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

Huh. The postmodern scandal.

NB, though, that it took years for Adscam to become the massive scandal that it did (Auditor General started investigating in 2000. It really blew up about four years later.) That might actually be the key difference - that this was dropped right away and not allowed to go on for years.xp

but yeah it seems like he'll be teflon as long as he has that guy downstairs to compare himself to

I don't really see what the positive spin on his intentions would be tbh. The program itself sounds a little ... curious - small 'grants' (below minimum wage, I'm surmising?) for students to do 'volunteer' work?

Even where I am, in west-central Ontario, Florida matters.

I was out driving this afternoon and heard the London mayor give his daily briefing. They're moving onto Phase 3. He said they only had one new case today, although they had five on Saturday, an outlier. Four of them were travel-related, and three of those were people returning from Florida.

My first reaction was that I thought the border was basically closed to all but commercial trucks. (Which maybe accounts for these cases, too, but my sense was no.) And then the usual uncertainty over whether they're moving too fast

The border is definitely still open to citizens and permanent residents, if that's who the returning people were.

I'm far enough away from any border that I didn't know that--why are there always posts on my FB wall imploring Trudeau to keep the border closed?

Let me rephrase that: are you saying a Canadian can go to Florida right now and come back, or that these were simply people who'd been there for three months or whatever and are just returning now?

The latter is what is permitted aiui.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/graffiti-on-monument-commemorating-nazi-ss-division-being-investigated-as-a-hate-crime-by-police

I expect they'll roll this back soon enough, but still

pretty hard to see how writing "nazi war monument" is a hate crime. here's an article from a few years ago about the battle over the monument: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ukrainian-canadian-community-urged-to-confront-past-amid-controversy-over-monuments-to-nazi-collaborators

hey look at this jackass:

Trump's spokesman says Canada sucks anyway pic.twitter.com/knSnwsRE6U

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) July 16, 2020

As scandals go, this is about as low-wattage as they come.

once upon a time such low-wattage scandals were often enough to take down a government! or at least take them down a peg from majority to minority

coming home from the 52 division demo in support of some BLM local founders who got abducted by police presumably in connection with some statue defacement. the vibe was chill cause the first one was released a little after midnight; I reckoned the other two would be out within an hour or two. sure enough it was over a little before 3. sort of perfect meld of protest and party. "knuck if you buck", lots of MIA and Missy, real loud.

once upon a time such low-wattage scandals were often enough to take down a government! or at least take them down a peg from majority to minority

― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Friday, July 17, 2020 2:07 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

seems like things have improved then? doesnt seem worth it to have conservative govt for multiple years

Well, I agree if the point is that the right solution is for stronger opposition parties to hold a minority govt in check and nip this shit in the bud.

Huge jump in Canadian cases today--almost 800 after hovering around 300 for a week--that may be linked to this:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-covid-update-july-20-1.5655625

I really hope we're not walking right into what's happening next door. St. Marys is pretty much 100% masked now--a bylaw just took effect, although I don't think it's iron-clad enforceable (which doesn't really make sense to me). I've seen some moderately-sized backyard get-togethers--fewer than 10 people--but nothing crazy.

180 new cases in Quebec today compared to 100 or so last week. I’m hoping mandatory face masks in indoor public spaces, which came into effect over the weekend, will make a difference in the long run.

Allegations that Payette is an abusive boss: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/julie-payette-governor-general-harassment-allegations-1.5657397

She reportedly hates her job and always has.

What do y'all make of the stat I read today about BC: 189 Covid deaths in the province since the beginning of the year, and 728 opioid related deaths. Pretty shocking numbers tbh, really heartbreaking to read about.

(Also I'm not Canadian, just have many friends who are, particularly in Vancouver)

yeah covid basically hardly happened here and we shut down the province, but each month has more overdose deaths than the total COVID deaths, and the last two months have been record-breakers.

safe-supply is obviously necessary as soon as possible, would definitely make a dent in the death toll. can't see it happening though

(overdoses have peaked in part because due to COVID people aren't allowed visitors in their SRO rooms and are using alone more)

If memory serves, BC had the first recorded case in Canada yet it somehow managed to keep the situation under control, quite unlike Quebec (1/4 of the country’s population) which still accounts for half of all covid-19 cases and 2/3 of related deaths in Canada. That said, opioids appear to be a way bigger problem in BC (and Ontario) than they are in Quebec. I have no idea why.

xp

even if this doesn't lead to real change, I am glad to see it: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/22/canada-us-safe-third-country-agreement-federal-court

everything the URL promises:

https://globalnews.ca/news/7204384/coronavirus-glory-holes-sex/

We briefly talked about it in the outbreak thread, but it’s probably safer if we restrict it to consenting Canadians.

Could technically work cross-border, though.

Depends on what happens with the "safe third country" agreement am I right

:D

Yeah, I've worked in harm prevention before, so the reasons behind the skyrocketing opioid deaths are pretty obvious,.if remaining heartbreaking.

Re: opioids in Ontario and BC v. Quebec, I can only speak to BC, but it might have to do with west coast supply chains...the problem in California, Oregon, and Washington is also pretty bad.

Ah, that makes sense.

BQ leader Yves-François Blanchet (who was incidentally accused of sexual assault a couple of weeks ago as part of Quebec's second #metoo wave) is now calling, along with Andrew Scheer, for Trudeau and Morneau's resignation. Unlike Scheer, however, Blanchet says he's willing to present a motion of no confidence in September 'after conferring with the people of Quebec' (lol).

good luck with that

Hm, this could actually be really advantageous for the NDP if they play it right. They have enough seats to keep the Grits in power but, if they're (or they and the Greens are) the only party backing them, they could demand some significant policy concessions.

Those allegations are odd.

The We Charity was legit bad imo but, I mean, the deal was called off; doesn't seem worth toppling a govt over it at this point.

the second I see someone lay out a plausible, sensible plan of action for the NDP, the second I know they're gonna fuck it up.

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/federally-backed-covid-alert-app-now-available-in-ontario-1.5046667

my buddy's assessment (a fellow tech writer):

For those with privacy concerns, the app descriptions and the app itself do a good job of explaining what data they collect and how it is collected. It seems to me like a good compromise.
For those without privacy concerns, I’d just get it. The app only becomes effective at high uptake levels.
If you want my professional opinion, A+ in-app technical writing please download to support technical writers.

I set it up in like 30 seconds, no downside I can think of at all really

am I right in thinking that in order for this to be effective, you'll need to have your Bluetooth on at all times (or at least when you leave the house)?

that is my understanding

but yes from what I can see this seems significantly less privacy-infringing than using, say, Google Maps (I'm in QC so I haven't actually downloaded the app of course)

Right, I forgot to mention it's Ontario-only. IMO people should be pestering their respective provinces to use it as well

I've got Québécois friends who reject this 'federalist' app on principle. I'm sure they'd be on board with it if it were filled to the brim with sovereignist spyware.

lol

god I fuckin hate Quebec sometimes lol

also if you want to encounter the dumbest people alive read the comments on any article or post about the app. fuckin dark

Aw, come on, no reason to hate a whole province. More apps should be rejected on principle tbf.

Tbf the PQ is effectively deceased at this point so these people are nowhere near as ubiquitous as they used to be. He (they're a couple) balks at everything Trudeau says and does (because of PET, you see) and she follows suit (partly because she's from France and is dead set on becoming as performatively Québécois as possible). They probably think I'm tacitly contributing to the downfall of Quebec by upholding friendships with monolingual anglos (never mind that their standoffish attitude towards the French language frustrates me too, and I call them out on it). Typing this feels like 1995 all over again, but in reality it only comes up, like, a couple of times a year? Nobody is seriously passionate about this shit anymore – even the hardcore anti-separatists have softened up.

I mean, I do think Trudeau is strongly federalist. Hard to be hardcore anti something that doesn't have a strong presence anymore.

“A Quebecer is a Canadian and will remain so on my watch,” says Trudeau channeling his old man. #CanadaDebates2019

— Robert Benzie (@robertbenzie) October 8, 2019