Dynasty, s3: Canadian Politics 2018

fuck Thursday is gonna suck sooooo much goddamn it, I'm already mentally preparing myself

what's truly sickening is guys like THIS are going to be running the province. he's also apparently being sued for running a fake immigration consultancy scam.

If anyone's in downtown Ottawa right now, there's an anti-KM 'snap action' in front of Catherine McKenna's riding office at 107 Catherine in 20m (at 11 am). V short notice but I just checked my email and decided to go.

By all accounts, my riding will likely/hopefully be sticking with its (incumbent) NDP candidate, but our PC candidate is this gem:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-ontario-andrew-lawton-pc-1.4653131

Tbc, I don't think those are unbeatable odds. If we can block a Tory majority, we will see either a progressive coalition or a PC minority govt that will probably be fairly ineffectual and short-lived.

for now i am hoping we see more charges out of the 407 theft and the riding nomination shenanigans. police just announced they are investigation the PC candidate in Scarb/Guildwood for threatening someone who asked why he was skipping debates. might not be before the election, but if more people have to step down could affect the majority/minority status.
right now it's close in doug's riding - just donated to his NDP rival. i could accept a PC majority if doug manages to lose his seat. pretty sure Wynne is going to lose hers.

If we can block a Tory majority, we will see either a progressive coalition or a PC minority govt

A "progressive coalition" where one party actively supports bosses over unions and workers would not be a progressive coalition tbh.

Bill 148 is one of the most progressive pieces of labour legislation I've seen put forth by a major government in recent times. I'm not even sure any NDP-led government has been much better on labour issues. I don't know what better governing partner we could expect for a left-wing party.

There are some undeniably decent reforms in there but there's absolutely no reason a genuine left party wouldn't demand more/better, and without strike-quashing state intervention.

I'll settle for a liberal coalition if "progressive" is too strong of a word!

lmao I am probably too persnickety about these things

Voted.

Wow:

some fascinating new polling data from @abacusdataca: 20% of ontarians have already voted, and the race is too close to call: "Based on our read of the numbers, we think the race is impossible to predict." #onpoli #election2018

— Steve Paikin (@spaikin) June 4, 2018

The widow and children of Toronto mayor Rob Ford have sued Doug Ford alleging he has deprived them of millions of dollars, including shares in the family business and a life insurance policy left behind to support his family.

In a $16.5-million lawsuit, filed Friday in Superior Court, Renata Ford also alleges that Doug Ford is a “negligent” business manager whose decisions have led to a steady decrease in the value of the Ford company, Deco Labels. Despite setting his sight on a political career, Doug has continued to receive “extravagant compensation,” even though Deco is losing money, Renata claims in her court filings.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/06/04/rob-fords-widow-sues-doug-ford-alleging-he-has-deprived-them-of-millions.html

this would sink almost any normal human - but i have a feeling, since he can pull off a fucking majority with even 34% of the vote, that most people voting PC would still take a millionaire ripping off the wife and children of his deceased brother while also tanking the family business over the "commies".
a good chunk of his base probably think what he's doing is some great "alpha male" power move.

oh yeah this won't impact the election at all, just thought it worthy of note

I wonder if it might even help him by helping to distance him from Rob's baggage.

Voted. Now to despair.

Indeed.

Out of curiosity, is there any precedent in Canadian history for a party winning a majority government without even winning a plurality of the popular vote?

the National Post has some examples.

So what were the actual numbers that have people talking about reform?

Dalton McGuinty pulled off a political coup by becoming a three-peat Premier. But it is not as if the majority of Ontarians loved him. The Liberals took 53 seats with 37% of the vote. The Tories were two percentage points behind, but only won 37 seats. In Manitoba, the NDP took 37 seats with 46% of the vote while the Conservatives took a mere 19 seats with the backing of 44% of the voters. In P.E.I. the Liberals won 22 seats on 51.4% of the vote while the Tories took a piddling five seats on 40.6%. “Every election gives us new horror stories because of our voting system,” said Wayne Smith, executive director of Fair Vote Canada. “You can conclude [from these results] that there is something seriously wrong with the Canadian political system. It is almost as if the majority of voters end up getting no real representation at all.”

Are there worse examples?

One of the most extreme examples came in the Quebec provincial election of 1998. The Parti Québécois won 76 seats to the Liberals’ 48. But the PQ had a lower popular vote than its Grit rival.

http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/what-the-why-seat-counts-never-match-the-popular-vote

Thanks. The Quebec example is the only one that meets the criteria I was looking for but, yeah, it definitely shows that it's possible.

Ontario election newspaper endorsements in review:

Sun: PCs
National Post: PCs
Globe: Declined to endorse
Star: The NDP if necessary, but not necessarily the NDP

Our left wing media at work! #ONpoli #ONelxn

— Luke Savage (@LukewSavage) June 5, 2018

The Ottawa Citizen's PC endorsement was something else: http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-the-progressive-conservatives-should-form-the-next-ontario-government

One highlight:

Only the PCs are placed to even begin an honest conversation with Ontarians about other models and innovations that work in other jurisdictions;

It's not that they have a plan or even any ideas, you see. They are *placed* to begin a ~conversation~.

How does a newspaper decide who to endorse? I mean it's easy to understand how the Sun and Post go PC, but how do the Globe come to their ridiculous conclusion? or The Star?

Here's the Globe editor's response to how they came up with their ridiculous 2015 federal election endorsement.

Rex Herrington Mr. Walmsley in the interests of transparency and accountability could you inform your readers as to who made this decision is was it a board decision, a senior managers decision or did the owner just ask you to "take this memo!"? Seriously this is even more convoluted than your 2011 endorsement. Why did you not just abstain? Cowardly but oh so much more honest

The Globe and Mail Great question that highlights many questions in one. So I will take a bit of time with this. At The Globe and Mail, unlike at other newspapers, the editorial board answers to the editor in chief, not the publisher and not the proprietor. We publish editorials every day. We have views every day. It is routine business. The editorials are the position of the newspaper, and as the editor in chief, ex-officio the chair the editorial board, I make the call. I also out of courtesy tell the publisher. This is a franchise play and the publisher should know. But there is no ownership involvement at any stage. As an editor in chief for 18 months I rely heavily on my publisher, who has been in the business a long time. I go to him on many occasions for advice. In the summer I wanted to bounce off him my idea to play big the image of young Alan Kurdi, the young Syrian refugee who drowned. That was also a franchise play. He agreed with my decision, but he didn't make the decision. On this endorsement, and on any other decision, they are mine to make. Of course if there is a serious disagreement, the publisher is my boss. That has never happened to my knowledge when it comes to endorsements.

https://www.facebook.com/theglobeandmail/posts/10153602685703904

So it's a franchise play to be cowards? **thinking emoji**

I feel like I'm a little disappointed with the strategic voting campaigns this time compared to the last federal election, even though it might be more necessary this time. Even Leadnow is just asking people to vote 'against Ford'. In 2015, they actively endorsed the individual candidate who had the best chance of beating the Tory in each riding. Unless it's just because everyone realizes that the NDP is the strategic option.

https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/06/05/pc-candidate-raymond-cho-apologizes-over-physical-altercation-with-grade-7-student-outside-scarborough-school.html

Admittedly the actual story is a bit of a letdown after seeing the headline, but still very on the PC brand.

More Tory shadiness: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.reid.16/posts/10155302300690957

Haven't seen much reported on it tbh although there's another tweet:

This is my riding. Unreal.

Also, why is the Progressive in Progressive Conservative in scare quotes? https://t.co/Uk3M1ZpkHo

— Siobhan Morris (@siomo) June 6, 2018

Assuming it's real, it's pretty shady.

"We meant 'Liberals' as in classical liberals!"

That is hilarious

And in the gloom column:

We will be putting out final numbers later today . We are still in field and reserving option of going till 9 but everything seems pretty frozen right now . Barring some shocking late shift or turnout skew this is going to be a Conservative majority .

— Frank Graves (@VoiceOfFranky) June 6, 2018

fuuuuuuuuuck

in the lol dept:

According to the sources, Trudeau pressed Trump on how he could justify the tariffs as a "national security" issue. In response, Trump quipped to Trudeau, "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?" referring to the War of 1812.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/06/politics/war-of-1812-donald-trump-justin-trudeau-tariff/

just thinking of ways i'd answer that if i were trudeau, and i'm getting so many lols

https://open.spotify.com/track/7EcLeCDAzau3QdCnsmT4R4?si=VoQ3R1z8S5i7gSCxS5mYMg

I mean, it's not terrible as a joke and probably the height of wit by Trump's standards.

(It's not really "erroneous" imo.)

"don -- can we narrow it down to the last oh i dunno decade? century? cool?"

Ha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLIP0ZtoiO4

Happy doomsday everyone. (I voted, obv)

good luck ontario (but we're all fukt)

Let's get this over with.

Seriously.

CBC calling it for the PC. This is happening fast.

Fuck.

Congrats Ontario, you are officially as stupid as America.

Not even close.