Carney's team screw vets for an ICE affiliated company...

Plus our Sovereign Wealth Fund is not a good idea and Carney looking to avoid a small deal.

This story should outrage everyone, regardless of political stripe.

But considering the positions taken by progressive Liberals in this country concerning Donald Trump, it should really outrage them. Sadly, like with Trudeau or whichever politician people seem to support these days, Carney’s backers won’t see the error of his ways.

When I was a young army cadet, the first person I would see checking into the James Street Armouries in Hamilton - now known as the John Weir Foote Armoury after a ceremony I was part of in 1990 - well, the first person I would see would be the Commissionaire. Back in the mid-80s these were mostly people who were veterans of the Korean War or our peacekeeping missions who were now charged with providing security at federal buildings.

Founded in 1925 to give meaningful employment to veterans of the First World War, the Corps of Commissionaires has been providing security services at federal buildings, and others, for just over 100 years. Since shortly after the Second World War, the Commissionaires have had a special relationship with the federal government when it comes to providing security.

Just recently, the Carney government - the Elbows Up and Canada Strong folks - ended the arrangement that gave the Commissionaires first right of refusal on security at federal department buildings. They ended the agreement with the not-for-profit organization that is still the biggest employer of veterans in the country at the behest of a global company scooping up security contracts from the Trump admin including ICE detention centres like Alligator Alcatraz.

You can love Trump or hate him but don’t tell me you are Elbows Up, that we are experiencing a rupture, that the old relationship is over, that being close to the Americans is dangerous and then do this.

I detailed it all in my latest column for the Toronto Sun including who was behind this, how it went down, and why it is outrageous.

Give the column a read and share it where you can.

Also, contact your local Liberal MP and tell them to stop this change, it’s not too late.

A Sovereign Wealth Fund just like all the other Sovereign Wealth Funds…

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.”

That’s Shakespeare from Act 2, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet. In the scene, Juliet is lamenting that she loves Romeo, despite his family name - the families are feuding - and she’s saying that she would love him even if he were not a Montague. Today we use this saying to mean that it doesn’t matter what we call something, it is still the same.

That’s kind of the gist of my Sun column on Mark Carney’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, though I didn’t make the Shakespearean allusions.

There are many angles to critique the new Canada Strong Fund from and I chose the fact that despite the PM claiming otherwise, we already have funds like this. Billions in taxpayer funding put forward to try and bring in new private sector money to build up Canadian businesses.

In theory, I’m not opposed to such funds - Ontario just launched something similar at $4 billion and I have similar concerns about how funds will be used.

The difference is, as I explain in my column, that despite Mark Carney’s claims otherwise we have plenty of funds like this already under different names. We don’t need more funds or more bureaucracy, we need more investment which may require tax reform or changes to regulations.

While I encourage you to read and share my critique of the new Canada Strong Fund, the angle that I took isn’t the only valid critique, there are many.

How about the fact that the entire $25 billion going into this fund is borrowed money which means this is a Sovereign Debt Fund and not a Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Mark Carney kept pointing to Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. Here are a few key differences, Norway hasn’t tried to keep it’s oil and gas in the ground, they haven’t avoided investing in oil and gas globally and they invest their wealth fund globally, not domestically.

Carney wants to take this $25 billion and just invest it in Canada in “ nation-building projects” which means by its nature, this will be a very political fund, not one focused on getting returns for Canadians.

Of note is that a guy named Eric Lombardi, who has expressed an interest in running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party and taking on Doug Ford has several issues with this fund.

These are smart and thoughtful critiques of this idea. He also defended the general idea of such a fund in the comments while still being tough on the details.

I'm not against the concept, I am against the plan as laid out thus far. Too many funds, too many subsidies, too many different ways of picking winners and losers.

It’s tough to see how this doesn’t become a political slush fund.

Carney doesn’t want a small deal but does he want any deal at all…

Carney sat down with CBC’s The National for an interview. Despite my issues with CBC, I generally support this because at least he’s speaking to Canadian media.

When he announced his bid to become Liberal leader and PM, Carney did so on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart in NYC. He has since shown a preference for American and British media to get his message out.

Even with his video releases about how being close to the Americans is dangerous or how we need a Sovereign Wealth Fund, Carney has opted to release these on YouTube with all promotional material being on X, Facebook and LinkedIn while pointing to YouTube. I have no problem with Carney using these platforms, I use all of them, but I’m not the one telling Canadians not do business with the Americans - that would be Carney.

Anyway, Carney went on CBC and said he doesn’t want a small deal on tariffs with the Americans.

“We need a good deal in the right time, and what we don’t need is chasing a small deal that disadvantages us,” the prime minister told CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault on Monday.

What Carney was chasing last fall, before Ontario Premier Doug Ford blew it up, was a small deal that looked to lift tariffs on steel but leave them on autos.

I’m a believer in the idea that Canada is in a stronger position than most of our leaders will allude to. That means that we are negotiating from a position of weakness when we should be negotiating from a position of strength.

I’ve written about this and tried to make the case. One day I will share the email responses that I received from the Elbows Up crowd whom I am convinced want us to cut off all trade with the Untied States.

The last guy who emailed me with really vile thoughts on this was a 31 year veteran of the federal civil service. That means he doesn’t have to worry about losing his job - he’s retired - he also has a better pension than most Canadians.

Elbows up indeed.