Ottawa, ON – Last week, Mark Carney told the world that “we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.” He told heads of major companies and business leaders that “Canada has what the world wants. We are an energy superpower.” And he called out “the gaps between rhetoric and reality.”
Today, that gap has widened. Instead of working with Conservatives to “develop greater strategic autonomy in energy,” Carney’s Liberals have doubled down by voting against introducing a Canadian Sovereignty Act that would unlock our potential, make our country more affordable and ensure that we can be strong and self-reliant.
During a time of existential crisis, it’s business as usual for the Liberals. Not a single Liberal law that blocks the development of national projects has been repealed. Despite Conservatives giving Carney the power in Bill C-5 to move at unimaginable speeds, his government has failed to get a single shovel in the ground or even grant approval to a new project.
While Carney declares that “nostalgia is not a strategy”, his government remains nostalgic for the past ten years, where projects were blocked, investment fled, and our workers suffered. He best described the results as turning Canada into “a country that cannot feed itself, fuel itself or defend itself.”
Canadians are facing an affordability crisis, with the worst food inflation in the entire G7 and the younger generation priced out of homeownership. People can’t eat speeches, and pipelines need permits, not photo-ops and signing ceremonies.
Conservatives have worked with the Prime Minister collaboratively since he’s been in office: fast-tracking C-5, trying to get C-14 out of committee and committing to pass trade deals with C-13 and C-18. Where this legislation has fallen short, Conservatives have proposed clear, detailed solutions to the problems we face, but Liberals have voted against them every time.
Despite all of Carney’s rhetoric, Canadians are left with the same failed Liberal results. While our nation is desperate for real change that will grow our exports, boost investment and restore an affordable life with stronger take-home pay, Carney failed to meet the moment.