Because It's 2016: Canadian Politics in Sunnier Days

Lol @ Andrew Saxton: "[Economists] are in their ivory towers, sipping their tea and coffee, dealing with theory and not practice". The latte-loving elites have been reduced to tea and coffee now?

Hm, I actually agree with Raitt and Alexander on reducing the number of sexual assault claims that get dismissed as 'unfounded'.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/thirteen-canadians-we-want-back-from-trumps-america/article33773631/

ha elon musk

dude literally lives in a city protected by tall metal gates

every time i pass by i feel like im in the twilight zone

Lol @ Andrew Saxton: "[Economists] are in their ivory towers, sipping their tea and coffee, dealing with theory and not practice". The latte-loving elites have been reduced to tea and coffee now?

― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Sunday, February 5, 2017 9:17 AM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

guessing game. who is this:

"He took up post-secondary studies again at the University of Calgary, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics in 1985. He later returned there to earn a master's degree in economics, completed in 1991."

That sounds like Harper but I'm hoping that also describes Saxton.

it's harper. saxton studied and worked in finance.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/sunny-ways-is-trudeaus-best-play/article33984428/

Truth be told, the oil and vinegar comparisons of Mr. Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump are overdone. Neither are ideological leaders. They both grew up knowing privilege. They are both image obsessed, celebrity politicians who manipulate social media like pros. It’s not hard to picture Mr. Trump taking to his young, Vogue-certified interlocutor, especially if the fashion-forward Ivanka sits in on their chat.

ha

but seriously:

What he responds well to is validation of his hugeness. Mr. Trudeau must humour him if he has to. By all means, he must not publicly criticize him or contradict him in the joint news conference the two leaders will likely hold after their meeting – even if reporters try to provoke him and his anti-Trump base back home wants him to stand up to the brutish Yankee leader. As one veteran of Canada-U.S. diplomacy explained: “The Liberals need to forget about their base because it’s going to disappear if they lose five million Canadian jobs.”

This is not the assignment Mr. Trudeau signed up for when he was elected. But it’s the one that history has handed him. If he manages it well, it will yield huge economic and political dividends. Canadians will be eternally grateful if this country ends up on the right side of the protectionist wall Mr. Trump seems intent on erecting.

For all of Mr. Trudeau’s affinities with Mr. Obama, the latter was just not that into Canada and never did his friends any favours. Mr. Trump, properly treated, could do us many.

i think the churchill/martin luther king bust replacement is inaccurate though

+also

I totally get the importance of diplomacy but the PET/Nixon comparison is interesting: it's not exactly like PET's base disappeared despite the antagonism between him and Nixon.

that's true

and support for pet has increased over the past 30 years

This is curious: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/pre-clearance-bill-would-give-us-border-agents-in-canada-new-powers/ar-AAmQSmI

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/national/andrew+coyne+conservative+hysteria+over+harmless+motion/12923560/story.html

Conservatism used to have some claim to being a coherent political philosophy. Of late it has become a series of dares. The most extreme voice will lay down the most extreme position, then challenge others to endorse it.

This is gross: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/bus-driver-minister-laughter-1.3984808

Unrelated, I'm half-seriously thinking of buying a Tory membership to vote for Chong.

been talking to a lot of people who are thinknig of doing exactly that, myself included -- gotta look up if i can join the ndp after to try to elect an actual progressive there too

Ugh, I did that in 2011 and voted for Mulcair. Last election campaign felt like such a crushing letdown.

I can't remember who I voted for in that one, but if def wasn't him. not that my choice was necessarily better... mighta been cullen? can't remember.

Amusing (if weird) fluff: https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/justin-trudeau-despises-paul-simon-a-rebuttal?utm_source=noiseyfbusads

more nafta talk and random thoughts

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/nafta-trump-canada-and-trade-the-latest/article33715250/

this is really interesting

i heard from a couple mexicans that if a trade war does occur, the mexican gov't will not cooperate with the us gov't's demands on curtailing immigration from certain countries (read middle eastern countries) nor will it prosecute particular criminals. now i'm reading in the above article that mexico's president has actually said this as well

i think there's a 'let islamic terrorists enter the us through mexico' sentiment among mexicans as pay back right now

trump may want to propose an all or nothing approach because of this? but his advisors will probably tell him he has to bargain. all very tricky

mexico is pretty much pleading to canada to agree to bilateral agreements only, but i really doubt this

the graph depicting the survey results for what countries we should increase trade ties with reflects my own: (1) us; (2) eu; (3) china

in fact, i think we should really work on the eu, so we'll see how ceta goes

http://www.dailyxtra.com/canada/news-and-ideas/news/us-customs-block-canadian-man-reading-scruff-profile-215531

this is scary because the type of jokes people make with friends privately (through text eg) could probably be misconstrued

Anyone else follow that Tony Clement radio tantrum? And he's still at it on his facebook and twitter. RIDICULOUS.

been talking to a lot of people who are thinknig of doing exactly that, myself included -- gotta look up if i can join the ndp after to try to elect an actual progressive there too

So afaict, the NDP doesn't let you hold another party's membership as well as theirs. At this point, I'm leaning towards thinking that the Tory leadership might matter more than the NDP leadership. I am wondering if voting for Mulcair as NDP leader in 2011 and Chong as Tory leader in 2017 means I'm really a closet Liberal.

19-yeare-old closet case is youngest ever MPP

there really should be a minimum age requirement

i mean they should increase it

I disagree, actually. I thought it was great when the NDP got a bunch of undergrads into the House in 2011 and would like to see more participation by young adults.

There's something to be said for life experiences

Young adults can be more ideologically imo

They can, although I was probably less ideological as a young adult than I was either as a teenager or as an older adult. (Actually, I voted PC when I was 18 in 1997! Weird transitional period after my anarcho-communist adolescent days.) Clearly, Canadian young adults in general are not even ideologically driven enough to show up on Election Day, for the most part, so I'm not really concerned about the thread of radicalization. 18-25 year olds are adults in the eyes of the law, vote, pay taxes, are often responsible for their own bills (I was when I was 20), generally either work or are part of the post-secondary system, so I think it is fair for them to be involved in government, and I think they have a perspective to offer.

it's not an issue i lose sleep over

i never voted conservative in any of its forms eg (unless you're including the liberals)

my lowest point was voting for the communist party when i was 19 or 20 (chalk it up to dumb things you believe when you're a naive university student)

Reform was the hard-right option in '97. Charest's PC were practically a centrist option to the Liberals (who were probably at their furthest right, economically) and I thought their foreign policy was more principled (although I can't remember what it was).

I'd sooner reduce the voting age than raise it.

same

Blah, sorry, brainfart. I don't know why I thought we were talking about voting ages rather than age eligible to run.

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/vbbvqj/conservatives-finally-ditching-the-rebel-have-a-lot-to-answer-for

rats leaving the sinking ship over at the rebel.

legit concerned by the preponderance of MAGA chud types on canadian social media and below the line contributions at newspapers. these "mainstream" conservative voices only now deciding to distance themselves from such a vile and extreme publication shows the current state of canadian conservatism, the real depths it will sink to, and the almost imperceptibly infinitesimal distance between tories and the alt-right

i'd rather they distance themselves a little too late than outright embrace it like south of the border.

that being said, i remain extremely pessimistic as to how Quebec nationalist parties will distance themselves from the increasingly racist and xenophobic sections of the population.

it might surprise you to learn some of the most important figures in quebec nationalism are pretty fuckin outspoken on this issue:
http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/e9020f7c-0021-4659-a972-e2908ac6db6b%7C_0.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/jean-francois-lisee-racism-immigration-burqas-1.3785382

though "systemic racism" aside, of course lisée's still on his party's fuckin anti-burqa tip

i still think there is a large degree of separation between PQ/Lisée/Drainville and organisations like Atalante Québec and lol La Fédération des Québécois de Souche (Federation of pure-bred Québécois, kid you not). i don't think the PQ are as openly xenophobic as those proper french alt-right organisations, nor do they live in the same sphere of politics. the same way John McCain and the american alt-right are not exactly the same battle. the question now is how influent one will try to be on the other in the coming elections, because yeah, PQ will use the white nationalism card for sure.

I c&p-ed the discussion to the 2017 thread: Canadian Politics 2017: I've Got a Pipeline Straight to the Heart of You

thanks sund4r!

My union joins in:

http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-elementary-teachers-union-calls-for-renaming-john-a-macdonald-schools

I used to supply at one of the (what I take to be many) Sir John A.s occasionally.

Moved it to the 2017 thread:

Canadian Politics 2017: I've Got a Pipeline Straight to the Heart of You