In an ideal world, we get cheap telecom services, minimal regulation of the internet, and robust news ecosystems financed by the telcos. In the real world, at least one of those objectives may need to be abandoned.
These are uncertain times for Canadian business. Poilievre wants corporate Canada to know that he won’t be attending any of their pity parties, especially if they continue to work with the governing Liberals.
Politicians are eagerly targeting, vilifying, and scapegoating Canada’s largest firms as if they are pariahs. At a time when the investment climate remains incredibly challenging, it’s a dispiriting development in C-suites across the country.
If a future Prime Minister Poilievre wants to bring down inflation without leaning against wage gains and risk the inroads he’s been attempting to make with organized labour, then he’ll need to figure out a solution to Canada’s productivity morass.
There’s just enough in recent economic data to keep Trudeau and his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, hopeful that a deep downturn will never come. It’s hard to overstate how much Trudeau and Freeland are invested in that soft-landing scenario. Their political futures hinge on it.
