Canadian Politics Redux

PJ_Soul said:

rgambs said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

I have always been one to criticize or praise pms when due.
This redux thread has a feel of love trudeau this guy can do nothing wrong.
It's the indicative mantra of the bleeding heart liberals for the next 4yrs.
We truly are left without Harper.

From my American perspective, this redux thread has much more of a sour grape, sore loser feel than loving Trudeau.
It reminds me of when Obama was first elected, the criticism started before he was in the door. You can't judge a PM daily, you have to at least give them time to DO SOMETHING good or bad.

Agreed. Serious sour grapes.

But I am going to be honest... it's kind of amusing.

Aren't you glad Trudeau won? I sure am.

Hahahaha, could you imagine this happening to Harper.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-apec-admirers-apechottie-shrieks-1.3325845

this TPP deal looks worse by the minute ...

really - we are going to sign a deal that allows foreign corporations sue us if we make laws that protect our environment and health ... figures harper would negotiate something this nefarious ... what a douchebag ... really hoping Libs don't pass this travesty ...

I have not read the TPP, but I would say the fearmongering of corporations suing over regulations is a little overstated. From our federal website:


Regulatory Coherence Chapter
Governments use regulations to achieve a range of policy objectives, such as ensuring the health and safety of their citizens, protecting the environment and protecting consumers. While the vast majority of regulations are designed to achieve non-trade-related objectives, they can also have the unintended effect of restricting or distorting trade. As tariffs have decreased globally, regulatory and other non-tariff barriers are the hurdles that Canadian exporters are increasingly facing when attempting to gain access to foreign markets. For example, regulatory changes implemented without adequate prior notification to foreign companies can severely restrict market opportunities in a given country, and can also provide an unfair advantage to domestic firms. Poorly developed regulations also create unnecessary trade barriers (“red tape”), as well as increasing costs for consumers.

The TPP Agreement provides for greater regulatory coherence by promoting transparency and more predictable access.It does so by fostering cooperation and early engagement in the regulatory approaches between TPP partners. Greater transparency and central coordination will provide Canadian exporters, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with greater predictability regarding foreign regulatory frameworks and their enforcement.

Technical Summary of Negotiated Outcomes: Regulatory Coherence Chapter

Enhances transparency and good regulatory practices, with a view to improving governance while taking the legitimate policy objectives of each country into account.
The Agreement contains mechanisms to facilitate regulatory coordination between government ministries/departments (e.g. establishing a central coordinating body) in order to prevent conflicting or duplicative regulations from being developed.
Contains provisions on good regulatory practices, such as:
using regulatory impact assessments to help inform interested stakeholders of the nature of a regulation, the problems being addressed, alternatives being considered and overall costs and benefits;
ensuring that new regulatory measures are easy to understand and publicly available where appropriate; and
issuing public notices of future regulatory measures.
Contains provisions on cooperation with other TPP Parties (e.g. information exchanges).
Establishes a Committee on Regulatory Coherence that will consider issues associated with the implementation and operation of this Chapter, including developments in the area of good regulatory practices.


I read this as simply a way to prevent corruption by the foreign governments from ramming through legislation to inhibit the foreign corporation (instead of tariffs or embargoes). This kind of activity flies in the face of free trade. The idea is that the government of, let's say Peru, gives foreign exporters an achievable grace period to adhere to the new regulations.

(Alberta recently levied a 1.60 tax per 6 pack on any craft beer brewed east of Saskatchewan. That's arbitrary and unfair. Worst of all, they gave them NO warning. This is in our own country! Some Brewers in Ontario are pulling their beer from Alberta shelves)

Interestingly, the TPP tackles things like corruption and child labour. In fact, I really think this will help some of the nations (Peru, Chile, Brunei, Vietnam) improve their living/working standards. I was in Santiago this month and believe me, there are some very poor areas there.

Anyways, that's just my two cents, not really sure it's as scary as some ferocious Anti-Harper, Anti-neocon, Anti-Corporatïon, Anti-U.S., anti-global market, anti-free trade people would have you believe.

^^^^^
I fully expect the Liberals to ratify the agreement. Trudeau has given no indication they won't.
There are some people (particularly in the U.S.) who are concerned free trade agreements really only benefit the wealthy and diminish the middle class by exporting those jobs to other countries. I do not argue this point (although I think it is over-exaggerated).

On the other hand, I would say it helps some countries which are less developed create more jobs and diminish poverty.

One thing is for sure, you will see less "Made in China" products and more "Made in Peru", "Made in Vietnam", "Made in Brunei"', "Made in Chile" products.

Those of you who support human rights, would you rather buy your goods from Chile or China?

I suppose these would be the same people (like Trudeau) who have a gripe against pipelining the Canadian oilsands bitumen to the west coast but have no problem with Saudi oil being shipped to Eastern Canada in large tankers. I know the Saudis human rights record is, ahem, exemplary

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rona-ambrose-conservative-shadow-cabinet-1.3327895

It's a decent start for their rebuilding process. Out with some of the old.

1ThoughtKnown said:

Theo Caldwell does editorials for Rebel Media. I was reading a piece he wrote about Liberals being stupid. A self-professed conservative but not a Harper fan (explained in the editorial) he voted conservative because Harper was the best leader available.
Anyways, this excerpt from his piece made me laugh, because it really surmises how political ideology works in this country. If you are left, you are right. If you are right, you are wrong.
Have a read if you care:

"Let us return to that aforementioned, quota-attaining, ceiling-shattering cabinet of Justin’s, as it provides a valuable object lesson.
“Great to see the diversity!” enthused a city councillor of my acquaintance, who has been described as a spinning 8-ball of leftist clichés.
Ah, the diversity!
Bathe in it. Rub it all over yourself. Don’t be shy, really get in there.
To leftists, as you know, diversity means people who look different but think alike.
Diversity of opinion, however, is so not cool.
And therein lies an advantage of the right. Conservatives are culturally bilingual. We know what the left thinks, awash as we are in their bilge from our first day in school, to every movie and TV show, to every time we are trapped in an airport lounge, forced to watch CNN.
About us, they haven't a clue, hence the absurd caricatures they construct of conservatives as unintelligent troglodytes or vampiric billionaires. Moreover, they have an extreme, phobic reaction to arguments from the other side, like someone who burns down their house to kill a spider."

Rebel Media and Ezra Levant....no thanks.