Open for Business: Canadian Politics 2019

As I understand it, they're not rabid separatists but instead take the position of, essentially, "if we sense there's popular support for separation at this time, we'll roll with it"

That's almost weirder imo. Dividing the country into two is kind of a fundamental issue and the sort of thing I would want a political leader to have a clear position on.

From their official website:

La population québécoise forme une nation qui a de nombreuses caractéristiques spécifiques dont une langue commune – le français -, une culture, une histoire et des institutions politiques, économiques et sociales propres. Elle inclut des personnes de toutes origines auxquelles il appartient désormais de définir, ensemble, en toute égalité, son présent comme son avenir politique. Cette nation a le droit absolu de décider elle-même cet avenir, sans ingérence de l’extérieur.

La question nationale n’appartient pas à un seul parti politique, ni même à l’Assemblée nationale. Elle appartient à toute la population du Québec. C’est pourquoi notre parti propose que le débat sur l’avenir du Québec se fasse au moyen d’une vaste démarche de démocratie participative. Toute la population pourra ainsi se prononcer sur des changements politiques et constitutionnels, de même que sur les valeurs qui y seront associées. Un référendum clôturera cette démarche qui devra prendre le temps nécessaire pour favoriser la réflexion la plus large et la plus inclusive possible.

Le Québec doit disposer de tous les pouvoirs nécessaires à son plein développement aux plans social, économique, culturel et politique, ce qui lui est refusé dans le cadre fédéral. Notre parti opte donc pour la souveraineté. Sans être une garantie, la souveraineté est un moyen de fournir au Québec les outils nécessaires pour réaliser son projet de société et s’épanouir pleinement comme peuple.

Oh, and there is no English version. Hardly a coincidence…

I mean, that's better than more explicitly ethnocentric varieties of Quebec nationalism but I just don't agree with its fundamental premises.

Why? I'm personally on the fence.

I do not think that the existing federal arrangement (already highly decentralized and officially bilingual and multilingual; currently led by a PM who represents a Quebec riding and whose party represents a majority of Quebec ridings) is hindering Quebec's "social, economic, cultural, and political development" in any real way aside from making it harder to override minority rights with legislation such as the currently proposed bill that we are discussing. Whatever issues there are can generally be worked out within the context of an already fairly flexible federalism, and have been for a long time. If anything, an independent francophone country of 8 million people surrounded by larger, more powerful English-speaking countries may well have a harder time "realising its social project and flourishing as a people". The very fact that the more ethnocentric varieties of Quebec nationalism are the more popular ones should give pause to anyone who favours sovereignty for Quebec to be able to determine its own "values" and "cultural development". But also, personally, esp living 20 minutes' walking distance from Quebec, I do strongly believe in the bilingual, multicultural project, which I feel like experience daily, and do think that the country (and my own life) are stronger and richer for the presence of Quebec in Canada.

Fair points, all, and I'm mostly inclined to agree. I do sympathize with QS's underlying worry that genuinely socialist projects are unlikely to succeed within Canada, but like you said, there's no guarantee that they would outside of it either (the EU makes for an interesting point of comparison here). I do think bona fide bilingualism is bound to remain a pipe dream, however, mostly because it's a one-way street: barring a few exceptions (such as, I assume, yourself), francophones pick up English while anglophones feel embarrassed at best whenever the topic of French comes up. No wonder this state of affairs has spurred a more combative sovereignist stance in Quebec, all the more so when you consider that francophones are to be found all over the country.

Beyond the official provisions that federal services are available in both languages throughout the country, you can't really expect people to speak a language with any competence if they don't have to regularly use it with native speakers. (I teach in both languages and would still not describe myself as more than competent at best.) I don't see how Quebec sovereignty would make a difference here. There are plenty of independent European countries where people speak English far better than anglophones speak the local language.

I think Quebec has done a poor job promoting french outside of its borders and into the whole of North-America. Institutionally, it has been way more preoccupied with itself (nation building) than to truly help francophone communities thrives outside of Quebec and to help Canadians learn french and French-Canadian culture. Those communities have felt abandoned because they weren't exactly of the cause and faced much larger pressure as provincial minorities, anglophones can obviously thrive without French.

That being said I came here to say that all is forgiven if Pharmacare happens.

All.

I quite liked this piece (in French) on discrimination and the slippery slope, in Canada and around the world:

https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/chroniques/551388/ce-qui-se-passe-au-quebec-comme-ailleurs-est-grave

Simple, factual, and to the point.

Enjoyed the writing and the effort at global and historical contextualization. I tend to be suspicious of slippery-slope arguments generally; the bill is wrong on its own terms.

(I do intend to listen to the JWR tapes soon.)

I wasn't aware of the history here (briefly mentioned in that article, and also relating to previous posts):

https://www.tvo.org/article/why-ontario-once-tried-to-ban-french-in-schools

Makes me sad. There's nothing I'd like more than to be fully fluent in French right now, even having come out of immersion.

now that's progressive conservatism

#BREAKING: 1st @fordnation budget-- making booze available @ 9am, giving cities power to allow public drinking, allowing the promo of happy hr, pushing to legalize online gambling & buy lotto tickets on your phone. License Plates & Drivers licenses to be branded Tory Blue #ONPoli

— Travis Dhanraj (@Travisdhanraj) April 11, 2019

Ontario budget calls for a new sign... #ONpoli pic.twitter.com/6mjBn1PkLw

— Stephen Lautens (@stephenlautens) April 11, 2019

This reads like a budget made by and for teenagers.

Yeah, I don't know why that stuff is in a budget bill at all tbh but it is taking attention away from e.g. a 2.1% per year cut to the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services, the reversal of the gas tax transfer to municipalities, and the absence of much to do anything about housing costs. I have no idea wtf tying university funding to "performance outcomes" even means in practice.

Clearly academics aren't working hard enough. Except for Jordan Peterson, maybe.

Sour kidding aside, I'm still fucking livid at Canada's inability (and this appears to be a transprovincial issue) to veer towards the left instead of the most boneheaded, self-parodic right whenever the Liberals glaringly mess up.

I asked myself the same question after the last Quebec elections. If you're fed up with the two party system and the PLQ in particular, why the hell would you vote for Legault? Especially when there's more money to go around than usual (mais poser la question, c'est y répondre…).

Yeah, I guess BC is the exception there (if the QC Liberals count as Liberals, the BC Liberals probably should too)? I still don't even know what it is that the OLP glaringly messed up (Hydro prices I guess??).

Through the next round of SMAs, Ontario will become a national leader in outcomes-based funding by tying 60 per cent to performance by the 2024–25 academic year. The first year of these new agreements will tie 25 per cent of funding to performance outcomes, and this proportion will increase annually by increments of 10 per cent for three years and 5 per cent in the last year until it reaches a steady state of 60 per cent in 2024–25.

How are we supposed to know what this means if they don't define what the 'tie' is?

I guess so. I have no idea why Wynne was universally loathed but then again I know very little about Ontario politics.

xp

Sour kidding aside, I'm still fucking livid at Canada's inability (and this appears to be a transprovincial issue) to veer towards the left instead of the most boneheaded, self-parodic right whenever the Liberals glaringly mess up.

Complacency and (unearned) superiority is a helluva drug, is my totally unscientific analysis

Also less fun than drinking in parks:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ontario-legal-aid-funding-cut-1.5095058?fbclid=IwAR2TYJAGhfSGTjFdTfcxTpwTosvI85BMCCi4D0BTW4NAFeaNopc9V1rEf4Y

Gotta make sure those hoi polloi don't have access to a fair legal defence.

I guess so. I have no idea why Wynne was universally loathed but then again I know very little about Ontario politics.

A simple possibility might just be that she and the OLP didn't make disastrous errors but were too far left ideologically for too many comfortable middle class voters, which might be what Simon is getting at. If the left can make inroads with lower-income rural voters, that might be their ticket.

Gas stations that fail to display the Ford government's carbon tax propaganda face a fine of up to $10,000 PER DAY https://t.co/ox7X20IxuC #onpoli pic.twitter.com/BVP39FqXr8

— John Bowker (@bowker_john) April 12, 2019

What a fucking disgrace. Is this even legal?

Can't find it now, but I saw a tweet looking for a willing gas station owner to take them to court over this.

"Yeah, I guess BC is the exception there (if the QC Liberals count as Liberals, the BC Liberals probably should too)? "

They most certainly should not

For so many Canadians, Liberals are already 'the left'. Canada does not veer left after the liberals mess up because most Canadians don't care about the left.

Something about small string instruments comes to mind: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/chinese-tycoon-s-complains-about-b-c-taxes-on-purchase-of-5m-supercar-1.4378611?fbclid=IwAR29JMZ3vfTYtfN7SX6gHqIHR1xTI4RMLgso49i-BiHC8B_rXdeKA229KoA

This is really disappointing, especially coming as part of an omnibus budget bill, and frankly a betrayal of what the Liberals were supposed to stand for when they campaigned: https://canoe.com/news/national/liberals-propose-immigration-changes-in-budget-bill-that-would-deny-refugee-claims-at-unofficial-crossings

Coyne OTM on how cynical and hypocritical this is: https://r-login.wordpress.com/remote-login.php?action=auth&host=nationalpost.com&id=37979189&back=https%3A%2F%2Fnationalpost.com%2Fopinion%2Fandrew-coyne-in-two-years-liberals-go-from-welcometocanada-to-deportations-without-hearings&h=

Urgh

voting in the AB election is underway.

not much drama in that race surely. good showing by ndp would be to come within, i dunno, 8 points of UCP?

next, alberta turns off bc's oil

It's another case where, while Notley has been a baffling disappointment to the left wrt the pipeline, I honestly don't know why she is so bad and hated vs the UCP for AB voters.

because they're albertans and she's a "left-wing" woman

very anomalous situation ndp coming to power there purely due to conservative infighting. back to decades of conservative rule surely?

welp

The NDP are actually doing a little less badly than I expected but yeah, no. Are almost all of their seats in Edmonton?

I mean, how could one not be impressed with Jason Kenney's tenure as minister of citizenship and immigration? I, too, would want my province to be run by a man who understands that most foreigners want nothing more than to 'cheapen' our Canadian values, as he so elegantly put it.

i'll never forget his fake citizenship ceremony: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-bureaucrats-pose-as-new-citizens-on-sun-news-1.1271079

not much drama in that race surely. good showing by ndp would be to come within, i dunno, 8 points of UCP?

― findom haddie (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, April 16, 2019 9:32 AM (yesterday) Bookmark

lol this was optimistic. 23 points or something in actuality

PEI election results are definitely interesting: PC minority with Greens as Official Opposition. Genuinely curious to look into more of what the PEI Greens are about. I gather their PCs are in the Maritime Red Tory vein?

Still processing both of these (from a week ago):

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ontario-library-service-funding-pc-doug-ford-1.5102406

http://shorttakes.canadianmusician.com/ford-government-budget-slashes-ontario-music-fund-by-more-than-half/

I like music. I like books.

― clemenza, Thursday, April 18, 2019 6:31 AM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink