Politics in 2017

[Scott]

I have lost all faith in IPSOS REID polls.  So many of them have been so far off, I question their actual reliability to be an accurate pulse on the nation.

Fair dues.

However, I'm willing to make one of those WAGs that if the numbers were the exact opposite your tolerance of them would differ :nod:

LOL, Scott.    That is a rather broad statement to make, as Scheer has just been voted in as the leader off the CPC, and has had little time to actually face off in Parliament, Leader to Leader.

You can dismiss that view all you wish. You'll note that I pretty much left it open with the whole, "not right now anyway", in case you missed it the first time.

Besides, there were plenty of broad statements made about other leaders before they got to face off, as you say, Leader to Leader. Nobody was admonished for those, hmm?

 

[Remius]

In the same vein, Scheer hasn't done much to introduce himself to Canadians.  I realize that it is the summer break but he should have done more to get Canadians to know him.  I seem to have heard more from other members of the party than I have from him.  Not a good start in my mind. 

 

[PuckChaser]

In the same vein, Scheer hasn't done much to introduce himself to Canadians.  I realize that it is the summer break but he should have done more to get Canadians to know him.  I seem to have heard more from other members of the party than I have from him.  Not a good start in my mind.

He doesn't need to jump in full campaign mode. There's still 2 years till an election, and the NDP doesn't even have a leader yet. He can sit and let the Liberals toss their attacks at him, while the party prepares a strategy for next fall (1 year out from the election).

Keep in mind, the worst thing that can happen to the Liberals is a Jack Layton-esque centrist in the NDP leader's seat. All of those Quebec and Atlantic seats will not be safe, and with the Tories enjoying a small boost after 4 years out of office, we very well could see a Liberal minority at best.

 

[Remius]

He doesn't need to jump in full campaign mode. There's still 2 years till an election, and the NDP doesn't even have a leader yet. He can sit and let the Liberals toss their attacks at him, while the party prepares a strategy for next fall (1 year out from the election).

Keep in mind, the worst thing that can happen to the Liberals is a Jack Layton-esque centrist in the NDP leader's seat. All of those Quebec and Atlantic seats will not be safe, and with the Tories enjoying a small boost after 4 years out of office, we very well could see a Liberal minority at best.

Agreed about campaign mode.  What I am talking about is getting Canadians to get to know him.  He's still a complete unknown to most.  Not something you want come the actual campaign.  That isn't the time for introductions.  Maybe that will change but it seems like it may be an uphill battle to get recognized later rather than sooner when they had some momentum.

To be honest I'm not seeing any centrist Layton like candidate in the NDP leadership race right now.  That may change if one moves that way but so far I don't see it. 

 

[PuckChaser]

The NDP's base has pushed hard to get more hard left socialists in the leadership race, after what they can see is a failure of centrist policies to win. It didn't help that the Liberals campaigned on a far more left-leaning policy base than they've implemented thus far. That's a lot of votes in play bouncing around between those 2 parties. I don't see the socialists supporting the Liberals again, especially if they don't see their policy ideas being implemented as campaigned on.

As for Scheer, he's started making whistle-stop tours around Canada but is really probably going to aim for the fall session of Parliament for Canadians to hear what the media thinks of him and his policy stances. I say the media because lets be honest, no one watches Question Period to form their own conclusions.

 

[suffolkowner]

To me the best chance for the Conservatives is a resurgent NDP whether Singh is the person to lead that charge, time will tell. I personally feel that the Conservatives would have been better off with Bernier or O'toole.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

You seem either to confuse opinion with fact, or to misrepresent your opinion and hyperbole as both being fact.  ... Maybe it is all the above.

Regardless, when you present something that is the premise upon which your opinion is formed, that premise is open to examination.  If that premise is hyperbole then, in a fact based discussion, it is not "fly shit picking" to observe that what you have presented is wrong.  If your premise is wrong and you doggedly defend it in the face of factual evidence to the contrary, then be prepared for others to dismiss or question the opinion that you base on that premise.

If others are prepared to provide references & evidence to support their premises or refute your premises, then you can choose to counter with your own research or do nothing (but then don't get emotional if others dismiss/challenge your conclusion because it is the one unsubstantiated with evidence).

And, you are entitled to your own opinion but ...

When it comes to factuals, you really cannot hide behind a shield of "entitled to my opinion" to deflect discussion.  If I present hyperbole, out-right lies, or other misrepresentation of facts then I cannot get butt hurt and mutter about my right to my opinion when evidence demonstrates the quantifiable elements of my statements to be wrong. 

Too much hyperbole in the premises of an opinion, coupled with dogged defence of the hyperbole when challenged with conflicting evidence while refusing to present one's own supporting evidence ... well, that can cast the appearance of arguing from a point of ignorance.

Generally, I would recommend that if your argument needs hyperbole (or other distortion of fact) to prove a point then your argument is not very strong.  While hyperbole can be helpful at times and just fun to toss out at others, when you get called on it, you are probably best to concede the fact and rephrase your argument without the misrepresentation.

To the point, this statement is false: "Trudeau slams Harper and the CPC in almost every speech he gives outside of Canada. He's a hypocrite"

But concede the hyperbole and you can still make your point: "I seem to recall it was reported on fairly extensively, when he took over office,  that PM Trudeau blamed PM Harper for Canada's problems when giving a speech outside of Canada. He's a hypocrite"

Like I said......................

 

[Rifleman62]

Another video on Sat ni Global National News of the PM kayaking, just happening to bump into a new bride & groom and stopping for a selfie.

Reflexive eye-roll.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Andrew Scheer proclaimed he's a femminist to Chatelaine magazine  :rofl:

I have a feeling he's in the market to buy a Kayak too.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

There's a useful article by Kady O'Malley in iPolitics that concludes with this paragraph:

    "The prime minister would definitely do well to keep those breathlessly hagiographical headlines in perspective – and, for heaven’s sakes, just stop gloating
    over that boxing match already. But the rest of us might want to do the same with our reflexive eye-roll when he’s depicted as anything more than a pretty-boy
    dilettante who lucked into the job based on his family name."

Now I know some of you will have reflexive eye-rolls when Ms O'Malley, a CBC reporter, is cited but she's right, in my opinion:

1. Team Trudeau (the PMO, which now has tentacles inside the PCO) remains locked in campaign mode; they scored such a big, unexpected win that they didn't have to worry about governing in 2016, they could just bask in the glory of it all, but they didn't accomplish much, legislatively, in 2017, either and people are starting to notice. Now, 2018 is time to start campaigning again but one should want to run on a record. Currently the Trudeau record is underwhelming; and

2. Teams Blue and Orange need to get over the "just not ready" and "being PM is not an entry level job" notions: Canadians didn't buy it. Canadians like Justin Trudeau, despite the Khard fiasco they still trust him more than they do Andrew Scheer and whoever will lead the NDP.

Both sides All sides need policies that will make sense to enough Canadians ... tactically the Conservatives need to keep hammering out-of-control, never ending deficits; it's a long, hard slog to make that case but Canadians are, generally, a thrifty, frugal people ~ who love free stuff ~ and they can be frightened into fiscal responsibility. The NDP needs to hammer at the broken promise of electoral reform (that caused (I have read) as many as 1 million normally NDP voters to shift to the Liberals, many, mainly, on that issue) and to stress that Trudeau's "middle class" appears to exclude hourly wage earners. The Liberals need to cobble together a coherent "vision" of the Canada they want ... Canadians will not settle for "I'm not Stephen Harper" in 2019.

funny enough in our department they are funding an initiative to remove derelict boats, this year just over $350,000 is available, but that jumps to millions for the next 2 years, just in time for an election...... 

 

[jollyjacktar]

funny enough in our department they are funding an initiative to remove derelict boats, this year just over $350,000 is available, but that jumps to millions for the next 2 years, just in time for an election...... 

:Tin-Foil-Hat:

 

[Lumber]

Don't know if this should go in a different thread, but:

"Teachers' union votes to urge school boards to remove John A. Macdonald's name from public schools"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/john-macdonald-school-1.4259643

:boke: :boke: :boke: :boke: :boke:

 

[The Bread Guy]

Meanwhile, in cabinet ...

Public Services Minister Judy Foote will announce her resignation on Thursday, CBC News has learned.

The Newfoundland and Labrador MP has been on leave from cabinet since spring for personal reasons.

But sources speaking on condition of anonymity say Foote will announce her permanent departure at a news conference in St. John's on Thursday. She will also announce she will resign as a member of Parliament later this year ...

 

[dapaterson]

In the "Shocked to discover there's gambling going on here" department, a former chief of staff to Jean Chretien has been convicted of accepting at least $2.2M in bribes from SNC-Lavalin while head of the Federal Bridge Corporation.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/fournier-charged-snc-lavalin-1.4260367

 

[Good2Golf]

Don't know if this should go in a different thread, but:

"Teachers' union votes to urge school boards to remove John A. Macdonald's name from public schools"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/john-macdonald-school-1.4259643

:boke: :boke: :boke: :boke: :boke:

What's good for the goose should be good for the Gander, right?  From here on in, CYUL should be (re-)known by its geographic name, Dorval International Airport, as it is the namesake of someone who was noted as having failed the First Nations to develop a meaningful and respectful solution to their place in Canadian society:

Why CYUL should revert to 'Dorval International Airport'

The first major policy failure of Trudeau's first term was the 1969 White Paper on Indians, which was promoted by new Department of Indian and Northern Affairs minister Jean Chrétien as part of Trudeau's push for classical liberal participatory democracy. The statement proposed the general assimilation of First Nations into the Canadian body politic through the elimination of the Indian Act and Indian status, the parcelling of reserve land to private owners, and the elimination of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.[49] The White Paper prompted the first major national mobilization of Indian and Aboriginal activists against the Federal government's proposal, leading to Trudeau setting aside the legislation.

:2c:

Regards
G2G

 

[EpicBeardedMan]

Hahahaha, here we gooooooo!

http://www.torontosun.com/2017/08/24/ontario-elementary-teachers-union-calls-for-renaming-john-a-macdonald-schools

 

[dapaterson]

And in the "Living in Ottawa for 20 years is no reason not to claim my Ottawa house as a secondary residence" department, The Puffster is suing the Senate and the Government of Canada for about $8M.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mike-duffy-sues-government-senate/article36078625/

 

[ModlrMike]

Don't know if this should go in a different thread, but:

"Teachers' union votes to urge school boards to remove John A. Macdonald's name from public schools"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/john-macdonald-school-1.4259643

:boke: :boke: :boke: :boke: :boke:

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.
George Orwell, 1984

1984 was meant to be a warning, not an instruction manual.

 

[Scott]

Did anyone actually think we'd heard the last of Duffy?

Shared with the usual:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mike-duffy-sues-government-senate/article36078625/

Mike Duffy sues Senate, government for almost $8-million
LAURA STONE AND DANIEL LEBLANC
Ottawa — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017 12:13PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017 12:57PM EDT

Senator Mike Duffy is suing the Senate and the Attorney-General of Canada for $6.5-million in general damages, $300,000 for loss of income and benefits and $1-million in punitive damages, court records show.

Mr. ‎Duffy is arguing that the Senate and unnamed senators “acted unconstitutionally” as it suspended him without pay, and that the RCMP mishandled its investigation into his expenses because he was a “more high-profile target” than former top Conservative official Nigel Wright.

Mike Duffy’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, has called a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday afternoon.
Mr. Duffy was charged in July of 2014 with fraud, breach of trust and bribery in relation to his Senate expense claims and consulting contracts, and for accepting a $90,000 payment from Mr. Wright, then the chief of staff to prime minister Stephen Harper.

Mr. Duffy was suspended from the Senate without pay for almost two years in November, 2013, over concerns about his expenses. Fellow senators Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau were also suspended. All three have since returned to the Senate.

In April, 2016, Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt acquitted Mr. Duffy on 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery.

The statement of claim, filed at the Ottawa court house on Thursday, alleged the RCMP “treated Senator Duffy as a valuable target which produced an investigation blinded by tunnel vision and incorrectly focused on Senator Duffy, excluding other potential actors on the basis of their value, to the detriment of Senator Duffy and to the detriment of the Canadian public as a whole.”

Mr. Duffy said the ordeal cost him “pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.” He cited lost friendships, “extreme damage” to his reputation, as well as mental and physical distress, including severe anxiety, depression, nightmares and aggravation to his heart condition.

“Senator Duffy’s acquittal at trial has not remedied his damages. A significant stigma still remains. Senator Duffy continues to suffer emotional and physical damage due to the continued and prolonged reputational damage that continues to this day, including daily mention, mockery and ridicule in media outlets nation-wide,” the statement said.

More to come

Follow us on Twitter: Daniel Leblanc @danlebla, Laura Stone @l_stone

 

[Jarnhamar]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/racist-graffiti-markham-suspects-police-photos-1.4259543

Devastating racist attack against a slide.

star of david= swastika
KKK

Seems legit.