By Ray Rivers
December 24th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
Tom Parkin recently wrote an excellent summary, of just how wrong Mr. Poilievre has been on economic policy. The article appeared in the GAzette last week – link below. The best example being his war cry that the carbon tax was causing higher food and accommodation costs, and inflation in general.. But once PM Carney axed-the-tax inflation didn’t stop, but continued its upward trend.
A lack of understanding about how an economy actually works.
Poilievre may be a compelling speaker but he just makes stuff up. And he is mostly wrong, as Tom Parkin points out only too well. The public must already sense this because his personal popularity lags that of the current PM by a long shot.
One reason is that, unlike Carney, who has a vision for a Canada freed from subservience to the Americans next door, the Conservative’s just complain that everything is not perfect. He fails to grasp the significance of the moment we are in – the challenges, the consequences and the sacrifices we all need to make to secure our future.
“…a compelling speaker but he just makes stuff up.”
And everyone is tired, fed up, with the Tory leader’s annoying attack dog performance. That tactic successfully ended Justin Trudeau’s political career, but Mr. Carney just brushes off the personal slights. And unfortunately, Mr. Poilievre doesn’t have anything else in his bag of tricks, given his lack of understanding about how an economy actually works.
But it’s his management style that seems to put off some of the people he needs most. The voters in his former Ottawa riding couldn’t wait to get rid of him last election. And more recently, two members of his own party have crossed the floor to become Liberals, and a third just quit.
Still something like 70% of the Conservative membership apparently approve of their firebrand leader. And that means he’ll likely be confirmed as leader at the CPC love-in in January. Unfortunately for him, Mr. Carney is far more popular, pretty much everywhere except Alberta, of course.
Despite the tepid public support for Poilievre, the CPC is ironically running almost neck-in-neck in popular support with the top dog Liberals, according to recent national polls. And so that begs the question of whether the unpopular opposition leader could win a federal election in our parliamentary system.
70% of the Conservative membership apparently approve of their firebrand leader.
We may never find out since the Tories are reluctant to take that gamble, as we saw during the budget a few weeks ago. And if more of Poilievre’s caucus crosses over to the Liberals, as are the rumours, Mr. Carney could be PM for the next three and a half years.
So if Mr. Poilievre’s Christmas wish is to become Canada’s next prime minister, he’d better also ask for a vision for the country, a new personality…. oh, and a book on basic economics And remember that Santa will only put that under his tree if he starts acting nice.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Ray Rivers, a Gazette Contributing Editor, writes regularly applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Tom Parkin – Polls – Poilievre’s Numbers – Same Old PP –
This disgusting excuse for a leader, Poilievre, congratulated Trump on his illegal war in Venezuela. Congratulated the criminal, felon, rapist, BFF of Epstein, Russian asset. PP and Danielle Smith can go live in the USA and get out of our country.
As Andrew Coyne said: “There it is. Explicitly aligning Conservative Party with Trumpian lawlessness.” Disgusting.
I don’t really want to get into the argument based on only political opinion assertions, stated like facts, without any data observations at all to confirm what is said. I only see opportunistic politics at work from Penny and Michael. There is no data presented with the political assertions on actions credit narrative, to see how the two match up in time, and and who actually did it, not just claim to have said something about it.
Saying somebody would do something, as an idea, without them actually possessing the observable actionable power to have done it in fact, is misinformation at best, but nothing of truth, just political purposed manipulation of something that was done by somebody else with the power to do it.
The point of my comment was to give credit to Rivers providing the underling economics ideas, as statements of hypothesis, and Parkin provided, in several different stories, factual, quantitative data to test the hypotheses posed by Rivers.
I see that the data from Parkin, supports the argument hypotheses from Rivers.
I don’t see anything similar as factual data based argument, from Penny and Michael. To me, their comments are bemoaning being out of power, so Carney gets criticized, in failed PPCon attack style, because Carney is in power.
I have to repeat what Ray said; “PPCon fails to grasp the significance of the moment we are in – the challenges, the consequences and the sacrifices we all need to make to secure our future.”
The comments against Carney, ring of die-hard conservatives wanting power, and saying anything to get there. Have they not been paying attention to ConTrump, and how he treats us? Do you not see that times have changed?
In testing science, it is called an inflection point or curvature, in the trajectory of the economic system direction, dynamics and structural development. The past way of doing things in development economics does not fit, or work anymore.
Would you support the same treatment here, following PPCon and unaware Conservative naivety? Sounds like it.
Finally, and surprise, no politically based ideology, Liberal or Conservative, will work. We can’t think that all we have to do is continue on the policy path of seeking power and the ideas embodied by that.
Prior to, and during the election the liberals claimed Poilievre had no plan, they then started steeling his policies & plan. Interesting that you don’t hear that claim from the liberals any longer.
Then the liberals claimed Poilievre was not “likeable” enough and a horrible “meany”. Well after a few interviews on the CBC and CTV, it has become clear to many that still watch those stations (ie most over 60 liberals) that is simply not true, in fact he is extremely caring and sensitive, so that narrative has now gone silent.
Which brings us to narrative number three, “see we implemented Poilievre’s policies and they don’t work”.
The claimed, and as advertised economic master, Carney cannot copy someone else’s policies and make them work, while holding the strings of power, interesting.
Well first of all, conservative policies work in aggregate, remove ALL the carbon taxes, not just the consumer carbon tax. Run a balanced federal budget, not inject more money than ever into the monetary system while doubling the deficit.
Carney is a socialist in a bankers suit, he will pretend to implement some conservative ideas to create the illusion while holding strong on anti-freemarket policies, centralized control, and cause economic chaos in the process.
To illustrate the point, we see this in the major job losses across multiple sectors in Canada, inability to strike a deal with the US, and the latest GDP/capita data showing Canada on a continued decline, putting us below Alabama. Let’s see if the Liberals can find a creative way to blame that one on Poilievre.
Just as the first two false narratives have passed, so too will the third.
As the Carney’s polling numbers decline in every new poll that comes out, I’m sure he and other liberals can at least take solace in blaming Poilievre for that one.
I think you fail to understand that many Canadians are sick of ” No Deal Carney”. In some respects Mr. Carney is more detrimental than Pierre Poilievre. He speaks softly ( out of both sides of his mouth) promises one thing in English and another in French.
The new Canadian Ambassador to the U.S”. believes in mass immigration, also is critic of the dairy supply management system, and has advocated for major reforms. A stance that aligns with US trade concerns and contrasts with the government’s defence of the system but may complicate upcoming trade talks”.
Don’t get me wrong I am also a critic of the dairy supply management system, but I am not in power to say one thing and allow another thing to happen. Quebec for one will not be happy.
Mr. Carney has accomplished nothing to date except to blame others. Anyone heard ” Elbows up” in the last little while?
I can hear it now. ” I wanted to build pipelines but there was no consensus from those involved. I tried to save the dairy supply management system but we were unable to do so.
Wake up…..how much more time are Canadians willing to give Mr. Carney to do what he promised?
Oh yes, I have said many times I always question why the public takes seriously what is said in election campaign promises?
I agree. Carney is a two times Central banker – Canada first, then England. He also has a PhD in economics – thesis is in international economics and was praised by his advisor.
Central bankers have to have a conservative to do the job and survive the economy. Economies need this background knowledge, experience, and sensibility.
During the last election, I coined my own short form, or acronym, for Poilievre’s name, because I found him full of it. I always referred to him as PPCon. He was always promising to deliver, literally everything, for everybody, everywhere, with no reference to the cost.
This was, and still is, impossible to deliver by his attack-dog talking – PPCon – same approach now.
Rivers provides an excellent narrative of the underling economics ideas, and Parkin provides the data, and overview explanation showing the facts.
Together, it shows the failure of PPCon. As Ray said; “He fails to grasp the significance of the moment we are in – the challenges, the consequences and the sacrifices we all need to make to secure our future.”
Everyone needs to mark these words. Trump wants us and will never stop his own Trumpcon to get what he wants, wherever he wants.
Carney is implementing much of the Conservative game plan He is also weeding out the Trudeau “Sunnyday squad “ After year one most if not all of these types will be gone or sidelined.Thank goodness.
I think Carney is more Conservative…thank goodness.
eloquently stated