the media is going to present this as the coronation of mark carney.
in fact, it's the beginning of a process for the centre to reclaim control of the liberal party away from the regressive right, who has become ascendant in the party over the trudeau years. carney will not be a successful politician and will not last long. he could lose a by-election and will have trouble keeping a seat.
how will we remember justin trudeau? like bill clinton.
trudeau was elected to undo and delete harper, as clinton was elected to undo reagan, but has instead been a caretaker prime minister. the history books will talk about the harper-trudeau government as a singular entity, as all that trudeau has done for the last ten years is sit on harper's policy shifts and wait to lose an election, so that the harper government can be extended by a third conservative government. trudeau's singular substantive piece of legislation was to legalize marijuana, which is an ideologically market libertarian right-wing position that appears to be a failed experiment that will be reversed within a few years. i hope that the government, in the end, launches a class action suit against the marijuana industry to try to pay for some of the medical costs we're incurring, such as increases in lung cancer and heart disease rates.
liberals need to rise up and take back control of their party through a lengthy leadership process that is about foundational ideas and the soul of the party, which has literally been sold.
if the party cannot renew itself from the centre-left, it may cease to exist, to the great benefit of the ndp and the great detriment of the actual left.