As you said, the overarching problem is that Trudeau is not an honest broker in this situation. He is facing electoral destruction and is governing in this manner.
For example, do you really think Trudeau was so stupid that he didn't understand the ramifications of saying America was misogynist voting for Trump over Harris? Of course he did and he knew that it would put Canada AS A WHOLE behind the 8 ball. However, he also knows that women who strongly lean left might vote for the NDP over the Liberals so the speech was designed to try and bring them back into the fold, country be damned. It was planned and calculated. Same with the export tax on Alberta oil. Why Alberta oil? No votes left to lose there so only make suggestions that exclude pain from Ontario and Quebec as the only seats that can be salvaged are in those two provinces.
This is a desperate PM who will deep-six the national interest if it can save him politically. It is like the GST rebate and cheques. Why not blow the budget? If Trudeau loses, PP has to clean up the mess. If Trudeau wins, well, there is a mess but at least I won. You can't lead a nation through a crisis behaving this way.
By the way, PP is right to keep his mouth shut regarding the USA right now. It is so obvious why this is the right thing to do and I have no idea why so many members of the MSM cannot see it (for example, looking at you Chantal Hebert and Bruce Arthur). He has no power to negotiate and the team is being lead by a loose cannon trying to save his own skin. There is no way PP can be certain that the PM won't set him up in some way - again, the PM cannot be regarded as an honest broker. He, and anyone else, would be foolish to put his trust in Trudeau. The provinces have figured this out which is why they are all going their own way.
Good comment John. Trudeau is in the 'anything for a vote' mode and the old standby of blame Alberta, along with gun grabs and abortions will play to what is left of his voters.
Re: Junior v Trump, I'm reminded of the expression, "don't bring a knife to a gunfight". Junior's not even bringing a knife - he's packing a water-pistol. Say what you will about him but Trump is the absolute king of trolling. Trying to engage with him in that arena is like agreeing to take your dispute with 25 year-old Gretzky onto the hockey rink. And Junior can't even skate in this analogy.
Gurney is right here - you deal with Trump with strong policy and ignoring the sideshow. It's funny because the ONLY thing I will give Junior ANY credit for in his entire tenure is the manner in which he initially dealt with Trump. He was damn good, early - USMCA replacing NAFTA was a pretty decent accomplishment in all the circumstances. All downhill since then, of course.
And Junior's comments in Halifax were an absolute abomination. First, they were more of an attack on the American voters than on Trump himself. He can't even shoot his water-pistol straight. Contrast them with Trump's comments that elicited the pathetic retort. He refers to Junior as Governor which is an obvious move to diminish Junior's stature. But he refers to Canada as "the great state of Canada". We ain't no shithole country! Hell no, we got a lot going for us - just need to rid ourselves of the Governor. Gotta' think there's a decent chance that Trump says Canada once again has a Prime Minister after PP kicks Junior's ass.
But somewhat lost in the fog of the attempted attack on Trump is what Junior actually said: "Everywhere, women's rights and women's progress is under attack". What the absolute fuck is this jackass talking about??!! Identify one place in Canada where women's rights and women's progress is under attack. I know this is Junior's cue to start talking about Roe v Wade, but seriously - I'd like him or one of his cronies to point out one place in Canada where women's rights are under attack. I'll wait.
I gave this a like which is aimed at paragraphs 1, 3, 4. Under no circumstances will I give Troodas The Judas "Junior" credit for anything positive. He has not done anything positive for Canada as a whole, ever. Only for his select interest groups and some voting blocks. For USMCA replacing NAFTA some the credit goes to some of his staff, not to him. The rest of the credit goes to the US negotiators.
Agree 100% with you except that my perspective on the term Judas is different. To me Judas implies betrayal but using it on JT is like a resident of occupied France saying Hitler was a traitor. To me JT is a foreign invader or usurper doing invader or usurper stuff. Now looking at Doug Ford’s several instances of giving aid and comfort to the enemy, the term traitor fits to a tee.
What about the widely-acclaimed Canada-Child Benefit? The removal of formal partisanship from Senators? The legalization of marijuana? The ending of the constant time allocations motions under the Harper government? The reversal of Harper legislation to permit CSIS to violate Canadian rights? The absence of a major Trojan Horse bill/treaty as sinister as Harper's 31-year FIPA with China?
There is plenty to criticize in Trudeau and I consider him rather inconsequential as a Prime Minister, but it's certainly not all been bad.
"For USMCA replacing NAFTA some the credit goes to some of his staff, not to him."
That seems like double-standard logic. If the Prime Minister bears responsibility for the failings of his appointees - as he should - he also deserves some credit for their successes as well.
You nean the CCB where a couple with 3 kids earning 300k annually still collects $1200?
You mean the recent appointment of a Liberal bagman as Alberta's senator?
You mean the wildly bureaucratic weed industry thats 50% more expensive than the black market which is stil around?l
But but Harper doesn't cut it - he hasn't been around for 10 years.
Meanwhile only 34% of Canadians are proud of our country. I suspect its because of 10 years of messaging that Canada is a racist imaginaty construct without any redeeming history. Say what you like about Harper he was proud of our country.
Every Prime Minister should be judged by the precedents set by their predecessors, for the simple reason that some leaders are weak enough to abuse the precedents of their predecessors but others are not. There are really bad precedents for democracy that Harper established but which Trudeau chose not to replicate - a weaker leader than Trudeau would have chosen differently. That Harper was in power a full 9 years ago makes no difference to this point: we compare Prime Ministers against each other.
"You nean the CCB where a couple with 3 kids earning 300k annually still collects $1200?"
You're making the fallacy of not comparing to the way the benefit was under Harper: those earning $300K earned higher benefits previously earned higher tax benefits.
"You mean the recent appointment of a Liberal bagman as Alberta's senator?"
An exception that proves the rule.
"You mean the wildly bureaucratic weed industry thats 50% more expensive than the black market which is stil around?l"
What's your point supposed to be? That it would be better if cannabis revenue were 100% going to the black market instead?
I agree with your point that Harper did better than Trudeau in supporting a general sense of patriotism. I am not sure that makes much of a difference for Canadian quality of life, though. It certainly was not worth the anti-democratic precedents that Harper established.
Fat fingers and i hit send by accident so lets finish
Fallacy. How were Harper payments higher?? The max under the old system was 1200 bux and taxable unlike the CCB. 300k is a lot of money. I'm sure at that income one can pay for their squalling brats. How many lattes does $1200 buy (about 200 so a years worth)
No exception wrt senators. The "appointing committee is stacked with Liberal apparachnicks. Sen Pau Woo does not act in Canada's interest.
If the Legalized weed industry worked so well there would be no black market.
Anti democratic precidents. Lets try freezing bank accounts and the Emergency Act when other options existed.
Frankly our quality of life was much better under Harper. Fewer homeless encampments, opioid deaths, a manageable immigration system, higher per cap gdp, way less antisemitism, rule of law, appropriately staffed judiciary etc etc.
"No exception wrt senators. The "appointing committee is stacked with Liberal apparachnicks. Sen Pau Woo does not act in Canada's interest."
The burden of evidence lies upon a claimant to support said claim. If you are going to claim that Kim Pate is a diehard Liberal, where is your evidence?
"If the Legalized weed industry worked so well there would be no black market."
You deflected from my question. Would it be better if 100% of the cannabis revenue that is now going into the public purse were instead going to the black market? Yes or no?
"Anti democratic precidents. Lets try freezing bank accounts and the Emergency Act when other options existed."
It is is hardly an anti-democratic "precedent" of any kind, even if it was the first invocation of the Act. As required by law its use was heavily scrutinized by a public inquiry, the inquiry found its use to be acceptable whereas a judge found otherwise in a case that is currently being appealed. Nothing in that episode looks like the normalization of perpetual weaker democracy.
"Frankly our quality of life was much better under Harper. Fewer homeless encampments, opioid deaths, a manageable immigration system, higher per cap gdp, way less antisemitism, rule of law, appropriately staffed judiciary etc etc."
You are combining subjective and unverifiable judgements ("way less antisemitism" cannot be objectively measured) with outcomes that the Prime Minister simply has no control nor responsibility for (he cannot personally control the number of opioid deaths).
Edging our institutions closer and closer towards authoritarian capture as Harper did was not creating better quality of life for Canadians.
Well precedents. Jean Cretien left Harper with a treasury in good shape. He did pump the deficit with the gfc. Which Cretien/Martin would have done. Harper over a few years brought it into balance. Actively encourageing the CCP. Senator Pau Woo is a good case. Traitors.
There are male sex offenders in women’s prisons in Canada.
The only reason Yaniv’s famous HRT case harassing the women waxers failed was his naked racism, and another man was successful on Ontario in a similar HRT complaint just this summer.
In federal government offices, women’s washrooms are being changed to “gender neutral” to accommodate men with special identities. Observant Jewish and Muslim women now have to go to a separate floor or office in order to access toilet facilities without risking breaching their religious beliefs. Of course, the men’s washrooms remain for men only, even in a workforce that is majority female.
Women’s rights ARE under attack, but it’s Trudeau’s policies and ideology that are doing the attacking. His constant harping on about abortion, which is not under threat in Canada (other than due to healthcare shortages) is his dishonest sleight of hand.
Not sure about all your specifics here but I don't disagree with your general point and would also agree that it's a disgrace that men are being permitted to compete against women in sports.
But with respect, you are not really responding to my point. EVERYBODY already knows Junior is not referring to any of this when he claims women's rights and progress are under attack. This is why my question is not just somewhat rhetorical (in phrasing, at least), but serious. Truly, what the fuck IS he talking about - we already KNOW it is none of the stuff you listed. So for clarity, putting aside the trans issues you raise (which are legitimate but which Junior has de facto carved out for purposes of this discussion), where in Canada are women's rights and progress currently under attack?
respectfully, it's hard to put aside trans issues when the Liberal government has (purposefully) woven this new ideology throughout our society - it's hard to find a women's washroom that will only contain women! Parliamentary language wants gender neutral 'parent' instead of 'mother' - even the formerly named Status of Women Canada got a new name at the end of 2018 as Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) which is for "all gender identities, not just women." How can we even speak about *how* women are doing in this country (better, worse, the same?) when the category is meaningless in the face of self-ID?
(and yes! this is where the comments about prisons are relevant: there are men who commit murders and then, during their trial, claim to be women - the most recent being Mohamad Al Ballouz in Montreal, whose now going by Levana Ballouz. It is both ridiculous and dangerous that self-ID is still our standard. Did you know in BC this year, transactivists argued against a law to prevent child sex offenders changing their name?! This stuff is everywhere.)
I’ll bite. One place in Canada where women’s rights are under attack is Trudeau’s cabinet. Ask the former ministers who objected to his giving a free pass to a criminal Quebec organization (SNC Lavalin) so they could continue to feed at the Ottawa public trough.
That was a real scandal to be sure, but not really part of any larger pattern of anti-feminist behaviour. Trudeau rarely maligns women the way he genuinely did with JWR and Philpott.
Well you missed Ms Ceasar Chevannes. I guess elbowing Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the tit and grabbing a unlnown journalist by the ass is the Kootenays diesnt count either.
Thank you for the podcast. Depressing, but realistic, I'm afraid.
There's so much material here that I hesitate to begin. But a few points.
First, I don't think that there is any risk of the U.S. annexing all or any part of Canada. The Americans are too preoccupied by their own divisions. If anything, some there would like to expel their political or ideological enemies. And anyway, why bother? We do pretty well what they want already.
Second, on pulling together and making connections with other countries. Jen suggested trade agreements with other countries, such as the United Kingdom. Well, since Brexit, we don't have a trade deal with them, but we did start negotiations a few years ago, The British have put those negotiations on indefinite pause. The reason? Canada refuses to put supply management on the table. Some British cheeses were coming in under our arrangement with the EU, but no longer after Brexit. So Canada is taking this opportunity to save us from Stilton cheese.
But we won't let small things like that derail us, right? Well, this morning on Radio Canada (French radio), M. Blanchet was incensed that the Bloc's bill, taking supply management off the table in trade negotiations, was stuck in the Senate. That was M. Blanchet's top priority, faced with everything else. And remember' the Bloc has a decent chance of becoming the official opposition after the next election.
Third, on M. Legault. He was interviewed for half an hour on Radio Canada today. He is very clearly positioning his government against the rising tide of the Parti Quebecois, i.e. cultural and social sovereignty within a strong and united Canada. Take his comments within that context.
My recommendation to all our political leaders is to shut up in public. By all means. cultivate contacts with whichever Americans they can. But do so quietly. There is no point in replying to Mr. Trump in public until they have lined up their support, and can speak from a position of strength (whatever strength they can find).
One can hope but Poilievre has said more than once he wouldn't touch it. Given he doesn't need a single Quebec seat to win I don't get why he hasn't changed his outward position on it.
From an economic perspective Canada is part of the US in the same manner that Quebec is part of Canada. The only difference is Canada and Quebec use the same currency. And the way the Federal and Ontario governments are mortgaging their grandchildren’s future with huge deficits and the resulting loss of creditworthiness, Canada may well have to adopt the US dollar as its currency and join the illustrious company of Ecuador and El Salvador and other pretend countries in addition to the likes of Mexico, Cambodia and Somalia where the US $ dominates.
Politically, why on earth would a Republican administration want to invite a state speaking a foreign language, an eastern economic equivalent to Appalachia, a rust belt in waiting, a northern loony left version of California, leaving three out of ten provinces that may fit in, to join the union? Not to mention 1.8 million members of First Nations who have legitimate grievances having been screwed over by the Indian act for generations, and assorted terrorist elements in diaspora groups.
The only reason that we have a triple A credit rating is that Trudeau and Freeland cosigned the loan using the 600 billion in the CPP. Kinda like cosigning a loan for your deadbeat brother.
I was relieved to hear the recognition that Canada cannot counter Trump with strength because we are comparatively weak, are not considered a serious nation and no one has the slightest bit of respect for out leadership.
If you want to understand the intellectual underpinnings of the push for tariffs, read Michael Pettis’ work. He argues that the global trade system is badly out of balance, with China and Germany suppressing domestic consumption to subsidize producers, then that cheap production surplus ends up in the US, where the US government and consumers export debt to pay for imported goods. He prefers capital controls and devaluation as a solution instead of tariffs, but points out that these are all just tools that largely target the same goals.
In Canada, we’ve created a business model over the last 25 years whereby we sell oil to the Americans and import goods from China. We have a trade deficit with China and a surplus with the US. We’ve funded our trade deficit with more household debt (mortgage bubble). Now the US wants to reduce its trade deficit. How are we to respond?
What we’re currently doing is trying to salvage a broken model. We can’t keep running up home equity to pay for foreign goods delivered by underpaid TFWs. We can’t keep leaning on oil revenues to fund the rest of the nation. We can’t keep taking pension contributions from workers to buy malls in India. We have to actually invest in homegrown production and higher wages.
We can do it, but we need to change our expectations. Wages will have to rise, profits will have to fall, government deficits will have to grow, financial returns will have to wait. We’ve underinvested for decades, and gotten fat on housing bubbles and the US defence umbrella, and we need to shape up.
A great summary of the Canadian trade ebbs and flows. One additional factor is the Bank of Canada allowing interest rates to drop by a half point further than the US Fed rate. This has contributed to the dropping of the value of the Canadian dollar which has lost 4 cents in the last couple of months. Letting the dollar fall (accidentally, of course, (wink wink nudge nudge) amounts to an indirect (sneaky?) subsidy of Canadian exports (excluding oil which is priced in $US) and this subsidy no doubt helps contribute to the US trade deficit. This alone would justify imposing tariffs by any country losing jobs because of this.
Of course dropping interest rates helps homeowners facing mortgage renewals and gratefully voting for the party in power at the time. FWIW
Yep, devaluation and low interest rates would probably be good for us. Workers need higher wages, corporations need to invest in real production, and real asset prices need to fall. Not great for snowbirds and big asset managers, but we need to get building again. We can mollify the Americans by making a show of buying new military gear - which we need to do anyway.
Paul Martin was the architect of our broken business model. Harper kicked off the oil boom and the housing bubble which put a bandaid on the rot, but at the cost of regional and generational divides. Trudeau made big promises to run deficits and invest in young workers, but actually did the opposite. Just a parade of disappointment.
The ~$300 billion that CPPIB has invested in overseas schemes should be brought home. Sell the foreign assets, abolish CPPIB, and put the money into municipal and provincial bonds. Build the future in Canada!
I agree, but its also good to bring it to the hands of pensioners. The other way to fix it is to increase the CPP benefit, and reduce the oas payments by the same amount.
That doesn't make sense. OAS is funded by general government revenues.
Do you mean the OAS funds should be put into the CPP, and also paid out simultaneously? Why?
The CPP is funded by employees and employers and is supposed to belong to the pensioners, but the government has it on their balance sheet. That's not new.
Yes a Right Wing overcorrection would be bad. Currently all we have is a bit of a vibe shift, while the wokes still control k-12, academia, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, HR departments, most NGOs, public sector unions, just off the top of my head. Once we see some movement on those actually important institutions, I'm reeeeally not too concerned. TBH I can't even envision how change on those fronts would even happen given our current situation in Canada
Recently the Liberals’ DEI justice commission has been passed by the Senate. The Liberals bill C-40 allows the establishment of a “diverse” commission that would have the power to repeal court rulings and order retrials — the same power the attorney general had before. And no more than half of the people allowed on the commission are to be actual lawyers.
Anyone who thinks Canada can stand up to the US on an equal footing is at best delusional, trying to deflect their feelings of inadequacy vis a vis the Americans and at worst a moron.
We can negotiate, we can engage in acquiescence or we can have a healthy relationship with them.
My politics are that Canada being economically independent of the US is a huge and increasing price to pay and it isn't worth it. The UEL/1867 ideal of Canada is a failure and should be shot behind the shed. We need to start negotiations on full economic integration of capital, goods and labour. If Quebec doesn't like it they can form their own country.
Canada is an underachieving country in 2024 and will never reach its potential while being obsessed with being independent of the US and brokering all the disparate interests. Let the Americans do our dirty work so Canada can prosper.
The only reason Canada in obsessed with being independent of the US is the elites want to strut around wearing the countryhood suit. Like a little girl wearing mommy’s shoes, a lumberjack putting on breeches, silk stockings, a wig and a tricorn hat, or a ten year old putting on his first pair of long pants. It makes them think they can sit with the grownups.
It's quite pathetic. They can't even figure out what Canada is about. I'd suggest they start with what makes being part of Canada better than part of the US and focus on that.
Yes. Also, I respectfully submit that it is not the job of the "elites" to figure out what Canada is about. They have been fouling up that job since WW2. To figure out what Canada is about is the job of us ordinary Canadians; first though, we have to kick the "elites" out of that loop so they do not obstruct, and then settle the matter and the "elites" might be told what the result is.
Ordinary Canadians have to first care enough and feel ambitious enough to get rid of our "elites." The most likely way that would ever happen is with American persuasion I think.
According to an Angus Reed poll, the number of Albertans who profess deep emotional attachment to Canada has dropped 20 points since 2016 — from 67 to 47 per cent. That percentage, if there were a vote today, could remove Alberta from the clutches of Ottawa.
I think that Trudeau once again, hasn't been reading the room, but I think that Smith has.
Danielle Smith’s proposal to use a team of sheriffs, dogs and drones to patrol the southern Alberta border is a awesome example of reading the US Republican room. All the US southern states are doing the exact same thing. This is exactly the kind of response past and incoming president Trump is looking for. If anything will gain Alberta an exemption from tariffs for Alberta oil, this is it.
What's Alberta's plan for fresh water when the glaciers are gone in 30 years? What will they drink? Irrigate with? Frack? Their groundwater is already showing traces of fracking chemicals, their reservoirs are at all-time lows. Alberta wasn't to add 4 million citizens. What's the plan?
I feel that we are currently being held hostage by Trudeau and his collaborator, Singh. We need an election to provide our Prime Minister (whoever it may be)with a strong and clear mandate to begin negotiating seriously with Trump. We can’t go on for almost another year in this weak and destructive position. Trump will pick us to pieces.
I am 2 min in and I am already giggling. Thank you for the serious comic relief. With all the seriousness of the world I really appreciate these 1.5 hrs a week. Let's watch the show
So, just an off beat thought - is JT trying to burn down the country before he leaves? Consider; adding more to the deficite, saying stupid things about the Trumpster which will generate a harder line in negotiations with the US, allowing the parliament to be tied in knots because he won't comply with an order from the very same parliament, adding more carbon tax (or pollution levy or whatever they want to call it now), adding more restrictions to the oil and gas industry, cutting cheques for millions to Gaza aid agencies, throwing the doors open to 'refugees' from all over the world (and supporting them, doctoring them etc.), doubling down on EVs even while the majority of automakers are cutting back on them (I know, I know, Tesla is still rocking) and the annoouncement of dental coverage for seniors (I don't know of any who qualify let alone applied), $250 to each and every worker making under $140,000 a year, claiming the school food program is feeding thousands of children and saving parents thousands of dollars at the same time (while it has yet to clear the Senate) ... i could go on but you get the point.
All fo this reminds me of the last few months (OK, six to twelve but you get the time frame) of the Hitler regieme when he gave not a care to ending the war, prolonging it far beyond the point of no return as he preferred the destruction of Germany because the population was not deserving of his brilliance and capabilities. Sounds kind of familiar to me except for the lack of bombing runs, tank battles and so forth.
Frankly, I do not envy PP when he wins as he will have a monumental pile of crap to fix and it is going to be ugly if he REALLY intends to fix things. Yes, I support PP but can see that the need to get re-elected may just outweigh the need to fix all the sh**t. I shudder to think of what the books ACTUALLY look like instead of the horrible mess that we all believe they are in.
If we seem to be the Germany of April and May 1945, then the first task is to end the misery (election) and then be prepared to roll our sleeves up and find a sense of purpose to galvanize around. If we want things like a high speed train corridor then we need to model the idea as a national objective that is done ON TIME, UNDER BUDGET and has locomotives and passenger cars that have the same gauge as the tracks. Too many of these public works projects are a gong show disaster, either while under construction or once in operation, and sometimes both. We can do better. Building a national railroad through the Rocky Mountains in the 1800s is an engineering marvel. Why can’t we do that stuff anymore? Because we are complacent, we have normalized mediocrity and nobody is held accountable for anything.
As for the postal workers my proposal is straightforward if perhaps unrealistic nowadays - do what Ronald Reagan did to the air traffic controllers and just fire them all and hire a new workforce. Replacement of these unskilled workers won’t take long especially as the opportunity could be taken to reduce the number required anyway. We don’t need daily letter mail either. Weekly would be just fine.
Then change the postal system's goals and obligations. Because of what Reagan did when he fired everyone way back in the 80s, the US ATC system still hasn't recovered....40 years later. Stupid decisions have consequences.
I’m puzzled. Looking in Wikipedia at a list of civilian midair collisions and counting the US ones and assuming they were all under ATC control, there were 5 In the 1960s, 5 in the 1970s, 3 in the 1980s, 1 in the 1990s, 2 in the 2000s, and 1 in the 2010s. How has the US system not recovered? Are there other measures?
Staffing. They are still working mandated 6-day weeks because they can't hire enough people to keep up with attrition. As a result, staff burnout, sick time goes up, and the spiral continues. There are delays daily across the US because of a lack of controllers and the cause all the way back to 1981. Midairs are a worst-case scenario of a failure of an ATC system; the last one I can recall happened over Switzerland.
After the strike, I'd love to know how many billion were paid to the airlines in compensation for delays, and how many near misses went unreported.... because crews were told not to complain. I was told (during my time in Toronto ATC) of several where the pilots refused to complain after near misses were observed in US airspace. Reagan was lucky.
Thank You, Thank You.Thank you As a father of 4 girls and a Uncle of 4 plus a protector of many friends daughters. I so appreciate this . I am crying and laughing at the same time. I deal with many young fatherless men and am seeing a lot of emasculated young men falling. I am ashamed of this country. I have to say watching the energy deal with newfoundland was a a bright spot. Mad me proud briefly for my nufie warriors. I know that was a very contentious issue. But Ford. What the fuck. You fucking moron. You dealt your hand. Now they they will make you irrelevant. Fucking idiot. You bubble motherfuthers are so stupid
It's quite simple for Alberta and BC. Why is staying a part of Canada better than joining the US?
The Canadian quixotic nationalists refuse to answer this basic question so they drape themselves in the flag and events from 200+ years ago. It's all quite pathetic.
Yes you can. With applying utmost amorality, stupidity and deception upon the electorate, as the Trudeau prick is doing, or with deliberately aimed harshness. The Trudeau prick methods succeeded in changing at least a significant part of the electorate.
Dealing with Trump is a "Hobsens Choice". We're dealing with a bully. What happens when you kiss a bully's ass? Nothing good. So you fire off attempted offence ineffectively because you're already a complete lame duck in the position you have. What comes from that? Nothing good. The incoming administration are oligarchs, and we know the boss hates Trudeau. I'm not sure what "smart policy" you think we can craft when all they want is appeasement. They know they can economically destroy if they so choose. Sure it will cause them some pain, but they'll just short their stocks, and clean up anyway. It's not like they care about their own people. We need a new voice now, not that it will be any smarter; just less despised for now. Appeasement is the only tool in the box, and they're still going to laugh at us. A fight with the US is as useful as farting at a hurricane. The reality is we're going to do what they tell us to do.
Doug is an idiot. Danielle is an idiot. We're right back to lack of leadership, but we've never encountered anything like this. They don't know what to do, and we're not going to have a competent leader in the next 5 years. That is a massive crisis. Voter turnout is part of why.
It all comes down to leadership. We don't have any. Hey Alberta, good luck with Danille's passenger train dreams. Just look at Metrolinx as an example of an incompetent leader, accomplishing nothing, while skimming a fortune off the top and delivering nothing. VIA's HFR/HST has spent $1.5 billion to date, doesn't have a route, speed plan, power plan, and access plan for Toronto and Montreal, and might start construction in 7 years. With leadership, it could be finished in 7 years. Step 1; tell the NIMBY's to fuck off. Pierre won't commit to doing anything for the military, and won't come anywhere close to fiscal competence when he gets his landslide....where he can do whatever he wants. As you've said before....Canada doesn't do anything anymore. It's getting tiring.
All Chretien did was download his costs to the provinces to make his books look good...for a while. I hope to be wrong about Pierre, but what I've seen so far is rage-baiting, and spin-doctoring. His goal appears to be solely about defeating Trudeau. I have yet to hear a single substantive thought on his vision of the country. He has already said he can't spend 2% on the military. That will go over poorly in the US. He's very good at complaining and asking questions. We'll find out in a few months if he can answer any.
Manifest Destiny is impossible under either nation’s constitution (well, at least until the Trumpster “fixes” theirs) but it is eminently possible as the notion of an integrated North American trade and energy block. I wonder if that will ever occur to anyone.
<< dripping notes of sarcasm >>
I agree with the continuation of Danielle Smith’s logic — no need for an export tax on oil or to cut off the electricity (that can’t be cut off, Doug), just let the American tariff kick in and increase the cost of US gas all on it’s own, and have American citizens feel the pain themselves.
As you said, the overarching problem is that Trudeau is not an honest broker in this situation. He is facing electoral destruction and is governing in this manner.
For example, do you really think Trudeau was so stupid that he didn't understand the ramifications of saying America was misogynist voting for Trump over Harris? Of course he did and he knew that it would put Canada AS A WHOLE behind the 8 ball. However, he also knows that women who strongly lean left might vote for the NDP over the Liberals so the speech was designed to try and bring them back into the fold, country be damned. It was planned and calculated. Same with the export tax on Alberta oil. Why Alberta oil? No votes left to lose there so only make suggestions that exclude pain from Ontario and Quebec as the only seats that can be salvaged are in those two provinces.
This is a desperate PM who will deep-six the national interest if it can save him politically. It is like the GST rebate and cheques. Why not blow the budget? If Trudeau loses, PP has to clean up the mess. If Trudeau wins, well, there is a mess but at least I won. You can't lead a nation through a crisis behaving this way.
By the way, PP is right to keep his mouth shut regarding the USA right now. It is so obvious why this is the right thing to do and I have no idea why so many members of the MSM cannot see it (for example, looking at you Chantal Hebert and Bruce Arthur). He has no power to negotiate and the team is being lead by a loose cannon trying to save his own skin. There is no way PP can be certain that the PM won't set him up in some way - again, the PM cannot be regarded as an honest broker. He, and anyone else, would be foolish to put his trust in Trudeau. The provinces have figured this out which is why they are all going their own way.
Good comment John. Trudeau is in the 'anything for a vote' mode and the old standby of blame Alberta, along with gun grabs and abortions will play to what is left of his voters.
Excellent comments.
Great stuff guys.
Re: Junior v Trump, I'm reminded of the expression, "don't bring a knife to a gunfight". Junior's not even bringing a knife - he's packing a water-pistol. Say what you will about him but Trump is the absolute king of trolling. Trying to engage with him in that arena is like agreeing to take your dispute with 25 year-old Gretzky onto the hockey rink. And Junior can't even skate in this analogy.
Gurney is right here - you deal with Trump with strong policy and ignoring the sideshow. It's funny because the ONLY thing I will give Junior ANY credit for in his entire tenure is the manner in which he initially dealt with Trump. He was damn good, early - USMCA replacing NAFTA was a pretty decent accomplishment in all the circumstances. All downhill since then, of course.
And Junior's comments in Halifax were an absolute abomination. First, they were more of an attack on the American voters than on Trump himself. He can't even shoot his water-pistol straight. Contrast them with Trump's comments that elicited the pathetic retort. He refers to Junior as Governor which is an obvious move to diminish Junior's stature. But he refers to Canada as "the great state of Canada". We ain't no shithole country! Hell no, we got a lot going for us - just need to rid ourselves of the Governor. Gotta' think there's a decent chance that Trump says Canada once again has a Prime Minister after PP kicks Junior's ass.
But somewhat lost in the fog of the attempted attack on Trump is what Junior actually said: "Everywhere, women's rights and women's progress is under attack". What the absolute fuck is this jackass talking about??!! Identify one place in Canada where women's rights and women's progress is under attack. I know this is Junior's cue to start talking about Roe v Wade, but seriously - I'd like him or one of his cronies to point out one place in Canada where women's rights are under attack. I'll wait.
I gave this a like which is aimed at paragraphs 1, 3, 4. Under no circumstances will I give Troodas The Judas "Junior" credit for anything positive. He has not done anything positive for Canada as a whole, ever. Only for his select interest groups and some voting blocks. For USMCA replacing NAFTA some the credit goes to some of his staff, not to him. The rest of the credit goes to the US negotiators.
Agree 100% with you except that my perspective on the term Judas is different. To me Judas implies betrayal but using it on JT is like a resident of occupied France saying Hitler was a traitor. To me JT is a foreign invader or usurper doing invader or usurper stuff. Now looking at Doug Ford’s several instances of giving aid and comfort to the enemy, the term traitor fits to a tee.
What about the widely-acclaimed Canada-Child Benefit? The removal of formal partisanship from Senators? The legalization of marijuana? The ending of the constant time allocations motions under the Harper government? The reversal of Harper legislation to permit CSIS to violate Canadian rights? The absence of a major Trojan Horse bill/treaty as sinister as Harper's 31-year FIPA with China?
There is plenty to criticize in Trudeau and I consider him rather inconsequential as a Prime Minister, but it's certainly not all been bad.
"For USMCA replacing NAFTA some the credit goes to some of his staff, not to him."
That seems like double-standard logic. If the Prime Minister bears responsibility for the failings of his appointees - as he should - he also deserves some credit for their successes as well.
You nean the CCB where a couple with 3 kids earning 300k annually still collects $1200?
You mean the recent appointment of a Liberal bagman as Alberta's senator?
You mean the wildly bureaucratic weed industry thats 50% more expensive than the black market which is stil around?l
But but Harper doesn't cut it - he hasn't been around for 10 years.
Meanwhile only 34% of Canadians are proud of our country. I suspect its because of 10 years of messaging that Canada is a racist imaginaty construct without any redeeming history. Say what you like about Harper he was proud of our country.
Every Prime Minister should be judged by the precedents set by their predecessors, for the simple reason that some leaders are weak enough to abuse the precedents of their predecessors but others are not. There are really bad precedents for democracy that Harper established but which Trudeau chose not to replicate - a weaker leader than Trudeau would have chosen differently. That Harper was in power a full 9 years ago makes no difference to this point: we compare Prime Ministers against each other.
"You nean the CCB where a couple with 3 kids earning 300k annually still collects $1200?"
You're making the fallacy of not comparing to the way the benefit was under Harper: those earning $300K earned higher benefits previously earned higher tax benefits.
"You mean the recent appointment of a Liberal bagman as Alberta's senator?"
An exception that proves the rule.
"You mean the wildly bureaucratic weed industry thats 50% more expensive than the black market which is stil around?l"
What's your point supposed to be? That it would be better if cannabis revenue were 100% going to the black market instead?
I agree with your point that Harper did better than Trudeau in supporting a general sense of patriotism. I am not sure that makes much of a difference for Canadian quality of life, though. It certainly was not worth the anti-democratic precedents that Harper established.
Fat fingers and i hit send by accident so lets finish
Fallacy. How were Harper payments higher?? The max under the old system was 1200 bux and taxable unlike the CCB. 300k is a lot of money. I'm sure at that income one can pay for their squalling brats. How many lattes does $1200 buy (about 200 so a years worth)
No exception wrt senators. The "appointing committee is stacked with Liberal apparachnicks. Sen Pau Woo does not act in Canada's interest.
If the Legalized weed industry worked so well there would be no black market.
Anti democratic precidents. Lets try freezing bank accounts and the Emergency Act when other options existed.
Frankly our quality of life was much better under Harper. Fewer homeless encampments, opioid deaths, a manageable immigration system, higher per cap gdp, way less antisemitism, rule of law, appropriately staffed judiciary etc etc.
The Finance Department claims that those earning $250,000 and above no longer receive money under the CCB: https://web.archive.org/web/20180514212214/https://www.fin.gc.ca/n18/data/18-008_4-eng.asp Do you have a source to the contrary?
"No exception wrt senators. The "appointing committee is stacked with Liberal apparachnicks. Sen Pau Woo does not act in Canada's interest."
The burden of evidence lies upon a claimant to support said claim. If you are going to claim that Kim Pate is a diehard Liberal, where is your evidence?
"If the Legalized weed industry worked so well there would be no black market."
You deflected from my question. Would it be better if 100% of the cannabis revenue that is now going into the public purse were instead going to the black market? Yes or no?
"Anti democratic precidents. Lets try freezing bank accounts and the Emergency Act when other options existed."
It is is hardly an anti-democratic "precedent" of any kind, even if it was the first invocation of the Act. As required by law its use was heavily scrutinized by a public inquiry, the inquiry found its use to be acceptable whereas a judge found otherwise in a case that is currently being appealed. Nothing in that episode looks like the normalization of perpetual weaker democracy.
"Frankly our quality of life was much better under Harper. Fewer homeless encampments, opioid deaths, a manageable immigration system, higher per cap gdp, way less antisemitism, rule of law, appropriately staffed judiciary etc etc."
You are combining subjective and unverifiable judgements ("way less antisemitism" cannot be objectively measured) with outcomes that the Prime Minister simply has no control nor responsibility for (he cannot personally control the number of opioid deaths).
Edging our institutions closer and closer towards authoritarian capture as Harper did was not creating better quality of life for Canadians.
Well precedents. Jean Cretien left Harper with a treasury in good shape. He did pump the deficit with the gfc. Which Cretien/Martin would have done. Harper over a few years brought it into balance. Actively encourageing the CCP. Senator Pau Woo is a good case. Traitors.
There are male sex offenders in women’s prisons in Canada.
The only reason Yaniv’s famous HRT case harassing the women waxers failed was his naked racism, and another man was successful on Ontario in a similar HRT complaint just this summer.
In federal government offices, women’s washrooms are being changed to “gender neutral” to accommodate men with special identities. Observant Jewish and Muslim women now have to go to a separate floor or office in order to access toilet facilities without risking breaching their religious beliefs. Of course, the men’s washrooms remain for men only, even in a workforce that is majority female.
Women’s rights ARE under attack, but it’s Trudeau’s policies and ideology that are doing the attacking. His constant harping on about abortion, which is not under threat in Canada (other than due to healthcare shortages) is his dishonest sleight of hand.
Not sure about all your specifics here but I don't disagree with your general point and would also agree that it's a disgrace that men are being permitted to compete against women in sports.
But with respect, you are not really responding to my point. EVERYBODY already knows Junior is not referring to any of this when he claims women's rights and progress are under attack. This is why my question is not just somewhat rhetorical (in phrasing, at least), but serious. Truly, what the fuck IS he talking about - we already KNOW it is none of the stuff you listed. So for clarity, putting aside the trans issues you raise (which are legitimate but which Junior has de facto carved out for purposes of this discussion), where in Canada are women's rights and progress currently under attack?
respectfully, it's hard to put aside trans issues when the Liberal government has (purposefully) woven this new ideology throughout our society - it's hard to find a women's washroom that will only contain women! Parliamentary language wants gender neutral 'parent' instead of 'mother' - even the formerly named Status of Women Canada got a new name at the end of 2018 as Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) which is for "all gender identities, not just women." How can we even speak about *how* women are doing in this country (better, worse, the same?) when the category is meaningless in the face of self-ID?
(and yes! this is where the comments about prisons are relevant: there are men who commit murders and then, during their trial, claim to be women - the most recent being Mohamad Al Ballouz in Montreal, whose now going by Levana Ballouz. It is both ridiculous and dangerous that self-ID is still our standard. Did you know in BC this year, transactivists argued against a law to prevent child sex offenders changing their name?! This stuff is everywhere.)
We Terfs refer to it as “Prison-Onset Gender Dysphoria”.
I’ll bite. One place in Canada where women’s rights are under attack is Trudeau’s cabinet. Ask the former ministers who objected to his giving a free pass to a criminal Quebec organization (SNC Lavalin) so they could continue to feed at the Ottawa public trough.
That was a real scandal to be sure, but not really part of any larger pattern of anti-feminist behaviour. Trudeau rarely maligns women the way he genuinely did with JWR and Philpott.
Pot meet kettle.
I have compliments and criticisms of every major federal leader. Do you?
Well you missed Ms Ceasar Chevannes. I guess elbowing Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the tit and grabbing a unlnown journalist by the ass is the Kootenays diesnt count either.
Oh boy, you are such a partisan.
"Well you missed Ms Ceasar Chevannes."
A name-drop is not an argument.
"I guess elbowing Ruth Ellen Brosseau"
Accidentally elbowing people happens in life, you have inevitably done so yourself at some point.
"grabbing a unlnown journalist by the ass is the Kootenays diesnt count either."
Oh, that was immature, but well before Trudeau's political career, and not relevant to his actual governing record.
Thank you for the podcast. Depressing, but realistic, I'm afraid.
There's so much material here that I hesitate to begin. But a few points.
First, I don't think that there is any risk of the U.S. annexing all or any part of Canada. The Americans are too preoccupied by their own divisions. If anything, some there would like to expel their political or ideological enemies. And anyway, why bother? We do pretty well what they want already.
Second, on pulling together and making connections with other countries. Jen suggested trade agreements with other countries, such as the United Kingdom. Well, since Brexit, we don't have a trade deal with them, but we did start negotiations a few years ago, The British have put those negotiations on indefinite pause. The reason? Canada refuses to put supply management on the table. Some British cheeses were coming in under our arrangement with the EU, but no longer after Brexit. So Canada is taking this opportunity to save us from Stilton cheese.
But we won't let small things like that derail us, right? Well, this morning on Radio Canada (French radio), M. Blanchet was incensed that the Bloc's bill, taking supply management off the table in trade negotiations, was stuck in the Senate. That was M. Blanchet's top priority, faced with everything else. And remember' the Bloc has a decent chance of becoming the official opposition after the next election.
Third, on M. Legault. He was interviewed for half an hour on Radio Canada today. He is very clearly positioning his government against the rising tide of the Parti Quebecois, i.e. cultural and social sovereignty within a strong and united Canada. Take his comments within that context.
My recommendation to all our political leaders is to shut up in public. By all means. cultivate contacts with whichever Americans they can. But do so quietly. There is no point in replying to Mr. Trump in public until they have lined up their support, and can speak from a position of strength (whatever strength they can find).
So that is why I cannot find the Stilton cheese anymore. One of my favorite cheeses. Eff Trudeau and eff Liebranodips.
I wouldn't count on the Conservatives doing anything about supply management either, though I'd love to see it.
I think they do plan to do it but they don’t have to talk about it. There is no way supply management survives CUSMA renegotiations.
One can hope but Poilievre has said more than once he wouldn't touch it. Given he doesn't need a single Quebec seat to win I don't get why he hasn't changed his outward position on it.
Perhaps we can ask Japan and Germany to accept our LNG.
I’m sure Trudeau the wise businessman that he is would intervene and say no business case no gas.
From an economic perspective Canada is part of the US in the same manner that Quebec is part of Canada. The only difference is Canada and Quebec use the same currency. And the way the Federal and Ontario governments are mortgaging their grandchildren’s future with huge deficits and the resulting loss of creditworthiness, Canada may well have to adopt the US dollar as its currency and join the illustrious company of Ecuador and El Salvador and other pretend countries in addition to the likes of Mexico, Cambodia and Somalia where the US $ dominates.
Politically, why on earth would a Republican administration want to invite a state speaking a foreign language, an eastern economic equivalent to Appalachia, a rust belt in waiting, a northern loony left version of California, leaving three out of ten provinces that may fit in, to join the union? Not to mention 1.8 million members of First Nations who have legitimate grievances having been screwed over by the Indian act for generations, and assorted terrorist elements in diaspora groups.
The only reason that we have a triple A credit rating is that Trudeau and Freeland cosigned the loan using the 600 billion in the CPP. Kinda like cosigning a loan for your deadbeat brother.
I was relieved to hear the recognition that Canada cannot counter Trump with strength because we are comparatively weak, are not considered a serious nation and no one has the slightest bit of respect for out leadership.
If you want to understand the intellectual underpinnings of the push for tariffs, read Michael Pettis’ work. He argues that the global trade system is badly out of balance, with China and Germany suppressing domestic consumption to subsidize producers, then that cheap production surplus ends up in the US, where the US government and consumers export debt to pay for imported goods. He prefers capital controls and devaluation as a solution instead of tariffs, but points out that these are all just tools that largely target the same goals.
In Canada, we’ve created a business model over the last 25 years whereby we sell oil to the Americans and import goods from China. We have a trade deficit with China and a surplus with the US. We’ve funded our trade deficit with more household debt (mortgage bubble). Now the US wants to reduce its trade deficit. How are we to respond?
What we’re currently doing is trying to salvage a broken model. We can’t keep running up home equity to pay for foreign goods delivered by underpaid TFWs. We can’t keep leaning on oil revenues to fund the rest of the nation. We can’t keep taking pension contributions from workers to buy malls in India. We have to actually invest in homegrown production and higher wages.
We can do it, but we need to change our expectations. Wages will have to rise, profits will have to fall, government deficits will have to grow, financial returns will have to wait. We’ve underinvested for decades, and gotten fat on housing bubbles and the US defence umbrella, and we need to shape up.
A great summary of the Canadian trade ebbs and flows. One additional factor is the Bank of Canada allowing interest rates to drop by a half point further than the US Fed rate. This has contributed to the dropping of the value of the Canadian dollar which has lost 4 cents in the last couple of months. Letting the dollar fall (accidentally, of course, (wink wink nudge nudge) amounts to an indirect (sneaky?) subsidy of Canadian exports (excluding oil which is priced in $US) and this subsidy no doubt helps contribute to the US trade deficit. This alone would justify imposing tariffs by any country losing jobs because of this.
Of course dropping interest rates helps homeowners facing mortgage renewals and gratefully voting for the party in power at the time. FWIW
Yep, devaluation and low interest rates would probably be good for us. Workers need higher wages, corporations need to invest in real production, and real asset prices need to fall. Not great for snowbirds and big asset managers, but we need to get building again. We can mollify the Americans by making a show of buying new military gear - which we need to do anyway.
Hopefully that’ll be all they want.
I always vote for long term, and that have not been Liebranos for the last 25 years.
Paul Martin was the architect of our broken business model. Harper kicked off the oil boom and the housing bubble which put a bandaid on the rot, but at the cost of regional and generational divides. Trudeau made big promises to run deficits and invest in young workers, but actually did the opposite. Just a parade of disappointment.
Trudeau made big promises to run deficits and legalize reefer.
The subsequent parade of disappointment has been really surprisingly long.
The other part is tariffs. Imposing tariffs appreciates the currency.
Good news is that CPP has a 200 billion dollar surplus. You can make a trust fund for OAS now.
The ~$300 billion that CPPIB has invested in overseas schemes should be brought home. Sell the foreign assets, abolish CPPIB, and put the money into municipal and provincial bonds. Build the future in Canada!
That would be theft. The CPP is funded by employees and employers and belongs to the pensioners. OAS is funded by general government revenues
I agree, but its also good to bring it to the hands of pensioners. The other way to fix it is to increase the CPP benefit, and reduce the oas payments by the same amount.
That doesn't make sense. OAS is funded by general government revenues.
Do you mean the OAS funds should be put into the CPP, and also paid out simultaneously? Why?
The CPP is funded by employees and employers and is supposed to belong to the pensioners, but the government has it on their balance sheet. That's not new.
Yes a Right Wing overcorrection would be bad. Currently all we have is a bit of a vibe shift, while the wokes still control k-12, academia, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, HR departments, most NGOs, public sector unions, just off the top of my head. Once we see some movement on those actually important institutions, I'm reeeeally not too concerned. TBH I can't even envision how change on those fronts would even happen given our current situation in Canada
Recently the Liberals’ DEI justice commission has been passed by the Senate. The Liberals bill C-40 allows the establishment of a “diverse” commission that would have the power to repeal court rulings and order retrials — the same power the attorney general had before. And no more than half of the people allowed on the commission are to be actual lawyers.
Wow!
Bullseye.
Anyone who thinks Canada can stand up to the US on an equal footing is at best delusional, trying to deflect their feelings of inadequacy vis a vis the Americans and at worst a moron.
We can negotiate, we can engage in acquiescence or we can have a healthy relationship with them.
My politics are that Canada being economically independent of the US is a huge and increasing price to pay and it isn't worth it. The UEL/1867 ideal of Canada is a failure and should be shot behind the shed. We need to start negotiations on full economic integration of capital, goods and labour. If Quebec doesn't like it they can form their own country.
Canada is an underachieving country in 2024 and will never reach its potential while being obsessed with being independent of the US and brokering all the disparate interests. Let the Americans do our dirty work so Canada can prosper.
The only reason Canada in obsessed with being independent of the US is the elites want to strut around wearing the countryhood suit. Like a little girl wearing mommy’s shoes, a lumberjack putting on breeches, silk stockings, a wig and a tricorn hat, or a ten year old putting on his first pair of long pants. It makes them think they can sit with the grownups.
It's quite pathetic. They can't even figure out what Canada is about. I'd suggest they start with what makes being part of Canada better than part of the US and focus on that.
Yes. Also, I respectfully submit that it is not the job of the "elites" to figure out what Canada is about. They have been fouling up that job since WW2. To figure out what Canada is about is the job of us ordinary Canadians; first though, we have to kick the "elites" out of that loop so they do not obstruct, and then settle the matter and the "elites" might be told what the result is.
Ordinary Canadians have to first care enough and feel ambitious enough to get rid of our "elites." The most likely way that would ever happen is with American persuasion I think.
Thanks LOL
Bravo!
What Milo wrote!
WTF
According to an Angus Reed poll, the number of Albertans who profess deep emotional attachment to Canada has dropped 20 points since 2016 — from 67 to 47 per cent. That percentage, if there were a vote today, could remove Alberta from the clutches of Ottawa.
I think that Trudeau once again, hasn't been reading the room, but I think that Smith has.
Danielle Smith’s proposal to use a team of sheriffs, dogs and drones to patrol the southern Alberta border is a awesome example of reading the US Republican room. All the US southern states are doing the exact same thing. This is exactly the kind of response past and incoming president Trump is looking for. If anything will gain Alberta an exemption from tariffs for Alberta oil, this is it.
Alberta's issue is water. Getting out from under Ottawa won't address that. Danielle is ignoring it.
Explain please.
What's Alberta's plan for fresh water when the glaciers are gone in 30 years? What will they drink? Irrigate with? Frack? Their groundwater is already showing traces of fracking chemicals, their reservoirs are at all-time lows. Alberta wasn't to add 4 million citizens. What's the plan?
David: you sound somewhat like Chicken Little in your comments.
The problem with your response, Peter, is that David has a point.
I am an Albertan and a very strong Smith supporter but it is true that the future of water in Alberta has not really been addressed.
Ken: check the government of Alberta website. The issue is acknowledged and plans are being formulated.
I feel that we are currently being held hostage by Trudeau and his collaborator, Singh. We need an election to provide our Prime Minister (whoever it may be)with a strong and clear mandate to begin negotiating seriously with Trump. We can’t go on for almost another year in this weak and destructive position. Trump will pick us to pieces.
I am 2 min in and I am already giggling. Thank you for the serious comic relief. With all the seriousness of the world I really appreciate these 1.5 hrs a week. Let's watch the show
So, just an off beat thought - is JT trying to burn down the country before he leaves? Consider; adding more to the deficite, saying stupid things about the Trumpster which will generate a harder line in negotiations with the US, allowing the parliament to be tied in knots because he won't comply with an order from the very same parliament, adding more carbon tax (or pollution levy or whatever they want to call it now), adding more restrictions to the oil and gas industry, cutting cheques for millions to Gaza aid agencies, throwing the doors open to 'refugees' from all over the world (and supporting them, doctoring them etc.), doubling down on EVs even while the majority of automakers are cutting back on them (I know, I know, Tesla is still rocking) and the annoouncement of dental coverage for seniors (I don't know of any who qualify let alone applied), $250 to each and every worker making under $140,000 a year, claiming the school food program is feeding thousands of children and saving parents thousands of dollars at the same time (while it has yet to clear the Senate) ... i could go on but you get the point.
All fo this reminds me of the last few months (OK, six to twelve but you get the time frame) of the Hitler regieme when he gave not a care to ending the war, prolonging it far beyond the point of no return as he preferred the destruction of Germany because the population was not deserving of his brilliance and capabilities. Sounds kind of familiar to me except for the lack of bombing runs, tank battles and so forth.
Frankly, I do not envy PP when he wins as he will have a monumental pile of crap to fix and it is going to be ugly if he REALLY intends to fix things. Yes, I support PP but can see that the need to get re-elected may just outweigh the need to fix all the sh**t. I shudder to think of what the books ACTUALLY look like instead of the horrible mess that we all believe they are in.
If we seem to be the Germany of April and May 1945, then the first task is to end the misery (election) and then be prepared to roll our sleeves up and find a sense of purpose to galvanize around. If we want things like a high speed train corridor then we need to model the idea as a national objective that is done ON TIME, UNDER BUDGET and has locomotives and passenger cars that have the same gauge as the tracks. Too many of these public works projects are a gong show disaster, either while under construction or once in operation, and sometimes both. We can do better. Building a national railroad through the Rocky Mountains in the 1800s is an engineering marvel. Why can’t we do that stuff anymore? Because we are complacent, we have normalized mediocrity and nobody is held accountable for anything.
It really seems that way. Its like toddler having a tantrum and destroying his room. I wonder what crimes he is trying to cover up.
As for the postal workers my proposal is straightforward if perhaps unrealistic nowadays - do what Ronald Reagan did to the air traffic controllers and just fire them all and hire a new workforce. Replacement of these unskilled workers won’t take long especially as the opportunity could be taken to reduce the number required anyway. We don’t need daily letter mail either. Weekly would be just fine.
Then change the postal system's goals and obligations. Because of what Reagan did when he fired everyone way back in the 80s, the US ATC system still hasn't recovered....40 years later. Stupid decisions have consequences.
I’m puzzled. Looking in Wikipedia at a list of civilian midair collisions and counting the US ones and assuming they were all under ATC control, there were 5 In the 1960s, 5 in the 1970s, 3 in the 1980s, 1 in the 1990s, 2 in the 2000s, and 1 in the 2010s. How has the US system not recovered? Are there other measures?
Staffing. They are still working mandated 6-day weeks because they can't hire enough people to keep up with attrition. As a result, staff burnout, sick time goes up, and the spiral continues. There are delays daily across the US because of a lack of controllers and the cause all the way back to 1981. Midairs are a worst-case scenario of a failure of an ATC system; the last one I can recall happened over Switzerland.
After the strike, I'd love to know how many billion were paid to the airlines in compensation for delays, and how many near misses went unreported.... because crews were told not to complain. I was told (during my time in Toronto ATC) of several where the pilots refused to complain after near misses were observed in US airspace. Reagan was lucky.
Thanks David. Yes I can see delays as a good measure.
Thank You, Thank You.Thank you As a father of 4 girls and a Uncle of 4 plus a protector of many friends daughters. I so appreciate this . I am crying and laughing at the same time. I deal with many young fatherless men and am seeing a lot of emasculated young men falling. I am ashamed of this country. I have to say watching the energy deal with newfoundland was a a bright spot. Mad me proud briefly for my nufie warriors. I know that was a very contentious issue. But Ford. What the fuck. You fucking moron. You dealt your hand. Now they they will make you irrelevant. Fucking idiot. You bubble motherfuthers are so stupid
1000x thank you for taking care of the kids. And given the context, I find your language perfectly acceptable.
It's quite simple for Alberta and BC. Why is staying a part of Canada better than joining the US?
The Canadian quixotic nationalists refuse to answer this basic question so they drape themselves in the flag and events from 200+ years ago. It's all quite pathetic.
The nostalgia of Canada is wearing off. Especially watching Ebby and Ford. How do you change the electorate when the welfare culture runs so deep.
You don't. You can't change the electorate.
Yes you can. With applying utmost amorality, stupidity and deception upon the electorate, as the Trudeau prick is doing, or with deliberately aimed harshness. The Trudeau prick methods succeeded in changing at least a significant part of the electorate.
Most revolutions, separation or even big changes come from the top down. The electorate in the end are just pawns.
In Czechoslovakia the public was notified after the division was done. In the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union it was top down driven.
My point is don't count on the public
The government can. But you on the other hand? That's a big fat no.
Dealing with Trump is a "Hobsens Choice". We're dealing with a bully. What happens when you kiss a bully's ass? Nothing good. So you fire off attempted offence ineffectively because you're already a complete lame duck in the position you have. What comes from that? Nothing good. The incoming administration are oligarchs, and we know the boss hates Trudeau. I'm not sure what "smart policy" you think we can craft when all they want is appeasement. They know they can economically destroy if they so choose. Sure it will cause them some pain, but they'll just short their stocks, and clean up anyway. It's not like they care about their own people. We need a new voice now, not that it will be any smarter; just less despised for now. Appeasement is the only tool in the box, and they're still going to laugh at us. A fight with the US is as useful as farting at a hurricane. The reality is we're going to do what they tell us to do.
Doug is an idiot. Danielle is an idiot. We're right back to lack of leadership, but we've never encountered anything like this. They don't know what to do, and we're not going to have a competent leader in the next 5 years. That is a massive crisis. Voter turnout is part of why.
It all comes down to leadership. We don't have any. Hey Alberta, good luck with Danille's passenger train dreams. Just look at Metrolinx as an example of an incompetent leader, accomplishing nothing, while skimming a fortune off the top and delivering nothing. VIA's HFR/HST has spent $1.5 billion to date, doesn't have a route, speed plan, power plan, and access plan for Toronto and Montreal, and might start construction in 7 years. With leadership, it could be finished in 7 years. Step 1; tell the NIMBY's to fuck off. Pierre won't commit to doing anything for the military, and won't come anywhere close to fiscal competence when he gets his landslide....where he can do whatever he wants. As you've said before....Canada doesn't do anything anymore. It's getting tiring.
How do you know Pierre won’t do anything? No one thought Chrétien was going to do anything about the books and they did.
All Chretien did was download his costs to the provinces to make his books look good...for a while. I hope to be wrong about Pierre, but what I've seen so far is rage-baiting, and spin-doctoring. His goal appears to be solely about defeating Trudeau. I have yet to hear a single substantive thought on his vision of the country. He has already said he can't spend 2% on the military. That will go over poorly in the US. He's very good at complaining and asking questions. We'll find out in a few months if he can answer any.
Manifest Destiny is impossible under either nation’s constitution (well, at least until the Trumpster “fixes” theirs) but it is eminently possible as the notion of an integrated North American trade and energy block. I wonder if that will ever occur to anyone.
<< dripping notes of sarcasm >>
I agree with the continuation of Danielle Smith’s logic — no need for an export tax on oil or to cut off the electricity (that can’t be cut off, Doug), just let the American tariff kick in and increase the cost of US gas all on it’s own, and have American citizens feel the pain themselves.