Playing Charades in Canada

'The rest of the world is moving on without us' - Jasmin Laine

Life in Canada these days is like a game of charades, where you try to figure out a reality of desperate hand wringing, furious finger pointing, and mad hopping up and down while clutching one’s pearls. Watching Canadian news coverage induces all that and if we can’t even figure out what is going on in this country, our democracy is at a literal end. And if you don’t believe me, listen to this guy reporting on the latest economic outlook courtesy of the Bank of Canada.

Okay, so we should always listen to bankers, especially if our PM is one of them. But instead of doing yet another analysis of the theatre of the absurd that was Carney visiting his pal in the Oval Office, I’m going to offer you a shortlist of alternative Canadian news outlets that you have never heard of, plus one venerable American as a bitter counterpoint. They are the only voices describing a totally different reality from the one that the legacy outlets want you to believe in. I got a bit addicted to them while Canada became, yet again, the focus of global media attention for all the wrong reasons. We’re in an existential crisis and no, Carney isn’t the man to save us. Neither is Trump. Together, they are about to ruin us.

Right or wrong, I’m sticking to my vision

These two men, so different on the surface, share a belief system: they both believe in their version of reality, even if reality doesn’t comply. Trump believes that tariffs will fix the ailing world economy and Carney believes that forcing Net Zero policies on corporations is saving us from climate change and also, promote the proper ‘values’ enshrined in ESG. Most economists agree that Trump is correct in fingering the problems of a sick, out of kilter globalized economy, but they also agree that slapping tariffs on everybody is the wrong medicine. As we already evident, this Trump reality has already created chaos and in fact, elected Carney. Some journalists, like the Loose Moose of whom more later, have come to the conclusion that there is collusion between these two men. Behind the scenes, they’re talking and plotting the demise of Canada. If you want to know what Carney believes, a UN interview no longer available on the UN site offers a chilling portrait of a man who talks earnestly about ‘punishing’ or ‘rewarding’ companies depending on how well they bend the knee to the God of Net Zero. He is leading the charge and if you want to know how we got here, an old document about the 2017 Paris Agreement meeting still exists.

Reading it gave me a sense of the immense forces marshalled to ‘save the world for climate change’, and also, the abject failure of those forces. All you have to do to see how Net Zero went into the ditch, is to look at Britain’s economy, which Carney as their head banker, led down that Net Zero garden path. Britain is struggling, its small and medium businesses are getting strangled by government regulations, just as they are here in Canada. This sector, the one that actually builds wealth, is getting killed. And make no mistake, Trump is not their friend either. He is firmly in the camp of the tech oligarchs, no matter what he says. The situation on the ground is that between Carney’s do-gooding Globalist on one side and Trump’s idiotic tariffs on the other, Canada, poor stricken Canada, is getting the boot in the neck. Crushed under two outsize egos, men who only see their one eyed vision, like the Cyclops of old, holding opposing visions of how to run the global economy, while cooperating when it suits them. Canada is in a very dangerous place.

Since we’re not able to change anything, we can always amuse ourselves by not watching what passes for ‘news’ on cable TV and listen to some bright young Canadians not funded by government instead. They tell a different story and will surprise you and sometimes even make you laugh. They haven’t got any solutions but at least they describe reality instead of sugar coating it.

Four Canadian Contrarians plus one old American

Here is a quick list of who I think is worth your time, starting with the youngest and most voluble, the super smart, highly animated Jasmin Laine. That girl is a natural talker, one of these people who has what we used to call the gift of the gab. She’s passionate about Canada as well as beautiful. Quite the package. I just discovered her channel and never regret the time I spend watching her talk and laughing at how furious she gets. This kind of authenticity is rare and she doesn’t pretend to be a non partisan observer at all. And because she is intelligent and handles the language the way a master ninja handles his blade, she gets her points across. This is a gifted communicator and I predict she’ll go far.

In sharp contrast, there is the measured, venerable Victor David Hansen, fifth generation farmer in California, republican intellectual and one of the few American who regularly comments on Canadian affairs. Hansen points out that the entire fifty-first state thing is simply the High Art of Trolling, the title of his latest post. He lays it out for the Canadians who got played and bought into the Carney rhetoric, an ageing, clever globalist who lives up to the year he was born in, the Year of the Snake. Which also happens to be this year. His year, obviously. But there’s a catch: the snake is shedding its skin, so the question becomes how long can Carney hold on to a slippery victory bought with fear and lies? Listening to Hansen one gets that cold feeling in the pit of one’s stomach when you see the truth so clearly spelled out. Yeah, it hurts to be revealed as the dumb Canadian, the duped Canadian. But better own up to it because if we want to fix this disaster called Canada, we need to be clear eyed and ready. This is a not a test; it’s the real hot emergency signal nobody can ignore, deny or shut off. No matter what the ‘official media’ tells us. Hansen is sending us a warning that we might want to heed.

Back to Canada, we have a young, cynical but organized and cogent guy named David who goes by The Loose Moose, a fitting moniker; he looks like he might be okay roaming in the deep bush, munching on leaves and diving into pristine lakes, of which we have many. His thing is a split screen where he comments on clips from everywhere, and sometimes just watches with an expression of irony. The show is an excellent summary of what is wrong with our new Prime Minister because the Moose has a big chart that tracks all the connections between Carney, Brookfield Assett Management, Jared Kushner (!), and a host of other entities. He can show you why he thinks Carney and Trump know each other quite well, which might explain the odd body language in the Oval Office. And why the Canadian Auto industry is getting moved south, without our consent. He has done his homework and so far, nobody has taken this information down. Worth a look while it’s still up.

Not to be missed either is Ezra Levant over at Rebel News that has earned its stripes by covering the Trucker Freedom Convoy and reminded us how our government absconded with all the freedoms we thought we owned. Of course he is labeled as ‘far right’. Ezra has embraced his role of being a sharp thorn in the side of the powerful with panache. It’s a thankless job and certainly neither the CBC nor CTV is doing anything like it. He’s filling the void left by these well paid organizations. I don’t always agree with him but on the other hand, I’m glad he’s there, doing the spade work, flying to Bermuda to find the office of Brookfield Asset Management only to discover that it’s a hole in the wall and nobody wants to talk to him or anyone. Interesting.

Ezra often features Sam Cooper from The Bureau, a serious investigative journalist introduced in a previous post as the man who outed the Chinese infiltration in Canadian government and local casinos where money laundering of drug profits was so common it had its own label: the Vancouver Model. If you just watch these four Canadians, you’ll never believe the CBC again. And have a bit of fun doing it. These are entertaining, informative podcasts, well produced and well done.

There are a few other people plowing a similar furrow. One is called Krayden’s Right, an Alberta guy who is clearly on the side of the separatists but not in an extreme way. He covers the daily political landscape from an Alberta perspective and since a third or more of that province wants to leave, perhaps we need to pay more attention to what’s on their minds.

If none of the above interests you, there is always David Corcoran at The Financial Post. He writes as if he is an actual journalist doing his research and getting edited and so on. Yes, it still happens. He’s also witty and urbane. I recommend him as a counterweight to the unruly bunch above. Also, Colby Cosh at the National Post. Equally serious but stylish and ironic. We like.

And that’s all folks. I’m going on a three day holiday and maybe have some fun while it’s still available. And Canada is still Canada. And can still play actual, fun Charades, like these people are doing. Au Revoir!