Federal Politics 2015 Thread

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by RedHot25

I've also heard that you have to be careful with lpc numbers because they are so skewed in the maritimes that it distorts their overall # somewhat.

Yeah, and the NDP numbers are being heavily skewed by Quebec. They're still well in third in every other province except BC.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Yeah, and the NDP numbers are being heavily skewed by Quebec. They're still well in third in every other province except BC.

It creates a weird situation where there is a three-way tie nationally, but only the conservatives have a realistic shot at forming any kind of government.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

It creates a weird situation where there is a three-way tie nationally, but only the conservatives have a realistic shot at forming any kind of government.

Yeah, I would be shocked if the NDP and Liberals even grabbed enough seats and votes to form a coalition.

[nik-]

Old fashioned federal politics ... but Jacques Parizeau is dead.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/06...n_7489986.html

I'm just gonna follow the "if you can't say anything nice ..." rule here.

[Bownesian]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

It creates a weird situation where there is a three-way tie nationally, but only the conservatives have a realistic shot at forming any kind of government.

Seat projections are in the ~130 CPC, ~100 LPC, ~100 NDP range.

The initial government could be CPC but I can see a scenario where the throne speech gets voted down and the second-place party gets their shot and gets to govern for a year or two.

It's hard for me to imagine a majority from anyone except maybe the conservatives (and that is pretty unlikely). I doubt there could be a collapse in the NDP or CPC vote sufficient to vault the Liberals to a majority because of their relative efficiencies, and it's hard to envision a Liberal collapse that doesn't also benefit the Conservatives in Ontario to the detriment of an NDP majority.

[eddly]

According to the liberals the middle class family makes approximately between 40 to 80k a year. They have promised significant child tax benefits for this bracket. Apparently anyone with income over 80k is super rich according to them.

[worth]

If you're pulling in 80k, i'd say you're doing alright.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by worth

If you're pulling in 80k, i'd say you're doing alright.

Most people aren't aware that the median household (not individual) income for Canada is ~$75k.

Source: StatsCan, 2012 figures.

[eddly]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Most people aren't aware that the median household (not individual) income for Canada is ~$75k.

Source: StatsCan, 2012 figures.

Who should we trust? Fancy statscan data or calgarypuck polls saying everyone makes over 100k?

On 80k family income no debt or assets according to rbc's mortgage affordability calculator you can afford a mortgage of ~350k. Is that middle class? 80k is the highest range of middle class as well according to the liberals. What is my point? I guess non really... I just think net worth should be considered in class definition as well.

[rubecube]

And in a move that should be shocking to absolutely no one who actually follows the party...

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/06...n_7497224.html

Federal Conservatives have suggested they will reject calls from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for both a public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and Canada's implementation of a landmark United Nations document on First Nations' rights.

Bernard Valcourt also really showed his class when the report was released on Tuesday by refusing to stand with the rest of the audience. Again though, not surprising and I'm sure it will play well with the base.

On Tuesday, the TRC released a long-awaited report on the shameful legacy of the residential school system. The push for a national inquiry and adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People were both included among 94 wide-ranging recommendations.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has previously ruled out taking both actions and, in question period, hinted its position was unlikely to change.

Kellie Leitch, minister for the status of women, said "we don’t need yet another study" on crimes against innocent people, but rather for the police to catch and punish those responsible.

"What we need now is action, like those our government has taken on matrimonial property rights, the creation of safety plans, or making sure that there are shelters available for women on reserves," she said.

[Canuck-Hater]

This is Canada's Aboriginal Affairs minister? What an embarrassment.

[llwhiteoutll]

Realistically, what more action is there to take? Anything short of dumping more cash into a severely broken system is denounced as racist and discriminatory.

An investigation into missing/murdered aboriginals will turn up what everyone already knows, that aboriginals are mainly responsible. Then the results and those who investigated will be call racist and there will be calls for more money to "fix" it. If we give them more money for policing, it just goes into the black hole that is the reserve system.

Giving aboriginals the same rights as others in Canada will never gain any traction outside of non-aboriginal circles. Again, because it will be called racist and discriminatory.

Accepting the entire report at face value like the Liberals and NDP will do and blindly dumping a few billion more is useless. Money will not fix the issues on reserves.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

Realistically, what more action is there to take? Anything short of dumping more cash into a severely broken system is denounced as racist and discriminatory.

An investigation into missing/murdered aboriginals will turn up what everyone already knows, that aboriginals are mainly responsible. Then the results and those who investigated will be call racist and there will be calls for more money to "fix" it. If we give them more money for policing, it just goes into the black hole that is the reserve system.

Giving aboriginals the same rights as others in Canada will never gain any traction outside of non-aboriginal circles. Again, because it will be called racist and discriminatory.

Accepting the entire report at face value like the Liberals and NDP will do and blindly dumping a few billion more is useless. Money will not fix the issues on reserves.

Did you actually read the article?

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Did you actually read the article?

Did you really have to ask?

[Tinordi]

White men "telling you how it is" about a deeply marginalized ethnic group on the internet.

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Did you actually read the article?

And the partial list of recommendations that was published.

The vast majority of them involved spending more money for a perceived gain.

The one thing that I agree should happen is a FINAL settlement with residential school survivors (read: those who were forced to attend) and then be done with it. No more settlement money and no need for a monument to them in every capital city.

Going back to one of the main points in the article. What exactly will an inquiry do when the results are already known?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

Going back to one of the main points in the article. What exactly will an inquiry do when the results are already known?

At the very least it shows that government is concerned about the trend. Secondly, there is reason to believe that LE acted negligently in many of these cases, something that an inquiry would likely uncover.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

And the partial list of recommendations that was published.

The vast majority of them involved spending more money for a perceived gain.

Here's the full list:

http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstit...n_English2.pdf

I think you're misrepresenting it quite a bit. Most of the funding proposals have to do with closing the gap in funding that aboriginals on reserves receive in areas such as health care and education compared to the rest of Canada. I believe current estimates show that aboriginals only receive about 70% of the funding for education that other Canadians receive.

[rubecube]

The shorter list of recommendations is here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/06...n_7494384.html

— Create a mandatory, age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, treaties and the contributions of Aboriginal Peoples taught across Canada from kindergarten to grade 12;

— Build a residential-schools monument in every provincial and territorial capital;

— Increase CBC and Radio-Canada funding to better ensure it can support reconciliation and include the languages and perspectives of Aboriginal Peoples;

— Pass a federal law establishing aboriginal education standards to ensure children going to school on reserves have access to the same resources as those outside their communities;

— Develop post-secondary programs in aboriginal languages;

— Establish mechanisms to narrow the health-care gap between Aboriginal Peoples and other Canadians, including building aboriginal healing practices into the health-care system and spending more on aboriginal healing centres;

These all seem like very obvious things that should be implemented. The one I don't really agree with is the proposal to exempt aboriginals from minimum sentencing laws. I get trying to reduce the disproportionate number of aboriginals in prisons, but if you're a dangerous offender then you need to be locked up for the safety of the public.

[Quincy Egg]

Natives are killing each other. Not to mention the men are killing each other at a higher rate but somehow they turn this into a gender thing.