Conrad Black: Freeland prepares to take us down a self-defeating path

If Trudeau and Freeland respond reflexively to fluctuations in the infection rate, engage in unlimited spending and remain at war with whole regions of this country over nebulous fluctuations in the weather, our economy will tank The country awaits a throne speech next week that should enlighten us about the balance in the collective mind of the government between the COVID-19 pandemic and the desire for transformational green economics. It appears that former finance minister Bill Morneau was eased out because of his disquietude with the extent of deficit financing and particularly with the lack of any disconcertion among his colleagues over exploiting unnaturally low interest rates to go on in a state of fiscal profligacy through the COVID era, and beyond. The new finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, is the principal subject of a good deal of media speculation and mind-reading about this, and her book, “Plutocrats” (2012), is enjoying a brisk reading among the parliamentary media. She appears to be less an advocate of economic growth than of what she considers to be a more equitable distribution of the wealth of the country. I have no standing to be more precise but it seems a safe assumption that if there are not irresistible countervailing forces, fiscal policy will to some extent reflect that perspective.-- More...