Canadian Politics

[17to85]

3 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Maybe...but at this point I would think that anyone not named Kenney would massively benefit the UCP party of Alberta.

Have you seen the "winners " in that group? Kenney is by far the most capable of them and Bumbles has ****** up every thing they've touched.

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

Jean would at least unite the right

Would he though? He is a pretty far right figure himself...

[Noeller]

8 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Have you seen the "winners " in that group? Kenney is by far the most capable of them and Bumbles has ****** up every thing they've touched.

Would he though? He is a pretty far right figure himself...

He sure is, but I think there's more of them than Progressives within that party. I think he'd get them in line (sadly). It's a low ******* bar, but Kenney is the better option...

[JCon]

Imagine knowing that your base are bunch whackjobs. Today's conservative. 

1 minute ago, JCon said:

Imagine knowing that your base are bunch whackjobs. Today's conservative. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by JCon

[Noeller]

the thing is...he's 100% right, in that there are far worse options (hello, Brian Jean...) in that party who would like to see it go the direction of the PPC. Total lunatics. Jason Kenney is a right wing *******, to be sure, but sadly, it gets way worse within that party. The province desperately needs Rachel Notley in charge....

[17to85]

14 hours ago, JCon said:

Imagine knowing that your base are bunch whackjobs. Today's conservative. 

Jason kenney, an extreme right winger by any stretch think he is the moderate one. 

 

These people have completely lost the picture of the world. They're so left behind by the rest of society they don't even understand how far out there they are.

[GCn20]

14 hours ago, Noeller said:

the thing is...he's 100% right, in that there are far worse options (hello, Brian Jean...) in that party who would like to see it go the direction of the PPC. Total lunatics. Jason Kenney is a right wing *******, to be sure, but sadly, it gets way worse within that party. The province desperately needs Rachel Notley in charge....

Alberta politics is a gong show compared to the rest of the country really. The oil industry has really made Alberta an outlier. I mean in every other province Notley would be seen as a Conservative. About the closest she can get to the left is small C. Alberta is not a province that a centrist or left of centre party by everyone else's standards could ever get elected.

Edited March 25, 2022 by GCn20

[rebusrankin]

Alberta has always gone overwhelmingly to one party for its entire history and generally that has been a fairly Conservative party. Outlier indeed.

[Wideleft]

5 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Alberta has always gone overwhelmingly to one party for its entire history and generally that has been a fairly Conservative party. Outlier indeed.

Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

[17to85]

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Alberta is not a province that a centrist or left of centre party by everyone else's standards could ever get elected.

Except the PCs were very much a centrist, big tent party... Allison Redford would have made a fine Liberal. The UCP however is not the PCs. They are a far right wild rose replacement that borrowed the name conservative for electability reasons. 

Let's not forget the Harper conservatives were a lot friendlier with the wild rose party than they were the PCs.

[Tracker]

12 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Except the PCs were very much a centrist, big tent party... Allison Redford would have made a fine Liberal. The UCP however is not the PCs. They are a far right wild rose replacement that borrowed the name conservative for electability reasons. 

Let's not forget the Harper conservatives were a lot friendlier with the wild rose party than they were the PCs.

The problem for the UPC party is that any credible candidate for the leadership party will be immediately torpedoed by the Wild Rose nutbars. Doubtless, there are members of the party and MLAs who have difficulty reconciling the extremist, racist, misogynist tone the UPC party has devolved into with both their own rational views and their knowledge of what that has done and is doing to their election chances and the culture of their province. I would bet that there will be a lot of infighting within the UCP and maybe even a divorce.

[Noeller]

1 minute ago, Tracker said:

The problem for the UPC party is that any credible candidate for the leadership party will be immediately torpedoed by the Wild Rose nutbars. Doubtless, there are members of the party and MLAs who have difficulty reconciling the extremist, racist, misogynist tone the UPC party has devolved into with both their own rational views and their knowledge of what that has done and is doing to their election chances and the culture of their province. I would bet that there will be a lot of infighting within the UCP and maybe even a divorce.

that's what's happening now. Brian Jean, former leader of the WRP, just won back his seat in Fort Mac campaigning on a promise to oust Jason Kenney at the party's AGM in April. Kenney and his lackeys are trying to maintain power, while Jean rallies support for tossing him. It's a crazy amount of infighting right now. Every sane person is just hoping that it eventually leads to an NDP government elected before too long...

[HardCoreBlue]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

that's what's happening now. Brian Jean, former leader of the WRP, just won back his seat in Fort Mac campaigning on a promise to oust Jason Kenney at the party's AGM in April. Kenney and his lackeys are trying to maintain power, while Jean rallies support for tossing him. It's a crazy amount of infighting right now. Every sane person is just hoping that it eventually leads to an NDP government elected before too long...

Knowing how some politicians are, ie slimy, greasy, slippery if Brian Jean is successful in ousting Jason Kenney watch Jean change his tone on certain things, pivot when he needs to pivot to appease to a larger base, never really feeling certain exactly where he stands on issues important to a diverse group of Albertans. It has nothing to do at this stage with what he actually will do if he is elected premier, more what he needs to say to get people supporting him. I know politics 101 but still slimy. Being genuine and authentic is not important here. What's important here is getting what I need.

[Tracker]

The Free Press today had an article on the popularity of the provincial PCs and Premier. The article explored the implications of the poll which was described as "catastrophic" in the article and showed the PCs falling to the point where they are barely ahead of the Liberals. 

[GCn20]

15 hours ago, Tracker said:

The Free Press today had an article on the popularity of the provincial PCs and Premier. The article explored the implications of the poll which was described as "catastrophic" in the article and showed the PCs falling to the point where they are barely ahead of the Liberals. 

The rural support is still enormous and will ensure that even if these numbers hold, which they are highly unlikely to do so, that a small majority is the most likely outcome if the NDP can hold the lead. The problem for the NDP remains the fact that during an election campaign Kinew is more likely to lose the NDP votes than gain them. There are a ton of people who really want this current government out, myself included, but just can't plug their noses and vote for Kinew knowing what we all know about him. The Liberals might be the biggest benefactors of two parties that stink right now. That is, of course, if they can keep Lamont from going off on the weird tangents he can go on sometimes, and they can generate enough money to actually campaign. If Lamont can up his game it is quite possible that the Liberals take some seats next election. 

Edited March 27, 2022 by GCn20

[rebusrankin]

If those polling numbers hold, you have an NDP majority with similar numbers to 2007 or 2011. Given the way they are polling, it seems likely that the PCs lose all those seats they hold in south Winnipeg and other than Southern Manitoba will be in a huge fight in the rest of the province. I'd love a more detailed explanation of why you think Wab will cause them to lose votes.

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

If those polling numbers hold, you have an NDP majority with similar numbers to 2007 or 2011. Given the way they are polling, it seems likely that the PCs lose all those seats they hold in south Winnipeg and other than Southern Manitoba will be in a huge fight in the rest of the province. I'd love a more detailed explanation of why you think Wab will cause them to lose votes.

Wab is not well liked at all except by those who already vote NDP. Many swing voters will not support him and when the inevitable smear campaign that will come against him starts, many people will swing back to the PCs or place their vote elsewhere.  I have no doubt that this is likely to be a majority NDP victory next election, my prediction is simply that Wab does not have the personal appeal to make it a huge majority. I, also, hate to say it but there will be a fair amount of racism against him due to his ethnicity. That saddens me as an indigenous person myself, but if you guys only knew what we hear and overhear on a daily basis from people who pretend not to be racist you would understand. I quite frankly think that there is a fair number of people who do not like this government but will not vote for an indigenous premier. When given the option there is certain amount of the NDP support that likely just doesn't show up to vote. Probably not enough to swing an election but surely enough to keep the NDP seat count down despite what the polls say. 

I hope that Manitoba is better than that, but based on my life experiences I am skeptical, and the very worst of it is in the CIty of Winnipeg. 

Edited March 27, 2022 by GCn20

[bustamente]

The politician pool in this Province goes down every election cycle, well I guess  you could say this across Canada. As for Wab he has many skeletons in his closet, despite that his party will  form the next government mostly because of the buffoons currently in power

[GCn20]

15 minutes ago, bustamente said:

The politician pool in this Province goes down every election cycle, well I guess  you could say this across Canada. As for Wab he has many skeletons in his closet, despite that his party will  form the next government mostly because of the buffoons currently in power

I agree. I just think that given the state of the leaders of the big two parties in our province that the Liberals could see a dead cat bounce, much like when Sharon Carstairs benefitted from some underwhelming choices put forward by the NDP and PCs back in the day.

[rebusrankin]

Disagree on the dislike for Wab but sadly agree on the racism aspect. I have heard stories that make me sick, can't imagine dealing with that crap on a daily basis.

[GCn20]

19 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Disagree on the dislike for Wab but sadly agree on the racism aspect. I have heard stories that make me sick, can't imagine dealing with that crap on a daily basis.

I am lucky. I don't look aboriginal so don't face it nearly as much, but my wife is aboriginal and the treatment she gets when we go out is deplorable. When I show my treaty card or declare my status for various reasons my treatment changes drastically as well. There is a massive undercurrent of racism that exists towards natives, particularly in the city of Winnipeg, and I see it most in what I would think are very key demographics for NDP success. The South of Winnipeg is a no fly zone for most native people as the racism we encounter there is staggering.

Edited March 27, 2022 by GCn20

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/randy-hillier-arrest-protest-convoy-ottawa-mpp-1.6399669

Quote

An eastern Ontario provincial politician has surrendered to police and is facing more charges, this time related to the convoy protest and occupation in downtown Ottawa this winter.

Ottawa police announced nine charges against Independent Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP Randy Hillier in a Monday morning news release, saying they had complaints "about social media posts and other activities of an individual" during the so-called Freedom Convoy.

The charges are:

• One count of assaulting a peace or public officer.
• Two counts of obstructing or resisting a public officer.
• One count of obstructing or resisting someone aiding a public or peace officer.
• Three counts of counselling an uncommitted indictable offence, two of them considered mischief.
• Two counts of mischief or obstructing property exceeding $5,000.

Hillier surrendered at Ottawa police headquarters Monday morning. He told reporters he was doing so after getting a call from police on Sunday.

He denied assaulting an officer, saying he only greeted people "with love and affection and embrace and handshakes.

"So unless handshakes or warm embraces are now considered assault, I have no idea," he said.

Lawyer David Anber said he'd like a Monday bail hearing. Ottawa police said Hillier is expected in court Monday.

There were calls for Hillier's arrest in February when he tweeted people should "keep calling" after Ottawa police tweeted that people had to stop calling "critical emergency and operational phone lines" to express displeasure over police actions to clear streets.

Hillier is facing other charges for breaking COVID-19 pandemic rules, and he said Monday he's facing about 25 charges for various COVID protests.

 

[Tracker]

Detective tried to uncover vaccine status of dead children's parents, sources say

Shaamini Yogaretnam · CBC News · Posted: Mar 28, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

The Ottawa Police Service says it has suspended Det. Helen Grus with pay in connection with an investigation by the professional standards unit. (Olivier Plante/CBC)
An Ottawa police detective who opposed the force's COVID-19 mandates is under investigation for allegedly trying to find out if parents whose infants had suddenly died during the pandemic were vaccinated, CBC News has learned. 

The misconduct allegations against Det. Helen Grus raise questions about how police treat cases involving the most vulnerable members of society — and whether their own personal pandemic biases are influencing their work.

Grus has been suspended with pay since Feb. 4 amid an ongoing internal disciplinary investigation into how and why she was allegedly attempting to collect the information.  A constable by rank, Grus is a detective in the force's sexual assault and child abuse unit, which investigates criminal cases that involve some of the most vulnerable victims police see.

That includes newborns and infants who die in sudden circumstances — investigations that are mandated by law.

[Noeller]

the most tone-deaf politician in Canada, possibly...??
 

 

[GCn20]

21 minutes ago, Noeller said:

the most tone-deaf politician in Canada, possibly...??
 

 

He's not entirely wrong. There is much debate about the effectiveness of carbon taxes and other green energy policies around the world. Not that green energy policies shouldn't exist but how they should be done and what should happen first. Reality is that the world as a whole is not ready to stop using fossil fuels in any meaningful way and little is being done to advance the infrastructures necessary to do so, and most green energy experts suggest that should be the first step of any green energy policy. The United Nations council for climate change, which is an international think tank of the world's most foremost green energy experts, has suggested that most of the industrialized world is going about it all wrong right now.

[JCon]

 

31 minutes ago, Noeller said:

the most tone-deaf politician in Canada, possibly...??
 

 

Plays well with the base.

Edited March 28, 2022 by JCon