Dynasty, s3: Canadian Politics 2018

Torch the goddamn suburbs.

The election results feel a bit like class warfare (especially when I quit a good job to come back here to care for a disabled spouse). The riding map is interesting: the NDP's coalition is the mix of working class/FN mix in Northern Ontario + the urban core of most big cities, with the PCs taking the suburbs, cottage country, and rural ridings. I'm thinking that the most fruitful angle for the NDP might actually be to leave the suburbs for the Tories and Grits and try to target lower income rural voters.

On the class war tip: http://www.nsnews.com/news/west-vancouverites-revolt-as-school-tax-looms-1.23330273

breaking out my tiniest violin

Pavlov suggested that overall tax increases are hurting affordability.
“If you’re a buyer, the fact that the home price is cheaper does nothing to help you.”
Fellow panellist Seain Conover concurred, addressing the argument that homeowners were only being asked to pay “a little bit” more.
“That’s a very disingenuous argument because when you pile on a whole bunch of expenses to an asset, the asset becomes less desirable,” he said.

Some great lessons in economics right there

a friend of mine made this:

It's @swanson4council and her big box of Jeanex for mansion owners complaining about higher taxes #vanpoli #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/QU9KIPuiiN

— Michal Rozworski (@michalrozworski) June 9, 2018

https://www.straight.com/news/1087731/jean-swanson-shows-theatrical-side-announcing-her-candidacy-vancouver-city-council

The tax will create many unintended victims, according to Wood.

“It’s not going to affect me,” he said. “I know you want to get me because you don’t like me, but your fake school tax doesn’t hurt me at all. It just cost the B.C. hospitals and schools because I just cut out my charitable contributions.”

Cool philosophy brah.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/06/10/trans-mountain-spill-48-times-larger-than-bc-government-first-reported.html

The B.C. Ministry of Environment says the spill volume reported from the company’s Darfield station north of Kamloops on May 27 has been revised to 4,800 litres from 100 litres.

It says 100 litres is the minimum threshold under the company’s spill reporting obligations, so that’s why the ministry estimated 100 litres at the time.

Trans Mountain spokesperson Ali Hounsell says the company never provided an estimate of how much medium crude oil escaped, other than to confirm with regulators that it was over the reportable threshold.

“Trans Mountain had not provided an estimate of the volume spilled, other than to confirm with regulators that it was over the reportable threshold, until cleanup had sufficiently progressed to a stage where an accurate estimation could be provided,” she said in an email.

Great.

Looks like sensible taxes and landlord-tenancy regulations are actually working to cool rents in Vancouver: https://globalnews.ca/news/4267960/vancouver-rental-costs/

check out those median prices, it's crazy:

The median rental rate for a two-bedroom unit was $2,800 in May, representing no change from the month before.

Meanwhile, the median rate for a studio was $1,700, up 0.59 per cent month-over-month, and it was $1,952 for one-bedroom units, which were up 0.13 per cent from the previous month.

Oh, not denying that. That said: https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ma/boston/

that site is a cool resource

i guess i should be happy that the high prices are now rising more slowly lol.

not looking forward to my next apartment search, which is immanent, probably in the fall

No wonder François Legault is doing so well in the polls: https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/530632/les-quebecois-et-leur-systeme-de-sante

Approximately 48% of Quebecers, women more so than men, believe immigration poses a 'great risk'.

Disgusting and reactionary but hardly surprising.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABc8ciT5QLs

great song

Yeah, legalization is the right thing but I hope it doesn't distract from the pipeline. This is unsurprising but still disappointing: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/06/18/trudeau-trump-child-migrant_a_23462117/ . Really, the Safe Third Country Agreement should have probably been suspended when a country-based travel ban was first attempted.

Absolutely.

He has condemned it now but no word on suspending the Safe Third Country Agreement (which even Chris Alexander wants to do at this point): https://globalnews.ca/news/4285443/justin-trudeau-donald-trump-child-detention-cages/

"He has condemned it" where "he" = Justin Trudeau and "it" = separation of undocumented adults and children travelling together into the US

As usual with him, just fuckin' words. I'd be surprised if any concrete steps were ever taken.

Justin is a great advocate for any refugees who don't come to Canada

He's barely even that tbf.

Lol @

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today the Trump administration's policy of separating illegal migrants from their children is "wrong," just hours before the U.S. president signalled he's prepared to change course and end the practice.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-trump-children-separated-1.4713984

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/peter-khill-not-guilty-in-shotgun-shooting-of-jon-styres-1.4723854?cmp=FB_Post_News

Another travesty. The First Nations' life seen by our judicial system as basically worthless.

Kind of interesting to remember when a 20something female bartender became an MP in an upset election and the Canadian press mostly loled.

(I'll acknowledge that it was a little different in that she didn't campaign and didn't visit her riding during the election.)

God, that feels like a million years ago.

None of it surprising, but the swiftness with which Ford is repealing education bills (infrastructure, sex-ed, and native-related curriculum) is, um, impressive. Glad I won't be there (I hope--he moves fast) when he moves on to teachers.

I'm mad about it as it is; can't imagine how livid I'd be if I was raising a kid here.

The similar dedication to reversing 15 years of environmental progress (cap and trade, Green Ontario fund, an almost-complete wind farm) in a month's time has honestly been so stunning that I've been too demoralized to even, like, post on the Internet about it.

It's just such naked revanchism. I've never seen anything like it in Canadian politics - not this blatant, not this swift.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-deceit-that-was-the-bc-liberals-case-for-power/

Hearing that the TO anti-Ford rally this past weekend was kind of a bust in terms of attendance, both I suspect due to delays (it was originally supposed to happen two weeks back) and general demoralization. Also heard via other activists that some organizers were recommending that members of "privileged groups" consider not attending, which is just spectacularly wrongheaded in my opinion.

Have to say I didn't expect the Tories to roll over so quickly on this: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-sex-ed-changes-1.4748650

Unsurprising but still infuriating and exhausting how fast they do this: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-government-cancels-758-renewable-energy-contracts-1.4012449#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=Facebook&_gsc=4ipXTEh

FUCK.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/07/22/toronto-danforth-pape-shooting-injures-several-people_a_23487321/?utm_hp_ref=ca-homepage

Hoping all the ilx Torontonians are safe and sound.

CBC says police confirmed shooter is dead.

Some people I met recently live v close to that intersection and I'm trying to get in touch

God, I hope the child is going to be fine.

Moved the discussion to a new thread: Mass Shooting in Toronto

Any takes from ilx Torontonians on the Doug Ford cuts to the Toronto Council? Seems absolutely nuts to me and don't know how he has such a mandate.

Exactly what I posted on Facebook today. Sund4r says that city councils are indeed the domain of Queen's Park.

Isn't that insane? I can see where they'd have some oversight, if one side started gerrymandering in a really obvious way, but cities ought to be able to organize themselves as they choose. Ford's motivations aren't hard to figure out.

I am beyond enraged over this.

It's horrible and it's going to work.

I honestly don’t see how this is do-able without pushing the election back. The province still needs to vote on it and then that leaves very little time to basically reorganize a massive bureaucracy. People - who have already started campaigning and taking donations, will be out that money and everyone will have to re-register etc.
the timing alone makes the logistics impossible - and I’m sure if it comes to it, a court might have to weigh in.

Then there’s the fact these new boundaries contravene a recent Supreme Court rulling that Toronto has to have even representation (ford’s plan would skew too heavily to the suburbs). So even long term, his thing could get killed before ford is voted out of office.

Do you have a link about that Supreme Court ruling?