Tories wilfully misinterpret Liberal research document

You may have heard a rather desperate Pierre Poilievre talking about it, or read some hyperbolic inflammatory pieces by various right-wing outlets. Canada's conservatives seem to see it as a kind of Hail Mary pass that might arrest their precipitous decline in the polls in the run-up the next week's federal election.

I'm referring, of course, to a policy document published by Policy Horizons Canada, a "foresight organization" that explores trends and possible future scenarios for the government, with a view to helping it develop robust and resilient policies to deal with potential future problems.

As Poilievre sees it, "The report paints a terrifying picture of a spiral of economic depression and cost inflation. What they are anticipating on the current trajectory is a total meltdown, a societal breakdown in Canada if we stay on the current track". 

Other right-wing political hacks, like Rick Bell or David Staples or Michael Higgins, paint even more garish pictures, choosing to deliberately misinterpret the report's function.

The particular Policy Horizons report in question, entitled "Future Lives: Social Mobility in Question", explores the possibility of a scenario whereby Canadians may find themselves stuck in the socioeconomic condition of their birth and even face downward social mobility in a 2040 world where post-secondary education may no longer offer a path to social mobility, and where expanding AI has shrunk the value of human labour.

It is not, as Policy Horizons is at pains to point out, a prediction of the future under current or future Liberal policies, as the Conservatives claim. Rather, it is just one scenario that may or may not transpire after the efforts of several different governments over the next 15 years. And, quite honestly, kudos to the Liberal government for even trying to look that far ahead, given the uncertain times we live in!

So, the report is nothing to do with the Liberals' "current trajectory", whatever Poilievre & Co would like you to think. Rather, this is the Conservatives clutching at straws as they face down another potential electoral loss.