On Trump or electricity, Carney isn't clear about his message...

The PM needs to stop being all things to all people.

Secrecy appears to be the keyword when it comes to the Canadian government and our position on getting a deal with the United States on trade.

The Carney government won’t say much about what is happening, they just always try to put things in the best light. That’s what Mark Carney did earlier today when asked about ensuring we have access to the U.S. market so we don’t lose more manufacturing plants like the Honda expansion.

Carney was coy.

Here’s a longer clip of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer appearing on Fox News over the weekend and being frank. We don’t have to like or agree with what he says, but at least the Americans are open with their public about what is going on.

Carney wants electricity changes…

It looks like Mark Carney wants to get out of the way of provinces on electricity.

Kinda, but not really.

My colleague Bryan Passifiume is writing about Carney’s announcement today. He wants to double the grid by 2050, a goal most ambitious provinces are already moving towards.

The problem is, the Liberals, especially under Trudeau, have been getting in the way for years. Now, Carney is promising a national strategy, in an area the provinces run, to clear up the Liberal mess.

“We need to deliver, because Canada is facing major challenges from a rapidly changing world,” Carney said.

“The U.S. has radically changed its trade relations with other countries, which has made many of our previous assets into liabilities.”

Central to that strategy, the PM said, is Canada’s electrical grid.

Carney’s plan represents a re-imagining of the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) — the cornerstone of former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s climate policy, which at the time called for a net-zero power grid by 2035.

Notice how everything is tied back to Trump’s tariffs, even electricity.

The real issue is, this doesn’t fully repeal Trudeau area regulations that are causing more harm than Trump tariffs. That’s a point Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was making on Thursday afternoon.

Doug Ford keeps on trucking…

I know what the comment section will be like today on this story. There is a lot of hate around here for Ford.

That said, the latest poll by Leger for Postmedia that I was writing about in the Toronto Sun today shows he’d win another majority if an election were held today. Sure, support is down a bit from the last election but he is still in majority territory.

Will it stay that way?

As I like to tell all politicos:

Voters are fickle.

Polls can change.

Campaigns matter.

Read the column here.

Trudeau judge tries to squash Alberta independence referendum…

An Alberta court judge, appointed by David Lametti in the Trudeau government, has ruled that the referendum on Alberta independence cannot go ahead. Her reasoning was that there had not be sufficient consultation with First Nations Communities.

Constitutional scholar and law professor Dwight Newman, a man I’ve interviewed and featured here has written for National Post that the judge was wrong to arrive at that conclusion.

I don’t agree with the goal of taking Alberta out of Canada, but I do speak to people about this issue. The Full Comment episode released on Monday was an interview with Keith Wilson, a lawyer fighting for Alberta to separate.

I asked Wilson a question that seems appropriate at this point given the court trying to shut this down. You can listen to the full discussion here.

You can listen to my full conversation with Professor Newman on the Cowichan court case and Musqueam agreement on the Full Comment Podcast here.

BTW, Carney was asked about the referendum today. He spoke about the right to vote, didn’t suggest blocking the vote but said Alberta is best placed within Canada.

On that, I’ll agree with him.