Sabrina Maddeaux: Calling Pierre Poilievre a 'populist' is a lazy scare tactic used by the elites he threatens

Pierre Poilievre, a candidate for Conservative party leadership, speaks with supporters at Spruce Meadows in Calgary on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Steven Wilhelm/Postmedia

 

There were certainly populist elements to Donald Trump’s campaign, but he is not a true populist, even if it is convenient for anti-populists to paint him as one. Calling Trump a populist, however, allows fearmongerers to undermine populist movements and politicians without actually having to provide proof for all the «isms» they imply. Take, for example, Poilievre. When elites and opponents warn he’s a populist leader, they hope voters will also hear «nativist,» «racist,» and «fascist» when there’s no evidence to back any of this –– and certainly none more damning than photos of our current prime minister sporting blackface.

Deflation: Bad for the Government, Good for Producers and Consumers. What's Not to Like?

Prices fall in a scenario where the currency is not inflated and, therefore, there are more sustainable investments and increased productivity. In an economy with little or no government intervention, there are more long-term investments, which increase the economy’s productivity. In a deflationary economy, the purchasing power of money tends to increase, as there is no monetary inflation by central banks and prices tend to fall. Consumers can purchase more products and services and companies have higher profit margins.

But governments do not like deflation, they are the most indebted entities.

John Robson: Liberals are infecting our military and police forces with wokeism. We will all pay the price

"I think policing, like soldiering, used to attract mostly serious, stoic applicants willing to endure hardship to protect order against chaos," writes John Robson. "But if so, those professions are unlikely to appeal to social justice warriors." PHOTO BY PATRICK GIBSON/COCHRANE TIMES

 

What the government is determined to fix is not the military's capabilities as a force, but its lack of social justice

Years ago, American political philosopher Harvey Mansfield made a troubling observation that I cited in these pages five years ago. You might suppose that a mere $8 billion under current circumstances, for what Gurney rightly calls unspecified purposes, indicates that the Trudeau Liberals are not serious about fixing the military. What they are determined to fix is the lack of social justice. And they really seem convinced that, if identity politics crushes all opposition, there will be such a flowering of true human fulfillment that lack of modern equipment, logistical support or actual soldiers will be of no importance in safeguarding our security.

JPMorgan Predicts That Global Commodities Prices May Rise by 40 Percent

Marked ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a cart at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, on March 10, 2022. (Alexander Manzyuk/Reuters)

 

Russia is a main supplier for up to 10 percent of global energy production and about 20 percent of global wheat production. The commodities affected include oil, which is already up 33 percent from the same month the previous year, while natural gas has gone up by 65 percent since the invasion roiled the markets. Metals excluding gold, such as copper, are up by 7 percent from 2021, while wheat has surged upward by 33 percent. «In the current juncture, where the need for inflation hedges is more elevated, it is conceivable to see longer-term commodity allocations eventually rising above 1 percent of total financial assets globally, surpassing the previous highs seen during 2008 or 2011,» said the JPMorgan note.

LEVY: COVID hypochondriacs dread every case of the sniffles

 

It seems the common cold has made a comeback – or at least that it’s still around – but you wouldn’t know it from the continuing hysteria over COVID-19. Just a week ago, I was sick for six days with symptoms similar to those of the contagious Omicron variant of COVID. After five days of downing cough medicine and cold pills, eating the chicken soup my wife made me, and wearing a mask the few times I ventured out, I decided I’d better take a COVID test just to be safe. It wasn’t COVID.