Don’t Confuse Political Announcements With Political Achievements

It’s time Canadians stop confusing announcements with actual achievements.

Over the last nine years, the Trudeau Liberals have made a career out of photo ops and polished speeches. We’ve all seen the recycled headlines—bold promises rolled out during election season, reannounced mid-term, and then quietly abandoned. The reality is that political branding has replaced performance. It's all style over substance.

I saw it up close during my brief stint as a Manitoba Conservative. It was shocking—promises being made daily to gain support or votes that, behind closed doors, they knew had zero chance of being achieved. These weren’t tactical oversights. These were deliberate. Words used to mislead.

If you're running a business, making decisions for your employees, your family, your community—you expect results. So why do we continue rewarding politicians for their announcements instead of holding them accountable for what they actually deliver?

Let’s deal in facts.

Clean Drinking Water: A Broken Promise Repeated

In 2015, Justin Trudeau promised to end all long-term boil water advisories on First Nations reserves by March 2021. That deadline passed four years ago. As of March 11, 2025, 35 long-term advisories remain in effect across 33 communities, according to Indigenous Services Canada. Yes, 147 advisories have been lifted, but the Liberal party repeatedly reannounced this goal, presenting incremental progress as mission accomplished.

What’s worse is how this failure has been masked with selective reporting. You’d think, by now, ensuring clean water—something most Canadians take for granted—would be the bare minimum. But hey, Carney has made another Liberal Promise to ensure clean drinking water. Politicians count on our short memories.

Housing Crisis: Record Spending, Worse Outcomes

In 2017, the Liberals launched the National Housing Strategy with over $82 billion committed. Yet, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s December 2024 report, the number of Canadian households in core housing need is still rising, surpassing 2.4 million. The strategy, the PBO concluded, is maintaining units, not creating affordable ones.

So despite headline-making dollar amounts, the reality is this: more Canadians today can’t afford a safe place to live than when this strategy began. Announcements made. Problem worsened.

But Carney has made a new promise to build more homes than previously promised, which failed.

Carbon Tax: Expensive and Ineffective

The carbon tax was marketed as a smart environmental tool—reduce emissions, give rebates, and grow the economy. That’s not how it’s playing out. Facts matter, and the fact is Mark Carney is a strong proponent of a Carbon Tax in one form or another.

The Fraser Institute estimates that the federal carbon tax could reduce Canada’s GDP by 1.8% and cost 185,000 jobs by 2030. And while Ottawa claims you “get back more than you pay,” the data suggests otherwise—especially for rural Canadians. For example, families in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are frequently paying more in carbon tax than they receive in rebates, eroding household budgets without meaningfully reducing national emissions.

Meanwhile, Canada is not on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets under the Paris Agreement. A tax that hurts the economy and fails to meet its goals is a failed policy—no matter how many times it’s rebranded.

Bail Reform: Too Late, Too Weak

Bill C-48 was passed in December 2023 after public outrage over repeat violent offenders being released back onto the streets. Provinces, police chiefs, and victims’ families had been demanding action for years. But the Liberals were slow to act—waiting until headlines became unmanageable and political risk too high.

Even now, the bill’s practical impact remains uncertain. Legal experts and law enforcement leaders continue to warn that changes to bail conditions are just more window dressing without systemic reform and judicial accountability.

They may have passed legislation, but they haven’t fixed bail reform. The system still allows dangerous offenders to walk free, leaving communities to pay the price.

Fiscal Failure: Deficits Without Accountability

During the 2015 campaign, the Liberal government promised modest deficits and a balanced budget by 2019. Fast forward to 2025: the federal deficit stands at $61.9 billion, far above the projected $40.1 billion for 2023-24. Our national debt is over $1.2 trillion, or more than $30,000 per Canadian.

Finance Canada’s own reports show the government has no path to balance and that interest payments on the debt consume more and more of our annual budget, crowding out investment in health care, infrastructure, and other essentials.

No business could run like this. No board of directors would tolerate this kind of fiscal mismanagement.

Health Care, Pharmacare, and the Never-Ending Pilot Projects

Pharmacare was promised in 2019. As of today, it’s still a pilot project, nowhere near national coverage. The 2024 budget included some funding for a very limited rollout—mainly insulin and contraception—but only in provinces that opt-in and only after new negotiations. The truth? It’s not a plan. It’s another campaign bullet point.

The Liberals promised to improve healthcare wait times and access to family doctors. In reality, provinces like Manitoba still struggle with staff shortages, long ER delays, and burnout among health professionals. Meanwhile, Ottawa sends hundreds of billions out of Canada when they should be fixing our house first.

The Pattern: Big Words, Little Action

This isn’t a list of missteps—it’s a pattern. Reannounce, delay, deny. Trudeau’s team is banking on your short memory. But the facts are all there. The old Dragnet line applies: “Just the facts, ma’am.” Or think like Columbo—ask just one more question. And when you do, the answers get thin.

We are now facing one of the most important federal elections in a generation. Canadians are paying more, getting less, and watching our national standing erode. If you run a business or raise a family, you understand what accountability means. It’s time to apply the same standard to those in charge.

This time, don’t be fooled by the choreography. Don’t let the photo ops sway your judgment. Ask what was promised. Ask what was delivered. Then vote accordingly.