahead of an election.

Anyway, enjoy saving a couple bucks a month on junk food, video games, plastic Christmas trees and booze this holiday season. Be sure to thank a Liberal.

PS - if you want to tap into some intellectual talking points on this bill, head to the Senate Hansard from Dec 10. I couldn’t agree more with the dialogue coming from the Conservative Senators.