Thought I'd try this, throw some things out there (some that I've brought up on other threads), and see if there's enough interest to keep it going.
So after racking up our worst deficit ever (despite cutting some valuable and not-terribly-expensive services - clearly not as valuable as a $16B fighter jet contract), the Tories are claiming that the budget can be balanced in five years as long as we continue to make more spending cuts. I kind of tremble to think what those cuts might entail.
In other news, [Removed Illegal Link] and Ford are closing plants in Windsor, despite having received millions of dollars from our federal and provincial governments. I'm increasingly finding myself wanting to agree with radicals like Sam Gindin and Leo Panitch, although I'm not sure how realistically some of those proposals would actually work. (Nationalizing the banks does seem a bit drastic right now.)
Finally, it's old news by now but scrapping the long-form census = sheer madness, right? Even the Western Standard's readers can't all get behind this.
Still, the Liberals do not seem to be successfully hammering the Tories on any of their bizarro decisions from the last few weeks, sadly.
― Sundar, Friday, 30 July 2010 01:43 (2 years ago) Permalink
Here was the 'illegal' link on the GM plant: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/windsor/story/2010/07/28/wdr-gm-plant-closing.html
― Sundar, Friday, 30 July 2010 01:45 (2 years ago) Permalink
Also I'm maybe 120 pages into John English's recent biography of Trudeau, Just Watch Me, and am really enjoying it.
― Sundar, Friday, 30 July 2010 01:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
Scrapping the long form census may or may not be a reasonable thing to do, but foisting this decision on StatsCan, rather than asking them to figure out "how else can we get the information that's needed" just seems like yet another attempt to create an instant wedge issue, to define/appeal to what the conservative party feels to be their base. I'm not sure whether "hammering" the Tories on this is the right way to go, as a tactic. Is that just helping them set the playing field on grounds of their choice? I did like the response from Charlie Angus of the NDP: "I’ve never gone into a Tim Hortons in Canada and had someone rail at me about big bad government spying on them with the census, but I am hearing this from Conservative cabinet ministers. I think the public is shaking its head."
Would like to read that bio of Trudeau. Any idea if the short one by Nino Ricci (in the Eminent Canadians series) is any good?
― pauls00, Friday, 30 July 2010 18:06 (2 years ago) Permalink
The census thing just seems like some random issue the conservatives came up with that nobody really cared about that will take up time and space in the media and overall political discourse instead of actual important stuff with real consequences.
― peter in montreal, Friday, 30 July 2010 18:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
B-b-but the long form census is an important statistical tool! Axing it has real consequences! Having that information is essential to e.g. my family member's work at CMHA. In order to make policy recommendations on things like access to transportation or health and community services in minority communities, you need to have accurate information about those communities and their current service needs. The Canadian Medical Association Journal opposes it on similar grounds.
Dan Gardner made some good points here.
Haven't read the Ricci book, sorry.
― Sundar, Friday, 30 July 2010 19:04 (2 years ago) Permalink
Maybe I'm romanticizing the past but reading about that time period can make it a bit depressing to consider today's political climate and reflect on how much we are undoing the progress made at that time.
― Sundar, Friday, 30 July 2010 20:06 (2 years ago) Permalink
http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/home/day_says_new_prisons_needed_for_unreported_crimes/29bcad16
(Also, OK, I was romanticizing the past a little, esp now that I've read more on the RCMP's illegal investigations of the PQ and the feds' weak response. Still, great book. I actually never knew before that Trudeau offered Broadbent the chance to form a full coalition [with a majority govt!] with 5-6 cabinet seats after the 1980 election.)
― Sundar, Wednesday, 4 August 2010 19:41 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah, Stockwell's a card, isn't he? I did read (somewhere) that one growing area of "unreported" crime is in identity theft or credit/debit card fraud. Is it the financial institutions who are not reporting it in this case? Can't think of too many other areas of unreported crime. I can't imagine someone not reporting an actual crime because "oh, it's not worth it, they'll get out in 6 months anyway, so why bother"...which is I think what Day's trying to imply here.
But, hmph...more prisons needed for that? More prisons needed to make the Party look tough on crime, blah, blah. Oh, and to ramp up fear of crime in the electorate, to push 'em towards voting for said Party.
― pauls00, Wednesday, 4 August 2010 20:11 (2 years ago) Permalink
TBH, I'm kind of amazed at how fiscally responsible the Conservatives haven't been. If nothing else, one thing I expected from a Conservative minority was fiscal restraint and a balanced budget.
Did anyone read the Maclean's article attacking the government's economic stimulus package for being poorly timed and just generally random and wasteful, without enough money going where it should? I don't entirely agree with everything in the article - and I'm generally in favour of some stimulus spending - but it does raise some worthwhile points.
It's good to see the CMA moving away from advocating two-tiered health care: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/08/03/cma-health-care.html
― Sundar, Wednesday, 4 August 2010 22:44 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'm a bit late to the party, but good thread. I've secretly wanted one of these for a while but didn't want to start it. What parts of Canada are you guys from?
Anyway some xposts and stuff,
"I’ve never gone into a Tim Hortons in Canada and had someone rail at me about big bad government spying on them with the census, but I am hearing this from Conservative cabinet ministers. I think the public is shaking its head."
Dude prb hasn't been to a Tim Hortons in AB, though. I worked for StatsCan during the last census and there are def people out there who get angry about it. It wasn't just long forms people hated either. Our dept received back a lot of incomplete short forms with only the most basic info (ie just first names, just birth years, or just genders). Occasionally people would write rants on the back of their forms about how much of a nuisance it was, how they thought the threat of prison was unnecessary and archaic, and how they didn't want to fill out the forms because the computer systems StatsCan used to compile/gather data was made by Lockheed Martin (!)
― salsa shark, Thursday, 5 August 2010 13:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
In Windsor since 2008. Grew up in Ottawa.
Recent poll suggests Conservative popularity is waning.
CBC on the premiers' summit. Some roads have been improved around here but I still feel like we could have seen much more in infrastructure by now. Charest raises questions about health care but not many answers seem to have been provided.
Yesterday's Globe editorial on Stockwell Day's prison plan.
You're in AB, salsa shark? Can you explain the Wild Rose Alliance? Their website didn't seem too scary but my friend in Edmonton describes them as something like a Tea Party North.
― Sundar, Thursday, 5 August 2010 20:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'm in Toronto, spent many years in Ottawa. Mostly a lurker here, but hey! who among us can resist a Canadian politics thread! Perhaps someday we'll be as big as the US politics threads!
― pauls00, Friday, 6 August 2010 01:43 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'm just outside TO, lived in Canada since 2004 (originally from New Zealand).
I wrote to my MP about the census, the first time I've ever written to this dude. I understand people might find it a nuisance but really if that's all people have to get pissed off about then they should count themselves lucky imo. I use StatsCan in my job regularly, and that resource being compromised for no good reason will hold a lot more serious consequences for Canadians than the inconvenience of filling out a form.
― franny glass, Friday, 6 August 2010 03:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
Actually I don't think Wild Rose Alliance is as scary as Tea Party shit. As loathsome, flaccid, and south-of-Red Deer as Alberta Conservatives are, there is a less hysterical, less FOX News-fueled component to Albertan populism, one that doesn't resort to claiming that everything is somehow socialism, that the universities have been undermined by a Marxist Jewish conspiracy, and that their opponents were actually born in Africa or are somehow incarnations of Hitler, despite the comical irony of that. There are actually a good few places in Canada where I think it would be harder to be a brown kid in a classroom full of white faces than it would be in Alberta. Y'all read too much Toronto Star and La Presse.
― fields of salmon, Friday, 6 August 2010 03:42 (2 years ago) Permalink
I mean, sure, a lot of Wild Rosers probably think those things, but Alberta is just not that scary a place and Albertans are kind of dull, friendly people.
― fields of salmon, Friday, 6 August 2010 03:44 (2 years ago) Permalink
Alberta is also birthplace of the CCF/NDP. There is actually some deep seeded socialism in the Prairies that is often overlooked in the rush to paint all Prairie folk as red neck conservatives. Not that those don't exist.
― sofatruck, Friday, 6 August 2010 13:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
Hm, I always thought the CCF started in SK because of the Regina Manifesto and Tommy Douglas. It does seem that you're right though. (I never thought of SK and MB as right-wing at all, actually.)
Also, just to be clear, I wasn't saying that all Westerners or Albertans are rednecks (at all!) or even that the Wild Rose Alliance are. I was just asking for more information about the Wild Rosers from someone in AB because what I'd heard about them sounded worse than what a scan of their web page suggested.
― Sundar, Friday, 6 August 2010 13:41 (2 years ago) Permalink
No worries, that wasn't really directed at you... more just a general observation having lived in the east and west. To be honest, I haven't lived in the Prairies for years and I'm not familiar with the Wild Rose Alliance.
― sofatruck, Friday, 6 August 2010 14:53 (2 years ago) Permalink
i just always thought of the Wild Rose as a right wing alternative for people who didn't like the CPC.
i never expected them to do anything reasonable with Canadian's money. they are a party that is led by ideology, as opposed to say - pragmatism or logic or facts etc, and when it comes to ideology money is no object. Mulroney was a joke when it came to handling our finances and Jim Flaherty left Ontario with a hidden debt on his way out of office (iirc they outright fudged the numbers to make themselves look good for the election). i'm always a little amazed when i see the "conservatives are good at managing finances" old wives tale pop-up from time to time.
― oreo speed wiggum (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:35 (2 years ago) Permalink
i saw this thing once - and cannot for the life of me find it now - where some journo surveyed provincial budgets (going back to i'm not sure when) and found that the party most prone to having it's books balanced was the NDP!
― oreo speed wiggum (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:40 (2 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, the NDP governments in SK and MB have been known for their balanced budgets. Tommy Douglas made it a priority.
How did the deficit and debt grow so big under Mulroney? I've been wondering about this. Did taxes get lower? Was it debt financing? With Trudeau, I can at least see where the money went.
― Sundar, Friday, 6 August 2010 20:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
i'm not entirely sure. i know part of it was inherited - but he most certainly did not lower taxes!
― oreo speed wiggum (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 6 August 2010 20:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
He inherited a deficit and debt but after 8 years of majority governments in a relatively prosperous decade (at least compared to the 70s), you'd think an economic conservative could have made a dent in it instead of leaving us with our worst-ever pre-Harper deficit. I wonder if privatizing Crown corporations and taking the government out of resources or industry might have actually been a poor financial move. (Just speculating since I don't actually know the economics of the situations.) I also wonder how much was just lost due to things like corruption and patronage.
― Sundar, Friday, 6 August 2010 20:48 (2 years ago) Permalink
the crown corporation thing could be a factor. iirc Air Canada was a financial sink hole by the time it was sold tho.i didn't think corruption was all that problematic back then, was it?
― oreo speed wiggum (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 6 August 2010 20:55 (2 years ago) Permalink
There's some discussion of the debt issue here: http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=3318
The factor I should have remembered is that interest rates were jacked up in the 80s to combat inflation.
I wasn't being entirely serious about corruption but I did think about things like this: For example, he moved CF-18 servicing from Manitoba to Quebec in 1986, even though the Manitoba bid was lower and the company was better rated
Or the Airbus contract. Honestly, I doubt those sorts of things could have made a really significant impact on the debt though.
― Sundar, Friday, 6 August 2010 21:18 (2 years ago) Permalink
good thread!
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/08/06/the-press-gallery-making-the-liberal-party-seem-courageous-by-comparison/
― Well, because whatever happened changed him. (Dr. Superman), Friday, 6 August 2010 21:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
That was a good link.
It was only yesterday that I realized that American federal income tax rates are actually more progressive than ours, even after Bush's cuts. Maybe you need to factor in deductions/credits as well as provincial vs state rates to get a true picture though.
I'm not sure who this guy is and some of his links don't work anymore but he looks at the deficit/debt question in a fairly detailed way.
This 2008 opinion piece from the Calgary Herald credits Mulroney for policies that ultimately lowered the deficit.
To partly defend Harper's govt, it does make some sense to run a deficit during a recession and to plan to lower it afterwards. Some of their spending/cutting choices do still seem questionable though.
― Sundar, Sunday, 8 August 2010 10:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
Ontario govt ultimately shows no backbone on sex ed reforms.
This sounds good though.
― Sundar, Sunday, 8 August 2010 22:51 (2 years ago) Permalink
So Omar Khadr's trial began yesterday. The government's refusal to bring him back to Canada despite his treatment at Guantanamo is truly shameful and inexcusable IMO.
The discussion on the US politics thread made me think it might be worth it to bring up Afghanistan here. I sometimes feel a bit alone in generally agreeing with Jack Layton's position on this and agreeing more strongly as the war drags on. Am I naive for wondering what anyone thinks the Canadian military can accomplish there in a combat role if the US military hasn't won the war by this point? I can see a valid role in humanitarian aid/rebuilding. Collaborating with a government (governments!) that tortures its detainees seems to undermine the whole principle of trying to establish human rights and democracy. The government's attitude towards the detainee issue has been appaling IMO.
More on the census:http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/08/11/census-rae-liberals.htmlhttp://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/08/11/census-mandatory-long-form-fight.html
― Evening Star (Sundar), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 19:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
oh hiii forgotten thread.
So, Ed Stelmach won't be running in the next Alberta election. Should make for a very interesting 12-18 months of politics there, with the conservative stronghold waning somewhat and the Wildrose Alliance threatening to split the right vote in the next election.
― salsa shark, Tuesday, 25 January 2011 23:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
There's not actually any way that could lead to a Liberal or NDP government though, right? Are we looking at some sort of probable PC (minority?) government with Wildrose opposition?
Kind of loving the Bloc's latest stunt: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/cough-up-arena-cash-or-kiss-quebec-votes-goodbye-bloc-tells-tories/article1882526/
Ignatieff appears to be following the time-tested Liberal strategy of campaigning from the left: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/michael-ignatieff-works-liberals-into-a-lather/article1882597/
Interestingly, the recent Conservative attack ads seem to be portraying Ignatieff the same way, as a "tax and spend Liberal", which is something I never thought about him. (Tbh, the ads are actually the first things to make me warm to Ignatieff!)
Ibbitson evaluates Harper's record, making some reasonable points: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/john-ibbitson/the-five-year-shadow-of-stephen-harper/article1878067/
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 02:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
I really highly doubt we'll see a Lib govt, let alone an NDP one, in AB anytime soon. At least there's potential for things to be shaken up a bit... only a bit, though, I would guess. It'll probably be one of those cases where people get really excited at the potential for change but in the end the conservatives will still get in with a decent majority. I'll be surprised if they don't lose at least a few seats in the process, though. And I'm very curious to see who comes forward for the Tory leadership.
― salsa shark, Wednesday, 26 January 2011 14:08 (2 years ago) Permalink
not sure how Libs poll provincially in Alb compared to the NDP - but right now the only federal seat there not held by a Con belongs to the NDP. an NDP gov't would surprise me less than Lib right now. but seriously - that province is just going to go through the same motions of picking their next empty-suit conservative dictator.
― got electrolytes (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 20:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
this is a valiant lil' thread.
― kate78, Wednesday, 26 January 2011 22:49 (2 years ago) Permalink
The AB legislature contains 8 (!) Liberals and 2 NDP members going by this site: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_home
NDP support is pretty concentrated in Edmonton, I believe.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 23:36 (2 years ago) Permalink
thank you for being unlazy enough to look that up for me.
looks like the Conservative propaganda has taken a toll on youtube! lookie what i found:
― got electrolytes (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 27 January 2011 04:51 (2 years ago) Permalink
i "disliked" the video fwiw.
Apparently the next provincial election in Ontario is going to be fought over the price of beer.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 16:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
Still amazed that it's not legally possible to purchase a six-pack after 5pm on Sunday in Canada's largest city. Toronto, Toronto. Quebec and Alberta are the only good provinces.
― fields of salmon, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 17:07 (2 years ago) Permalink
Do you think the beer pricing issue has legs? It's a matter of 6.7 cents per beer. Anyway, it looks like the Liberals have been closing the gap (perhaps the reason Hudak is targeting this populist issue?): http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/adam-radwanski/polling-numbers-put-spring-in-ontario-liberals-step/article1892571/?service=mobile
Depending on how the NDP is feeling, we might still see a Liberal minority or accord in the next term.
What do you guys think of McGuinty's record? On the whole, I seem to be one of the few people who likes him. I think the Liberals have made major advances with the minimum wage ($10.25/h is quite impressive, compared to virtually any other jurisdiction on this landmass), community health centres (doubled in number), and green energy, as well as banning cosmetic pesticides. They've definitely made their mistakes though and their handling of G20 security was appalling. Hudak scares me tbh.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 17:52 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'm a mindless, wishy-washy liberal, so McGuinty pretty much automatically has my vote. (My beer-drinking days are pretty much over, too, so they can't get my vote that way.) Shameful, but I pay far more attention to American politics than my own city, province, or country.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 18:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
I agree with whoever-that-standup-comic was: Promise to bring back the stubby and win a majority!
― ilxor gets into jazz (Myonga Vön Bontee), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 18:45 (2 years ago) Permalink
Dragging cases of beer for blocks in the winter was pretty much a deal breaker for me ever staying in Ontario.
― sofatruck, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 02:34 (2 years ago) Permalink
So... government in contempt of Parliament...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/03/21/pol-privilege-contempt.html#liveblog
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 21 March 2011 16:38 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'll be very happy to go to vote if an election comes soon. Hopefully the NDP or Greens can field a decent candidate in my riding this time. Our MP, 4ndrew Saxt0n, doesn't have a top lip, and according to an insider I know, he wears tighty whiteys and sucks at hockey.
― Bryan, Monday, 21 March 2011 18:53 (2 years ago) Permalink
i wish those two parties would just fucking merge or something already.
― got electrolytes (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 21 March 2011 19:18 (2 years ago) Permalink
And leave the Marijuana Party as the one you vote for instead of just spoiling your ballot?
― Bryan, Monday, 21 March 2011 19:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
Stalinist party all the way!
― got electrolytes (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 21 March 2011 19:55 (2 years ago) Permalink
NDP and Green? Why? They're not that similar ideologically and there would be little strategic advantage for the NDP in merging with a party that has never even won a seat in Parliament.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 21 March 2011 21:09 (2 years ago) Permalink
Unconvincing PR operation by Boisclair.
'Quebecers of all origins are proud of their unique identity'
Sorry, I am not proud of Quebec's identity and I don't think it is particulary unique.
― Van Horn Street, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 14:56 (1 month ago) Permalink
how is it not unique? it's incredibly unique.
― zero dark (s1ocki), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 18:56 (1 month ago) Permalink
^^ I am also curious about this
xposts, I don't know if ppl outside of Canada really have much of a clue about or interest in our language debate to begin with. Sometimes I talk to UK ppl who are ask about Canada's languages and lots seem to assume that we all speak both English and French. One UK friend was surprised when I told her that language is a pretty divisive issue and that a lot of ppl's French knowledge/education is... well, patchy. Like in Cgy/Edm it's mandatory in some schools only from grades 4 to 6 or 7 (and even then I would guess not many of the teachers are actually fluent).
― salsa shark, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 19:27 (1 month ago) Permalink
Isn't it no longer mandatory in Calgary?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 19:43 (1 month ago) Permalink
Maybe that's wrong; can't find a citation with a quick Google search.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 19:44 (1 month ago) Permalink
i don't think you need it at all out there?!
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 19:52 (1 month ago) Permalink
No, you don't, but some French is still required in almost all school systems afaik. (I seem to remember a news story about Calgary dropping this a few years ago but I could be wrong.)
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 20:14 (1 month ago) Permalink
Yeah, 2011:
http://cjsw.com/program/cjsw-presents/calgary-board-of-education-removes-mandatory-core-french/
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:N_TFMGYW43IJ:www.cpf.bc.ca/site3/attachments/1449_CPF%2520Asks%2520for%2520Reversal%2520of%2520CBE%2520Decision.pdf+calgary+board+of+education+removes+mandatory+core+french+requirement&hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShVk1W9hoN8KuaC325xl84tq4dtGUt-BR2z6UJ0lEmYhDYhcvcwo4bN1nwKxk4gcPP6tjDJkcenLduHUhSni1yPPi3gceQM3CwuCXVO_WNRFuGweDFFdKMKH6X8tQPEXcw8MM-a&sig=AHIEtbSMr4Bg7LPD5RrZNQyNGkrlI1zT5w
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 20:16 (1 month ago) Permalink
It's mandatory for grades 5 to 8 in BC. But I shouldn't really say anything, because I didn't even grow up in Canada. But I did take French as a kid.
Funny thing is there is an ongoing joke in Vancouver about how the typical Vancouverite wasn't born in Vancouver/Canada, and I know/met many people who were in that situation.
― c21m50nh3x460n, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 20:16 (1 month ago) Permalink
French Immersion schools are jokingly refered to as "White Immersion" amongst more than a few East Vancouver parents. Also known as "that school with no music program or field trips".
― everything, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 20:22 (1 month ago) Permalink
Nah nobody ~needs~ French out there (in my experience even the ppl in AB's northern French communities speak English) but having a solid second language is a good thing imo! Not even necessarily French, just anything useful. I wish our education systems would push second language learning more than they do. I'm always jealous when I meet ppl from Europe who can get by comfortably in multiple languages.
― salsa shark, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 21:14 (1 month ago) Permalink
But is that because most of those people have a reason to actually use those languages in their day-to-day life?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 21:38 (1 month ago) Permalink
I'm certified 'bilingual' by the Ontario Ministry of Education but without having had to use French very much at all in 11 years, my spoken French is pretty embarrassing at this point.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 21:42 (1 month ago) Permalink
Holy shit: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/canadian-poll-shows-trudeau-liberals-far-ahead-175730292.html
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 22:09 (1 month ago) Permalink
Knowing another language can be cool, but it depends on your perspective. Culturally, knowing another language (that isn't English) is great. French, Italian, German, Spanish, etc. You learn a lot about yourself, your own (English) language and cultures.
If you want practicality, French is the way to go if you'll be in Canada for most of your life. I made the mistake of becoming fluent in Spanish, and though I am a registered translator with the Translation Bureau and used to be a member of the Society of Translators and Interpreters of BC, I've gotten nothing out of it. Everyone kept telling me that the demand for French translators is ridiculously high, though -- as in, there are nowhere near enough French translators in Canada, yet the gov't is feeding all this money into that system. This was a couple of years ago.
I know people that moved to BC and since they speak French, they were preferred by many in their respective fields and got ahead quickly because of their fluency in both languages. (Seems very fair to me.)
Kinda wish I'd stuck to French, to be honest. C'est une merde. :p
― c21m50nh3x460n, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 22:11 (1 month ago) Permalink
I'd like to see the breakdown of the areas surveyed in that poll, but Tories losing many votes shouldn't be too surprising, no?
― c21m50nh3x460n, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 22:23 (1 month ago) Permalink
The NDP seems to be bleeding far more support than the CPC.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 22:30 (1 month ago) Permalink
that would make more sense imho.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 22:34 (1 month ago) Permalink
French Immersion schools are jokingly refered to as "White Immersion" amongst more than a few East Vancouver parents.
Oh, that's the same situation in Ottawa.
― doug watson, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 22:37 (1 month ago) Permalink
Really? I grew up in Ottawa but I don't remember hearing that. (I haven't lived there in 12 years tbf.)
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 22:47 (1 month ago) Permalink
(Also don't remember the French immersion student body being especially white, although I can see how that could make sense in Vancouver.)
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 22:52 (1 month ago) Permalink
many xposts
I am exagerating because I am bit tired of Quebec self-perception. Of course, Quebec's culture is 'unique' and an amazing place. However, we could make the argument for a lot of cultures being 'unique' in North America, even inside of Canada. I fail to see how Quebec is more unique than First Nations cultures, the Pacific Northwest, the Maritimes, New Mexico or Miami, for example. It is far from being as simple as '6 millions francophones in a sea of 300 millions anglophones'.
― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 17 April 2013 09:25 (1 month ago) Permalink
xpost
Yeah, Ottawa's schools have changed a lot in the past 12 years, at least inside the Greenbelt.
― doug watson, Wednesday, 17 April 2013 14:00 (1 month ago) Permalink
Oh boy
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/17/trudeaus-response-to-boston-marathon-bombing-was-unacceptable-made-excuses-for-terrorists-harper-says/
― c21m50nh3x460n, Wednesday, 17 April 2013 19:28 (1 month ago) Permalink
but i do find trudeau's comments unusual in the context of making a statement directly after the attacks, when he is also expressing support for the united states in general and victims of the attack in particular.
and i eagerly anticipate him doing this kind of thing over and over again.
― dylannn, Wednesday, 17 April 2013 20:09 (1 month ago) Permalink
jesus fuck Harper, you won the election - fucking govern.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 17 April 2013 20:14 (1 month ago) Permalink
feel like justin could be canada's palin. i do think that despite his huge popularity, as he continues to open his mouth and spew empty rhetoric, his lustre will fade.
a new friend worked for the PM's office before moving here. didn't say too much explicitly but helped solidify some suspicions. apparently she worked on some kind of panel with justin and he would talk out his ass in a way that made his handlers cringe. pretty loose, i know, but the more i hear from him, the more i see his platitudes as palinesque in their ignorance.
― cocktail onion (fennel cartwright), Wednesday, 17 April 2013 23:24 (1 month ago) Permalink
Palin at least had significant experience as a mayor and governor.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 17 April 2013 23:31 (1 month ago) Permalink
Justin may end up being a disaster, but I'm positive he wouldn't be the same kind of disaster. He won't harbor a core contempt for intelligence/education, and I'm sure he'll be able to improvise answers to questions like "What newspapers do you read?" (I've got to cast some skepticism on "significant" in Sund4r's post.)
― clemenza, Wednesday, 17 April 2013 23:38 (1 month ago) Permalink
Two terms as mayor and one as governor counts as significant experience in government, don't you think? More than 5 years as an MP?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:07 (1 month ago) Permalink
I mean, by what standard was Palin a disaster? I don't think much of her but she won re-election easily as mayor, was extremely popular as governor, and I have to assume that the failure of the McCain/Palin ticket was not primarily her doing. She went on to be influential with e.g. the Tea Party movement.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:11 (1 month ago) Permalink
For me, Palin is sui generis. She's the most ridiculous person ever to get close to the top spot in my lifetime. Dan Quayle was FDR by comparison. (No, McCain's loss was not her fault. She was a liability towards the end, but she was the only reason he ever got in the game in the first place. Which I count as neither here nor there when it comes to her essential ridiculousness.)
― clemenza, Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:16 (1 month ago) Permalink
Oh, I agree that she is ridiculous. I'm just saying that she was an experienced and successful politician. JT is not the former. It remains to be seen whether he can be the latter.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:20 (1 month ago) Permalink
I'll give you successful, in that she won elections, but her experience doesn't seem all that much more impressive than Justin's. He's won his riding twice, then won the party's leadership. She won the mayorship of Wasilla twice. Not sure how many people are in Trudeau's riding, but Wasilla had about 1,000. Then she won the governship and served half a term. Nationally, she didn't win anything within her party--a very desparate crank picked her name out of a hat. I'll give her a slight advantage, maybe. But to return to my initial point, whether he works out or not, it's inconceivable to me that Justin could ever perform as dismally as Palin did for those few months in 2008.
― clemenza, Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:32 (1 month ago) Permalink
"desperate"--glass houses and all that.
― clemenza, Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:34 (1 month ago) Permalink
The first original idea I've heard from JT and it's actually great imo: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-comes-to-aid-of-muzzled-conservative-backbenchers/article11418337/
I've thought for a while that the disempowerment of individual MPs is the biggest weakness in our system as it actually exists. If JT is going to seriously pursue this, I might seriously think about voting for the LPC for the first time.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Friday, 19 April 2013 23:22 (1 month ago) Permalink
I see the boxing match continues; Trudeau vs. Harper
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/djclimenhaga/2013/04/tory-slime-machine-losing-fight-it-picked-justin-trudeau-now
Will check out that new ad on YouTube or something tonight.
― c21m50nh3x460n, Thursday, 25 April 2013 19:43 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
I noticed that, for example, the Globe and Mail really ran with the supposed inappropriateness of his comments about Boston. They had at least two editorials that criticised him for it, and they kept it up until, like, yesterday. Rather than focussing on Harper's exploitation of the situation. Although that is also a bit of a non-story.
― everything, Thursday, 25 April 2013 23:15 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Petition opposing the government's move to give the PMO and Cabinet direct control over all employee contracts at the CBC:
http://act.friends.ca/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=33&ea.campaign.id=20400&ea.tracking.id=272c8416
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Thursday, 2 May 2013 21:02 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
what the fucking fuck
― From the home of the underground railway and stuff (symsymsym), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 07:28 (1 week ago) Permalink
BC election? I didn't really follow it beyond the polls. The NDP lead was declining pretty steadily through the campaign, right? Still, I definitely didn't expect the Liberals to EXPAND their majority. If we needed another lesson not to put too much stock in opinion polls, this would be it, I guess?
What will this mean in terms of policies for the next term?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 11:29 (1 week ago) Permalink
Well, I expect this will deliver the knockout punch for the mayor of Toronto. I'd give him a week at most.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/05/17/tor-rob-ford-crack-allegations.html
― doug watson, Saturday, 18 May 2013 02:22 (4 days ago) Permalink
you don't know rob ford then
― we're up all night to get (s1ocki), Saturday, 18 May 2013 04:19 (4 days ago) Permalink
He then proceeded to a city hall flag-raising event held to honour the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, where he appeared shaken as he read a proclamation. As he left, he did not respond when asked twice whether he smokes crack.
― dylannn, Saturday, 18 May 2013 06:51 (4 days ago) Permalink
i think it's surprising that the darker parts of his personal life have never been exposed-- okay, it's pretty likely that he at least drunkenly propositioned a woman at an official function but other than that he just looked like the arrogant local politicians you can find anywhere. i wonder what's going on with the guy, what led him to rolling his escalade up to a trap house and smoking rock with somalis.
― dylannn, Saturday, 18 May 2013 06:55 (4 days ago) Permalink
would def read his memoir
― flopson, Saturday, 18 May 2013 18:39 (4 days ago) Permalink
after a day riding high on schadenfreude i'm starting to feel kind of conflicted about all this rob ford crack stuff. on the one hand i want more than anything for this to blow up & end his career... on the other hand, it's doing a lot to perpetuating stigma towards drug addicts most of whom are not rich ripely hateable mayors but vulnerable ppl with a serious health problem... also it's kind of a cheap shot, like, this is the scandal that's going to break him? after shrugging off all the terrible bigoted stuff he's said & done thruout his entire career latching onto this kindof lets him off the hook... that's kinda wack
― flopson, Saturday, 18 May 2013 21:16 (4 days ago) Permalink
Hey, we're in The New Republic and Slate--good job on tourist outreach, Mayor Ford.
― clemenza, Sunday, 19 May 2013 14:19 (3 days ago) Permalink
flopson otm
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 19 May 2013 14:20 (3 days ago) Permalink
and Real Time with Bill Maher!
― Public Brooding Closet (cryptosicko), Sunday, 19 May 2013 22:02 (3 days ago) Permalink