We are at a unique place in Canadian history. Society is divided, disappointed and uncertain about the future. The combination of the pandemic causing health fears and the COVID response causing economic concerns has most Canadians concluding the Liberal government is tone deaf. A recent Angus Reid poll indicates that a solid majority of Canadians believe the federal government doesn’t care about the issues that matter to them.
Not surprisingly, the disappointment differs along political lines. Nonetheless, few Canadians think their government cares about the most important issues with only 6% of Canadians strongly agreeing the federal government gets it right, virtually none of whom are members of the New Democratic or Bloq Quebecois parties. But, a majority of Liberal voters still think the Trudeau government cares about what matters.
The dissatisfaction with Ottawa opens the door for a change in direction in the next election. The questions are who will lead the conservatives and will they have a platform that resonates with Canadians of all political leanings?
I will speculate that Pierre Pollievre will be the next conservative leader and he is young, charismatic and a francophone, much like Justin Trudeau although with a different vision for Canada. This article explores what I believe is a necessary platform to bring Canada back to the values that since Confederation have made Canada among the best places to live on Earth.
First, a key determinant is whether a renewed conservative party will embrace persuasion rather than coercion as its guiding principle in leading Canada. This is at the center of whether Canada’s Constitution and Charter of Rights have any teeth. Under Trudeau, the plethora of “mandates” in response to COVID and the enactment of legislation to limit free speech and compel acceptable language evidences the Liberal approach which is fairly described as legislate, compel, enforce and restrict. Canadians are told what they can and cannot do and denied the freedom to make their own choices. The trucker protests sweeping Canada today point to a segment of the Canadian population which values personal freedom and decries government edicts.
Second, a successful conservative party needs to address rather than dodge vital issues. In my opinion, the issues that are or will be most important to Canadians post-pandemic (and I believe this pandemic will soon end as virtually everyone acquires a level of immunity either from vaccination or from being infected and recoverying) are the following:
Inflation - now running at the highest levels in 40 years and threatening a return to nosebleed interest rates, wage and price controls, and economic devastation that permeated Canada’s landscape in the early 1980’s.
Economic stagnation - an inevitable result of the Liberal government more than doubling Canadian government debt in only three years and imposing draconian lockdowns that have stifled small business success and damaged the livelihoods of many with almost no impact on the transmission of COVID these policies were imposed to control.
Environmental protection - currently a political football caught between the specious claim that CO2 causes global warming and the importance of fossil fuels as the cheapest and most reliable source of energy in existence today, while a left wing emphasis on expensive and unreliable solar and wind power is leaving fields of toxic waste and furthering environmental damage in countries supplying rare earths, battery metals and solar panels mined or manufactured with methods than do not respect the environmental damage they are creating.
Health care - where over reaction to the COVID pandemic has exposed Canadians to intolerable wait times for necessary surgeries for cancer, heart disease and many other ailments and a poorly thought through COVID response plan ignored the common sense solution to protect only the vulnerable and let the rest of Canada live ordinary lives free from vaccine passports, vaccine mandates, compelled lockdowns and infringements on Constiutional and Charter rights imposed by the Liberal government.
Indigenous relations - Canada’s treatment of its First Nations people is a national disgrace. “Reconciliation” is a Liberal buzzword. Putting an end to this travesty is not complex.
The successul policies that will respond to these issues need no more foundation than common sense and clear communication.
Inflation - the new conservative leader needs to accept the fact that a period of high inflation is inescapable and move immediately to ameliorate its effects through policies that encourage Canadians to repay high interest loans; keep a cash reserve; and, batten down the hatches until a reasoned policy response by the central bank and governments at all levels restores order to the economy. Interest rates must rise and restrictions on trade must be lowered so Canada does not import inflation by allowing is currency to detriorate in foreign exchange markets. Policies that exacerbate inflation need to be repealed.
Economic stagnation - the new conservative leader needs to accept the fact that slow growth or even recession cannot be avoided and ensure Canadians understand that the federal cupboard is bare and that fiscal stimulation is not going to happen. Instead, Canada needs to eliminate inflationary taxation measures like the unpopular carbon tax and high taxes on fossil fuels and to permit more competition in health care. Corporate taxes should be eliminated in their entirety since the tax is not in fact paid by the corporations, but is effectively collected indirectly from its customers. Corporations free from tax will enjoy improved international competitiveness which will tend to manifest itself in more economic activity and lower prices. Government subsidies on wind, solar, electric vehicles and the dairy industry prop up prices and contribute to inflation while sapping the government of revenues, and should be repealed and not replaced.
Environmental Protection - Canada needs to act to deal with real rather than imagined environmental problems. A new government needs to repeal the Impact Assessment Act and replace it with environmental legislation that focuses on safe drinking water; proper sewage treatment and disposal; and, protections from unsafe treatment of toxic wastes from industry and shortens the time for approval of major resource development or pipeline projects to a maximum of two years. Legislation that pretends Canada can affect global climate through local policies should be torn up and tossed in a bin labeled “stupidity” and our fossil fuel energy freed to expand internationally with both trans-Canada pipelines and access to deep water ports for export. Development of our oil & gas industry can provide more revenue for government than our income tax or Harmonized Sale Tax (HST) regime and can be accomplished with less environmental or economic damage than importation of oil from abroad, displacing oil production in foreign countries with poor environmental records.
Rather than promoting the theory of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW), the Canadian government should sponsor an education program including content from the legion of Nobel laureates and renowned physicists who not only deny AGW but also can demonstrate the absurdity of the theory, and content from financial experts who can describe the penalty to Canada from suppression of our oil & gas industry in terms of per capita Gross Domestic Product, government revenue and the ability to fund social programs. Sponsor public debates to demonstrate the issue is far from “settled science” including top scientists who promote AGW facing off with those who believe the theory is flawed. Canadians deserve facts, not polemics.
Health Care - Canada touts its health care as among the world’s best but the hard data tell a different story where Canada doesn’t even make the top ten. Our health care system lags developed economies in health outcomes, is underfunded with too many doctors and too few nurses and a costly emphasis on hospital care when home care makes a lot more sense. The pressure on our health care system can be eased with nominal fees for routine visits to physicians paid by the patient, which will have the same impact as the 5 cent fee on plastic bags that reduced their usage in grocery stores by 70% or more. A $5 fee on every doctor visit would reduce trips to the doctor for minor issues that really do not need professional care.
Indigenous Relations - Years of promises but little action just add to the disgraceful record Liberal Canada has turned in in dealing with First Nations. A new conservative leader needs to commit to three policies:
Repeal the Indian Act,
Transfer First Nations lands to First Nations in fee simple with full rights of individual private ownership rather than “community ownership” and the right to both develop and alienate their properties through sale, lease, mortgage or otherwise, and,
Establish a timeline during which First Nations can elect to become self-sufficient independent sovereign nations or remain full Canadian citizens without special status, with a plan to withdraw Canadian financial support for those First Nations that elect independence on a timetable that respects their ability to become self-sufficient and in any event not less than 50 years.
Canada needs leaders who are willing to stand up and be counted, espousing clear choices for Canadians rather than attempting to sell Canadians a bill of goods that pretends to listen to their concerns but is really all about getting power rather than improving our society. Let’s see if the conservative party can field one.