Crazy on the Decline. Alberta a Possible Exception

November 22, 2022

Despite Donald Trump madly clinging to the hope of a return to the White House, his election denying candidates in the midterms were widely defeated and a red wave did not break. It would seem that the crazies are on the decline in US politics. 

Recently on the Daily Show, former President Obama said what many hope: “I like to think that part of what happened in this election is people said, ‘OK, you know what, some of this stuff is getting a little too crazy, It turns out that there is a majority of the country that does prefer normal, not crazy. And that’s a basis for hope.”


Now unless we think Canada was immune to the craziness and polarization that infected politics to the south, think again. The ongoing televised inquiry into the use of the emergency act more than reminded us of how ridiculous and irrational were the beliefs held by the people who led the freedom convoy. 


Take James Bauder, the founder of Canada Unity and author of a wild missive demanding the governor general and Senate work around the elected government to lift COVID-19 health measures. He told the Inquiry that he was told by “God” to start the convoy and accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “treason.” In tears he told about how he believes the convoy was a worldwide beacon of “love and unity.” 


Then there is the admittedly charismatic “mother hen” of the freedom convoy, Tamara Lich. She was the chief fundraiser and voice of the protest. She called the occupation “the biggest lovefest I’ve ever participated in.” She denied that it was never intended to disturb Ottawa and complained that everyone wanted hugs and money from her. Pat King is a darker character who was the social media guru of the convoy that many wanted out of the leadership because of videos he posted threatening Trudeau’s life. Both he and Lich insisted that the whole thing was one big emotional bouncy castle. “I’ve never seen anything more loving and peaceful in my life,” Mr. King said at the inquiry. “It was Woodstock.”


At the time it was some of this widely reported more threatening and fanciful convoy demands that likely led to the growing impatience of Canadians with the anti-vaccine protests. An Angus Reid poll released on Feb. 14, 2022, showed the public increasingly fed up with anti-vaccine mandate protests. Of those polled, 72 per cent said it’s time for the protesters to go home as they had made their point, and most supported police stepping in to deal with the situation. Interestingly, given the lively discussion about whether the government overstepped in using the emergency act, those who supported some form of action (93% of Canadians) to remove protesters are largely supportive of arrests if demonstrators refuse to leave. Three-in-five (62%) say this should happen.


A recent CBC Opinion piece by freelancer Rahim Mohamed makes an interesting argument about the similarities between the new Premier, Danielle Smith and the defeated election denier for Arizona governor, Keri Lake, a Republican who also was a high profile broadcaster. He argues that demographically Arizona and Alberta are similar with growing large multi-ethnic populations against a past history of being reliably conservative. Both are now more competitive in the ballot box. Alberta went from 44 straight years of Progressive Conservative rule to a single term of New Democrat government (2015-2019).


He says Smith should take Lake's fate as a cue to address her own credibility problem. Smith has invited criticism for dubious statements about Russia's invasion of Ukraine (since apologized for), an argument that cancer is within a patient's control before it reaches Stage 4, and alternative COVID treatments. She is clear that under her there will be no vaccine or mask mandates. Shades of the freedom convoy. She also continues to plan a bizarre “Alberta Sovereignty Act” which would give Alberta power to not enforce federal laws which were not in the interests of the province.  


She has somewhat stepped down from her more egregious polices and views top broaden her appeal. This was evident in a televised speech which announced a series of new financial relief measures including a $600 payment over the next six months for each child under 18 in families with lower incomes, rebates electricity and natural gas and killing the provincial gas tax. Shades “Ralph Bucks”, former Premier Klein’s 2006 vote buying strategy. Easy to see this kind of spending for what it is.       


The speech ended with exaggerated rhetoric against the federal government. Her unworkable “Sovereignty Act” has no appeal to the Albertans not in her base, who will remember her wacky ideas. Today’s Alberta is a far cry from the province she knew a decade ago as leader of the right-wing Wildrose Party. Alberta voters are no longer automatically conservative, and in NDP leader Rachel Notley she faces a formidable and believable opponent. Smith has odd ideas that are offside to the average middle of the road voter. She’ll be under continuing close scrutiny. 


As will the chief pretender to the federal prime ministership, Conservative leader Pierre Poliviere, known for his hard to explain support for the freedom convoy. He has explained in detail that “I support those peaceful and law-abiding protesters who demonstrated for their livelihoods and liberties, while condemning any individual who broke laws, behaved badly or blockaded critical infrastructure…I think it’s possible to support the overall cause of personal free choice in vaccination and the overall cause of respecting the truckers’ ability to earn an income, while holding individually responsible anyone who behaved badly, broke laws, or blockaded key infrastructure.”


Hard to make a convincing clip of this and his overall ambiguity and the fact of his open support during the occupation will be a sharp arrow in the Liberal election quiver come the next federal campaign. Again, a cloud of craziness shadows him.


Our own Conrad Black is one person who was probably the most eloquent and consistent supporter of Trump in all his craziness. Trump pardoned him, resulting in a glowing tome A President Like No Other that Black published in 2018.


In a recent detailed piece in the Star on Black’s Trump sycophancy historian Andrew Cohen penned: “Days after this month’s midterm elections, Black did the unthinkable: he broke with Trump. No longer was Trump presumptive president, as Black predicted — now he was past president. In a betrayal for the ages, Black has turned on Trump.”



As Obama intoned – there may just be an end to craziness and hope for moderation, even from Conrad Black. 


by Patrick Gossage


Patrick Gossage Insider Political Views

Two Opposites – Mark Carney and Donald Trump

By Patrick Gossage • March 12, 2026
One of the major differences between these two men is that Carney understands the value of well-thought-out strategy, abundantly clear in his Davos speech, which laid out one for middle powers to deal with the end of a rules-based international order and the rise of hegemony. Trump's lack of strategic understanding is clear in his bumbling attempts to justify the billion-dollar-a-day Iran war. His overall tactic of “flooding the zone” – mounting a new initiative or major announcement every day, or even several times a day to ensure press and opposition can never catch up. This tactic has served him well – confusing the world and his would-be opponents into submission under a valley of activity and harsh opinions from the leader of the world. Contrast this approach to leadership from Carney. He is systematically building a nation less dependent on US trade by travelling the world building new alliances and trading partners. And in the scare of Australia giving substance to his idea of alliances with middle powers. All laid out in the Davos speech. It is instructive to appreciate how much Trump was irritated by the Davos speech. Carney got a standing ovation; Trump’s rambling lengthy diatribe did not. He won’t soon forget being so upstaged. He surely recognized an intellectual power he could never match. Carney is a realist and pragmatic when he stated recently “We take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.” He is dealing with the world that is being reshaped by an irrational power-mad president, a world the powerful Stephen Miller said “that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world.” Does Carney sometimes err on the side of supporting Trump likely to ensure that critical talks on free trade and tariffs have some chance of finding a sympathetic ear? Yes; first he seemed to fully support Trump’s war with Iran. He later made his support more nuanced, saying Trump’s actions were against the rules-based international order. He now says we will not get involved unless a NATO ally is threatened. But generally, Carney is highly rational in contrast to Trump’s self-centered irrationality. Take Trump’s bizarre ill-informed letter to the Prime Minister of Norway, who had no role in deciding if he got the Nobel Peace Prize: “I no longer feel obligated to think purely of Peace (he subsequently engaged in an ever expanding war against Iran). He then reiterated his demand for “complete and Total Control, of Greenland. Thank you!”. His late-night rants, complete with caps, on social media show a mind out of control. Thay are dutifully reported on US news media and often astonish with their non sequiturs and nastiness. One of his more unpresidential quotes came as he fingered White House drapes: “I chose these myself. I always liked gold." The big question for Canadians who are more and more disillusioned with the antics of the President: could these two opposite ever sit down and do a deal that works for Canada. The two do text, and Carney has admitted that in private Trump does listen. But there is also evidence that the trade people in the White House do not like Canada, and as Trump has said, we owe our very existence to the US. And we are “difficult”. They have said that the current trade deal is not good for the US and could be trashed entirely and -deals with Mexico and Canada could be separate and the current trilateral deal may be dead.  Canada was at the brink of reducing the heavy sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, and lumber when Premier Ford’s unfortunate ads during the Rose Bowl that featured President Reagan speaking against the usefulness of Tariffs led To Trump suspending talks. They only recently resumed. So can our world-renowned businessman and banker hope to sit down with the unpredictable and unstable President and cut a deal? Some hope that if we extend talks, the President, weakened by the midterms, the bad economic fallout from an unpopular war, and the fragmentation of the MAGA movement may be easier to deal with. On the other hand he may badly need a “win,” bullying big concessions out of Canada and reaping so-cabled benefits from a weaker free trade deal. There is a scenario where Trump gets a black eye if Carney simply walks away with the conviction, perhaps easily shared with an increasingly nationalistic and confident Canada that “no deal is better than a bad deal.” In any case, what a decisive and challenging future we face with Canada at play. Can Carney win for Canada against his opposite by losing a deal?"

A New Canada to Fight for Our Survival

By Patrick Gossage • December 29, 2025
There has been nothing like the mobilization of our country since we went to war against Hitler “for King and Country.” Now we are mobilizing in a new war against Trump’s depredations with renewed patriotic fervour. Our building a resilient sovereignty against the word’s most irrational and powerful regime - who believe we have no right to exist - will require an enormous dedicated and concentrated effort to redefine our nation. . Make no mistake. We are not seen as important in Washington, a lesson I learned as the Minister of Information at our embassy in the Reagan years. Like Trump’s disparaging attitude to Justin Trudeau, Reagan had little use for his crusading father, Pierre Ytudeau. The difference is that with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney r Reagan actually became a key figure in establishing the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed in 1988. Ironically, it is precisely the success of this pact that led to 75% of our trade going to the US, a dangerous dependence which is now under extreme threat. The future of the successor to the FTA is at dtake. The US Canada Mexico Agreement (USMCA) is about to be renegotiated and is by no means secure. Bilateral trade discussions on the sectorial tariffs that are destroying our steel, automobile, aluminum and lumber industries were going well but were cancelled on October 23 after Trump, in a fit of pique was annoyed by Ontario TV ads using a Reagan clip to decry tariffs. Prime Minister Carney clings to the hope that these issues will be addressed in the context of the USMCA talks. They are supposed to begin in January. We live in hope. Make no mistake. Trump recently suggested that USMCA’s future was not certain. His strong belief that Canada would be better as a US state _ “and there would be no tariffs” – seems unshakeable. Perhaps the most striking evidence of what low repute Canada is held in the White House comes from Vice President Vance. He has publicly criticized Canada's our generous immigration policies, blaming them for the country's "stagnating" living standards and referring to our approach as "immigration insanity". Vance pointed to a chart from IceCap Asset Management showing that Canada's GDP per capita growth has fallen behind that of the U.S. and the U.K. in recent years. He argues this stagnation is a direct result of Canada's approach to immigration and not U.S. trade policies. He specifically targeted Canada's multiculturalism model, contrasting it with the U.S. "melting pot". Vance claimed that "no nation has leaned more into 'diversity is our strength’... immigration insanity “ than Canada". The White House recently released National Security Strategy (NSS) which also note how immigrants can destroy our democracies. Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columnist signaled this: “It cites activities by our sister European democracies that “undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence. “‘Should present trends continue,” it goes on, “the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less.” These views are totally inimical to Canadian values.  As is this, Trump’s most outrageous recent anti- immigrant outburst as reported by NBC : “For a second day in a row, President Donald Trump launched into a hate-filled rant against Somalia and Somali immigrants living in the US, saying they’ve “destroyed Minnesota” and “our country.” Minnesota, Trump said, is “a hellhole” right now. “The Somalians should be out of here. They’ve destroyed our country.“ The NSC also can affect Canada in its focus on the Western hemisphere. an area to be dominated by US interests. The US will secure critical supply chains in its own interests; and insists on the right of the US to have access to “strategically important locations.” The US National Security Council is to identify strategic points and resources in the Western hemisphere with a view to their protection and joint development with regional partners. Obviously, Canada as a source of critical minerals, will be under US scrutiny. Some observers fear that Trump wants Canada to become a “vassal state”. A December Toronto Star editorial states coldly that “Thanks to Donald Trump, we know that nothing about our country is guaranteed anymore, not our sovereignty, our democracy, our prosperity.” We now know the Canadian policies standing in the way of a new USMCA agreement. US Trade representative Jamieson Greer said our online Streaming Act, which will make profitable US streaming services support Canadian programming is a major irritant as is our sacrosanct supply management regime for dairy and poultry products. These both are very difficult bargaining chips for Canada to play. Trump’s love affair with tariffs is unlikely to subside so Canadian products may continue to be frozen out of the US. Prime Minister Carney’s ambitious strategy of finding alternate markets for these may work. And his new policy framework for rebuilding a successful economy, major infrastructure projects and attracting important foreign investment is a significant redefinition of our national political priorities. He enjoys wide public support for his strategy which also receives good business and media support. There is already some optimism about the economy in 2026 - take Bank of Montreal’s recent outlook paper: “We’re looking for a stronger economy in 2026 than 2025. Consumer spending has helped prop up the economy. The “Buy Canadian” campaign has helped, and more people are travelling closer to home. Also, there’s no question that federal government spending has also supported economic growth. As we move into the latter part of the year—boosted by firmer economic growth and lower population growth—we expect the unemployment rate to fall in the second half. “Canada’s position in the trade dispute isn’t as bad as it appeared earlier in the year. The average Us tariff rate on imports of Canadian goods is between 6% and 7%, compared to the 17% rate the U.S. charges the rest of the world on average. (these rates are goods under the existing CUSMA) Sectorial tariffs are heavily focused on certain targeted industries, such as steel and aluminum, lumber, and auto imports and non-USMCA auto parts. These are important sectors, but they represent a relatively narrow slice of the economy. “ In addition there is good news on the overall trade front. Canada’s trade swung to a surplus of C$0.15 billion in September 2025 from a C$6.3 billion deficit the month before and well above expectations for a C$4.5 billion deficit, Exports rose 6.3 C$ 64.231 billion, the largest monthly increase since February. Nine of 11 product sections posted gains. Metal and non-metallic mineral product exports jumped 22.7% driven by a 30.2% surge in unwrought gold; aircraft and other transportation equipment rose 23.4% and crude oil exports climbed 5.8%. We just may have a more resilient economy than we thought. Nevertheless, we cannot count on Trump agreeing to a new trade regime that is as good as the original NAFTA – and the cost of reducing tariffs on key sectors may be too high, Trump’s love for tariffs and distain for us won’t change. We can only hope that a smart, well connected and determined Prime Minister can rebuild an economy that will be immune to the vagaries of our neighbour.
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