Canadian Politics Redux

dignin · May 2020

DarthMaeglin said:

This is just flat out disgusting and I don’t know how anyone can continue to rationalize this minority government. With the NDP completely complicit in Trudeau’s current dictatorship.

Guess I’ll be writing angry emails to the PMO and my local (Liberal) MP tomorrow.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/liberals-preparing-to-postpone-parliament-until-september-with-help-from-the-ndp

Edit: For the whitewashed version:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-ndp-team-up-in-commons-vote-1.5586038

I hope you were just as mad when Harper prorogued parliament. Because that was way worse.

Parksy · May 2020

oftenreading said:

Never the wrong time to limit accessibility to firearms in my opinion. If one can make use of justified public sentiment about it, so much the better.

It's always interesting when people talk about gun violence after gun violence. I don't disagree that something should have been done, but I honestly couldn't help but ask myself, "Why, once again, did we wait for something to happen to act?" That honestly seems like a repeating problem these days.

Parksy · May 2020

DarthMaeglin said:

oftenreading said:

I think the whole “don’t use a gun tragedy to make changes in gun laws” argument is just so much bullshit. We use every other type of tragedy to learn from and ideally make changes to prevent a repeat. Toxic waste spill? Contamination of consumer products? Food safety issues? Train derailments? All of these and more have been opportunities to tighten up regulations and oversight, so why the hell should we not use incidents of gun violence to do the same?

I'm not necessarily saying don't use a tragedy to make effective changes, but this isn't that case. Trudeau is going after legal gun owners who have passed extensive background checks to earn the privilege to own these items. The Nova Scotia killer didn't possess a single legal firearm.

If we're limiting items that have the potential to kill and hurt people, then I vote for banning vans (sarcastically, obviously), since there was a tragedy here in Toronto 2 years ago where someone killed 10 people by driving. While we're at it, put breathalyzers in every single motor vehicle to end the crime of drunk driving and all its social damages. I'm all for addressing gun violence, but I'd be incredibly surprised to find out the guns used in the murder I was steps from were legal (case remains unsolved as far as google shows me). Deal with the gangs and the illegal guns they use, not the legal gun owners, in my opinion.

I understand that "gun culture" is inexplicable to those who don't get it, I suspect a parallel could be drawn with "car culture" as well. I'm not active in either of those groups, but I have enjoyed target shooting on a few occasions (and every gun owner I've ever met have been almost obsessively responsible with their weapons) as well as the roar of a sweet muscle car.

Why, for that matter can anyone walk into a store and buy any knife that isn't for the kitchen (until they decide to come for the kitchen knives as well)? That damn rhetorical slippery slope, and the idea of no one being around when they came for me because I didn't stand up for others.

No disrespect intended... but comparing guns to vans is dumb. Our Criminal Code has no basis for determining what a "weapon" is. Technically anything can be used as a weapon and essentially become a weapon. "See Assault with Weapon" But a gun is a gun. no other purpose. And that's why our Code has sections regarding restricted and non-restricted. I think those restrictions certainly need to be tightened up to the absolute max and should have before something like Sandy Hook took place.

Spunkie · May 2020

BC held Meng today.

This arrest impacted my decision not to go teach in Wuhan or Dalian last spring. I was afraid if my kid kicked another foreign national at school she might not be bussed back to me at the end of the day.

That... and I worried about the bug and them mistaking me for a spy.

HughFreakingDillon · May 2020

dignin said:

DarthMaeglin said:

This is just flat out disgusting and I don’t know how anyone can continue to rationalize this minority government. With the NDP completely complicit in Trudeau’s current dictatorship.

Guess I’ll be writing angry emails to the PMO and my local (Liberal) MP tomorrow.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/liberals-preparing-to-postpone-parliament-until-september-with-help-from-the-ndp

Edit: For the whitewashed version:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-ndp-team-up-in-commons-vote-1.5586038

I hope you were just as mad when Harper prorogued parliament. Because that was way worse.

exactly. and another point: CPC & RW media fail to mention that HoC Sitting Schedule had no sittings scheduled in July & August and HoC was not going to sit until Sept 21 pre-pandemic The hybrid parliament covers June primarily when states of emergency & limits on group gatherings are still in force.

but sure....dictatorship.

DarthMaeglin · May 2020

I admit I was a bit dramatic in some of my language when I posted about our currently neutered Parliament. There’s not troops in the streets and I’m still comfortable expressing dissenting views online and in the real world. I felt I couldn’t come back to discuss until I’d done what I said I would, and have emailed my local MP expressing my issues with this move.

I was bothered with Harper’s prorogued Parliament, but that didn’t happen in the midst of an international pandemic. That doesn’t excuse it, but I think we’re comparing Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples here (as opposed to apples and oranges, lol).

The current setup doesn’t allow the government to be questioned on any issue outside of the pandemic. If I believed that all other government business was suspended I could maybe live with this, but we all know that’s not the case. A deal needs to be approved with the Wet’suwet’en, and Trudeau continues to pursue a seat on the UN Security Council. The Liberals were not given a majority mandate, but have manoevered the circumstances to where they’re governing with a (literally) blank cheque and virtually no oversight.

There’s 4 hours of debate scheduled to approve hundreds of billions of dollars in spending. I’m sorry but that is far from sufficient scrutiny for such expenditures, I’m just glad I don’t have kids that will suffer for this spending when the bill comes due.

Spunkie · June 2020

All 3 major telecom companies in Canada will use European suppliers for 5G, in snub to Huawei.

Meltdown99 · June 2020

That’s great news

DarthMaeglin · June 2020

tish said:

All 3 major telecom companies in Canada will use European suppliers for 5G, in snub to Huawei.

I was glad to read this as well, Trudeau’s dithering on this helped him dodge a bullet, now he can blame the private companies when Beijing comes knocking.

erebus · June 2020

Next Federal election should be interesting
Libs racking up the debt, some other flubs
Cons are Cons, only criticize, no solutions
NDP has no money behind them, but gaining popular support

unless a major event happens could be another minority government with any of the three leading

Zod · June 2020

erebus said:

Next Federal election should be interesting
Libs racking up the debt, some other flubs
Cons are Cons, only criticize, no solutions
NDP has no money behind them, but gaining popular support

unless a major event happens could be another minority government with any of the three leading

Most likely. It'll come down to who represent the Cons (if they chose someone new, I've already forgotten). Last time the Conservative candidate talked himself out of a win. Their heart is in middle Canada (I'm in BC, we're the actual West). Their ideals don't really jive with the rest of Canada.

I would also predit minority governments for quite a while.

I also don't know if I blame Trudeau for this years debt. Pretty much every country on the planet tried to pay their citizens to stay home and keep businesses from closing. I blame trudeau for the smaller deficits for the past number of years, but this years seems unavoidable.

What I'm nervous about is a 2nd wave. It costs 300 billion just to stick the country together with scotch tape for 3 months. That's almost half of what the debt already was. I don't think they have the money to do that a 2nd time.

erebus · June 2020

That is what is scary

Imagine the Cons response to the crisis as well as the NDP

I suppose the Libs are the current middle ground

dignin · June 2020

erebus said:

That is what is scary

Imagine the Cons response to the crisis as well as the NDP

I suppose the Libs are the current middle ground

My guess is they would all have a similar response. One only has to look to the provinces to see that.

DarthMaeglin · June 2020

erebus said:

That is what is scary

Imagine the Cons response to the crisis as well as the NDP

I suppose the Libs are the current middle ground

I can’t get your last sentence to bold, but that’s something I’ve been thinking about the last couple days. In years past I could have voted for Chrétien or Martin’s Liberals, however Trudeau has taken the party so far left that Canada no longer has a centrist party in my opinion.

That leaves me with two options when it comes to voting in good conscience. Either vote Conservative or consciously abstain (which I’ve been told denies me the right to criticize the government).

Along with all the labels thrown at us by the “progressives” these days it’s difficult at times to openly identify as sitting on the right side of the spectrum.

Edit: I do need to acknowledge that many on the right are just as bad at throwing names and labels at the left.

DarthMaeglin · June 2020

I’m not quite sure how Trudeau can attend an anti-racism rally in Ottawa right now. Watching him nod his head in agreement with some of the demands is a joke, given that Parliament isn’t allowed to deal with these issues until at least September.

And then there’s him as a person with his uncounted instances of blackface. I’m sick of being called a racist by this guy.

DarthMaeglin · June 2020

I would like to add that this could become a non-issue for me if information surfaces that all party leaders were invited to attend with Trudeau. I haven’t heard even a wiff of that yet, so it’s just another photo op for the coming election in my opinion.

oftenreading · June 2020

If he goes, there is criticism. If he doesn't go, there is criticism.

And it's a rally organized not by government, but reportedly by the No Peace Until Justice Coalition, so any politician is free to attend. No need for an engraved invitation. The Mayor of Ottawa attended, I understand.

DarthMaeglin · June 2020

oftenreading said:

If he goes, there is criticism. If he doesn't go, there is criticism.

And it's a rally organized not by government, but reportedly by the No Peace Until Justice Coalition, so any politician is free to attend. No need for an engraved invitation. The Mayor of Ottawa attended, I understand.

I agree he’d be criticized either way, but his own actions have set him up for such.Ottawa’s mayor was actually asked not to attend by organizers, according to cbc. They also reported that Jagmeet Singh attended one of the Toronto protests.

I suppose Trudeau didn’t confirm his attendance this morning so that he wouldn’t be uninvited (it could just as easily have been a security issue I acknowledge).

It was a bit ironic that there were calls for the police to remove someone who was being loudly critical of Trudeau as the speeches were being made. It was the crowd making the calls not Trudeau’s team, so I’m not criticizing him, I watched it live. It’s not clear what exactly happened but the person was silenced.

Lastly though, where the fuck is proper social distancing? If Trudeau can wade into such a large crowd with no distancing, why can’t Parliament meet properly? Please pardon my anger on this point, I’m still bitter that Toronto’s opening has been delayed by the partiers a couple weeks ago. I absolutely respect the protesters right to do so but it must still be done mindful of the current crisis. I accept the lockdown protesters as well as the anti-racism ones, but have zero tolerance for the partiers.

oftenreading · June 2020

DarthMaeglin said:

oftenreading said:

If he goes, there is criticism. If he doesn't go, there is criticism.

And it's a rally organized not by government, but reportedly by the No Peace Until Justice Coalition, so any politician is free to attend. No need for an engraved invitation. The Mayor of Ottawa attended, I understand.

I agree he’d be criticized either way, but his own actions have set him up for such.Ottawa’s mayor was actually asked not to attend by organizers, according to cbc. They also reported that Jagmeet Singh attended one of the Toronto protests.

I suppose Trudeau didn’t confirm his attendance this morning so that he wouldn’t be uninvited (it could just as easily have been a security issue I acknowledge).

It was a bit ironic that there were calls for the police to remove someone who was being loudly critical of Trudeau as the speeches were being made. It was the crowd making the calls not Trudeau’s team, so I’m not criticizing him, I watched it live. It’s not clear what exactly happened but the person was silenced.

Lastly though, where the fuck is proper social distancing? If Trudeau can wade into such a large crowd with no distancing, why can’t Parliament meet properly? Please pardon my anger on this point, I’m still bitter that Toronto’s opening has been delayed by the partiers a couple weeks ago. I absolutely respect the protesters right to do so but it must still be done mindful of the current crisis. I accept the lockdown protesters as well as the anti-racism ones, but have zero tolerance for the partiers.

The article I read on CBC did not say that Watson was asked not to attend, it says After Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson noted his intention to be there, the group said he was invited via Twitter by unaffiliated individuals. "The No Peace Until Justice organizers did not reach out to him or his office." The police were specifically not invited.

DarthMaeglin · June 2020

oftenreading said:

DarthMaeglin said:

oftenreading said:

If he goes, there is criticism. If he doesn't go, there is criticism.

And it's a rally organized not by government, but reportedly by the No Peace Until Justice Coalition, so any politician is free to attend. No need for an engraved invitation. The Mayor of Ottawa attended, I understand.

I agree he’d be criticized either way, but his own actions have set him up for such.Ottawa’s mayor was actually asked not to attend by organizers, according to cbc. They also reported that Jagmeet Singh attended one of the Toronto protests.

I suppose Trudeau didn’t confirm his attendance this morning so that he wouldn’t be uninvited (it could just as easily have been a security issue I acknowledge).

It was a bit ironic that there were calls for the police to remove someone who was being loudly critical of Trudeau as the speeches were being made. It was the crowd making the calls not Trudeau’s team, so I’m not criticizing him, I watched it live. It’s not clear what exactly happened but the person was silenced.

Lastly though, where the fuck is proper social distancing? If Trudeau can wade into such a large crowd with no distancing, why can’t Parliament meet properly? Please pardon my anger on this point, I’m still bitter that Toronto’s opening has been delayed by the partiers a couple weeks ago. I absolutely respect the protesters right to do so but it must still be done mindful of the current crisis. I accept the lockdown protesters as well as the anti-racism ones, but have zero tolerance for the partiers.

The article I read on CBC did not say that Watson was asked not to attend, it says After Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson noted his intention to be there, the group said he was invited via Twitter by unaffiliated individuals. "The No Peace Until Justice organizers did not reach out to him or his office." The police were specifically not invited.

Thanks for clarifying, I swear I did read what I posted but don’t want to belabour that point, so I’ll leave it at that? Again thanks for clarifying.

Canadian Politics Redux

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