Canada Has Become a Mediocre Country

[JOE]

No advanced nation is cratering as rapidly as Canada is. As I said before, Canada's number one export is becoming talent.

Poor @Herman must be an extremely miserable despondent man, eh Shen?

All these posts about Canada sinking actually reference his own life. I worry about that Guy, Shen.

Things must be goin bad these days fer Ole Herm, eh Shen?

Yer his friend, so counsel him. Be a Pal. As a good forum friend only people like you can help Herm.

[Thiel]

Poor @Herman must be an extremely miserable despondent man, eh Shen?

All these posts about Canada sinking actually reference his own life. I worry about that Guy, Shen.

Things must be goin bad these days fer Ole Herm, eh Shen?

Yer his friend, so counsel him. Be a Pal. As a good forum friend only people like you can help Herm.

Sweetie, jealousy is not a good look on you. Just because Herman enjoyed a successful career has people that love him and has  financial security, you have me and your chocolate gold coin collection.

Besides, Herman is jealous of your adorable little bald spot.

[Thiel]

The cost of living crisis so much worse here than in the United States.

That is caused by massive government spending and the Liberals focus on reducing Canada's CO2 emissions.

Jo Jo and I are disgusted with Mr. Carney's poverty causing policies.

[Herman]

Venezuela, Lebanon and Afghanistan. The Liberals are sure keeping us in good company.

[DKG]

After 10 years of Liberal failure, too many Canadians feel that the Canadian promise is slipping away.

People have already sacrificed too much under this Liberal government.

They've sacrificed our jobs to employment-killing taxes, red tape and Temporary Foreign Worker programs.

Young Canadians have sacrificed home ownership, with the cost of homes doubling.

Families have sacrificed safe communities with crime skyrocketing.

Many are starting to wonder if things will ever get better.

Christmas should not feel like this. We shouldn't be thinking of what we are going to have to sacrifice next.

[DKG]

The decline of merit is the story of modern Canada. It began as a slow corrosion under Justin Trudeau, whose rise was fuelled by name recognition and emotional politics rather than achievement. It deepened under Chrystia Freeland, who turned fiscal management into performance art. And it has continued under Mark Carney, whose credentials might suggest competence but whose actions have proven the opposite. These are not isolated examples; they are milestones on a national journey away from merit and toward mediocrity.

[DKG]

By former Liberal MP Dan McTeague

The holidays are here again, a time of joy and festivity, of peace on earth and good will towards men.

ecause our economy is in particularly rough shape this year, and that is hitting regular people hard. In fact, a recent survey by Abacus Data found that "Fully 67% of Canadians say the cost of living where they live is the worst they can ever remember it being."

That's a worrisome number, made all the more frustrating by the fact that much of the rise can be attributed to the choices of our elected officials over the past decade.

Now, it is easy to see how that's the case in talking about our elevated heating and electricity rates. The Industrial Carbon Tax, which Mark Carney likes to pretend isn't paid by consumers, obviously increases the cost of extracting oil and natural gas, which ultimately gets passed on to ordinary Canadians in the form of higher prices.

Much the same can be said about a lot of the red tape which we wrap around our hydrocarbons, especially those regulations which our peer nations refuse to impose on their energy industry.

Our so-called Clean Fuel Regulations — which I've previously described as our Second Carbon Tax — mandate that fuel suppliers reduce the carbon intensity of products like gas and diesel by blending higher amounts of ethanol into fuels, making them less carbon-intensive but also less efficient. That sets you back several cents per litre whenever you fill up. It's also terrible for your engine.

Meanwhile, taxpayer funded subsidies to the wind and solar industries; our Clean Electricity Regulations; and Ottawa's utterly insane commitment — put into law in 2021 — to achieve national net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, all conspire to elevate your heating and electricity bills.

And the Green Ideologues in Ottawa are to blame.

First, because their keep-it-in-the-ground policies have functioned as a drag on our economy, weakening our dollar and diminished our purchasing power. Oil and gas is the backbone of our economy, and doing everything they can to keep it from growing has left us with sluggish growth, and a stagnant economy.

And, second, because it turns out that farmers have to pay the same costs that the rest of us, just at a much larger scale. Their heating and electricity bills are skyrocketing. The cost of fuel for their tractors, trucks, and other heavy machinery have also gone through the roof, making it more expensive to raise livestock and grow crops, and to get them to market.

And that's on top of the fact that they have issues that are unique to their business, like the effect of the Industrial Carbon Tax on fertilizer production plants.

Now, lately Mark Carney has been trying to signal moderation on this file. I'm inclined to think that his moves don't amount to much, with more steps backwards than forwards.

But perhaps those signals constitute a tacit admission that his party's policies haven't worked, and an openness to trying something different. If so, my advice to Mr. Carney would be to avoid half measures – scrap the Clean Fuel Regulations; and repeal the Industrial Carbon Tax; Bill C-69, the "no new pipelines act;" Bill C-48, the Oil Tanker Moratorium; and Canada's commitment to Net-Zero.

But whether or not he follows my advice — and I'm not holding my breath — we still have reason to celebrate at this time of year.

[Herman]

[Herman]

For Christ sake. Things are bad enough in this country already.

[Shen Li]

Venezuelan oil is heavy oil. The US refineries along the Gulf Coast are built to upgrade and refine heavy oil. The extra supply from Venezuela means Western Canadian Select will face bigger price discounts reducing revenue for the governments of Alberta and Canada.

Shame on the federal Liberals for blocking Canada's top money earning export from reaching international markets and prices.

[DKG]

Venezuelan oil is heavy oil. The US refineries along the Gulf Coast are built to upgrade and refine heavy oil. The extra supply from Venezuela means Western Canadian Select will face bigger price discounts reducing revenue for the governments of Alberta and Canada.

Shame on the federal Liberals for blocking Canada's top money earning export from reaching international markets and prices.

Maduro out of power might not be in our interests.

[Herman]

Good riddance. Chrystia Freeland leaving Parliament isn't some tragic loss... it's an admission of damage done. She was central to the Emergencies Act, the economic mismanagement, the endless moral lecturing while Canadians got poorer, and the manufactured narratives propping up Liberal power. With her gone, the Liberals lose one of the key figures they relied on to fake competence and stitch together a fragile, media-assisted majority.

This absolutely hurts their chances of holding onto power. You don't shed senior figures like this when things are going well. You do it when the math is collapsing and the brand is radioactive.

And the timing is kind of wild. Canada sends another $2.5 billion to Ukraine... then Freeland suddenly exits Parliament and slides into a role tied to Zelensky. Totally a coincidence, I'm sure. Nothing to see here. Just another case of insiders making their exit while taxpayers keep footing the bill.

Canadians are left with the debt, the inflation, and the consequences. She gets a soft landing abroad. That about sums up the last decade.

[Shen Li]

120,000 Canadians left Canada in 2025.

Now you might be thinking, out of 41 million people, 120 000 isn't a big deal. However it is a big deal because most of these people are wealthy and educated. A serious brain drain is underway back in Canada and other countries(mostly the USA) are stealing Canadian talent with higher salaries, lower taxes and lower inflation.

[Herman]

[Herman]

Recent federal polling in Canada shows something that should stop everyone in their tracks.
Younger Canadians are breaking hard in one direction.
Older Canadians are clustering in another.
This isn't a normal political split.
It's a generational fault line.
Canada is staring straight at a past vs future moment.
On one side are people who built their adult lives in a system that worked.
Stable careers.
Defined benefit pensions.
Homes purchased at prices that feel fictional today.
A media environment where one or two outlets shaped the national narrative.
On the other side are people who did everything they were told to do and still can't get ahead.
Educated.
Working hard.
Running side hustles.
Still renting.
Still priced out.
Still watching full-time work become something you're lucky to land.
This isn't left vs right anymore.
It's lived experience vs inherited comfort.
Polling shows older voters overwhelmingly backing the status quo.
Younger voters are drifting away from it at scale.
And that shouldn't surprise anyone.
Older generations came up in a Canada where effort led to progress.
You could plan.
You could save.
You could reasonably expect tomorrow to be better than today.
Younger generations are coming of age in a Canada where the math doesn't work.
Job security is fragile.
Wages lag.
Housing feels permanently out of reach.
And being told to "just be patient" sounds more insulting every year.
So of course they don't trust the same institutions.
Polling also shows a divide in where people get information.
One group still relies heavily on legacy media like CBC and government-adjacent commentary.
The other group gets its worldview from real people.
Podcasts.
Long-form conversations.
Social media.
Friends comparing notes and realizing the same promises keep falling flat.
That isn't ignorance.
That's adaptation.
And here's the part people keep avoiding.
The same voting bloc that kept the substitute drama, "people-kind" guy in office for nearly a decade is now backing his replacement.
Mark Carney.
A guy who, according to polling sentiment and lived reality, has very little to show for everyday Canadians in his first year.
Unless you count elite connections.
Global back-patting.
And alliances that just happen to line up nicely with future boardroom opportunities.
Including Brookfield, all conveniently wrapped in a "blind trust" that asks the public not to look too closely and just trust the process.
That arrangement is easy to accept if your home is paid off, your pension is locked in, and the system still works for you.
It's a lot harder to accept if you're young, renting, stretched thin, and watching the same people who benefited from the old system lecture you about patience.
Polling doesn't lie about this divide.
It's getting wider.
Older voters are protecting the Canada that worked for them.
Younger voters are trying to build a future inside a system that no longer rewards effort.
There's an old lyric that says,
"The children are our future, let them lead the way."
Instead, we ignored them.
Then talked down to them.
Then told them to wait while the door kept closing.
This polling shift isn't radical.
It's rational.
It shows who benefited from the old system.
And who is paying the price to preserve it.
Canada does not need better messaging.
It does not need more panels.
It does not need another "steady hand" protecting insiders.
Canada needs a change.
Now.
Because a country that sacrifices its future to protect its past doesn't stay a country for long.