Canada to bring back the Blackberry

Liberals vow to make Canada globally dominant in communications once again.

Apr 02, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney holds up a Blackberry Bold pledging to bring back “the best communication device the world has ever known.” at a press conference at the National War Museum in Ottawa.

AP - Toronto, April 1, 2025 — Prime Minister Mark Carney announced today that, if elected, his Liberal government will bring back the Blackberry cell phone.

“The Government of Canada has acquired all the proprietary patents and trademarks necessary to reintroduce the Blackberry, not just to the Canadian market but to the world,” Carney said, adding, “Ottawa is a significant tech hub with the capacity to go into production immediately.”

“Canada will no longer rely on U.S. tech monopolies which have been tolerated for too long. In 1997, Research in Motion beat everyone in producing a phone that was superior in every conceivable way. It was the most durable, reliable product of its kind, a world leader. The Blackberry excelled particularly in usability and encryption. In today’s world, privacy protection has become more important than ever.”

In the accompanying press release, it was noted that the Government of Canada will kick start the market with a pre-order of three million units. The federal government employs over 350,000 civil servants (up from 250,000 a mere 10 years ago). Partnering with the provinces and territories will add another 500,000 units. The balance of the order will supply federal crown corporations, agencies and organizations funded in part or wholly by government.

At the height of its success, there were 80,000,000 Blackberry users worldwide. Its security was so effective the US government fought to keep it in production for many years.

Consumers will remember how BlackBerry, despite superior encryption and the highly usable solid-state keyboard, struggled to compete with the iPhone and Android phones. In 2014, Blackberry introduced the Blackberry Classic. Then CEO, John Chen, proclaimed this would be the smartphone for die-hard Blackberry fans:

"In my first 90 days on the job, I consistently heard from our ardent BlackBerry customers that the hard buttons and trackpad are an essential part of the BlackBerry QWERTY experience, that made their BlackBerry smartphone their go-to productivity tool. I want these customers to know that we heard them, and this new smartphone will be for them.”

Sadly, that promise went unfulfilled. Sales failed to recover. In the ensuing decade, consumers have adapted to touch screen keyboards that reduced them to one-figure typing. Market research has shown that most cell phone users are fed up with the constant errors of one-finger typing, and the idiocy of autocorrect.

Prime Minister Carney opened up to reporters about the inspiration for the move:

“I was watching the Blackberry movie and the light bulb lit up when Lazaridis is at the iPhone launch when Jobs announces a keyboard-free screen, and he says to himself, ‘You can’t have a phone without a keyboard.’ Exactly, I thought.
“But it was more than that. Blackberry planted its flag on the phone as a phone, untethered to wires, global in reach and ultimately encrypted for privacy. Blackberry wisely rejected the development of apps that convert the phone into an entertainment slash distraction engine. The paid the steepest price for that, but they were not wrong.
“It is time for us to be perfectly honest. So called “smart” phones waste more time than we gain from any efficiency they promise. They are ruining education. Literacy rates are plummeting. The social consensus has collapsed. People are fighting with each other about nothing, without verifiable information. Young people are unable to connect and form lasting relationships. It’s a catastrophe of unprecedented scale.”

Carney’s comments are supported by economic evidence. Productivity in Canada has been steadily declining since 2014. Everyone, whether at work or at home, is spending huge amounts of time on Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. No one is compensated for the time they are volunteering that is then “monetized” by those companies. On the street and in cars, cell phone distraction is a constant peril. Canada now ranks 19th globally in terms of gross domestic product and is dropping month over month.

The Liberal government has struggled with productivity and distraction related to cell phones before, banning the Tik Tok app from government-issued devices in 2023.

“Let phones be phones and let’s all get back to work.” — Prime Minister Mark Carney

“Our goal,” Carney said following the press conference, “is to restore balance to how we communicate. We are suffering from internet over-saturation. We have been corrupted by the American-sponsored universalization of entertainment media. It has to stop, and we believe this is the first step. Let phones be phones and let’s all get back to work.”

When questioned by reporters whether he had other concerns about the internet, Carney would only say, “Of course, it would be irresponsible not to be looking at the whole field.” Insiders report internal discussions at the Department of Communications and Culture about the possibility of a Canadian social media platform, and that it may be called “Y.”