Jörg Broschek 🇨🇦

It's been with us for almost our entire camping road trip this year and I have been thinking exactly the same. Dystopian.

Federalism, political leadership and the Covid-19 pandemic: explaining Canada’s tale of two federations In Canada, the federal government and the provinces responded comparatively successfully to the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the winter and spring of 2020. The opposite is true, however, ...

I've been wrestling with this question for years but would argue that political leadership as a distinct form of agency is a casual factor in its own right.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Exactly this. Timing matters profoundly in politics, and this is the second rare historical opportunity within five years political leadership fails to capitalize on.

www.thestar.com/business/tru...

Which is why - finally - developing a coherent industrial policy framework would be so important.

My argument isn't that others couldn't do worse, but that there's no point in engaging - let alone making concessions - with a fascist brainfart who has no honor and will do what he wants regardless. Carney needs to assert sovereignty and massively shift us away from the US, yesterday.

Such an important point.
Related: The political argument against US protectionism assumes that economically harming Canada will harm US voters, who'll vote accordingly. But that doesn't work if you have an authoritarian president who doesn't care about voters. Which = less Canadian leverage.

Lake Superior sunset with wildfire smoke

Lake Superior with wildfire smoke

Indeed. Sunset at Lake Superior yesterday night, blended with wildfire smoke from Manitoba.

“The world’s largest trading bloc may have dodged higher tariffs, but it has also rubber stamped the US president’s new world order.”

Leaves Canada with little leverage.

The EU has validated Trump’s bullying trade agenda The US president’s deals are not a win-win for the global economy

There is a counterfactual: The EU has the ACI and the geopolitical power to orchestrate a coordinated response with partners.

As long as the Trump Administration is not addressed as the collective action problem it is, they will get stronger by the day.

www.ft.com/content/11aa...

Seconded.

Collaboration and Unilateral Action: Intergovernmental Relations in Canada Creating multilateral intergovernmental institutions will not lead to collaborative federalism; there must be a commitment to make them work effectively.

Also, Robert Schertzer, Andrew McDougall and Grace Skogstad published an excellent study on Canada for IRPP a few years ago - focus lies on vertical intergovernmental relations across three policy domains.

irpp.org/research-stu...

The purpose of intergovernmental councils: A framework for analysis and comparison Intergovernmental councils (IGCs) are specific, institutionalized forums of intergovernmental relations. They provide essential horizontal and/or vertical executive channels for preparing, deciding...

Two colleagues compiled a very good special issue on this, focusing exclusively on horizontal coordination in comparative perspective (2017)

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

....and proper administrative support to make intergovernmental coordination work, and not just a performative exercise.

Germany, Austria and Switzerland, while far from perfect, are good case studies.

It's a bit difficult to summarize here, but what comparative research essentially suggests is: it requires an institutional framework for regular meetings, time to cultivate norms (that operate independently from personal relationships)....

I am not aware of a PM formally joining a CoF meeting either. I was surprised though when I watched The National yesterday that Carney "called the meeting to order." I assume the CoF formally became a FMC with the PM as the chair, before it resumed as a CoF afterwards, but just guessing here.

Germany: ‘Time has come’ for EU to threaten US with trade bazooka - Euractiv “I believe, 7 days before the end of the negotiations, one should also show what one can do,” said a senior German government official

Reality hits: "a stunning reversal of Berlin’s previous call for a “quick and simple” deal with Washington."

Now: "the right time has come from the perspective of the German government for the Commission to consider the use of this anti-coercion instrument (ACI)”

www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

Trudeau’s using our moment of crisis to reinvent our economy. That’s exciting The Liberals seem intent on asking Canadians to consent to a sweeping economic renewal that tackles income inequality, climate crisis, immigration, economic sovereignty, industrial self-sufficiency, t...

....we have been here before: 5 years ago, we were in a similar critical juncture. Political rhetoric raised high expectations, but without a coherent long-term plan, Canada largely muddled through. History rhymes.

www.thestar.com/business/tru...

Carney’s “nation-building” is nothing but a blast from the past Mark Carney promised bold change. But Canada needs more than old ideas to face global disruption and build a resilient future.

Nation-building vs. nation-maintenance:

@bhaggart.bsky.social et al. outline how a real counterfactual could look like, e.g.:

"We need a comprehensive, sector-by-sector strategy focused on productivity, decarbonization and economic sovereignty."

Also...

policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/ju...

@jimbostanford.bsky.social’s analysis is absolutely, 100% correct.
Any substantive agreement with the US will place Canada in a subservient position for years to come. It’ll tie us to them. That Mark Carney continues to pursue an agreement with Trump’s US is a mistake of historic proportions.

Re-posting this not just because it says nice things, but because the EU is an interesting comparison.

(@alasdairroberts.bsky.social has made the same comparison, but I leapt at the G7 comp because of Carney's recent comments.)

bsky.app/profile/jbro...

ANALYSIS | Are first ministers' meetings cool again? | CBC News When Mark Carney sits down with the premiers on Tuesday, it will be the third time in four months that he and the premiers have met face-to-face. That is, by recent standards, an unusual amount of tim...

"We need systemic reform designed to foster trust, not just transaction. This means re-introducing routine, rules-based intergovernmental relations, where leaders know they'll meet regularly, under shared agendas, with accountability built into the process​."

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

➡️ institutionalized sectoral/ministerial councils in addition to First Ministers (i.e. Council of the EU, not just the European Council)

➡️ formalized meetings at least 4 times per year

➡️ administrative support akin to COREPER.

Plus: Indigenous peoples must have a permanent seat at the table.

Great piece - it's important to centre federalism again.

I would add: To generate the benefits outlined in the article, Canada should emulate EU intergovernmental governance rather than the G7.

As a mature federation without a robust system of intergovernmental relations, we should envision....

The fed gov cuts to pay for military and wealthy tax cuts have rapidly expanded. My new analysis shows that most of the cuts will now be on transfers to other govs, non-profits and people. A stunning 1 in 5 dollars is just cuts to FN govs for basic social programs. @policyalternatives.ca 🧵👇👇

First Nations arrive with some optimism — but mostly skepticism — as Carney's C-5 summit begins | CBC News First Nations leaders from across Canada expressed some optimism but mostly skepticism and even cynicism as they arrived in Gatineau, Que., for Prime Minister Mark Carney's summit to allay their conce...

Something we know at least since Meech Lake: In a mature democracy, maximizing (alleged) output-legitimacy at the expense of input- and throughput-legitimacy usually doesn't work.

www.cbc.ca/news/indigen...

Your welcome! It always boggles my mind when CBC Radio Music switches from Rock/Pop/Alternative to classic at 9am, and then back in the late afternoon. It still remember when there was CBC Radio 1, 2, 3....for different genres, like in any other country I am aware of.

Source:

www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/u...

Chart Public and advertising funding of public broadcasters, 2022

We are already at the bottom - by far - when it comes to funding for public broadcasting if compared to our peers:

Per capita public funding: Rank 16 out of 19. Switzerland - a multi-lingual federation as well - spends CAD 191 per capita, Canada CAD 32.

2/ Looking at some provisional (still not official) numbers, this shift towards competitiveness is rather bold. The new European Competitiveness Fund triples its preceding programs, Horizon increases by 75% and Defence and Space by 50%.

1/ The EU Commission proposes a budget 2028-2034 that is around €580bn higher than its precursor. The increase is a bit less enormous considering that NGEU repayments will already consume €168bn. However, there is still quite some additional spending in there, mainly going to the new Pillar II: