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

There’s a ton of missing the racism forest for the semantic trees right now, it is getting frustrating.

You know, on further reflection it might make sense to focus on anti-Black and anti-indigenous racism in the specific context of police violence and incarceration, but I’d have to check Canada’s stats

I don't think he was talking about that specific context, which would make more sense. Serena Ryder definitely wasn't when she called out "anti-black and anti-indigenous racism" in the virtual Canada Day celebrations!

Sure, but specifying that might help. Otherwise you risk making other visible minorities feel like the discrimination they experience on a regular basis can be hand-waved as 'second-tier' racism. Honestly, I think 'racism' pure and simple remains the most useful term of all because it pre-empts potentially divisive, internecine responses.

xp

Xp
if you wanted to be generous you could say it’s the implied context, but it strikes me as more likely to be somewhat thoughtless trend hopping / being petrified of saying the wrong thing

To be clear I agree with both of you! Just thinking through how this language circulates and why

I certainly agree that racism manifests itself in different ways and it's important not only to acknowledge that but also to come up with tailor-made measures to fight back against these different 'sub-categories' of racism. From a rhetorical perspective, however, I think Trudeau would do better to resort to more neutral, unifying language while simultaneously targeting the issues specific communities face via policy. So I totally agree with you that, as far as police violence and incarceration rates are concerned, the Native and Black populations of Canada do not require the same kinds of solutions as, say, the Muslim community (especially in Quebec).

I mean, different groups of women may face different kinds of sexism but he didn't insert qualifiers when he said women's rights are human rights.

FWIW that stuff is the kind of thing I meant upthread when I said the organic parts of our politics are being poisoned.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2020/09/22/erin-otoole-thought-hed-be-taking-on-justin-trudeau-in-parliament-this-week-instead-hes-stuck-in-his-basement-listening-to-grimes.html

^quality headline

Indeed.

In other news, we've got 896 new cases in Quebec today. Edging dangerously close to 1,000.

The school board I'm supplying in, Peel, now has 34 different schools with COVID cases. (Almost all with exactly one.) A week or so ago, there were around 10. I've got four days scheduled this week at my old school, which still hasn't registered a case. Unsettling, though.

Because I spend 97% of my time in St. Marys, I forget what larger cities are like. I was in Waterloo for a movie last night, and the two blocks around the theatre (a rep; only a dozen people to see the film) were teeming--King St., if you know Waterloo. People were masked up to a point, but groups of 5-10 walking the streets together (virtually all in the 20-30 demographic, likely university students) weren't. I was thinking if one or two people in that circumscribed area were asymptomatic carriers, then within a week there'd be another 10-30 people with it.

Short of returning to an April-like lockdown (and unless you're in a small town like me, and that could change), I don't see how this doesn't just become an ever-present part of life until a vaccine comes along.

Yikes. (Ontario.)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/spike.jpg

You're not quite at Quebec levels per capita, but slowly getting there, it seems.

Legault is scheduled to flag Montreal and Quebec City as red zones later this afternoon. 'Difficult decisions' will be made, he says, and while I have no idea what the specifics will entail, it's safe to assume that bars and restaurant dining rooms will be closed. Beyond that, I have no idea what can be realistically done about house parties (especially amongst teens and twenty-somethings), as these seem to be the main cause of transmission at the moment. And schools pose an even bigger dilemma, of course.

I would really like to get tested (no symptoms, but due to volunteering I get around a lot more than most) but I do not like the idea of lining up with a bunch of symptomatic people. I also apparently do not qualify for the asymptomatic testing you can now get at some pharmacies. Harrumph!

I needed a doctor's appointment about three weeks ago for something non-COVID related, so I got a test with relative ease. Booked for the next day in Waterloo--a clinic, not a drive-through--and only had to wait 15 minutes. The line-up hysteria hadn't begun yet. (By the way, if you haven't had the swab, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared, and I'm a total coward--I know it varies from person to person. The nurse who tested me was fantastic.)

What qualifications do you need as an asymptomatic person? I thought that was the whole point of the pharmacies, that anyone who wanted a test could get one.

No, there are specific eligibility requirements. I called my local Shoppers and they listed off the eligible groups on their voicemail.

https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/select-pharmacies-offer-covid-19-tests-including-one-in-huntsville-with-limitations-1.5120835

Maybe they'd take your volunteer work into consideration?

maaaaybe. can't hurt to ask, anyway.

update: I was turned down lol. I should have lied, tbh.

I even went in at 8am when the place was deserted just in case. No dice.

Symptomatic patients will be given temporary precedence, sayeth Legault. I assume it's the same in Ontario.

crazy how those free Vice magazines I used to pick up contained the seeds of the destruction of American democracy

simon saving the trudeau dirt for some trump thread smh

srsly

I need a few drinks in me to tell that one properly.

Was he.... wearing one of his costumes?

That would be telling.

you used to work at a video store in Montreal in the 90s and JT would come in to rent pornos often?

if this is the story and you haven't posted it here I guess we have mutuals lol

What kind, what kind?

don't remember if there were any particulars to this anecdote

not the 90s but close enough lol

gofundme to get a few drinks into simon

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/leslyn-lewis-there-is-a-socialist-coup-unfolding-in-canada

Like father like son.

day just keeps getting better

Under this socialist revolution, there is no need to confiscate your property — they can simply redistribute your wealth through a home equity tax, confiscate hunting firearms that were legally purchased and owned, increase a ubiquitous carbon tax, or even potentially confiscate a portion of your retirement savings through a new tax on the private sale of your home.

Many Canadians rightly fear the repercussions of Trudeau transforming Canada into a cashless society. They have told me that they are afraid the Liberals will impose a social credit score, similar to the one that exists in China where people’s behaviours are monitored through 5G cameras; for this reason, they also distrust the COVID Alert app.

The way that levying ordinary taxes seems to be put on the same level as secretly monitoring people through cameras in a totalitarian state is incredible. Wait until she finds out which party it was that created the GST and packed the Senate in order to force it through.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/green-party-new-leader-1.5749648

First Black federal party leader

joined the greens to vote for her.
it's exciting to think of her in the House

yeah, she's running in the upcoming byelection for Morneau's seat, right? Hope she gets in

Isn't Toronto Centre a safe Liberal riding?

This seems a bit... after the fact?:

NEW: Premier Ford announcing $35 million more for schools in hotspot regions like Toronto, Peel, Ottawa. Says more teachers can be hired for social distancing and more computers bought for at home learning. #covid19

— Cynthia Mulligan (@CityCynthia) October 5, 2020

I have a good friend who works for the Greens and guessed she'd win, though she wasn't her first choice. She is concerned about her lack of media training, but otherwise seems happy enough with the pick.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-shutting-down-indoor-dining-gyms-and-movie-theatres-in-three-covid-19-hotspots-1.5139458?123=

too fuckin late dumbass

Would pay to see Conrad Black react to this https://t.co/hqPnKn7OMq

— ArielTroster (@ArielTroster) October 10, 2020

(xpost)

I totally understand that viewpoint. Would never have guessed I'd say this, but I'm a little more sympathetic to Ford than you are. A reminder that I started a separate thread when he got elected so I'd have somewhere to ridicule him for four years.

Dean Wormer's Revenge: The Doug Ford Thread

I don't think he's comparable to Trump's reckless cheerleading; I think he genuinely anguished over this decision. He continues to say the right things--excoriating people who don't follow guidelines and don't wear masks--and, although he got caught a couple of times--to model what you're supposed to do. This will be a shock to those restaurants and movie theatres (and the rest) that were just starting to come back, and you can only paper that over with government relief to a certain degree. My area isn't affected--not yet, anyway. It's like keeping schools open (I continue to supply--in Peel, no less, although at one school only); it's not ideal, but there would likely be a steep cost to closing them for a certain window of kids (younger more so). Anyway, he did, in the end, do what the situation calls for.

My anger is more directed at all the irresponsible behaviour that led to this spike.

The mixed messaging has enabled the irresponsible behavior imho

You could make that argument. But because he doesn't quite have a subservient cult like Trump--I don't think, maybe I'm wrong--I still expect people to say "Okay, this restaurant is open, but I'm supposed to do x, y, and z if I want to stay open." And they didn't.

(I keep hearing mixed reports as to how responsible restaurants are in this. I've heard not-very, and I've also heard the opposite.)

My guess - and I live right in what I consider the heart of downtown Toronto, on Bloor West in the Annex - is that the restrictions were simply much too loose. I believe most of the alarming behavior I've witnessed is perfectly by-the-book.

Like, for volunteer reasons I go out more than anyone I know, and take the TTC more than anyone I know, and no-maskers or even dicknosers are pretty rare.