Roundup: Poilievre’s facile budget demands

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Pierre Poilievre called a Sunday morning press conference, which is a particularly Conservative tactic that tries to set the agenda for the week, in which he made his demands around the upcoming budget. We all know that it’s pretty much set in stone by this point and is on its way to the printers, but that never stops parties from making performative demands right up until the end. To that end, Poilievre had three main demands:

  1. Bring home powerful paycheques with lower taxes, so hard work pays off again.
  2. Bring home lower prices, by ending inflationary carbon tax hikes & deficit spending that drive up inflation & interest rates.
  3. Bring homes people can afford by removing government gatekeepers to free up land and speed up building permits.

First of all, the thing he refuses to acknowledge or understand is that tax cuts fuel inflation. If he’s worried about the increasing cost of living, tax cuts won’t actually do anything meaningful, and are more likely to just add fuel to that fire. (Meanwhile, taxes aren’t going up for anyone except profitable corporations and on luxury goods). When it comes to housing prices, carbon prices are not inflationary (the Bank of Canada has cited that their effect on inflation is negligible), and deficit spending has absolutely nothing to do with either inflation or interest rates. This is a facile narrative that Poilievre keeps insisting, preferring an austerity budget that will only make the vulnerable even more precarious without government supports, but this economic message still resonates for a particular generation. Meanwhile, none of this will affect housing prices, because that is driven by a lack of supply, which is because municipalities refuse to zone for density, and because provincial governments won’t use their powers to force the issue. And that leads us to the third point, which is that the federal government has no ability to “remove gatekeepers” at the provincial or municipal level. They can’t do anything about building permits, and I am dubious that there is enough federal land that is suitable for housing developments in major cities around the country that is underutilized. I may be wrong, but this has been a perennial promise by governments for years and nothing has really moved, which leads me to believe there’s not a lot to be had.

It’s not at all surprising that Poilievre is sticking to facile and wrong budgetary narratives, but it would be great if he could actually be called out on it rather than both-sides at best, which is barely even happening. This is important stuff and we’re just shrugging it off, and focusing on more bullshit polls about people believing the Conservatives are still the better economic managers in spite of decades of proof to the contrary.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian forces have believed to have suffered more than 1100 dead in a week of battles near Bakhmut, with another 1500 wounded so badly as to be removed from the fighting. The Institute for the Study of War believes Russia’s planned advance has stalled in Bakhmut, and that the assault will be more difficult to sustain without more significant losses.

Good reads:

  • Marco Mendicino doesn’t have a timeline for when a foreign agent registry could be in place (which is not that surprising).
  • Here is a look at the federal clawbacks from health transfer after provinces have been charging fees for services.
  • The Canadian Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is seizing the assets of the Toronto branch of the Silicon Valley Bank.
  • The RCMP have gifted one of the horses from the musical ride to King Charles III.
  • Facebook is now threatening to cut off news links if Bill C-18 passes in its current format, and Pablo Rodriguez says that tactic didn’t work in Australia.
  • Mary Ng never considered resigning or repaying the amount from the improper contract, because Liberals always believe the ends justify the means.
  • Here is a profile of Conservative public safety critic Raquel Dancho.
  • People are decrying “gaps” in legislation with the oil sands tailings pond leak, but is this not just a provincial abdication? Why involve the federal government?
  • Emmett Macfarlane is unimpressed with the level of transparency demonstrated by the Supreme Court of Canada regarding Justice Russell Brown’s leave.
  • Althia Raj talks to Jagmeet Singh about why he’s still propping up the Liberals in spite of criticising them at every turn.
  • Chantal Hébert has questions about the future of Trudeau and his government as Marc Garneau’s departure is opening up speculation.

Odds and ends:

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