2025 may have been the most momentous political year of my lifetime. The affordability crisis in the US and Canada has reshuffled electoral coalitions and the right vs. left spectrum. Mark Carney’s “elbows-up” and “Canada Strong” campaigns promised Canadians a future different from what was marketed by his predecessor. The key to Carney’s vision is infrastructure investment. 

As noted by Carney’s critics in the NDP, however, this campaign marked a noticeably rightward shift in the Liberal party platform. During the year-end special, Fred DeLorey, a former conservative campaign manager, asked of his party on CBC’s Power and Politics, “how are they dealing with a Carney progressive conservative government — or, sorry, Liberal I guess you’d call it.”

One only needs to look south of the border to understand the state of progressive politics in 2025. The Democratic loss in the 2024 American presidential election has left progressive politics and progressive coalitions in tatters. I believe that from those ashes, a new form of progressive politics is beginning to take shape, and nowhere is this clearer than in the 2025 federal budget. 

Budget 2025 is huge

Of all the topics that the 2025 budget covered, arguably the most significant is its funding for major infrastructure projects. $115.2 billion would be spent over five years for nation-building projects in partnerships with the private sector. These include a Liquid Natural Gas pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast; a nuclear power plant in Southern Ontario; and gold and copper mines across Canada’s interior. 

The government predicts that the result of these projects will be a one trillion dollar return in private investment. This investment represents a redefinition of the word ‘progressive,’ moving away from one denoting culture wars and social progression, to one centred around the growth of the nation’s economy.

Still, such momentous spending inevitably incurs debate. Among conservatives, critics will point to the staggering $78 billion deficit planned for 2026, while voters on the left are quick to criticize the anti-immigration policies. 

But there is a broader direction here. To understand the momentum that such an audacious budget provides, you have to consider the recent development of progressive politics on this continent.

Progressives in Canada and the US are suffering from the same problems

Compare the present with 2015, which was the last year in which the Liberals enjoyed a majority government with a democratic administration in the White House. The optimism felt by many progressives at this time was perhaps best summarized by Trudeau’s now infamous election-night exclamation, “sunny ways, my friends. Sunny ways!”

This optimism would not be long-lasting, though. 

In fact, as immigration surged in the final years of Trudeau’s tenure, Canadians’ opinions on immigrants, surprisingly, seemed to be in lockstep with Americans. For example, 2024 marked the first time in the twenty-first-century that more than half of both Canadians and Americans believed that the government accepts too many immigrants.

Look at where these politics have landed in the US: Republicans are using the affordability crisis as an excuse to justify their anti-immigration sentiments. 

Instead of building renewable energy, the US administration is gutting the Environmental Protection Agency. Instead of supporting innovation at home, the current administration is firing scientists and imposing tariffs. American progressives are understandably desperate for new solutions and political ideologies to guide a more electable brand.

Ideologues compete over the future of left-wing politics

Among the competing visions of the Democratic future, the book Abundance has emerged as a particularly enduring ideological force. The book argues for a vision of American progressivism based around a ‘Politics of Abundance’ rather than a ‘Politics of Scarcity,’ supporting large-scale infrastructure and national development projects undertaken by the American government, even if such incurs substantial spending or judicial overreach. 

The election of Donald Trump has taught us that when an electorate feels betrayed by the state, they support populist candidates who seek to corrupt the existing political system to their own benefit. I believe that what Liberals are doing in the 2025 Budget is saying yes to strong government and no to strongmen.

Undeniably, there are endless debates to be had over the specifics of this budget. Many will dislike the austerity provisions on traditional poverty-reduction mechanisms. Some skeptics will argue that such ambitious infrastructure projects will curtail civil and Indigenous liberties.  

Budget 2025 is a trendsetter

Still, in this uncertain political era, this yearly budget is accomplishing far more than just the funding of public services. This budget defines the new face of progressive politics in a post-Trudeau era. 

I believe that in 2026, progressivism means supporting and empowering public institutions. It means viewing government spending as investment rather than aid, and in many ways, it includes ceding ground on issues of immigration and civil liberty. But most importantly, it is a trust in the above principles to guide one’s country away from pessimism or extremist replacement theories. Instead, Budget 2025 is about taking risks and securing a future, genuinely promising “sunny ways.”

Brandon Mahoney is a graduate student completing a program in European and Eurasian Affairs at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He has worked on Federal Liberal Party campaigns and for grassroots political organizations.