Jagmeet doesn't seem ready at all. Mulcair was adequate? Making Jagmeet leader seems like a hilarious mistake. I guess that won't matter if he doesn't pick up Burnaby South.
I'd respectfully disagree. Singh actually got off to a really good start after winning the leadership in my opinion. But then he and the party have been a bit quiet for a while for the most part, and seem to be searching for a clear message/direction at the moment. I do think his not having a seat in the House for so long hasn't helped matters, and if we're being honest, there are probably reasons he isn't being given nearly as much media time as Scheer. I think much of their current lack of direction would be happening under any of their leadership candidates though. While I do think it's temporary, I think their current problems go much deeper than their current leader.
As for Mulcair, while he was certainly 'fine', I feel like he squandered a great opportunity. He moved enough toward the center on a number of things that the Liberals were able to run to their left in many areas, and he ran a pretty lackluster campaign. It also felt like he didn't do much with his time as opposition leader.
I don't think you're being as charitable as you should be. The NDP pre-Mulcair felt very fringe, and it took a lot of time and effort to get them into the position they were in prior to his passing. That was as large a tragedy for the NDP as it was a boon for their competitors. It honestly felt like he was nipping at their heels for a while there. I thought Singh looked like a good choice from the outset but (at least here in Alberta) it's been radio silence because their Federal presence is nearly non-existent here, and their Provincial presence is.... Polarizing to say the least.
If anything, I'm being a bit overly harsh on Mulcair because I wanted him to be better. Overall I thought he did an okay job, and I generally like the guy, but I do feel like a bunch of missed opportunities and missteps here and there really cost him.
Jagmeet doesn't seem ready at all. Mulcair was adequate? Making Jagmeet leader seems like a hilarious mistake. I guess that won't matter if he doesn't pick up Burnaby South.
I'd respectfully disagree. Singh actually got off to a really good start after winning the leadership in my opinion. But then he and the party have been a bit quiet for a while for the most part, and seem to be searching for a clear message/direction at the moment. I do think his not having a seat in the House for so long hasn't helped matters, and if we're being honest, there are probably reasons he isn't being given nearly as much media time as Scheer. I think much of their current lack of direction would be happening under any of their leadership candidates though. While I do think it's temporary, I think their current problems go much deeper than their current leader.
As for Mulcair, while he was certainly 'fine', I feel like he squandered a great opportunity. He moved enough toward the center on a number of things that the Liberals were able to run to their left in many areas, and he ran a pretty lackluster campaign. It also felt like he didn't do much with his time as opposition leader.
I don't think you're being as charitable as you should be. The NDP pre-Mulcair felt very fringe, and it took a lot of time and effort to get them into the position they were in prior to his passing. That was as large a tragedy for the NDP as it was a boon for their competitors. It honestly felt like he was nipping at their heels for a while there. I thought Singh looked like a good choice from the outset but (at least here in Alberta) it's been radio silence because their Federal presence is nearly non-existent here, and their Provincial presence is.... Polarizing to say the least.
Are you confusing Layton and Mulcair?
Mulcair is the one who squandered a lot of the NDP brand loyalty that Layton built up by promising balanced budget bills/laws.
Jagmeet doesn't seem ready at all. Mulcair was adequate? Making Jagmeet leader seems like a hilarious mistake. I guess that won't matter if he doesn't pick up Burnaby South.
I'd respectfully disagree. Singh actually got off to a really good start after winning the leadership in my opinion. But then he and the party have been a bit quiet for a while for the most part, and seem to be searching for a clear message/direction at the moment. I do think his not having a seat in the House for so long hasn't helped matters, and if we're being honest, there are probably reasons he isn't being given nearly as much media time as Scheer. I think much of their current lack of direction would be happening under any of their leadership candidates though. While I do think it's temporary, I think their current problems go much deeper than their current leader.
As for Mulcair, while he was certainly 'fine', I feel like he squandered a great opportunity. He moved enough toward the center on a number of things that the Liberals were able to run to their left in many areas, and he ran a pretty lackluster campaign. It also felt like he didn't do much with his time as opposition leader.
I don't think you're being as charitable as you should be. The NDP pre-Mulcair felt very fringe, and it took a lot of time and effort to get them into the position they were in prior to his passing. That was as large a tragedy for the NDP as it was a boon for their competitors. It honestly felt like he was nipping at their heels for a while there. I thought Singh looked like a good choice from the outset but (at least here in Alberta) it's been radio silence because their Federal presence is nearly non-existent here, and their Provincial presence is.... Polarizing to say the least.
Are you confusing Layton and Mulcair?
Mulcair is the one who squandered a lot of the NDP brand loyalty that Layton built up by promising balanced budget bills/laws.
Uh ya, fully and completely. Fuck me, sorry about that folks.
BouwsT on
Between you and me, Peggy, I smoked this Juul and it did UNTHINKABLE things to my mind and body...
I generally dislike Colby Cosh (and his employer), and am loath to link to the article, but his opinion piece today is actually quite good at laying out an interesting issue. He could serve to cool it on the tone, but Cosh is gonna Cosh.
I would think this would be their golden moment to go back to their workers right's roots instead of the the party of Virtue signalling.
Agreed, especially with the Liberals stealing that particular spotlight in recent years. Pretty much all parties have cheesed me off though, so I'm honestly not sure who I'll be voting for in the coming election.
Liberals have lost my vote over the complete 180 on changing from FPP to anything else at all. Unless every other party is a garbage fire, I'm not voting for them.
NDP don't seem to have any direction or policies. Singh was a charasmatic leader a couple of years ago, much less so now. Personally, his protracted refusal to condemn the 1985 airline bombing showed just how reliant he was going to be on minority interests (or he's actually a terrorist sympathizer, which is a silly notion). The only reason I can see for him to not immediately say 'bombing an airplane full of people is bad' is that he doesn't want to piss off the groups that revere the (accused but also dead) bomber. Maybe I'd vote NDP if they could get a better leader and a solid platform that isn't more or less a mirror of the current Liberals.
Cons are spinning wildly towards the right in an unpredictable and frightening manner. Doubt I'd vote for them unless that ship somehow righted itself and came back to reality.
I would think this would be their golden moment to go back to their workers right's roots instead of the the party of Virtue signalling.
Agreed, especially with the Liberals stealing that particular spotlight in recent years. Pretty much all parties have cheesed me off though, so I'm honestly not sure who I'll be voting for in the coming election.
Liberals have lost my vote over the complete 180 on changing from FPP to anything else at all. Unless every other party is a garbage fire, I'm not voting for them.
NDP don't seem to have any direction or policies. Singh was a charasmatic leader a couple of years ago, much less so now. Personally, his protracted refusal to condemn the 1985 airline bombing showed just how reliant he was going to be on minority interests (or he's actually a terrorist sympathizer, which is a silly notion). The only reason I can see for him to not immediately say 'bombing an airplane full of people is bad' is that he doesn't want to piss off the groups that revere the (accused but also dead) bomber. Maybe I'd vote NDP if they could get a better leader and a solid platform that isn't more or less a mirror of the current Liberals.
Cons are spinning wildly towards the right in an unpredictable and frightening manner. Doubt I'd vote for them unless that ship somehow righted itself and came back to reality.
Yeah I'm pretty much in harm reduction mode. What one of these garbage fires will burn us all the least.
The liberals have been pretty much a disappointment since day one. The only thing they did right IMO is marijuana legalization and even then they did it in the most ass backwards way possible to benefit large producers who are..... Drum roll.... Owned by big liberal supporters!
For Christ sake you have Bill "G-20" Blair as your point man on legalization and minister of health? What?
SO while yes, they are better subjectively than the conservatives (who I will never vote for because I don't hate the human race) they have very little to offer.
Edit: They did well on NAFTA all things considered.
I wish that some Canadian politician or citizen or really anyone in Canada would, like, look at the states for even half a second and see if there's any lessons we can learn, rather than just letting Canada always be "USA but 3-4 years later"
There's a rising tide of extreme right-wing reactionary movements that will inevitably fall on the fascist side of things, led by charismatic but lunatic public figures. Everyone on the left seems hell-bent on running as far to the centre as humanly possible, basically doing the electoral equivalent of curling into a ball and yelling "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME".
Meanwhile the current government thinks that doing a few scattered large gestures will keep them in power, while continuing behind the scenes to basically run business as usual and having negligible impact on the day-to-day of the people (ACA in the states and weed in Canada being the exceptions, and at least nobody is losing their mind about how weed was the worst thing to happen to the country)
Then on the voter side, people are becoming increasingly aware that capitalism is pretty much destined to give large portions of the population a really bad shake in the later stages (e.g.... uh, now?). Workers are becoming increasingly exploited and losing security, money, etc. The rich are getting richer without doing anything with the money, and there's rising awareness of just how fucked up it is that companies are increasingly being run exclusively to increase shareholder earnings in increasingly short terms. Millennials who were promised the world and instead are all fully into adulthood and barely scraping by are becoming increasingly angry, and the repeated calls of "We just need to make sure that the CEO of Amazon is happy and we swear if he just has 10 or 20 billion more dollars, he'll buy everyone a house" are being increasingly revealed as the scams that they are. People know that the wealth exists, it's just poorly allocated towards the top.
There is thirst for any amount of actual leftism out there, as candidates like AOC and the other diverse and progressive recent US Congresspeople show extremely clearly. The first party that stands up and says "Wait, people are starving to death because they couldn't afford the food that we're throwing out. Maybe 'being poor' shouldn't be a death sentence in a country that produces enough wealth to feed everyone without even noticing it" is going to be able to harness a huge portion of extremely motivated voters.
But no, we have to say "Well in CANADA we could never elect someone like TRUMP. I mean sure there's Ford but that's just PROVINCIAL and we didn't fucking take the 10 seconds to google "Tea Party"" and the Liberals and NDP have to spend all their energy trying to one-up each other with just how fucking useless and centrist they are and wondering why young people aren't voting for them.
But I guess fucking whatever, really looking forwards to exactly what full-assed Canadian Trump looks like
EDIT: And while I can't vote yet (I also have a fun story about being a temporary resident in Canada even though I've lived here for 5 years and that fucking me over!), of course it goes without saying that everyone should vote and should vote strategically. But it's still no wonder that nobody is excited to vote for anyone, and that old people will vote con no matter what.
EDIT2: Yes I know I just get increasingly angry at Canadian politics and keep making the same point in more and more words but it's so fucking frustrating to watch in real time
It is incredibly frustrating that the NDP have a fantastic opportunity right now, and they're doing basically nothing with it. They should have some constant clear messaging about a few choice topics, like income inequality for instance. Instead, even as someone who actively follows the party I barely know what they're up to.
There's also the inevitable bickering the Liberals and NDP will have between each other for most of the campaign and debates, rather than staying focused on the cons, which I'm really not looking forward to.
I don't know if Canadians are actually worked up enough about anything to want some sort of firey left wing movement. Everyone seems pretty much ... fine. Like, the conservatives at every level are going off the deep-end, just like everywhere in the western world. But the overall voting public is still just mostly apathetic and waffling back and forth between the two major parties based on a general feeling of "they've gotten too corrupt, throw the bums out and try the other guy again". That's how Ford won.
And of course the way FPTP lets minority vote winners get majorities doesn't help.
For the rest, the NDP just aren't taken seriously and haven't done anything at the federal level to really change that. Even when they finally ended up as official opposition it seemed more a matter of the liberals being in such shambles that they finally got the "not the Cons" vote. And I think you can see that in the way they got dumped for the Liberals as soon as Trudeau made them seem like they had a shot again.
And then there's the perpetual fighting between the NDP and the Liberals that never ends and helps no one but the Cons.
In the last federal election, the Liberals essentially stole a lot of NDP thunder by running towards the left (Electoral Reform, Marijuana Legalization, Diversity, etc) while Mulcair shifted things towards the center. I feel like the NDP of today is in prime position to be trumpeting about how "Hey, the Liberals SAY they're going to do this, then don't. We'll ACTUALLY do this, because they're OUR policies".
Of course, that being said I prefer the NDP to be as weak as possible going into the election this year, so we don't split the vote much on the left, as allowing the Conservatives to come into power represents too great a threat, especially with reactionary conservative provincial governments getting elected.
It's too bad Maxime Bernier decided to be a complete fucking idiot instead of making a viable alternative to the Conservative Party. Would've been nice to have the vote split on the right as well.
In the last federal election, the Liberals essentially stole a lot of NDP thunder by running towards the left (Electoral Reform, Marijuana Legalization, Diversity, etc) while Mulcair shifted things towards the center. I feel like the NDP of today is in prime position to be trumpeting about how "Hey, the Liberals SAY they're going to do this, then don't. We'll ACTUALLY do this, because they're OUR policies".
Of course, that being said I prefer the NDP to be as weak as possible going into the election this year, so we don't split the vote much on the left, as allowing the Conservatives to come into power represents too great a threat, especially with reactionary conservative provincial governments getting elected.
At this point why bother having a multi-parti system if that's the case? It literally only helps the right (Maxime Bernier's clusterfuck notwithstanding)
In the last federal election, the Liberals essentially stole a lot of NDP thunder by running towards the left (Electoral Reform, Marijuana Legalization, Diversity, etc) while Mulcair shifted things towards the center. I feel like the NDP of today is in prime position to be trumpeting about how "Hey, the Liberals SAY they're going to do this, then don't. We'll ACTUALLY do this, because they're OUR policies".
Of course, that being said I prefer the NDP to be as weak as possible going into the election this year, so we don't split the vote much on the left, as allowing the Conservatives to come into power represents too great a threat, especially with reactionary conservative provincial governments getting elected.
At this point why bother having a multi-parti system if that's the case? It literally only helps the right (Maxime Bernier's clusterfuck notwithstanding)
It's more of a temporary/recent thing though. Up until recently the NDP were a bit more competently run and the Liberals appeared more visibly to be closer to the centre (even if in practice that hasn't really changed much).
It's too bad Maxime Bernier decided to be a complete fucking idiot instead of making a viable alternative to the Conservative Party. Would've been nice to have the vote split on the right as well.
I mean, he'll probably peel off some CPC votes. Maybe even enough to hold them back in some tighter races.
Honestly, between a weak unfocused NDP, and Bernier's right wing vanity project, the Liberals will probably get at least a bit of a boost electorally.
Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Randy Hillier has been suspended indefinitely from the Ontario PC caucus after making "disrespectful comments to parents of children with autism," according to a statement from Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford.
I mean, they were incensed enough about axing educational support for parents of autistic kids, so heckling said parents is good optics, right?
Do you folks think this SNC-Lavalin thing is happening a bit too early in the year to make a defined impact on the election? I feel like the press is really burning it out with the daily 'revelations'. Or is the damage done enough in the sense that the average layperson has gained the association "Trudeau = badcorrupt" and that'll carry through to voting?
Do you folks think this SNC-Lavalin thing is happening a bit too early in the year to make a defined impact on the election? I feel like the press is really burning it out with the daily 'revelations'. Or is the damage done enough in the sense that the average layperson has gained the association "Trudeau = badcorrupt" and that'll carry through to voting?
I'm definitely in the first camp. Scandals have a shelf life, and a lot happens on the political stage. I doubt anyone will be talking about this seven months from now.
When the election cycle kicks on in full this will be left behind. Good or bad it'll be "resolved" so the cons won't be very effective in dragging it out over and over.
I forgot who it was, maybe Shryke, but the cons trying to bengahzi this is a stupid move in my opinion.
Do you folks think this SNC-Lavalin thing is happening a bit too early in the year to make a defined impact on the election? I feel like the press is really burning it out with the daily 'revelations'. Or is the damage done enough in the sense that the average layperson has gained the association "Trudeau = badcorrupt" and that'll carry through to voting?
I'm definitely in the first camp. Scandals have a shelf life, and a lot happens on the political stage. I doubt anyone will be talking about this seven months from now.
Yea I agree, also wonder if the Wernick testimony will put a damper on it.
Its definitely made Trudeau's image more hypocritical but that's not saying much from me, wasn't all that enamored with his image to begin with. Besides, I have a good NDP MP to re-elect, so its kinda non issue around these parts as I don't have to hold my nose and vote Liberal to accomplish ABC. The Liberals are full on metaphorically burning bridges in BC regardless of if it is fire season or not and they are ok with that. Treating a BC First Nation's lady minister who previously had a good enough reputation to become a minister and stay there for nearly Trudeau's entire time as PM terribly is just shit icing on a crap cake.
“You know what a shit barometer is, Bubs? It measures the shit pressure in the air. You can feel it. Listen, Bubs. Hear that? Sounds of the whispering winds of shit.”
Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Randy Hillier has been suspended indefinitely from the Ontario PC caucus after making "disrespectful comments to parents of children with autism," according to a statement from Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford.
I mean, they were incensed enough about axing educational support for parents of autistic kids, so heckling said parents is good optics, right?
You can well and truly fuck over people, but heckling them is just TOO FAR.
Oh man, will Jagmeet have a job at the end of the day? I'm honestly not sure if him winning is good or bad for the liberals, the NDP are such a shitshow right now. Even if he does win, does that make them any more relevant? If he loses and they go with an interim, will the Greens skim off a pile of their supporters, or will they do that either way? Will Andrew Scheer angrily declare that he'd have carved the easter ham better than Justin Trudeau? Only time will tell!
I think Singh winning or losing tonight will basically be the difference between, "The NDP has some work to do", and, "The NDP needs to take a step back for a while and figure some things out".
With 177 of 196 polls reporting in Burnaby South, it looks like Jagmeet Singh will win the riding, holding it for the NDP. The Liberal candidate is in a not particularly close 2nd, and the Conservative in 3rd.
In York-Simcoe, the Conservatives have held the riding. Meanwhile, the People's Party candidate is looking like they'll finish in 6th, behind the candidates for the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Progressive Canadian, and Green. For anyone who's wondering, the Progressive Canadian party is basically former Progressive Conservatives who didn't want to join the current Conservative party when it formed, feeling it had moved too far to the right.
In spite of most Canadians not being aware that they existed, their candidate currently has more than twice the votes of the People's Party candidate (3.9% to 1.8%).
In Outremont, it looks like the Liberals will pick up the seat. They're sitting at 41.3% to the NDP's 27.2%. Third is the Greens with 13.1%, followed by the Bloc with 10.2%. The Conservatives have 6.2%, while the People's Party are at 1.6%.
In spite of most Canadians not being aware that they existed, their candidate currently has more than twice the votes of the People's Party candidate (3.9% to 1.8%).
I can't wait to see how the CBC will spin this as a victory for the People's Party.
In spite of most Canadians not being aware that they existed, their candidate currently has more than twice the votes of the People's Party candidate (3.9% to 1.8%).
I can't wait to see how the CBC will spin this as a victory for the People's Party.
Tories win federal byelection in eastern Ontario With the sub-heading "Conservatives see hopeful signs of pre-election trends in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands byelection". Certainly sounds like a CPC landslide is inevitable this fall, if this result is anything to go by! You have to go pretty far down the article before they mention this riding was a CPC stronghold that has not been in play for decades, so this result is nothing to go by actually.
And on the Liberals being the only party to gain a new seat last night by snatching Outremont from the NDP? Here you go:
Oh wait here's the link:
No hold on I'll find it... here:
Nope. Nothing. I guess there was no by-election in Outremont last night according to the CBC.
Tories win federal byelection in eastern Ontario With the sub-heading "Conservatives see hopeful signs of pre-election trends in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands byelection". Certainly sounds like a CPC landslide is inevitable this fall, if this result is anything to go by! You have to go pretty far down the article before they mention this riding was a CPC stronghold that has not been in play for decades, so this result is nothing to go by actually.
And on the Liberals being the only party to gain a new seat last night by snatching Outremont from the NDP? Here you go:
Oh wait here's the link:
No hold on I'll find it... here:
Nope. Nothing. I guess there was no by-election in Outremont last night according to the CBC.
Tories win federal byelection in eastern Ontario With the sub-heading "Conservatives see hopeful signs of pre-election trends in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands byelection". Certainly sounds like a CPC landslide is inevitable this fall, if this result is anything to go by! You have to go pretty far down the article before they mention this riding was a CPC stronghold that has not been in play for decades, so this result is nothing to go by actually.
And on the Liberals being the only party to gain a new seat last night by snatching Outremont from the NDP? Here you go:
Oh wait here's the link:
No hold on I'll find it... here:
Nope. Nothing. I guess there was no by-election in Outremont last night according to the CBC.
It's too bad Maxime Bernier decided to be a complete fucking idiot instead of making a viable alternative to the Conservative Party. Would've been nice to have the vote split on the right as well.
I mean, he'll probably peel off some CPC votes. Maybe even enough to hold them back in some tighter races.
Honestly, between a weak unfocused NDP, and Bernier's right wing vanity project, the Liberals will probably get at least a bit of a boost electorally.
My worry is that it'll drive the PC party to the right slightly to try and maintain those voters. See for example: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truck-convoy-red-deer-ottawa-arnprior-1.5024229. Members of that convoy/group hold some extremist/fringe views (the typical assassinate politician x /anti-Muslim views) but were welcomed by both Bernier and unfortunately Scheer.
It's too bad Maxime Bernier decided to be a complete fucking idiot instead of making a viable alternative to the Conservative Party. Would've been nice to have the vote split on the right as well.
I mean, he'll probably peel off some CPC votes. Maybe even enough to hold them back in some tighter races.
Honestly, between a weak unfocused NDP, and Bernier's right wing vanity project, the Liberals will probably get at least a bit of a boost electorally.
My worry is that it'll drive the PC party to the right slightly to try and maintain those voters. See for example: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truck-convoy-red-deer-ottawa-arnprior-1.5024229. Members of that convoy/group hold some extremist/fringe views (the typical assassinate politician x /anti-Muslim views) but were welcomed by both Bernier and unfortunately Scheer.
The CPC has been moving to the far-right since the Alliance/Reform merge. All right-wing movements globally are heading this way. In Ontario the PC has no right-wing opponent and was guaranteed to win against the Liberals before the election was even called, and they still headed squarely and strongly into alt-right territory. In Québec, where the Conservatives desperately need to aim left to gain some mainstream traction and increase to fifth-party status, they still rather take on candidates from La Meute and refuse to disavow them when confronted about it.
My point is, the CPC is heading for the alt-right, but Bernier is not the cause.
Y'all should probably keep an eye on JWR's testimony to the Justice Committee. She opened with a bang:
I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the gov't to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my role as the attorney general of Canada in an inappropriate effort...
Posts
If anything, I'm being a bit overly harsh on Mulcair because I wanted him to be better. Overall I thought he did an okay job, and I generally like the guy, but I do feel like a bunch of missed opportunities and missteps here and there really cost him.
As to Jagmeet vs. Scheer, Scheer just strikes me as a muppet saying all the things you'd expect an out of power conservative candidate to say;
"The Liberals are doing a terrible job, we'd do better."
"How exactly would you do better?"
"....better."
That's all they need to do.
Are you confusing Layton and Mulcair?
Mulcair is the one who squandered a lot of the NDP brand loyalty that Layton built up by promising balanced budget bills/laws.
MWO: Adamski
I would think this would be their golden moment to go back to their workers right's roots instead of the the party of Virtue signalling.
Uh ya, fully and completely. Fuck me, sorry about that folks.
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/colby-cosh-a-possible-explanation-for-the-liberals-problem?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter
Agreed, especially with the Liberals stealing that particular spotlight in recent years. Pretty much all parties have cheesed me off though, so I'm honestly not sure who I'll be voting for in the coming election.
Liberals have lost my vote over the complete 180 on changing from FPP to anything else at all. Unless every other party is a garbage fire, I'm not voting for them.
NDP don't seem to have any direction or policies. Singh was a charasmatic leader a couple of years ago, much less so now. Personally, his protracted refusal to condemn the 1985 airline bombing showed just how reliant he was going to be on minority interests (or he's actually a terrorist sympathizer, which is a silly notion). The only reason I can see for him to not immediately say 'bombing an airplane full of people is bad' is that he doesn't want to piss off the groups that revere the (accused but also dead) bomber. Maybe I'd vote NDP if they could get a better leader and a solid platform that isn't more or less a mirror of the current Liberals.
Cons are spinning wildly towards the right in an unpredictable and frightening manner. Doubt I'd vote for them unless that ship somehow righted itself and came back to reality.
Yeah I'm pretty much in harm reduction mode. What one of these garbage fires will burn us all the least.
The liberals have been pretty much a disappointment since day one. The only thing they did right IMO is marijuana legalization and even then they did it in the most ass backwards way possible to benefit large producers who are..... Drum roll.... Owned by big liberal supporters!
For Christ sake you have Bill "G-20" Blair as your point man on legalization and minister of health? What?
The 2nd reason I voted for them was this
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-electoral-reform-january-2018-1.4511902
SO while yes, they are better subjectively than the conservatives (who I will never vote for because I don't hate the human race) they have very little to offer.
Edit: They did well on NAFTA all things considered.
There's a rising tide of extreme right-wing reactionary movements that will inevitably fall on the fascist side of things, led by charismatic but lunatic public figures. Everyone on the left seems hell-bent on running as far to the centre as humanly possible, basically doing the electoral equivalent of curling into a ball and yelling "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME".
Meanwhile the current government thinks that doing a few scattered large gestures will keep them in power, while continuing behind the scenes to basically run business as usual and having negligible impact on the day-to-day of the people (ACA in the states and weed in Canada being the exceptions, and at least nobody is losing their mind about how weed was the worst thing to happen to the country)
Then on the voter side, people are becoming increasingly aware that capitalism is pretty much destined to give large portions of the population a really bad shake in the later stages (e.g.... uh, now?). Workers are becoming increasingly exploited and losing security, money, etc. The rich are getting richer without doing anything with the money, and there's rising awareness of just how fucked up it is that companies are increasingly being run exclusively to increase shareholder earnings in increasingly short terms. Millennials who were promised the world and instead are all fully into adulthood and barely scraping by are becoming increasingly angry, and the repeated calls of "We just need to make sure that the CEO of Amazon is happy and we swear if he just has 10 or 20 billion more dollars, he'll buy everyone a house" are being increasingly revealed as the scams that they are. People know that the wealth exists, it's just poorly allocated towards the top.
There is thirst for any amount of actual leftism out there, as candidates like AOC and the other diverse and progressive recent US Congresspeople show extremely clearly. The first party that stands up and says "Wait, people are starving to death because they couldn't afford the food that we're throwing out. Maybe 'being poor' shouldn't be a death sentence in a country that produces enough wealth to feed everyone without even noticing it" is going to be able to harness a huge portion of extremely motivated voters.
But no, we have to say "Well in CANADA we could never elect someone like TRUMP. I mean sure there's Ford but that's just PROVINCIAL and we didn't fucking take the 10 seconds to google "Tea Party"" and the Liberals and NDP have to spend all their energy trying to one-up each other with just how fucking useless and centrist they are and wondering why young people aren't voting for them.
But I guess fucking whatever, really looking forwards to exactly what full-assed Canadian Trump looks like
EDIT: And while I can't vote yet (I also have a fun story about being a temporary resident in Canada even though I've lived here for 5 years and that fucking me over!), of course it goes without saying that everyone should vote and should vote strategically. But it's still no wonder that nobody is excited to vote for anyone, and that old people will vote con no matter what.
EDIT2: Yes I know I just get increasingly angry at Canadian politics and keep making the same point in more and more words but it's so fucking frustrating to watch in real time
There's also the inevitable bickering the Liberals and NDP will have between each other for most of the campaign and debates, rather than staying focused on the cons, which I'm really not looking forward to.
They aren't perfect but they aren't evil either so in 2019 I'll put that in the win column.
And of course the way FPTP lets minority vote winners get majorities doesn't help.
For the rest, the NDP just aren't taken seriously and haven't done anything at the federal level to really change that. Even when they finally ended up as official opposition it seemed more a matter of the liberals being in such shambles that they finally got the "not the Cons" vote. And I think you can see that in the way they got dumped for the Liberals as soon as Trudeau made them seem like they had a shot again.
And then there's the perpetual fighting between the NDP and the Liberals that never ends and helps no one but the Cons.
Of course, that being said I prefer the NDP to be as weak as possible going into the election this year, so we don't split the vote much on the left, as allowing the Conservatives to come into power represents too great a threat, especially with reactionary conservative provincial governments getting elected.
Steam: CavilatRest
At this point why bother having a multi-parti system if that's the case? It literally only helps the right (Maxime Bernier's clusterfuck notwithstanding)
It's more of a temporary/recent thing though. Up until recently the NDP were a bit more competently run and the Liberals appeared more visibly to be closer to the centre (even if in practice that hasn't really changed much).
Steam: CavilatRest
I mean, he'll probably peel off some CPC votes. Maybe even enough to hold them back in some tighter races.
Honestly, between a weak unfocused NDP, and Bernier's right wing vanity project, the Liberals will probably get at least a bit of a boost electorally.
I mean, they were incensed enough about axing educational support for parents of autistic kids, so heckling said parents is good optics, right?
I'm definitely in the first camp. Scandals have a shelf life, and a lot happens on the political stage. I doubt anyone will be talking about this seven months from now.
I forgot who it was, maybe Shryke, but the cons trying to bengahzi this is a stupid move in my opinion.
Yea I agree, also wonder if the Wernick testimony will put a damper on it.
Steam: CavilatRest
“You know what a shit barometer is, Bubs? It measures the shit pressure in the air. You can feel it. Listen, Bubs. Hear that? Sounds of the whispering winds of shit.”
You can well and truly fuck over people, but heckling them is just TOO FAR.
Oh man, will Jagmeet have a job at the end of the day? I'm honestly not sure if him winning is good or bad for the liberals, the NDP are such a shitshow right now. Even if he does win, does that make them any more relevant? If he loses and they go with an interim, will the Greens skim off a pile of their supporters, or will they do that either way? Will Andrew Scheer angrily declare that he'd have carved the easter ham better than Justin Trudeau? Only time will tell!
In York-Simcoe, the Conservatives have held the riding. Meanwhile, the People's Party candidate is looking like they'll finish in 6th, behind the candidates for the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Progressive Canadian, and Green. For anyone who's wondering, the Progressive Canadian party is basically former Progressive Conservatives who didn't want to join the current Conservative party when it formed, feeling it had moved too far to the right.
In spite of most Canadians not being aware that they existed, their candidate currently has more than twice the votes of the People's Party candidate (3.9% to 1.8%).
In Outremont, it looks like the Liberals will pick up the seat. They're sitting at 41.3% to the NDP's 27.2%. Third is the Greens with 13.1%, followed by the Bloc with 10.2%. The Conservatives have 6.2%, while the People's Party are at 1.6%.
EDIT: Oh, there we go:
Maxime Bernier's People's Party posts mixed-bag results after its first byelection test. Apparently being defeated across the board is a "mixed bag result".
If you have a bag full of stones labelled "Defeat" and "Crushing Defeat", that is still technically a mixed bag.
Also on Steam and PSN: twobadcats
Singh survives byelection test. Can he shift focus from his leadership to NDP policies? Or: how to cast a victory in the worst possible light.
Tories win federal byelection in eastern Ontario With the sub-heading "Conservatives see hopeful signs of pre-election trends in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands byelection". Certainly sounds like a CPC landslide is inevitable this fall, if this result is anything to go by! You have to go pretty far down the article before they mention this riding was a CPC stronghold that has not been in play for decades, so this result is nothing to go by actually.
And on the Liberals being the only party to gain a new seat last night by snatching Outremont from the NDP? Here you go:
Oh wait here's the link:
No hold on I'll find it... here:
Nope. Nothing. I guess there was no by-election in Outremont last night according to the CBC.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/outremont-byelection-today-1.5032178
you mean except that one?
Fair enough, I missed that one in my search. So they did talk about it.
My point about the bias in their anti-NDP and pro-CPC reporting of those results still stands though.
My worry is that it'll drive the PC party to the right slightly to try and maintain those voters. See for example: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truck-convoy-red-deer-ottawa-arnprior-1.5024229. Members of that convoy/group hold some extremist/fringe views (the typical assassinate politician x /anti-Muslim views) but were welcomed by both Bernier and unfortunately Scheer.
Steam: CavilatRest
The CPC has been moving to the far-right since the Alliance/Reform merge. All right-wing movements globally are heading this way. In Ontario the PC has no right-wing opponent and was guaranteed to win against the Liberals before the election was even called, and they still headed squarely and strongly into alt-right territory. In Québec, where the Conservatives desperately need to aim left to gain some mainstream traction and increase to fifth-party status, they still rather take on candidates from La Meute and refuse to disavow them when confronted about it.
My point is, the CPC is heading for the alt-right, but Bernier is not the cause.
(Annie is a reporter for CTV)
Not good for the government...
Good god.
Can we get a new leader??? Preferably Chrystia Freeland?