In his classic novel 1984, George Orwell’s chilling warning about the dangers of dictatorship, he described the ultimate goal of the dictators, known simply as “The Party”, in this way:
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“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
In that context, the final victory of The Party over the novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith, was to convince him that “two plus two equals five” as a fact, not simply as a way of escaping further torture but because, his spirit crushed, he accepted that reality was whatever The Party said it was.
While we’re not saying Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is a dictator, her recent claim that Canadians are experiencing a “vibecession” — meaning they have a negative perception of the economy despite recent positive news about lower inflation and interest rates — sounds like something out of 1984.
Freeland said “one of the positive impacts” of the Liberals’ temporary GST tax holiday and $250 cheques to the employed, “is to help Canadians get past that vibecession because how Canadians feel really does have a real economic impact.”
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In other words, Freeland was advising Canadians to shake off their feelings that they’re experiencing an affordability crisis, because the economy is in relatively good shape.
That sounds to us like The Party in 1984, urging people to “reject the evidence of your eyes and ears,” and in this case to get out and spend because all will be well.
Never mind that for many families the challenge right now is to pay the rent and put food on the table — which has nothing to do with how they “feel” but with the economic realities they face.
As Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre asked Freeland in question period: “What’s her message to people who are hungry and homeless after nine years of her government? They just need to get with the vibe?”
Freeland responded Poilievre needed to be “a little more economically literate,” that Canada has avoided the recession many predicted and that recent data shows positive news about Canada’s per capita GDP, a common measure of prosperity.
Of course, for many Canadians currently enduring hard times, that’s as helpful as telling them that “two plus two equals five.”