Canadian Politics Thread

"We can't get daycare for $7 an hour here in Alberta." Right Chuckles, it's called provincial taxation.

Oh okay, I was trolled. The video was made by three francophones. Separatistes, perhaps?

That is where it gets really depressing yeah. That video trended on Facebook amoung my quebec friends and I fear the worst. I have tried to find what are the motives of the directors, but can't really.

Ah, I thought it might turn out to be something like that. I was suspicious at the idea of Albertans being able to subtitle something into French.

Earlier point abt whiny Albertans still stands, though

What the fuck is that shit? A new movie? Did they just find some random hicks in the Prairies and tape them saying crap, claiming that this proves that there are some deep intractable divisions in the country?

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my conclusion: no people did not know about it and i should have kept it to myself.

The thing is I honestly think the differences between AB or SK and ON are extremely small, even compared to, say, the differences between New York and West Virginia. In terms of social programmes and the role of government, QC's a little different but I'm not even sure it's a radical difference. Tuition is higher in ON than in any other province, including AB and SK. It's low in QC but it's low in NL and MB as well. And it would have gone up in QC had the recent election gone just a little differently. As I understand it, AB also spends more per person on health care than Ontario. Unionization out West doesn't seem all that different from Ontario, certainly nothing like the situation in the US.

And yeah, Quebec's a little more union-happy than English Canada but not phenomenally so ime.

QC isn't really different indeed, regardless of what separatists tell you. The whole socialist thing is hilarious considering Alberta would be considered a socialist country by Fox standards. I hope the documentary's subject is the Wild Rose party or separatism outside of Quebec and not one of those 'look they hate us! they hate us' terrible films.

I hope the documentary's subject is the Wild Rose party or separatism outside of Quebec and not one of those 'look they hate us! they hate us' terrible films.

Well, from whom does the quasi-fascist introductory quote come? I thought I heard a faint French Canadian accent but maybe that was a Westerner too?

Someone from Saskatchewan complaining about subsidizing Central Canada is truly lol btw, considering that until just a couple of years ago, SK was a have-not province (while Ontario has been a have province for most of Canadian history).

I highly doubt the quotes at the beginning are told by a french-canadian. I don't recognize the accent.

If anything, that film just show how easy it is to complain about other provinces if you have no idea how our federal system works.

You're probably right. The first time I watched it, my brain probably just lazily connected the French names at the beginning with the slightly off enunciation.

I am an ignorant Westerner.

how come no one bitches about PEI?
buncha assholes.

Potato-farming fucks.

i think i'm going to take the time tomorrow to make a graphic of all of the islands in Canada that are bigger than PEI, but are not their own province.
i will probably change my mind once i realize there are literally hundreds of them.

Real-time byelection results: http://enr.elections.ca/ElectoralDistricts_e.aspx

It's looking like it could be a Green upset in Victoria, which is kind of amazing!

(Also perhaps a sign that the NDP needs to tighten its game a little.)

Dude seems pretty cool: http://donaldgalloway.ca/about-donald

reading more about Idle No More and just ugh this fucking government and its manipulative bs

Was a mistake to try to make this so much about Harper I think. Spence is a gift to Sun News who has done way more harm than good. Sad how this is turning out.

So we have one candidate running for leadership of the country who first has to beat another candidate in his own party who once had a child with his father? That's most unusual.

Anyone watching the Liberal debate? Thoughts?

Don't think I've watched a Canadian convention, federal or provincial, since the Trudeau-Clark-Mulroney years. I haven't been watching the Ontario Liberals today, either, but I think I'll watch from this point forward. After two ballots:

Pupatello - 817
Wynne - 750
Kennedy - 281
Sousa - 203 (has moved over to Wynne)
Takhar - 18

Of course, as a teacher, whoever wins is my enemy.

i know nothing about Pupatello and Wynne other than that Wynne is gay and Pupatello looks like a dude in a wig.

I don't know anything about any of them, other than that Kennedy was the one candidate who wanted to make peace with teachers; the rest, I believe, are planning to carry on as is. I should be at the rally today, but, wouldn't you know it, I've got to finish report cards by Monday.

Kennedy's gone over too, so looks like Wynne. Would Ontario Premier be the highest-ranking elected post ever for someone openly gay? (Anywhere, I mean.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lesbian,_gay,_bisexual,_or_transgender_firsts_by_year

so, beat to the punch by at least a decade.

i, for one, support our new lesbian overlords.

Wynne was a decent education minister iirc? Puppatello was my MPP when I lived in Windsor. I know she was well-respected and held a number of cabinet posts but don't know that much otherwise tbh. It is interesting that the Liberals are so strong provincially in Windsor, considering that the NDP owned both seats federally and that it's such a union town.

I mean, post-secondary education in ON is an absolute clusterfuck; I'm not necessarily saying any education minister has worked wonders there.

(Lol at a thread where everyone's all "I don't know much about her.")

"Highest-ranking" isn't what I meant, so let me rephrase: most powerful. The Premier of Ontario, by virtue of Ontario's importance to Canada as a whole, surely wields more clout/influence outside of Ontario than the Premier of Iceland (first person pictured in Thermo's Wikipedia link...to 71% of Americans, Canada and Iceland are one and the same) wields outside of Iceland.

The Premier of Ontario, by virtue of Ontario's importance to Canada as a whole, surely wields more clout/influence outside of Ontario than the [Prime Minister] of Iceland ... wields outside of Iceland.

I would question this. The PM of Iceland sends representatives to e.g. the UN, EU, OECD, and NATO, for starters. When Iceland's financial sector collapsed, following policies initiated by its PM at the time, that certainly had an impact on the UK for one.

This is like saying that Rob Ford wields more clout/influence than Brad Wall. Sure, he governs a larger constituency, but it is Wall who has a seat at first ministers' conferences, who would be consulted about any proposed constitutional change, who has a say in things like health and education policy.

in regards to GDP and population, though, Ontario has Iceland, Norway and Belgium beat. (individually, not collectively)

Yeah, I was recognizing that: similarly, the GTA has about 6 times the population of Saskatchewan and roughly four times the GDP. I still wouldn't say that Rob Ford wields more clout and influence than Brad Wall.

please stop mentioning that man.

I guess I was thinking in terms of power = economic clout. in 2011, Ontario totalled 261 billion in trade with the USA; Icelandic/USA trade totalled 842 million. We did 29 billion with China, compared to 5.7 million between China and Iceland. (I actually looked this stuff up, although that last one required a conversion that I may have flubbed.) But I'm sure there are lots of other factors like those you mention that play a part in what constitutes power. (If Ontario's financial sector collapsed, wouldn't the ripple effects around the world be large and immediate?)

I'm no economist but from a layman's perspective, I find it unlikely that that could happen as a result of decisions made at the provincial level, while I could easily see how something like that could happen as a result of federal/national decisions (as it did in Iceland). Foreign policy, including the major decisions concerning international trade, is under federal jurisdiction. The provincial government certainly plays a role but I'm really sceptical that those ON-China trade figures are influenced as heavily by provincial policies as by federal policies.

I mean, I'm not even sure what it means to talk about "Ontario's financial sector" when all the major banks are chartered and regulated on a national basis and operate nationwide.

More shenanigans:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2013/02/05/pol-conservatives-admit-robocalls-saskatchewan.html

And really, what are they saying about "Saskatchewan values"? Why do urban voters not represent them? Going by Wiki numbers, 43% of the province lives in Regina or Saskatoon.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/professors-defend-tom-flanagans-right-to-express-views-on-child-porn/article9238213/?cmpid=rss1

How controversial is it that I think the reaction to Tom Flanagan's comments has been a bit absurd? It seems like a defensible position to me to question whether someone deserves go to jail for looking at child porn and even to question whether that act in itself victimizes someone. (Creating a demand for someone else to victimize a child is definitely bad but it's not the exact same thing. Perhaps it should be a crime but I think it's fair to raise the question.) In any case, I don't see why expressing this idea should lead to the shunning he's experienced. While I often disagreed with him, I always enjoyed hearing his views on Power and Politics.

I agree with you. Although apparently he was also on the NAMBLA mailing list too. Kinda asking for it, wasn't he?

And U of Calgary has announced his retirement now?? I hope it's not just for expressing an idea.

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considering that this guy enjoyed academic freedom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Philippe_Rushton

I am guessing he got the NAMBLA letter because a detractor signed him up for it as a prank.

my opinion: the idea that it victimizes a former victim by looking at the crime perpetrated on them is quite dubious to me. it reminds me of those peoples that believed taking a picture of them would steal their soul. it would be better to justify laws against child pornography on the basis of the economic support of their production.