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Transparency vs The Long Game

ByDoug Anderson Canada, Government Policy, Lateral Thinking, Personality, Politics

Will the real Mark Carney Please Stand up

In the current age of instant news and social media there is an expectation by the media, and by extension the general public, to know what is happening everywhere in real time. No secrets, no obfuscation, Now.

But in the complexities of the world today and the nuances of daily life, such transparency can be difficult and even misguided.

Circumstances can change on a dime. What would have seemed prudent yesterday may be ill advised today.

The media is quick to point out even minor changes in policy and will dissect them in detail.

To someone who by nature is introverted, the easiest path is to be vague … which is the antithesis of transparency. And instead of having the story about changing priorities that they were trying to uncover, the story changes to secrecy and a lack of transparency.

I’ve written … More

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Is Carney a conservative?

ByDoug Anderson Canada, Government Policy, Personality, Politics

Why would the Ontario NDP Deputy Leader join the federal Liberals?

Doug Anderson

Feb 15, 2026

The media has changed since I was the publisher of the local newspaper – that was in the 1990s before the internet and social media. It used to be that the vast majority of journalists worked for media outlets such a newspapers, radio and TV and while those enterprises may have had a point of view and may have put more emphasis on some stories than others, generally there were standards – truth was important and sources needed to be checked.

But that has changed- newspapers began to consolidate into conglomerates and their owners began to control the tone of their papers – some stories got emphasis, others were suppressed or even eliminated. Many are now exclusively on line where readers can select the stories they want and ignore the rest. In some cases … More

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The intersection of politics and personality

ByDoug Anderson Media, Communications, Personality, Politics
Why Hilary Clinton lost the 2016 election … and what about Mark Carney?

Doug Anderson

Jul 14, 2025

By any rational criteria, Hilary Clinton was far better qualified for the presidency than Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, but objective qualifications did not decide the race – it was their personalities.

If you’ve ever been accused of being secretive, you’re likely an introvert and Hilary had lots of secrets – her emails, Benghazi, etc. A lot of those secrets were part of her job as Secretary of State (and it’s good that a person in that position can keep their mouth shut) but it left her vulnerable.

In contrast, Donald Trump was an extrovert at the more extreme end. Extroverts get elected because they have a relaxed self assurance that draws people in. They sound like they know what they’re talking about and so people (the MAGA ones anyway) … More