Lorne Gunter: Mark Carney looks good but economy tells different story
Skip to ContentSubscribeFAQMy AccountManage My SubscriptionsNewsLocal NewsAlberta PoliticsHealthLocal CrimeTrue CrimeNationalWorldWeatherArchivesSportsEdmonton OilersCult of HockeyNHLPWHLJunior. . .
Skip to ContentSubscribeFAQMy AccountManage My SubscriptionsNewsLocal NewsAlberta PoliticsHealthLocal CrimeTrue CrimeNationalWorldWeatherArchivesSportsEdmonton OilersCult of HockeyNHLPWHLJunior HockeyNHLEdmonton Oil KingsEdmonton ElksCFLNFLLocal SportsSoccerGolfBaseballBasketballCurlingOpinionColumnistsLettersSend a Letter to the EditorMalcolm Mayes editorial cartoonsBusinessLocal BusinessFeatured BusinessesSmall BusinessReal EstateCommercial Real EstateMortgagesEnergyTechnologyGamingInternetScienceSpaceFP MarketsAlberta's Top EmployersArtsLocal ArtsTheatreMusicFestivalsBooksMoviesTelevisionTV ListingsCelebrityLifeFashion & BeautyHomesFirst-Time HomebuyersGardeningDiet & FitnessFoodLocal food reviewsRecipesTravelTravel AlbertaTravel CanadaTravel USATravel InternationalCruisesTravel GuideSavingsAdviceContestsNational ContestsReaders' ChoiceSpecial SectionsEDMONTON HOME + GARDEN SHOWLives ToldTails ToldShoppingEdmonton Journal StoreNewslettersPuzzmoVitality AlbertaWork WellDiversionsPuzzlesNew York Times CrosswordComicsHoroscopesePaperDrivingVehicle ResearchReviewsNewsGear GuideObituariesBrowse NoticesPlace an ObituaryPlace an In MemoriamAdvertisingAdvertising With UsAdvertising SolutionsPostmedia Ad ManagerSponsorship RequestsClassifiedsPlace an AdBusiness Card DirectoryCelebrationsReal Estate MarketplacePet Posts & AdoptionsWorkingBusiness AdsThis Week's FlyersManage Print SubscriptionProfileSettingsMy SubscriptionsSaved ArticlesMy OffersNewslettersCustomer ServiceFAQNewsSportsOpinionBusinessArtsLifeShoppingNewslettersPuzzmoePaperDrivingObituariesClassifiedsManage Print SubscriptionHomeOpinionColumnistsLorne Gunter: Mark Carney looks good but economy tells different storyConsumer spending has dropped, productivity is flat, investment is down and the housing market has softened. Last updated 6 minutes agoYou can save this article by registering for freehere. Orsign-inif you have an account. Prime Minister Mark Carney mingles with visitors before the GMC Rangeland Derby at the Calgary Stampede on Saturday, July 11, 2026. Photo by Gavin Young/PostmediaMark Carney has presided over the worst first year of economic growth of any prime minister since Lester Pearson in 1963 — 63 years ago! Even Justin Trudeau, who was an economic disaster for 10 years as PM, had a better first year than Carney. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorReal gross domestic product shrank last year, an outcome Carney blamed on his predecessor’s government decision to limit non-permanent resident visas. Consumer spending has dropped, productivity is flat, investment is down and the housing market has softened. Inflation has risen and unemployment is worse despite having improved slightly last month. And U. S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are weighing heavy on business, except energy exports, despite Carney’s never-ending world tour to seek out new trade alliances. Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Headline News will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againYet for some reason, 60 per cent of Canadians in a recent Nanos poll continue to think Carney is an economic genius — especially those in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. This could be because he had an easy act to follow in Trudeau and because Liberal imagemakers have been masterful at manipulating public messaging to give the appearance of economic momentum, such as their endless Building Canada Strong television ads. But it’s not just government bumbling on the economy that is making Canada weaker. Two flagship Canadian programs are broken — equalization and health care. Alberta separatists aren’t the only ones who have legitimate grievances with equalization. Their complaints are very real. According to a study last month by the Fraser Institute, over the last 20 years Alberta contributed $322 billion more to the running of this country than it received back in federal funding and services. That’s far more then the other two net contributors, B. C at $87. 8 billion and Ontario at $59. 6 billion. But if the point of equalization is to equalize taxation and service levels across all provinces, there is a glaring flaw in the program. The Fraser Institute also discovered that in all but three years since 1981 at least one province with higher-than-average per capita GDP received equalization while at least one province with lower GDP did not. For instance, between 2009 and 2018, Ontario received $19 billion in equalization transfers, while British Columbia received none, despite having a lower GDP per person than Ontario in each of those years. In some years, it was a few provinces with higher GDPs that leached off provinces with lower GDPs. For decades, politicians from so-called “have” provinces have tried to improve the formula by which annual equalization payments are calculated. Each time they have been resisted by federal Liberal governments and the provinces of Quebec and Atlantic Canada who benefit most from the inequity. Meanwhile, our health care system is ranked second-worst in the developed world, but we refuse to give up the single-payer monopoly. Canadians cling to the myth that only governments can deliver free and fair care to every citizen. That belief has left us with the last remaining government-monopoly health care system in the Western world — and given us one of the poorest service levels with overcrowded emergency rooms, days-long waits for beds on wards, slow treatment by specialists and the longest waiting lists for surgery. It’s not just the U. S. that combines public and private health care. Among others, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand all mix public and private care and outperform Canada. The availability of private options has added capacity to systems in other countries, shortening wait times and improving outcomes. Public-private options also don’t have to mean one system for the rich and another for the rest. In some countries with mixed systems the government still pays for everyone’s care regardless of whether the provider is a public hospital or private clinic. So why won’t Canadians change these two? I think because many have latched onto a 1970s view that only government is moral enough to be fair. Join the ConversationThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more aboutcookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to ourTerms of UseandPrivacy Policy.