The big investment summit has come and gone, and the government has been busy patting itself on the back for the announcements they’ve generated. The Logic has a look at the deal book, and a list of some of the deals that were announced, including plans to invest in a sovereign internet network. It was not entirely without controversy. One of the announcements was around a plan to invite “more private investment” in the four largest airports in the country (which the government would still own the land and assets of), but no one has yet explained how this private investment can both get a rate of return and money to re-invest in smaller airports (as is the stated aim), without massively increasing fees or reducing services.
The other big thing announced was a “Productivity Mega Deduction,” which builds on the “productivity super deduction” from the last budget. This was mostly praised by economists, who are saying it’ll cover something like 65 percent of capital investment (the “super deduction” was fifteen percent), and puts us at the lowest effective tax rate among the G7. For what it’s worth.
This is really smart. The federal government is now allowing full capital expensing on 2/3rds of capital investments by businesses to incentivize investing back into companies, rather than sitting on dead money.www.canada.ca/en/dep…
— Dr. Mike P. Moffatt (@mikepmoffatt.bsky.social) 2026-09-15T14:23:15.000Z
https://bsky.app/profile/jrobson.bsky.social/post/3mvlkxuvbms2y
Productivity Mega Deduction vs Productivity Super Deduction is my all-time favourite kaiju film.
— Dr. Mike P. Moffatt (@mikepmoffatt.bsky.social) 2026-09-15T14:25:51.259Z
And then there was Stephen Harper’s closing speech. Much of it was pretty benign, and oh look, a former Conservative prime minister is teaming up with a current Liberal prime minister (but you should probably add air quotes around “Liberal” because Carney is the second coming of the Progressive Conservatives), and isn’t that just so amazing? And he also talked about how as the chair of AIMCo, which is Alberta’s public pension fund, he knows Canada’s good investment. But in the middle, he went on a bit of a dig about how in 2015, the country was on the “verge” of being an energy superpower, but thanks to “deliberate policy choices” over the next decade we didn’t become it—but now we could again! He didn’t name Justin Trudeau in there (or Rachel Notley, or Steven Guilbeault), but the implication was there, and it’s just such utter bullshit. Once again, Harper has absolutely ignored that there was a global oil price crash in 2014—when he was still in power—and it permanently altered the market. Trudeau actually approved more oil sands permits, but they didn’t get built because it wasn’t economical anymore given the price of oil. But that hasn’t stopped every conservative under the sun from blaming Trudeau, because it’s convenient to do so. The truth is harder to swallow, so they pretend it doesn’t exist, just like Harper did again yesterday. It’s just absolutely boggling how so many supposed adults can be so afraid of a hard truth.
Ukraine Dispatch:
Russia struck petrol stations in Kyiv, and Ukraine hit another oil refinery in Russia, while Russia’s diesel-refining capacity has been halved. Ukraine has launched a new counter-offensive in the north of the Donetsk region, while the country tests new interceptors.
Noteworthy:
- Matt Gurney is encouraged by the Canada-Ukraine drone deal.
- Vass Bednar points out that our attempts to combat foreign ownership had faltered when it comes to the digital economy and American control over standards.
- Paul Wells makes a few observations on the Investment Summit, with both Carney’s opening speech, and Harper’s closing speech.
- Althia Raj suggests that Carney is squandering the Liberals’ environmental brand.
An absolute inability to both pivot and to actually live in the current moment.
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-09-15T17:24:05.876Z
Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.