Canadian Politics

[JCon]

1 minute ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

When the NDP had their surprise win in 2015 here in Alberta, they ran candidates in every riding. These candidates were low quality. Like 20 year old university students who never had jobs, activists & others. Very few high profile candidates because the party thought they would lose. But surprise, they won. Some of the winning candidates didn't even campaign. The voters just said no more PC's & threw them out. Most of these NDP candidates became lousy MLA's & left politics & never ran again in 2019 when the UCP won. Some of them were horrified they won as all they did was put their name on a piece of paper as an NDP candidate thinking they'd lose. Or they were voted out. It was certainly a reactionary vote. 

My experience is that most of the young candidates get experience in "unwinnable" ridings but get good jobs with the party. If you're on the winning side, you're likely to become a special assistant to a minister. Some, do that route and get a fantastic seat opportunity. 

Raquel Dancho - ran for the Provincial PCs in Wolseley in 2016, lost (obviously), became a special assistant in GOM and gained experience in gov't, then won the nomination in the federal riding of Kildonan-St.Paul and won the seat. 

[Mark H.]

They have run good candidates in my riding, even federally. The name escapes me, but one was a former CBC journalist. Bezan (PC) won easily as usual. 

[GCJenks]

57 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

When the NDP had their surprise win in 2015 here in Alberta, they ran candidates in every riding. These candidates were low quality. Like 20 year old university students who never had jobs, activists & others. Very few high profile candidates because the party thought they would lose. But surprise, they won. Some of the winning candidates didn't even campaign. The voters just said no more PC's & threw them out. Most of these NDP candidates became lousy MLA's & left politics & never ran again in 2019 when the UCP won. Some of them were horrified they won as all they did was put their name on a piece of paper as an NDP candidate thinking they'd lose. Or they were voted out. It was certainly a reactionary vote. 

Wasn't this the same story in Quebec with a recent Federal Election, the one that brought Trudeau to power in the first place rings a bell. A 20 year old that had to cut her spring break trip short to come home and get sworn in or something?

[GCn20]

Just now, GCJenks said:

Wasn't this the same story in Quebec with a recent Federal Election, the one that brought Trudeau to power in the first place rings a bell. A 20 year old that had to cut her spring break trip short to come home and get sworn in or something?

She left the country early in the campaign and they had a hard time tracking her down to inform her she was now an MP but had to come back to be sworn in. lol

[Mark F]

why do people get angry when government imposes a small tax on gas, at,least with the intention of some improvement, 

but dont mind when the price of gas is routinely based on actions of speculators, and huge corporations, who use every trick in the book to keep  the cost as high as possible? solely for profit.

one day its 1.19  a litre, next day, 1.44.

citizens "shrug", and fill up.

guberment put carbon tax one penny a litre 

citizen " killing jobs, g.d. blankety blank"

brainwashed

 

[SpeedFlex27]

54 minutes ago, GCJenks said:

Wasn't this the same story in Quebec with a recent Federal Election, the one that brought Trudeau to power in the first place rings a bell. A 20 year old that had to cut her spring break trip short to come home and get sworn in or something?

She went to Vegas in the middle of the campaign thinking she would lose. 

[SpeedFlex27]

42 minutes ago, Mark F said:

why do people get angry when government imposes a small tax on gas, at,least with the intention of some improvement, 

but dont mind when the price of gas is routinely based on actions of speculators, and huge corporations, who use every trick in the book to keep  the cost as high as possible? solely for profit.

one day its 1.19  a litre, next day, 1.44.

citizens "shrug", and fill up.

guberment put carbon tax one penny a litre 

citizen " killing jobs, g.d. blankety blank"

brainwashed

 

Don't mind? What??? Of course people mind. We shrug because we have to pay it. Whether it's corporate profit or government taxes. We have to pay it. And it's not a small tax on gas. It affects the price of everything as these carbon tax increases are factored into the cost of goods & services. 

[the watcher]

1 hour ago, JCon said:

My experience is that most of the young candidates get experience in "unwinnable" ridings but get good jobs with the party. If you're on the winning side, you're likely to become a special assistant to a minister. Some, do that route and get a fantastic seat opportunity. 

Raquel Dancho - ran for the Provincial PCs in Wolseley in 2016, lost (obviously), became a special assistant in GOM and gained experience in gov't, then won the nomination in the federal riding of Kildonan-St.Paul and won the seat. 

Then they failed at getting experience. To my knowledge she never came to the riding. What politician or even someone who is interested in politics would not bother to send a bio and a note on their beliefs to a newspaper when asked.It was the total lack of effort that blew me away.  

[SpeedFlex27]

1 minute ago, the watcher said:

Then they failed at getting experience. To my knowledge she never came to the riding. What politician or even someone who is interested in politics would not bother to send a bio and a note on their beliefs to a newspaper when asked.It was the total lack of effort that blew me away.  

We had a federal candidate running in our riding in South Calgary in the provincial election in 2015 who was from Toronto but never told anyone. The federal NDP parachuted her in as they couldn't find anyone here to run. It was hush, hush until it wasn't. But we live in a safe Conservative riding so she never would have been elected. 

[itchy]

12 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

She went to Vegas in the middle of the campaign thinking she would lose. 

She was NDP and actually turned out to be pretty good at it once she got in, and got reelected. The story usually leaves out that part of it.

She won reelection in the 2015 federal election with a larger vote share despite her party falling from second to third place nationally

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Ellen_Brosseau

 

[JCon]

 

We'll know more details at 3:30, when they make the formal announcement. 

[Noeller]

7 minutes ago, JCon said:

 

We'll know more details at 3:30, when they make the formal announcement. 

intrigued to see what exactly this looks like. I'm born and raised in Pinawa, and one interesting thing about the town is, they signed a deal with the government back in the early 60s that Pinawa would always be it's own school division and can never be amalgamated. So while everything around it is part of Agassiz SD, Pinawa, with it's 2 schools, remains part of the Whiteshell SD, all by its lonesome. The government has been trying for years to amalgamate it with Agassiz, but the contract was signed and can't be broken....or so I'm told. I'm sure it drives conservative "small government" governments crazy...

[17to85]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Like 20 year old university students who never had jobs, activists & others.

This doesn't inherently make one a bad mla. Need some diverse opinions in government. Can't all be old white businessmen or lawyers.

[the watcher]

1 hour ago, Mark F said:

why do people get angry when government imposes a small tax on gas, at,least with the intention of some improvement, 

but dont mind when the price of gas is routinely based on actions of speculators, and huge corporations, who use every trick in the book to keep  the cost as high as possible? solely for profit.

one day its 1.19  a litre, next day, 1.44.

citizens "shrug", and fill up.

guberment put carbon tax one penny a litre 

citizen " killing jobs, g.d. blankety blank"

brainwashed

 

I thought the carbon tax was a way for the current government to throw out a quick bone and say  " Look at what We are doing "  I really question it's effectiveness and who the money will go to.  A good example was the 12 mill. to Loblaws to fix their refrigerators as soon as the program started..  As if they couldn't do that  themselves. We definatly need action . But it is really friggen complicated. Alot comes down to how countries are generating power. Some studies are showing that electric cars are causing more CO2 than combustion cars if the electricity is being generated by coal ( alot of the USA ).  Norway is interesting as they have been stowing away their oil money for years and years and are now using it to promote and advance the use and sale of electrics.( Rather than a punishment model like us )  Canada with our massive ( like Norway )  hydro electric systems are definatly going to benefit with electric vehicles. The thing is we create such a tiny percentage of the world's CO2.  And our massive forests eat that and alot more up. Despite the way it is often worded and the hate layed on the Tarsands we remove more CO2 than we produce. Now if you can tell me some way to get China, India and USA on board I will vote for you as King of the world.

What really pisses me off is that both the Oil industry and the more extreme Greens  talk so much bullshit.  Global warming is a real threat. The extreme green don't need to twist things to make it worse. The Oil industry would do us all a favor if they admitted to it. 

My answer ? Thorium reactors ! They should be at the heart of every green discussion.

[JCon]

11 minutes ago, Noeller said:

intrigued to see what exactly this looks like. I'm born and raised in Pinawa, and one interesting thing about the town is, they signed a deal with the government back in the early 60s that Pinawa would always be it's own school division and can never be amalgamated. So while everything around it is part of Agassiz SD, Pinawa, with it's 2 schools, remains part of the Whiteshell SD, all by its lonesome. The government has been trying for years to amalgamate it with Agassiz, but the contract was signed and can't be broken....or so I'm told. I'm sure it drives conservative "small government" governments crazy...

15 regions, so we'll see. 

No, elected board members. That certainly doesn't add to transparency and democracy. But, I think voting turnout for school board members is like 10%. 

One bargaining unit? 

[the watcher]

Boy that's a wholesale uprooting of the school system. It will be interesting to see how it turns out

[SpeedFlex27]

22 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

This doesn't inherently make one a bad mla. Need some diverse opinions in government. Can't all be old white businessmen or lawyers.

Life experience wise & credibility to older voters.

[Mark F]

11 minutes ago, the watcher said:

Some studies are showing that electric cars are causing more CO2 than combustion cars if the electricity is being generated by coal ( alot of the USA ). 

simple, cheap, available now solution, stopmburning coal to produce power.  convert to renewable.

there is no longer any justification for continuing to burn coal.

[Mark H.]

47 minutes ago, JCon said:

15 regions, so we'll see. 

No, elected board members. That certainly doesn't add to transparency and democracy. But, I think voting turnout for school board members is like 10%. 

One bargaining unit? 

The writing was on the wall - all other provinces have just one bargaining unit for teachers - this is good because there will be more equity across the province

Most school trustees get elected by acclamation.  Now that they'll no longer be bargaining contracts locally, their elimination was inevitable. 

[JCon]

Gov't website: https://bettereducationmb.ca/

Report: https://www.scribd.com/document/498879635/Our-Children-s-Success-Manitoba-s-Future-Report-of-the-Commission-on-K-to-12-Education

 

[17to85]

59 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Life experience wise & credibility to older voters.

Ok boomer.

[the watcher]

1 hour ago, Mark F said:

simple, cheap, available now solution, stopmburning coal to produce power.  convert to renewable.

there is no longer any justification for continuing to burn coal.

Some what. Renewables, (wind and solar )most countries that source them heavily require another source that is more reliable.  Thorium reactors /natural gas, supplemented by wind and solar would do it. But its not cheap or easy. That Coal is cheap and already exists is probably the only reason it's still there. That and the private energy companies ( USA) that won't change unless they are forced. To pretend this is simple is wrong. To ignore global warming is wrong.

A practical working temperature  for super conductors would be a game changer for the world but I have heard very little on that for a long time.  10 or 15 years ago there was a huge amount  of excitement about them.

Edited March 15, 2021 by the watcher

[Mark F]

1 hour ago, the watcher said:

That Coal is cheap and already exists

coal is not cheap.

Bloomberg:

In most places in the U.S., most of the time, it now costs more to produce an additional kilowatt hour of electricity with coal than with any other major energy source. 

 

NPR:

"Preston says that right now, coal is more expensive than natural gas, wind or solar in many parts of the country. So when demand slows, coal plants are the first to shut down."

 

[SpeedFlex27]

3 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Ok boomer.

Uh, you need to capitalize the B.

3 hours ago, the watcher said:

Some what. Renewables, (wind and solar )most countries that source them heavily require another source that is more reliable.  Thorium reactors /natural gas, supplemented by wind and solar would do it. But its not cheap or easy. That Coal is cheap and already exists is probably the only reason it's still there. That and the private energy companies ( USA) that won't change unless they are forced. To pretend this is simple is wrong. To ignore global warming is wrong.

A practical working temperature  for super conductors would be a game changer for the world but I have heard very little on that for a long time.  10 or 15 years ago there was a huge amount  of excitement about them.

[Mark H.]

2 hours ago, Mark F said:

coal is not cheap.

Bloomberg:

In most places in the U.S., most of the time, it now costs more to produce an additional kilowatt hour of electricity with coal than with any other major energy source. 

 

NPR:

"Preston says that right now, coal is more expensive than natural gas, wind or solar in many parts of the country. So when demand slows, coal plants are the first to shut down."

 

I can't wrap my brain around those numbers. Until we had environmental levies and carbon taxes, coal was the cheapest energy source, especially when you needed large amounts of heat, such as for mass livestock operations. Any other energy source was not even close, even with freight included.