Canadian Federal Politics Thread v5

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That's not the definition of insanity, but I'm not surprised you are misinformed on that, too.

[Ozy_Flame]

Bam?

[blender]

Who believes that the current problems regarding affordable housing and inflation are caused by the Federal government?

It's easy to want to believe it, but it isn't the case.
Yeah, the list of Liberal mistakes and embarrassments is long, but what we are experiencing globally is a direct result of Washington Concensus policies and extreme free-market capitalism. Wealth has been moving towards the top and will continue to do so.

If you are the like many of here and you own a house and have some money you can invest and get a return, etc, life can be not bad and you can debate party politics and policy decisions til you feel satisfied that you've been heard. Or, if you are like the great majority of humans and you are living near, at, or below the poverty line, you will never really get ahead, and you will be more likely to fall in for the kind of rhetoric and, dare I say, fear mongering, that seems to dominate much of our political discourse.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by blender

Who believes that the current problems regarding affordable housing and inflation are caused by the Federal government?

It's easy to want to believe it, but it isn't the case.
Yeah, the list of Liberal mistakes and embarrassments is long, but what we are experiencing globally is a direct result of Washington Concensus policies and extreme free-market capitalism. Wealth has been moving towards the top and will continue to do so.

If you are the like many of here and you own a house and have some money you can invest and get a return, etc, life can be not bad and you can debate party politics and policy decisions til you feel satisfied that you've been heard. Or, if you are like the great majority of humans and you are living near, at, or below the poverty line, you will never really get ahead, and you will be more likely to fall in for the kind of rhetoric and, dare I say, fear mongering, that seems to dominate much of our political discourse.

Agreed, these problems are bigger than Canada, but I think most would agree that significantly higher levels of immigration have exacerbated the housing problem here.

I generally align with the Liberals’ positions on things but hope the next leader says “we’ve gone too far”. Cut back a bit on taxation, immigration, DEI, regulations, etc., while still supporting them, and I think the public would feel like the government is more focused on the public’s priorities vs the government’s or party’s.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I completely understand people’s frustrations regarding finding good jobs and being able to afford a house, I’m not sure I understand how they think the CPC are going to help them in those areas. Even if for example the CPC get rid of the carbon tax, without getting into the rebates debate that couple of hundred dollars they would hypothetically be saving annually isn’t likely to put them in a position to afford a home if they can’t do so now. And even if more homes get built than their currently are it’s not going to lower the existing prices either.

Why aren’t Canadians voting for the NDP is a good question the left should ask themself .

Clearly people fleeing the Liberals see the conservatives as a better option

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Why aren’t Canadians voting for the NDP is a good question the left should ask themself .

Clearly people fleeing the Liberals see the conservatives as a better option

I’d say rightly or wrongly in the eyes of most Canadians they’re too connected to the liberals at this point, mainly because Singh hasn’t done enough as a leader to really show enough of a distinction between the two parties. Some voters who abandoned the liberals in the last election and opted to vote for the NDP as an alternative were also probably frustrated with the post election supply and confidence agreement between the two as well.

One of Singh’s biggest failures in my opinion was not exploring the possibility of a coalition with the CPC and BQ. It’s likely that the CPC wouldn’t have wanted to work with them, or else they’d be saying the same publicly but it’s also likely due to the fact that the liberals could have approached the BQ with a similar supply and confidence agreement to prevent that too. In which case the NDP would have been effectively silenced in the House of Commons. Whatever the reasoning behind the scenes Singh chose to get a dental and pharmacare program established as well as things like anti-scab legislation and minimum wage increases for federally regulated workers at all costs.

While I think Singh is a smarter person than a lot of people give him credit for he hasn’t been a very effective politician or party leader. Even though he has managed to achieve more major objectives for his party than any other party leader with as low of a seat count, it came with the cost of at best stalling or at worst setting back his party politically with how he went about getting it.

The federal NDP should have built on the momentum they had coming out of the 2021 election(they were the only major party to see a significant increase in votes from the 2019 election while the liberals and CPC suffered significant decreases) but in my opinion their inability to look for alternative means of achieving their objectives without essentially giving the liberals a free pass wasn’t an effective strategy. That being said I still think they’re unlikely to lose a lot of votes overall and could still make big gains, it really all depend on how many people decide to hold their noses and vote liberal in ridings where they’re ahead to try and prevent the CPC from gaining seats.

Still doesn’t answer the question as to why so many believe the CPC will provide them with jobs that will make housing more affordable as some claim to think.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by edslunch

DEI

Can you explain this one further? I'd be interested to know what you think they need to cut back on here.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Still doesn’t answer the question as to why so many believe the CPC will provide them with jobs that will make housing more affordable as some claim to think.

Clearly, the Liberals have done such a poor job that all the other parties would need to do is say “we aren’t the Liberals”. This isn’t an endorsement of any party, just explains how terrible the Liberals have been.

As you pointed out, the NDP are too closely tied to the sinking ship that they will go down with them.

Crazy, that our current government is this bad, and the polling numbers back it up.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

Clearly, the Liberals have done such a poor job that all the other parties would need to do is say “we aren’t the Liberals”. This isn’t an endorsement of any party, just explains how terrible the Liberals have been.

As you pointed out, the NDP are too closely tied to the sinking ship that they will go down with them.

Crazy, that our current government is this bad, and the polling numbers back it up.

I take it you’re going to keep dodging backing up what you specifically think the conservatives are going to do to provide jobs which will pay well enough for Canadians across the country to be more able to afford homes they currently can’t?

[Ped]

I completely understand people’s frustrations regarding finding good jobs and being able to afford a house, I’m not sure I understand how they think the CPC are going to help them in those areas. Even if for example the CPC get rid of the carbon tax, without getting into the rebates debate that couple of hundred dollars they would hypothetically be saving annually isn’t likely to put them in a position to afford a home if they can’t do so now. And even if more homes get built than their currently are it’s not going to lower the existing prices either.

Come now - axe the tax, stop buying that coffee every day, and just work harder, and you too, can afford a house!

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by Ped

Come now - axe the tax, stop buying that coffee every day, and just work harder, and you too, can afford a house!

Cancel Disney channel.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Ped

Come now - axe the tax, stop buying that coffee every day, and just work harder, and you too, can afford a house!

Gen z: still didn't work

CPC: may I offer you no CBC in this trying time?

[Looch City]

Normal people have jobs. Be normal and stop being woke.

[blender]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Agreed, these problems are bigger than Canada, but I think most would agree that significantly higher levels of immigration have exacerbated the housing problem here.

I generally align with the Liberals’ positions on things but hope the next leader says “we’ve gone too far”. Cut back a bit on taxation, immigration, DEI, regulations, etc., while still supporting them, and I think the public would feel like the government is more focused on the public’s priorities vs the government’s or party’s.

Fair point.
Obviously good governance is required, especially in the case of adverse external factors.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I take it you’re going to keep dodging backing up what you specifically think the conservatives are going to do to provide jobs which will pay well enough for Canadians across the country to be more able to afford homes they currently can’t?

There are only 3 choices

You’ve already (quiet well) explained why ex Liberal voters won’t vote NDP

Sometimes (almost always) the hope of something better is all you need

And while I know a lot (well like 10 people who live on this board ) think the fringe issues matter , most of the country cares about affording a home , the cost of food , and having a job

And all three of those things are getting worse with this government.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I take it you’re going to keep dodging backing up what you specifically think the conservatives are going to do to provide jobs which will pay well enough for Canadians across the country to be more able to afford homes they currently can’t?

I think the solution to that problem is largely going to end up being less immigration. That reduces pressure on the housing market and reduces competition for jobs.

It's not even a "no immigrants" policy, it's more like "take your foot off the gas of record-breaking population growth".

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think the solution to that problem is largely going to end up being less immigration. That reduces pressure on the housing market and reduces competition for jobs.

It's not even a "no immigrants" policy, it's more like "take your foot off the gas of record-breaking population growth".

I mean, even Trudeau himself said it was out of control.

[Ped]

And all three of those things are getting worse with this government.

Agreed.


But does any party have a workable plan to fix it?

[ThisIsAnOutrage]

Interesting piece here:https://reason.com/2024/07/10/joe-bi...cies-possible/

Basically, Biden is a viable nominee because Trump is awful, and Trump is a viable nominee because Biden is so senile and old. If either side had a good candidate, the other would be crushed.

Feels like the same reasoning applies in Canada. One crumby leader up against another, engaged in a reciprocal codependent-enabler relationship. One side is bad one way, so the other side is bad in another way, just to show it could cancel out the bad things the first side does.

Gross. There isn't even a lesser of two evils choice. It's the same evil all around; and we've all been fooled into taking a side.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think the solution to that problem is largely going to end up being less immigration. That reduces pressure on the housing market and reduces competition for jobs.

It's not even a "no immigrants" policy, it's more like "take your foot off the gas of record-breaking population growth".

I would love to see a detailed explanation of the government’s rationale for high immigration levels. I know part of it is the ageing population, and I’ve seen references to want to grow to 100 million people but I’d like to see the overall strategy behind it. It didn’t spring up from nowhere. I’m not opposed necessarily apart from the immediate stresses it places on housing, etc. but neither do I know what problems it is targeting.