So there was this giant Toronto “investment summit” gabfest that was classic Mark Carney.
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that → be → ?
And I don’t mean it in a good way.
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I → mean → way
Yes, we must do better economically.
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we → do → ?
In July he answered a question on military procurement with “I just got here.”
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I → answer → procurement
But he didn’t.
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he → do → ?
He’s been prime minister for a year and a half, burbling about building at speeds not seen in generations without any sense of urgency or practical touch.
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He → burble → urgency
As Bank of England governor he was nicknamed “the unreliable boyfriend” for flip-flopping on interest rates, his one important real-world grubby-detail responsibility.
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he → nickname → rates
As United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance, he exchanged Davosian cliches with his jet-set peers about transformation, leverage and catalytics.
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he → exchange → transformation
But all he did was create the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, which promptly collapsed.
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which → do → Zero
He’s a blatherskite.
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He → ’ → ?
Thus he told summit attendees, “The world is looking at Canada differently.
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world → tell → Canada
And I suggest we should look at ourselves differently too.”
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we → suggest → ourselves
It drives me nuts that he praises “buying Canadian and travelling in Canada” on returning from a lavish foreign vacation.
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he → drive → vacation
But the big problem is the thinking behind how he talks.
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he → talk → ?
Bringing a bunch of rich globalist insiders to Toronto to confer in their high tower while we peasants gape outside is exactly what the economy doesn’t require.
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economy → bring → what
If markets worked as Adam Smith or Ronald Reagan thought, the last thing anyone would want or need is government advertising investment opportunities.
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want → work → thing
The usual leftists are yapping the usual stuff about selling out to U.S. President Donald Trump’s cronies and “basically giving away massive parts of our public services to American CEOs.”
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leftists → yap → CEOs
But as usual they’ve totally missed the point.
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they → miss → point
It’s state capitalism.
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It → ’ → ?
Which never works.
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Which → work → ?
As the Post’s John Ivison wrote, Canada is a hotbed of strikes, which the government keeps quashing.
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government → write → which
And a regime with a generous right to strike until the PM says no brings certainty to no one, from unions to capitalists.
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PM → strike → capitalists
Facing a debt morass, Carney holds meandering budget consultations that shun coherent principle for a wish-list subject to PMO favouritism not stable rules.
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that → face → favouritism
At the languid pace at which the Major Projects Office accomplishes nothing.
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Office → accomplish → nothing
Thus our hapless industry minister said of the summit, “I’m confident that we can get to MOUs, so intent of investment.”
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we → say → investment
They love memoranda of understanding, which are exactly like agreements without the agreement.
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which → love → agreement
Hence: “This fall we will begin intense discussions with the European Union … to build a much stronger and deeper economic and security partnership.”
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we → begin → partnership
Which again is typical Carney, talking big and acting little.
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Which → talk → ?
As the Globe and Mail wrote, “Behind the scenes, the summit’s organizers have managed expectations, describing the event as a starting point.”
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organizers → write → point
And ABC reported, “A Canadian official … cautioned that the summit is not expected to produce a rush of deals this week, with the most significant results likely to emerge over the next 12 to 18 months.”
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results → report → months
Unless they don’t.
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they → do → ?
And our hapless energy minister called the dangled possible projects “conversation starters.”
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minister → call → projects
As the head of one massive Canadian public-sector pension fund said, “The conference is a great start; it’s not the end game.…
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it → say → fund
Ultimately, our hope is that it’s a catalyst for future action and investments in the weeks, months and years to come.”
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it → ’ → weeks
At a summit side gathering by an American think-tank our hapless finance minister said, “What we need to do now is to move from intention to investment, and (from) investment to projects.”
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need → say → projects
Well, the chair of “the investment attraction agency for the Greater Toronto region” wrote, “As much as hosting this summit matters, what comes next matters more.”
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comes → write → summit
And what will come next?
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what → come → ?
Carney fancies himself a master of the art of the deal, so we won’t get a stable, open investment environment.
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we → fancy → environment
We’ll get PMO favouritism appealing to investors from the United Arab Emirates or Communist China … until they realize he doesn’t do stuff.
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he → get → stuff
Carney bloviates, meets, meets and bloviates.
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Carney → bloviate → ?
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
