LILLEY: Carney campaign's prayers answered with latest 51st state comments

Article content

Mark Carney was handed a gift again on Tuesday from the people he says he’s fighting against.

As the Liberal leader was busy preparing for Wednesday’s French-language leaders debate, Donald Trump’s White House put the idea of the 51st state back on the election agenda.

Trump has been quiet about Canada of late with no late-night or early morning outbursts on Truth Social, no rantings while holding court with reporters in the Oval Office.

While the words didn’t come out of Trump’s mouth, all of that changed during a press briefing Tuesday at the White House.

“President Trump’s tone when it comes to Canada-U.S. relations, Canadians have noticed it’s shifted a bit in the past few weeks ever since the election campaign started. He’s stopped talking about Canada becoming the 51st state, at least publicly. I’m wondering if that is on purpose and why?” CBC reporter Katie Simpson asked Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The answer was what everyone working on the Carney campaign in the Liberal war room was praying it would be.

“I would reject the president’s position on Canada has shifted. Perhaps he just hasn’t been asked about Canada by questions from this group in the Oval Office,” said Leavitt.

“The president still maintains his position on Canada. The United States has been subsidizing Canada’s national defence and he believes that Canadians would benefit greatly from becoming the 51st state of the United States of America.”

Trump, tariffs, the 51st state threats; those are the only issues that Carney wants to talk about. They make many Canadians nervous and they drive votes, especially among women and older voters, into his camp.

Why would Carney wants to talk about the state of the economy and the housing crisis we are facing after 10 years of Liberal policies supported and pushed by him. It’s better to wage a war of words against Trump and scare voters into backing you.

On Tuesday morning, Statistics Canada reported that inflation was down, but food inflation in Canada last month still increased by 3.2%. Canada has the highest food inflation in the entire G7 and anyone who visits their local grocery store can tell you that prices continue to rise.

Meanwhile, a separate Stats Can study found that the income gap in Canada continues to grow.

“Highest income households increased their share of income through investment growth, while lower-income households’ wages declined in 2024,” the report said.

Despite all of the Liberal rhetoric and their wealth redistribution social programs, the folks at the top are doing just fine, but the bottom 20% or even bottom 40% continue to see their disposable income fall. Proving that a slogan is not a plan, it turns out the economy under the Carney/Justin Trudeau Liberals has not been kind to the middle class or those hoping to join it.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

As if two bad economic reports on Tuesday weren’t bad enough, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that housing starts across Canada were down in March. Compared to March 2024, housing starts nationwide were down 12.5% last month and in the biggest cities, where the housing crisis is most acute, things were even worse.

“Vancouver recorded a 59% decrease and starts in Toronto fell 65% from March 2024, driven lower by decreases in multi-unit starts in Vancouver and both multi-unit and single-detached starts in Toronto,” the report said.

This after the Liberals have poured billions into their so-called “Housing Accelerator” program. The truth is that housing starts have been going down since the Liberal program got going.

Let’s hope we get to hear our political leaders talk about real issues during the debates on Wednesday and Thursday, about the problems facing Canada and their respective solutions for fixing the country. Trump didn’t give us a widening income gap, high food inflation or housing unaffordability, the Liberals did.

That’s why, as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says, we shouldn’t reward them with a fourth term.