NationStates

Kaumudeen wrote:Brian Mulroney dies aged 84

No love lost here for this Quebec appeaser, Reaganite, GST bringer. But condolences to the family.

I heavily disagreed with him politically and especially the neoliberal consensus he helped build with Reagan and Thatcher, but I won't cheer on the death of anyone period. May he rest in peace.

Ed Broadbent and Mulroney both passed this year, seems to be the end of an era.

After the revealing of those documents on the Trudeau government's secret handing of sensitive biological secrets to the PLA, the Liberals must NOT win the next election.

While we've been dormant, the Durham byelection was last week. Tories won, obviously and with a 9.2% swing to them to boot.

Shrillland wrote:While we've been dormant, the Durham byelection was last week. Tories won, obviously and with a 9.2% swing to them to boot.

I miss Erin O'Toole. I think he would have made a better prime minister than either Trudeau or Poilievre, but he was ousted from party leadership for completely stupid reasons. And now Poilievre is likely to be the next prime minister, not because he was better than other recent Conservative leaders, but because he was in the right place at the right time to be there when the Trudeau administration finally imploded.

Bienenhalde wrote:

Shrillland wrote:While we've been dormant, the Durham byelection was last week. Tories won, obviously and with a 9.2% swing to them to boot.

I miss Erin O'Toole. I think he would have made a better prime minister than either Trudeau or Poilievre, but he was ousted from party leadership for completely stupid reasons. And now Poilievre is likely to be the next prime minister, not because he was better than other recent Conservative leaders, but because he was in the right place at the right time to be there when the Trudeau administration finally imploded.

All because of the knee-jerk reaction of the "freedom convoy" leading to a much more right-wing shift, almsot like to counter-act Benier for some reason.

Bienenhalde wrote:

Shrillland wrote:While we've been dormant, the Durham byelection was last week. Tories won, obviously and with a 9.2% swing to them to boot.

I miss Erin O'Toole. I think he would have made a better prime minister than either Trudeau or Poilievre, but he was ousted from party leadership for completely stupid reasons. And now Poilievre is likely to be the next prime minister, not because he was better than other recent Conservative leaders, but because he was in the right place at the right time to be there when the Trudeau administration finally imploded.

Erin O'Toole was essentially a Liberal who wanted less taxes. There was little difference between him and Trudeau, especially on social policies. He wasn't really an alternative to Trudeau, just more of the same. It's pretty much a similar story with Poilievre. Poilievre differentiates himself from Trudeau mostly through optics and superficiality, but in reality they are quite similar. Similar stances on immigration, housing, the monopolies in Canadian industries, Quebec, and foreign policy.

Naheed Nenshi, the former mayor of Calgary, has announced his bid for the leadership of the Alberta NDP. He is not currently a MLA and his stint as Mayor of Calgary was not particularly NDP-like, but he did endorse the NDP in 2023 and vote for them so I guess I can't 100% count him out. If he gets elected, it will most certainly be a Steven Del Duca scenario and he probably won't even get elected. In fact he wasn't a very popular mayor at that.

https://nenshi.ca/

ARIsyan- wrote:Naheed Nenshi, the former mayor of Calgary, has announced his bid for the leadership of the Alberta NDP. He is not currently a MLA and his stint as Mayor of Calgary was not particularly NDP-like, but he did endorse the NDP in 2023 and vote for them so I guess I can't 100% count him out. If he gets elected, it will most certainly be a Steven Del Duca scenario and he probably won't even get elected. In fact he wasn't a very popular mayor at that.

https://nenshi.ca/

Didn't he win three consecutive elections? Two with an outright majority?

Passport Canada apologises after telling woman she could not have Palestine listed as her place of birth on her passport.

Feds really showing their love for "human rights." Wouldn't happen to a Ukrainian or one of their other cause celebres.

Kaumudeen wrote:

ARIsyan- wrote:Naheed Nenshi, the former mayor of Calgary, has announced his bid for the leadership of the Alberta NDP. He is not currently a MLA and his stint as Mayor of Calgary was not particularly NDP-like, but he did endorse the NDP in 2023 and vote for them so I guess I can't 100% count him out. If he gets elected, it will most certainly be a Steven Del Duca scenario and he probably won't even get elected. In fact he wasn't a very popular mayor at that.

https://nenshi.ca/

Didn't he win three consecutive elections? Two with an outright majority?

His policies were mixed in support but overall he was a very popular mayor, I was wrong about that. Clearly this is simply a power grab and he thinks being Premier of Alberta is the next step in his political career, and if the provincial liberals weren't as decimated as they are he would have ran for them instead. maybe even the PCP leadership if they hadn't merged with the Wildrose Alliance.

However, polls have shown that he would largely increase support for the NDP if he did win, so he does have some support from moderate UCP voters. I'm still always hesitant of candidates who are voted in just to depose the current government, because often times their policies aren't much better.

ARIsyan- wrote:

Kaumudeen wrote:
Didn't he win three consecutive elections? Two with an outright majority?

His policies were mixed in support but overall he was a very popular mayor, I was wrong about that. Clearly this is simply a power grab and he thinks being Premier of Alberta is the next step in his political career, and if the provincial liberals weren't as decimated as they are he would have ran for them instead. maybe even the PCP leadership if they hadn't merged with the Wildrose Alliance.

However, polls have shown that he would largely increase support for the NDP if he did win, so he does have some support from moderate UCP voters. I'm still always hesitant of candidates who are voted in just to depose the current government, because often times their policies aren't much better.

Not really a power grab per se. For whatever criticisms I have of Nenshi, he's a pretty genuine guy.
Rather, he's doing what pretty much everyone else is doing: the NDP is not UCP, and so the ANDP is transforming into a party without particularity, just a pure "not". And of course that's where Nenshi comes in, a guy who voted NDP not because of any strong attachment to the party but purely because it was the competitive party that wasn't UCP.
I guess what I mean to say is he generally believes in his shit, only that his belief (and everyone elses now) is defined by opposition rather than anything actually substantial.

I think what's going to cost the NDP the most in 2025 is their loss of support in Vancouver Island and Rural BC. Currently makes up around half of their seat total, and they're projected to lose all of it to the tories (ignoring the Victoria area). Any thoughts as to why this is happening?

ARIsyan- wrote:I think what's going to cost the NDP the most in 2025 is their loss of support in Vancouver Island and Rural BC. Currently makes up around half of their seat total, and they're projected to lose all of it to the tories (ignoring the Victoria area). Any thoughts as to why this is happening?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KFOVG05R58

Good breakdown by The Great Canadian Bagel as to why.

Ford's now saying he wants all Ontario medical schools to have students only from Ontario

It's mostly a lamentation of how students go abroad and don't come back as well as the fact that 18% of all med students in the province aren't Canadians.

The difference between Poilievre and Trudeau is clear. Poilievre is always prepared for a debate, and to ask/answer questions, whereas Trudeau simply rants about things, not answering questions, trying to change the subject, whilst in the words of Poilievre himself, "screaming and hollering." Poilievre is absolutely going to win the election.

Shrillland wrote:Ford's now saying he wants all Ontario medical schools to have students only from Ontario

It's mostly a lamentation of how students go abroad and don't come back as well as the fact that 18% of all med students in the province aren't Canadians.

What they need to do is reform the medical school admissions process. The fact that students dont come back is not necessarily that they don't get selected for a Canadian medical school (for example a lot of Canadian lawyers study abroad but return), its more so that they are often looked down upon by other MD's because of the bullshit elitism in Canadian medical schools, and thus find it difficult to get residencies here with all the networking bulllshit.

Kaumudeen wrote:

Shrillland wrote:Ford's now saying he wants all Ontario medical schools to have students only from Ontario

It's mostly a lamentation of how students go abroad and don't come back as well as the fact that 18% of all med students in the province aren't Canadians.

What they need to do is reform the medical school admissions process. The fact that students dont come back is not necessarily that they don't get selected for a Canadian medical school (for example a lot of Canadian lawyers study abroad but return), its more so that they are often looked down upon by other MD's because of the bullshit elitism in Canadian medical schools, and thus find it difficult to get residencies here with all the networking bulllshit.

Partially that, and partially because Health Ontario is so tragicomically underfunded at the moment that you guys are seeing the stereotypical long wait times that American right-wingers love to crow about. The point of that being that lots of work and less pay is no incentive to stay.

Trudeau's announced a $600 million plan, mostly in the form of a $500 million loan, to fight the housing crisis

His plan? Build more prefab and modular homes...not make houses already on the market more affordable or correct the heavily inflated market, that's just silly.

Shrillland wrote:Trudeau's announced a $600 million plan, mostly in the form of a $500 million loan, to fight the housing crisis

His plan? Build more prefab and modular homes...not make houses already on the market more affordable or correct the heavily inflated market, that's just silly.

I kind of get what he is getting at, more supply means the rise in prices will slow down, but this is not the way to go. Unfortunately however, any direct/drastic measure the Federal government does will be perceived as "socialist" by their donors.

Shrillland wrote:Ford's now saying he wants all Ontario medical schools to have students only from Ontario

It's mostly a lamentation of how students go abroad and don't come back as well as the fact that 18% of all med students in the province aren't Canadians.

Maybe if he was willing to negotiate with nurses' unions he wouldn't have to worry about all of them leaving Ontario because of the shit pay and working conditions.

All I know is that Trudeau wants to break term limits for himself.

Ravemath wrote:All I know is that Trudeau wants to break term limits for himself.

There are no term limits in Canada for Prime Ministers.

Ravemath wrote:All I know is that Trudeau wants to break term limits for himself.

Most politically literate american:

Charlie Angus and Carol Hughes are not seeking re election, and as the only NDP members from Northern Ontario they've basically put the final nail in the coffin of the NDP's traditional support base in that region. The 2022 provincial election saw the NDP lose the popular vote share in NO for the first time in a decade or two and that trend is going to now continue with the federal NDP, which is traditionally weaker in that region to begin with. Timmins and Algoma are 100% going the tories, especially now that Algoma is merged with Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins was redistributed. The NDP is also even at risk of losing their seat in London, along with being wiped out of Vancouver Island and Rural BC. And what does the NDP leadership come up with to combat this? An official NDP discord!!!!!!

At this point the NDP's only hopes is keeping official party status.

ARIsyan- wrote:Charlie Angus and Carol Hughes are not seeking re election, and as the only NDP members from Northern Ontario they've basically put the final nail in the coffin of the NDP's traditional support base in that region. The 2022 provincial election saw the NDP lose the popular vote share in NO for the first time in a decade or two and that trend is going to now continue with the federal NDP, which is traditionally weaker in that region to begin with. Timmins and Algoma are 100% going the tories, especially now that Algoma is merged with Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins was redistributed. The NDP is also even at risk of losing their seat in London, along with being wiped out of Vancouver Island and Rural BC. And what does the NDP leadership come up with to combat this? An official NDP discord!!!!!!

At this point the NDP's only hopes is keeping official party status.

I frequently pass through London, and especially London-Fanshawe. The malaise on the ground towards the Liberals and to some extent the NDP is... Significant.