Because It's 2016: Canadian Politics in Sunnier Days

I mean, Rob Ford happened in Toronto. Pauline Marois happened in Quebec. Canada isn't immune to what happened on Nov. 8.

whats his name, jason kenney, ffs, managed to convince vast numbers of non-white canadian immigrants to vote for the most anti-non-white-canadians party. i still shudder when i think about the words "old stock"

http://www.homedouglas.com/bbc/collection/e/extra-old-stock-1988/extra-old-stock-1988.jpg
Ruined my ironic shitty beer of choice forever.

also kellie leith is p much the definition of an elite

― harold melvin and the bluetones (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 10 November 2016 12:20 (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Khristinn Kellie Leitch PC OOnt MP, orthopaedic surgeon, former think tank chair

― harold melvin and the bluetones (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 10 November 2016 12:23 (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Does the American anti-intellectual/anti-'elite'/'I could have a beer with him' tendency have the same kind of currency in Canadian politics? Rob Ford is the only major example I can think of; maybe Ralph Klein? Generally, my impression was that Canadians prefer their leaders to be elitist, arrogant assholes.

Re the Walkom, I'm also sort of curious about NAFTA. As I said on the US thread, I have concerns about the way corporations have been able to sue the Canadian government over environmental legislation.

But, yeah, to be clear, I totally agree that Leitch is being ridiculously hypocritical about "out of touch elites".

That strain is very much alive at a grassroots level, but I think the structure of our system really works against maverick schlubs gooning their way to the top. I work among lots of folks who look enviously over the border at Trump, the Nevada militias, direct democracy, redneck pride, anti-PCorrectness, etc. Lots of provincial-level politicians in the West esp during the heyday of the Alliance moment were way more aligned with anti-elitism than with traditional Toryism. I do think we're a bit insulated from a tidal wave of it by our institutions but there's no question it's a force - & going to be a larger one as time goes on.

Cult of personality (related phenom) very much alive in Can. Politics today (probably an inescapable feature of modern politics going forward, actually). Klein a great example, but not too much of a stretch to Notley and Trudeau "seeming like really nice people" or "something about Mulcair just rubs me the wrong way" (whereas Layton's NDP with the same platform would have done much better in the popular vote) or how much Calgarians idolize Nenshi - very little of their approbation or dislike seems to have much to do with policy (in general) & way more to do with charisma. Criticism of policy often seems more a justification for personal feelings about the projected image than real ideological disagreement.

I can't explain a decade of lizard-mask Harper by thiat theory at all, so yeah it breaks down at some point.

Not saying that personality/charisma are unimportant but does Trudeau's charisma come from anyone imagining he could have a beer and watch the game with them in Timmins? I thought he had more of a Prince Charming thing going on, and his father was the epitome of the elite by any definition.

Probly shouldn't have confused the question by conflating the 2 phenoms. I blame my adhd.

Are there any good Canadian political/cultural podcasts? I don't need them to lean left necessarily (actually, the less partisan the better). I dug Canadaland for a while, but the tone grated on me - it began to seem like a long advertisement for how brave and on-the-edge the host is.

The strategists was great but sadly ended a couple months ago

Anyone follow this one? http://www.mediaindigena.com/podcast I want to find good sources for Canadian indigenous politics.

http://www.canadalandshow.com/ is my favorite.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/opioid-crisis-meeting-1.3856740

'Canada has the world's second-highest per capita consumption of prescription opioids, said Philpott, noting that in some parts of the country, drug overdoses are killing more people than motor vehicle accidents.' I know at least one person that has struggled with Oxycontin, but I didn't know it was that widespread. Maybe someone who knows about medical sciences could tell me if they are benefits at not banning fentanyl?

the opiate epidemic is p huge. i don't think banning fentanyl would do much - pretty sure most of the fentanyl that finds its way into street drugs is not acquired legally.

Is the US #1?

https://biggiesplace.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/bridge-would-it-help-2.gif

according to a cbc bit tonight the fentanyl in canada is mainly imported from china

The Trump election has gotten me thinking a lot about Canadian politics and the level of complacency at large in this country, and what might be done to help combat it. I'm thinking seriously in becoming involved in the political process on a local level (here in TO) but I really have no idea where to start. (This is also influenced by the fact that, at 30, I finally have steady, reliable employment, not to mention no local family and few friends to take up my time or attention. Might as well try to be useful.) I'm wondering if anyone itt has experience with getting enmeshed in local politics.

No experience, but good luck. The election has me feeling a sense of personal complacency and a need to reach out more. Maybe by volunteering.

Thanks, jmm. Getting started by reading up on the NDP and Green platforms and their reps in my riding (University-Rosedale).

I volunteered a little with Brian Masse's campaign in Windsor West in 2011. It was fun!

I'm still processing the US election tbh, though.

Love Hebert: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/11/19/cold-hard-reality-about-to-hit-the-liberals-on-three-fronts-hbert.html

sunnier days indeed

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/11/29/liberals-approve-trans-mountain-line-3-pipeline-projects.html

This is going to be such an endless clusterfuck

this is going to be fucking mayhem in metro vancouver

i live in a bubble, of course, but literally everyone i socialize with and my in-law family in bc are dead against the transmountain expansion

https://dogwoodinitiative.org/letter-shows-trudeau-ready-break-promise-kinder-morgan/

This one is intense: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/prime-minister-you-failed-to-do-your-job-by-approving-pipelines/article33199170/

we seem to pretty consistently lag US social and political trends

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/chris-alexander-lock-her-up-chant-anti-carbon-tax-1.3880911

https://www.mydemocracy.ca/

tell the gov what you think about electoral reform

I'm a pragmatist! Was hoping I was Tyron Lannister but apparently he isn't an option.

im an innovator apparently

fyi, they use census weights to make sure results are representative (correct for self-selection bias) so if u don't fill out the demographics ur answer is discarded:

https://twitter.com/robgillezeau/status/805877752695951361

it's pretty awfully designed in general but that is quite hilarious, what a mess (altho tbh unless you live in a very sparsely populated/homogenous postcode im not really sure about the privacy concerns people would have)

i am NOT sympathetic to the privacy concerns because i've been on the other end, having done research in Statistics Canada's Research Data Centers (tiny room with no windows in basement of a University library) and the privacy/confidentiality requirements are absurdly stringent

Ha, I was an innovator too. Half of the description doesn't seem to apply to me, though. I leaned against online voting and strongly disagreed with mandatory voting any time it came up.

But I think it's the only group for people who want more options/preferences on ballots.

I had similar answers. What a bunch of bullshit first past the post propaganda

I don't have a problem w/ mandatory voting at all tbh, so long as there's a "nahhh" / "none of the above" / write-in option

it never directly asks if we should keep first past the post or switch to PR, the one aspect of democratic reform i remember the liberals campaigning on

and the questions about about ballot design are not so subtly priming respondents to keep the current, relatively simple system

As part of a national engagement process, we will ensure that
electoral reform measures – such as ranked ballots, proportional
representation, mandatory voting, and online voting – are fully
and fairly studied and considered.

This one sentence is all I found in the 2015 Liberal platform on electoral reform. I don't remember them ever advocating PR, to be honest, although I could be wrong. It's probably the system that would weaken the Liberals the most. Most of their Parliamentary reform ideas had to do with giving greater autonomy to MPs and Senators, which seems like the opposite of what PR would do. The NDP are the most pro-PR party iirc. (On this, I tend to agree with the fantasy version of the Liberals that was described in their platform. I would probably favour a ranked ballot system.)

The 2015 Liberal election doc had (used to have?) text promising (paraphrase) "2015 will be the last election using the current first-past-the-post system".

strongly disagreed with mandatory voting any time it came up.

same. i'm surprised i am in the minority of my friends on this one tho. i think a lot of people make a false equivalency of forced voting = more engagement. you can force people to vote, but you can't force them to be engaged.

The 2015 Liberal election doc had (used to have?) text promising (paraphrase) "2015 will be the last election using the current first-past-the-post system".

You're right. It was in the sentence preceding the one I quoted. They made no promises about what would replace it, though, and I never thought PR was at the top of their list. In retrospect, it seems a little crazy that they promised to change the system without saying how they would change it. This is the full electoral reform section of the platform.

We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal
election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.
As part of a national engagement process, we will ensure that
electoral reform measures – such as ranked ballots, proportional
representation, mandatory voting, and online voting – are fully
and fairly studied and considered. This will be carried out by a
special all-party parliamentary committee, which will bring
recommendations to Parliament on the way forward, to allow
for action before the succeeding federal election. Within 18
months of forming government, we will bring forward legislation
to enact electoral reform.

I guess if I had to see a benefit to mandatory voting, it may be comparable to assigning a grade for attendance and class participation (which essentially penalizes people for not showing up or participating). And attendance/participation grades do seem to work at getting people to show up and participate, even if they're just doing it to avoid losing marks.

and then they just put a check next to the same they recognize. forced voting tends to heavily favour the incumbents (at least from what I've heard).

Yeah, it's different in that the 5% of your grade that counts for attendance and participation is supposed to help you learn and do better and not lose points on the other 95% of a course. There's no real analogue for that with voting, which I see as a right, neither a privilege nor a duty.