Tuesday November 4, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted at 12:54 pm PT]
Letter by Tom Myrick | Published by Island Social Trends
“What are you looking for in Budget 2025?”
I am looking for investments in the development and export of the wealth of our natural resources that the rest of the world needs.
The U.S. will always be our largest trading partner, but we need to diversify. We somehow need to do this in an environmentally responsible fashion. We also need to build relationships with other countries that may have very different values than ours. For example, as much as we may dislike the human rights violations in China, China simply has different values and we cannot change them, and frankly we shouldn’t judge. We need to accept them for who they are. I am sure China is baffled by some of our values as well. If we can achieve this without sacrificing the environment I would support this. I am not sure if it’s possible though.
I can’t stand to hear Skippy’s voice anymore (can’t even watch Question Period), but one smart thing he said a while ago was that exporting our natural gas to India so that they stop using coal would have more of a positive effect on the environment than anything we can do in Canada, simply due to the differences in population.
Yes, natural gas contributes to climate change, but much less than coal. I would be fine if Carney understands this. It simply is not practical for everyone to just stop using fossil fuels. It needs to be a gradual process, and as long as there is a demand for fossil fuels, we should make some money. We need to now due to our current situation with the U.S.
Some people are criticizing Carney for not resolving tariff issues with China during his visit with the Chinese leader. But Carney correctly said that the way China (and other Asian countries) do business is to first develop the personal relationships. After that actual issues are dealt with. I am quite hopeful because Carney appears to understand this.
I also read an article indicating that China is the new leader in developing affordable automobiles and are more advanced than North American auto makers. Since the U.S. is frankly going to kill our auto industry, we need to let China, a country who actually wants to be in Canada, open auto factories in Ontario to make up for this.
I am looking for a budget with this sort of thinking. I wonder if this can be done without increasing our debt? Or if we do have to increase our debt, is it short-term pain for long-term gain? It’s going to be interesting. I have found that due to the current economic circumstances my thinking has drifted from centre-left to centre-right. Carney is for all practical purposes a Progressive Conservative and I am good with that.
~ Tom Myrick, Sooke, BC
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