#PaulWells has posted, in full, both the speech that Prime Minister #MarkCarney gave in Davos, and the response from #PierrePoilievre. It's good to see Canada's top federal leaders agree on certain key points, and interesting to see where they disagree (notably on how friendly we should be with China):
* https://paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney-doctrine
* https://paulwells.substack.com/p/poilievre-responds-to-carney
"Readers who cannot conceive of Quebec except as a place where equalization payments go to die would be interested to learn that Legault was obsessed with the gap in economic performance between Quebec and the rest of Canada, examined the latest statistics on that gap every morning when he got to the office, and sought in concrete ways to reduce it."
https://paulwells.substack.com/p/legault-scrambles-the-deck-in-quebec
2025: The year in Wells - #PaulWells
https://paulwells.substack.com/p/2025-the-year-in-wells
"In some ways it’s obvious how to respond to a changing United States. (i) Keep as much of the bilateral relationship as can be salvaged, consistent with Canadian values and the whims of the White House incumbent; (ii) seek other markets and friends east, west and further south; and (iii) build up a Canadian community that’s less dependent, not just on the Americans, but on anyone. [...] Option (iii) probably gets the least attention. It should get more."
https://paulwells.substack.com/p/in-2026-build
1/3
#PaulWells
Just finished listening to the #PaulWells Holiday Show podcast. I found the most insight came from David Herle, particularly:
a) His recognition that #CanPol is deeply divided between those who think Canada is working reasonably well and want to defend it (Boomers), and those who think it isn't working well at all.
b) His remark that Quebeckers see that English Canada, rather than being a threat to French, is a protection against the real threat, the Americans.
https://paulwells.substack.com/p/the-paul-wells-holiday-show-2025
Kapelos, Herle, Lilley, a story from me about changing times, and a singing Bob Rae. Truly, this year our stocking runneth over
"In his TV appearance Sunday, Guilbeault said it’s impossible “now” to imagine Canada reaching its 2030 emissions targets. [...] Last Wednesday, [...] the Parliamentary Budget Office published a report that said Canada is on track to emit 55 to 65 megatonnes more carbon than the government’s most lenient 2030 target — and that most of that gap, 45 megatonnes, was in place before Carney started changing government policies."
"[T]he feds [are] saying to the Supremes: We express no opinion on the substance of this law, but we’re going to need *you* to say what you think about it. Coming as it does after half a decade of Liberal self-congratulation for their courage on the matter, that’s a lot to swallow."
No position on any basis
https://paulwells.substack.com/p/no-position-on-any-basis
1/3
"What's been lost in the environment of political journalism? [...] There’s been a total collapse of the Canadian newspaper and magazine publishing businesses. There are many guilty suspects out there, but we all sort of know what's happened. [...] Who's buying a book anyway, these days? [...] Our publishing industry is foreign-owned, our newspapers are broke, our magazines are charities effectively."
https://paulwells.substack.com/p/the-q-and-a-he-was-forthcoming-and
1/2
Defence minister "McGuinty was on his way back from a NATO defence ministerial in Brussels when Carney made his announcement. There’s something to be said for letting defence ministers announce defence plans, but time waits for no man, and these days Ottawa runs on Carney time."
Primus sine paribus
https://paulwells.substack.com/p/primus-sine-paribus
Hooray for the return of cabinet government!
Well, maybe the PMO will work better under PM #MarkCarney than it did with his predecessor...
M. Grégoire
