Open for Business: Canadian Politics 2019

The framing of the article is a little suspect. These results are actually a small drop for Canada compared to 2015, both in numerical score (524 to 520) and competitively. (Only Singapore beat us in 2015.) 2xp

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/365/PISA2015-CdnReport-EN.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj3jJ_l1ZnmAhVHq1kKHccFBD8QFjAKegQIBhAC&usg=AOvVaw2xPbM03k4kkEdXOnYCHaQ0&cshid=1575382753353

(Young Québecois are killing illiteracy, clearly.)

The sole logically consistent QED, of course.

High school teachers and elementary school staff in Ottawa striking tomorrow. Issues such as class size, mandatory e-learning (?), and high-need student services seem to be on the table in addition to wages : https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/osstf-announcement-harvey-bischof-1.5377227
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-parents-scramble-for-childcare-as-clock-ticks-toward-school-strike-on-wednesday

*in ONTARIO, not just Ottawa; typo

Something something secularism: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/catholic-quebec-california-françois-legault-gavin-newsom-1.5393170

Reading international news, I keep marvelling at how the French can get 800,000 people on the streets and shut down Paris over (afaict fairly generous?) pensions and we can barely get a few thousand to protest Ford attacking core services for the vulnerable after getting elected on no platform.

starting to think we actually should break up Canada into several smaller countries tbh

canada too large

We'd still take after our neighbours, who make similar excuses for their quietism.

The Legault link didn't work so here it is.

(No, Simon, that's what they want you think!) xp

Ugh, what a two-faced piece of shit. I guess it's consistent with his logic according to which all muslims are unassimilable foreigners.

Tbf it's important to point out that much of this jingoistic, neo-theistic authoritarianism is cheered on by a genuine majority that is deathly afraid of heterogeneity and actively wishes to restore a premodern hierarchical model. If anything, this has historically been the norm, so we may have gotten used to a small miracle that is slowly coming to an end (or so I tell myself in my more pessimistic moments).

I'm not inclined towards pessimism or defeatism generally and I know it's not useful but the notion of a robust left program that even the slightest majority of the voting public of this country could get behind just seems like such a distant dream at the moment. I try to remember that tremendous change can and does occur very quickly but it's fuckin dispiriting man!

On the other hand, Quebec's social model is fairly solid when compared to those of most Western countries (tax rates are already quite high, even when set against France). It's just that we could do so much better and the push at the moment appears to be towards the exact opposite: hoarding by and for the few.

Scheer resigns

holy shit

Well hot damn. Let's see if they can get a proper terrible populist in.

Can't tell whether this is a good or a bad thing. Leaning towards bad.

same tbh

Guess he's gonna run for President instead

I'm cool with that.

I haven't been following Conservative party discourse, has this been brewing for some time or is this some excuse they just pulled out of a hat?

BREAKING: Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is resigning after sources tell Global News he used Conservative Party money to pay for the private-school education of his children #cdnpoli https://t.co/OOWQDsVy4y

— Amanda Connolly (@amandacconn) December 12, 2019

Global News has learned that Scheer is resigning after it was revealed he had been using Conservative Party money to pay for his children's private school education. #cdnpoli #CPC

— Mercedes Stephenson (@MercedesGlobal) December 12, 2019

if he'd become PM, would this have been a genuine scandal for more than a week? I can't tell anymore.

Probably not. It comes across as a lame pretext to me.

I'm trying to think of something interesting to say, but I don't really know enough about the conservative party and have no idea in which direction they are heading. I feel like it could go either way (either doubling down on populism or trying to distance themselves from it). I'm guessing the main objective of the party for the next election is gaining votes in Ontario but I don't know what the best approach is for that.

I can't imagine them going less populist from here unless they're total morons (I know, I know)

Buck a beer for the whole country, simple as that.

in their last leadership election 141,000 members voted, scheer got 62,593, bernier got 55,544. think it was a ranked ballot situation. so the appetite for a far-right populist was fairly high (they also don't do one member one vote, they do it on a riding basis, with each riding worth the same number of points, regardless of population, this probably benefits rural votes - which i assume means it leans further right).

i would be unsurprised if they go for more of a bernier type next time - though maybe one who speaks english well

jason kenney probably wishing he wasn't premier of alberta rn

Bernier, who was at least 100% upfront about what he was after, was a total flop on his own, though. Seems more likely to me that they'll get a Ford-a-like who will be completely vague. (I haven't even noticed a difference in the price of beer!)

Is O'Leary free?

bernier was a flop but i would think that the idea of going third party and clearly damaging the chance of a conservative government by vote-splitting must play on voters' minds?

Is O'Leary free?

unfortunately, he remains unjailed

bernier ran a really different campaign for the cons leadership than he did with the people's party

one of those great libertarian goes alt right conversion stories

"I am putting my party first and my family first" - Scheer's resignation statement

you were definitely putting your family first you little rat lol

everyone ties for first in Justin's canada

Former SNC-Lavalin exec found guilty on five counts of corruption, fraud, and money laundering in Libya:

#BREAKING Former SNC-Lavalin executive found guilty on Libya corruption charges

Sami Bebawi, 73, convicted on all 5 counts including fraud, corruption of foreign officials and laundering proceeds of crime #cdnpoli https://t.co/dXtSw6l0eg pic.twitter.com/4zM82420bK

— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) December 15, 2019

Former resident Kabul head of Canada's aid program in Afghanistan on the failure of the mission: https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/banerjee-why-we-still-need-a-review-of-canadas-role-in-afghanistan

In the light of the Afghanistan Papers, btw, I'm reminded of 'Taliban Jack' Layton's statement in 2006:

That mission is the wrong mission for Canada. There is no plan for victory. There is no exit strategy. There is no sign that it is making the Taliban weaker or the world safer. And there is no hope of changing the realities on the ground in Afghanistan--with the forces we have or can commit.

New thread: We Still Have a Government, Right?: Canadian Politics 2020