Carney's airport privatization list and why voting rules need to be fixed...

Plus, is integration over or do we need deeper integration? Carney can't make up his mind.

I’ve got the list.

The list of the airports Mark Carney wants to privatize that is. Rather than scoop myself, I’ll leave that part to my latest Toronto Sun column which you can read here.

I’m still undecided on whether this is a good idea or a bad idea. Essentially, this is a devil in the details issue.

What I can tell you, and as I explain in the column, the government is looking for financial partners and considering different models for structuring any potential deals. They could move ahead within days with RFI asking the financial sector for expressions of interest.

In my conversation with former airline executive Duncan Dee, he told me that Canada’s current system is a real problem with high fees and low oversight.

You can watch our full 20 minute chat on this issue here.

Progressives only worry about some votes…

It was three days ago that CBC came out with a story saying CSIS is warning that the Alberta referendum on independence is susceptible to foreign interference.

They ran it all weekend and they are still running it Monday night trying to get everyone worried.

Meanwhile, we had a provincial nomination race on the weekend that got national attention because the PM was involved, because a sitting MP tried to secure a provincial nomination and lost and because of sample ballots being handed out in English and Bengali.

But as I was writing today in the Sun, the real problem is all of our parties allow minors and people who aren’t citizens to vote.

Why do we allow people who can’t vote in a general election to pick our candidates?

The Hogue Commission stated point blank that this system is prone to foreign interference and needs to be changed.

Is CBC beating the drum on that?

Heavens no!

This isn’t a new issue for me, I was raising it when the Liberals held their leadership race that selected Mark Carney.

Speaking of the Alberta separation debate…

The latest episode of the Full Comment Podcast dropped in the early hours of Monday morning. I spoke with Edmonton area lawyer Keith Wilson about why he, a native of Ontario, has decided it’s time for his province to break with the rest of Canada.

Here’s part of that conversation.

I’ve posted the full podcast here or you can listen on whichever app you use for podcasts.

Rupture vs. deeper integration…

As I was writing on the weekend, Mark Carney has spent months warning us about being too close to the Americans. He talks endlessly of a rupture, of the old order and the old relationship being over.

This weekend he was all over a conference co-sponsored by the Liberal affiliated Canada 2020 think tank and the Washington based Center for American Progress. He was even there to greet Barack Obama who showed up for a Friday night keynote speech.

Then on Saturday, Carney gave his own speech where he confusingly began speaking about a deeper integration with the United States.

“Canada remains open to deeper integration, including options for fortress North America in selected sectors. And to be clear, those offers are on the table.”

Just a few weeks ago he was saying this:

“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses. Weaknesses that we must correct.”

And you thought the Elbows Up and Elbows Down changes were confusing.

Here’s my video commentary on it.