By Michael Nickerson
I wish I had my own Mark Carney. Don’t you? Just imagine how much stuff we’d get done. Need a new wardrobe? Here’s some cash! House looking a bit rundown? Never fear, Carney is here with a ladder and paint! My Mark Carney would cook dinner, clean house, sort out the mortgage, and groom the dog by sunset. Yours might look after the kids, run the local PTA, make nice with the neighbours, or maybe plant a garden. The possibilities are truly endless! Hey, we can clone a sheep, why not a Carney!
Well, until Mark Carney actually turns his mind to cloning himself for the betterment of all Canadians (hands off world, he’s ours!) we only have one Carney to go around. But it’s been quite the trip so far. He goes from relative obscurity, to Liberal leader, to election winner, to moving policies ahead faster than anything seen in these parts since World War Two. He’s rewriting how we do things, and when we do things. Promises made, promise kept indeed.
But his real party trick so far is the bold announcement that Canada will meet its NATO requirement of spending two percent of GDP on defence not by 2030, but by next March! He’s announced 20 percent raises for armed forces members, new spending on infrastructure and housing, more support staff, building the preparedness of Canadian industry to produce more of what we need here, and money for much needed maintenance of what we already have. As you read this, we will have likely joined Europe’s Readiness 2030 800 million euro rearmament plan. And I suspect there will be more than a few defence contract announcements following June’s G7 summit given the lengthy list of invitees to Canada’s hosting turn in Kananaskis.
Now in all seriousness, Carney’s hand was likely forced with the two percent GDP announcement, what with the Readiness 2030 negotiations and the June NATO summit at which the goalposts are expected to move to a heady five percent pledge. That and ongoing talks with the US over tariffs, border security and Canadian defence spending have made for a hectic couple of months with his fledgling mandate. And needless to say, all the bombs and missiles flying around the Middle East and Eastern Europe have added some urgency to rearmament.
But it’s not just national defence that has gotten his attention, for he’s been a busy little beaver making plans for industry, infrastructure, housing, and border security with some wide-ranging legislation to turn pledge and promise into concrete (in some cases literally) action. For those used to decades of grindingly slow government action on just about everything short of approving parliamentary members’ wage increases it can be a little dizzying.
If there’s one thing in common with all of Carney’s announcements it’s speed: faster approvals, less read tape, fewer consultations and assessments, and sweeping ministerial powers to make it all happen. And to be fair, that’s exactly what he promised, at least in broad strokes. It’s just we’re not used to this sort of thing. It’s an open question whether he will truly pull it off and what the fallout might be with his ‘leap first, assess later’ approach. We’ll have to wait and see, though by Carney’s watch we might have an answer by Christmas, if not Labour Day.
The same goes with the actual dollars put forward, and getting those dollars flowing to where he promised they would actually go. This will require an overhaul in policy, resources and culture when it comes to procurement, something that may be beyond even his impressive managerial powers. And lest we forget, all that spending needs to come from somewhere and the jury’s out on whether Canadians will actually stomach such an extensive reworking of Canada’s fiscal priorities. According to recent polling, Canadians are solidly onboard with the two percent pledge, but are a definite NO when it comes to the five percent idea currently doing the rounds at NATO.
Of course, there I go again peeing on everyone’s Cornflakes™ before they’re even out of the box, but those ‘negative Nickerson’ inclinations are hard to put a stop to. Indeed, we should enjoy this rare moment when national defence is a hot topic for all the right reasons. I dare say he’s earned the benefit of the doubt for now. In the meantime, that cloning thing deserves a serious look...over to you, Mark.
