COLEMAN: Canada remains in neutral while the world moves at warp speed

'New choir, same song book; Carney cabinet selections don't inspire much confidence.'

By Peter Coleman, President, National Citizens Coalition (read in the Western Standard)

The world is hurtling forward, but Canada, under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ‘new’ Liberal government, seems stuck in neutral. Listening to CBC’s fawning coverage of Carney’s cabinet shuffle, I was struck not by the predictable nods to gender and regional quotas, but by the breathtaking arrogance of keeping some of the Liberal Party’s most incompetent figures in power. This shuffle signals more of the same from a party that’s governed with platitudes and failures for a decade.

Take Steven Guilbeault, shuffled from his disastrous tenure as Environment Minister to—wait for it—Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. Yes, the former radical eco-terrorist and poster boy for carbon tax dogma and incoherent policies is now tasked with defining what it means to be Canadian. It’s tone-deaf and laughable. Guilbeault’s track record suggests he’s more likely to lecture us on electric vehicle mandates than celebrate the rugged individualism that built this nation. If Carney thinks this move shows bold leadership, or anything but a middle-finger to the West, he’s already misreading the room.

Then there’s Sean Fraser, who stumbled through Immigration, fumbled Housing, and now lands as Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Fraser couldn’t tell you how many immigrants entered Canada under his watch, let alone how many homes he failed to build. Yet here he is, entrusted with upholding the rule of law. Will he push for tougher sentencing for repeat offenders—something the Liberals have dodged for years? Canadians deserve a justice minister who prioritizes public safety, not one whose resume reads worse than any Parliamentarian in history.

And yet, the legacy media, ever loyal to the Liberal brand, still insists Carney is the smartest guy in the room. But his recent meeting with President Trump, where he was publicly lampooned and left empty-handed, suggests otherwise. Canadians are tired of waiting for Carney to prove he’s different. At the National Citizens Coalition, we’ve watched governments come and go since 1967. We judge them not by their press releases but by what they deliver for hardworking Canadians from coast to coast. So far, Carney’s cabinet reeks of recycled Trudeau-era failures.

There’s a glimmer of hope in Tim Hodgson, the new Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, replacing the woefully ineffective John Wilkinson. Hodgson brings real-world experience—Canadian Military service and years of high-level corporate expertise—that could prove to be useful in Western Canada. After a decade of Liberal neglect, the West’s resource sector is desperate to get oil, gas, and minerals to market without bureaucratic roadblocks. Hodgson’s background may well represent a welcome change, but he’ll need to move fast to undo years of damage.

The Liberal Party’s last decade of incompetence—marked by soaring deficits, housing crises, identity crises, rampant crime, and immigration chaos—has eroded Canada’s standing, and left us behind. The world is moving at warp speed, with global powers leveraging their resources to dominate markets and secure prosperity. Canada, blessed with resources the world envies, should be leading the pack. Instead, we’ve been mired in red tape and empty promises.

Carney’s government must deliver concrete, results-driven outcomes—now. The same old Trudeau-era ministers, like Guilbeault, Freeland, Joly, and Fraser, need to change course or get out of the way. Talk is cheap, and working Canadians are done with it. If Carney can’t shift gears and unleash Canada’s potential, we’ll remain a nation suck in neutral, bogged down in decline, watching the world pass us by. Time will tell, but this was not a promising start.

The clock is ticking.

Peter Coleman is the President of the National Citizens Coalition.