· · ·

The MOU

ByDoug Anderson Canada, Government Policy, Media, Communications, Politics

The charade and the pipeline

Doug Anderson

Nov 29, 2025

Last week I wrote a piece that said the Carney would avoid saying “NO” to a pipeline – that he would leave the decision to the Major Projects process and that as a result of that review, no pipeline was likely to ever get built. Having read the MOU that Carney signed with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, I stand by that assessment although not too many people agree with me.

As I’ve said before, Carney is an introvert and play the long game. He wanted to get Alberta onside with a number of environmental objectives and this MOU achieves much of that including some specific emission goals and timelines.

The Federal government acknowledges “Alberta’s approach to regulating heavy electricity generation emitters through Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program.” “The TIER system will ramp up to a minimum … More

·

Deal or No Deal

ByDoug Anderson International Relations, Politics
Cusma is dead! Long live the new world order!

Doug Anderson

Aug 16, 2025

The gyrations of Trump’s trade war remind me of the popular Howie Mandel TV show from the early 2000s (it has been reprised a few times and reruns were still running on closed circuit at my doctor’s office a few months back). Contestants had to blindly choose suitcases with various amounts of cash up to a million dollars, gradually whittling down the number of cases in the hopes of hitting the jackpot. Trump is playing a similar huckster deal maker role as the US’s trading ‘partners’ scramble for their ‘deal’.

But that’s where the similarity ends. Reality takes over.

Canada’s failure to make a deal by August 1 is not the end of the world – it heralds a new era which will probably be better in the long run. Canada is unique among contestants. No … More

Carney vs Trudeau, Poilievre, & TRUMP

ByDoug Anderson Canada

The almost universal narrative of the media is that Mark Carney is a political neophyte running against seasoned politicians. While it is true that he has never held any elected position, his record in his fist couple of weeks is that of a seasoned pro eating his opponents for lunch. His actions have been well-planned and executed with precision.  

I would conclude that Carney was always inclined towards politics and his sojourns into banking were mere sidebars to his preferred career. His banking years were probably somewhat frustrating as he tried to use the limited monetary tools at his disposal (interest rates) to keep the economies of Canada and England ticking along in spite of some of the reckless fiscal policies (Brexit) coming from his political peers  but it also provided a cat bird seat to watch those politicians at work … and learn.

Even before Trudeau resigned Carney … More