Canada's Existential Election
March 21, 2025
This election matters. Yes, I know. We’re always told that “this” election is the most consequential of our lifetimes. Many of us even believe it. Many of us used believe it but no longer do as things always seem to get worse no matter who wins. I was in this category once, until I saw so many governments and leaders change while things steadily got worse. The wisest among us never believed it.
I evolved from a hopeful skeptic to a prickly realist. There was a transition period between those two phases which is best described as disheartened cynicism. That was my own fault. I had unrealistic expectations of people in general, and my fellow Canadians in particular. Voters and leaders are far less virtuous and rational than I once believed. Voters continue to elect failure after failure. Voters themselves are at fault. Trudeau did not elect himself three times in a row. The quality of leadership declines is effectiveness as talented and righteous men and women eschew politics.
Canada’s decline can be illustrated using many metrics. The table below is as good as any in documenting the country’s decline. There are no excuses here. Canada is in last place. It is in last place by a large margin and all the leftist obfuscation and confirmation bias will not change the truth. Of course, economic growth is not everything. However the rise in crime, the fact that almost one-quarter of the population experiences food insecurity compared to less than one-tenth a few short years ago, and the explosion of drug addiction demonstrates that things are not good. Go online and find photographs of people waiting at downtown Toronto subway stations in the 1970’s and 1980’s and compare them to the commuters you see today. Dystopia is here.
Despite a decade of economic, cultural, and moral decline, the Liberals under Mark Carney are 2 to 1 favorites to win the April 28th election. Until recently, the Liberals were favored by 3 to 1. Betting odds have proven to be far more accurate than opinion polls. People with money on the line are forced to be more sanguine. Oddsmakers can’t afford to make mistakes or engage in sentiment. For example, before the U.S election, Trump was favored 2 to 1 by Vegas in sharp contrast with the polls. The pundits should not have been shocked when Trump won. Yet they continue to feel superior.
Poilievre offers somewhat complex solutions to complex problems. Those solutions will not be easy. It will require smaller government and for Canadians to become more self-reliant. Lower taxes, less regulation, and fewer government boondoggles will not be easy for those who benefit from Canada’s system of income distribution and wealth destruction. He is also constrained by morals which puts him at a disadvantage. His unequivocal support for Israel and standing up against the harassment of Jewish Canadians demonstrates moral clarity and courage. Sadly, it has cost him the support of an increasingly antisemitic and pro-Islamic population and media. Carney, in contrast probably supports Islamists because there are far more Muslim and antisemitic voters than Jewish ones.
Carney comes from the world of Canadian finance where rapaciousness and connections win. It’s knowing whose back to slap, whose to stab, and when. Trump and Carney offer simple “solutions”. Stupid people cannot see the advantage of thoughtful solutions. They cannot see that today’s government giveaway eventually makes people poorer in aggregate. The Liberal brand is based on a gigantic system of schemes and cons, and Canadians are the marks.
Carney, the Liberals and their media advocates have hijacked and exploited Canada’s fear of Trump. Canadians should realize Carney would continue our economic decline. However, it does make sense that the parasite class favor Carney as they benefit the most. They engage in self-deception and convince themselves that their propensity for economic self-preservation is motivated by the wonderful Canadian trait of altruism. There are literally thousands of grant and subsidy programs offered by the government. There are “consultants” whose entire job is exploiting these programs. They vote left. Poilievre represents an existential threat to many of them.
At this time in Canadian history voters have a choice between two men who represent diametrically opposed but equally true fundamental aspects of national identity. Carney is more modern, or more accurately post-modern. He embodies Canadian passive-aggressiveness. He champions our current institutional welfare system made up of tax-serfs and moochers. There are thousands of government funding programs, from film and news media grants to shady immigration “consultants. The vast majority of them do more economic harm than good but leftists win elections as ordinary Canadians futures die the death of a thousand cuts while special interest groups thrive. Carney will likely win not because he is the better leader but because Canadians are no longer an industrious and ethical people. Few care that he was one of the architects of Canada’s economic demise and was one of the worst governors in the Bank of England’s over three hundred year history.
Poilievre represents the old Canada. A small, humble but proud country that actually had a defined identity and was a nation in the true sense of the word. As a relatively new nation, Canada has always struggled to develop its own culture independent of Mother Britain and America. That culture was developing until Canada became, in the words of Trudeau, the worlds first post-nation state.
People forget that geographically, Canada is a frozen wasteland. Most of the country geographically resembles Siberia. Yet earlier generations built a nation that was in the top five countries ranked by living standards. Yes, Canada has abundant natural resources but so do other countries that never developed. Resources are only of benefit if a population has the ability and drive to exploit them. That old Canada was always multi-ethnic and believed in freedom and opportunity, albeit in a less chaotic and more disciplined manner than the U.S.
Poilievre, is perhaps the last chance for Canada to rekindle that old spirit and revitalize the economy and our national identity. It may be too late. The average Canadian will not tolerate their continued impoverishment even if they continue to vote for leaders that promise short-term handouts but deliver misery. Alberta, under Carney may seek independence or join the U.S. Albertans will have no patience for Carney’s climate fanaticism. Quebec separation is very possible as the Quebecois realize that their meal ticket is running out of money. Their culture is in real danger due to declining birth rates and a huge influx of immigrants who will never be assimilated. Overall, Canadians may just decide that joining the U.S. may be a better alternative for their children and grandchildren’s future.
Canada was built by people seeking a better future for their families in a place with freedom and opportunity. How strange that Canada, as we know it, may be ended by people seeking the exact same thing.