Canadian Federal Politics Thread v5

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

People keep giving Trump wins in the hopes that'll be it. But it never is.

Precisely why Canada should do what I said a couple weeks ago. Make new friends. It involves increased export of energy though so BC would need to get their head around that.

If the US don’t wanna be buds anymore time to go make new buds who will. Like this should be pretty obvious. I’m thinking Asian societies which have been begging for Canadian energy for the last 20 years. And not in like a decade, now.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Just stating facts, she has never advocated caving to the US. She has advocated to give Trump a win. From what I recall its offering to expedite NATO funding in exchange for tariff pause.

Then Trump can get on stage a crow bout how he finally got Canada to ante up like they always wanted.

she seems afraid that a trade war with the US will crush us. I frankly agree with her. We need more of this type of diplomacy and less Trudeau and Ford asking us to finger Trump with them.

The problem is Trump has not laid out a precise set of demands and conditions for achieving them, he has just spouted a laundry list of grievances as well as mused about making so much money on tariffs that he can eliminate personal income tax. The border stuff is nonsense but gives him legal cover for whatever he wants to do, by labelling it an emergency. Anyone who claims that us beefing up border security and buying more US stuff will placate him is being naive.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

People keep giving Trump wins in the hopes that'll be it. But it never is.

You see, we just have to lose to win. Once we lose, Trump will stop asking for wins, and then we’ll have won because we won’t be losing after we already lost, until the next time Trump wants a win, in which case then we’ll have to lose, but so long as we lose again, we win!

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by edslunch

The problem is Trump has not laid out a precise set of demands and conditions for achieving them, he has just spouted a laundry list of grievances as well as mused about making so much money on tariffs that he can eliminate personal income tax. The border stuff is nonsense but gives him legal cover for whatever he wants to do, by labelling it an emergency. Anyone who claims that us beefing up border security and buying more US stuff will placate him is being naive.

I am not saying you are right or wrong here. But how do you know? Just because there have been public musings about these grievances doesn’t necessarily mean that there haven’t been more specific conversations and negotiations between the two government officials.

I guess we are really mostly speculating here, unless you know what has been happening with the negotiations. I will say I am not up to date (I have not been following the news closely in past 4 or 5 days).

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by BoLevi

You want somone else to pay so people can have "social network". This is the kind of daydremy thinking that got this country into this mess.

I don’t think people should receive direct government payments to stay in economically depressed regions. But that’s not what transfer payments are about. They ensure the delivery of public services like education and health care don’t depend on what region of the country you live in, and public schools and hospitals are as well-funded in New Brunswick as in Alberta. Maintaining access to good schools and health care keeps people in their communities and aids in family formation and wellbeing. Young families who have parents nearby don’t have to rely on daycare, and seniors are more likely to remain independent (and out of expensive care homes) if their adult children live nearby.

Ignoring things like social bonds is how you get a society that is materially prosperous, but with crumbling rates of family formation, more elderly in institutional care, and increased anxiety, depression, and alienation. Which I’d argue is what we have in North America today. If putting a couple thousand more dollars in peoples’ pockets made them happier, we wouldn’t have so many Canadians who earn $150k+ moaning about how broken the country is and embracing the politics of resentment. IMHO, our society’s ills are largely cultural rather than material. Our grandparents were happier with much less.

[shotinthebacklund]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Another new poll came out today, this time from Mainstreet which has some interesting numbers that might suggest that the Conservatives' lead is shrinking. Technically it was for the Ontario provincial election, but they also asked federal vote intention as part of that and the results were:

36% - Liberal
34% - Conservative
11% - NDP
4% - Green
2% - PPC
11% - Undecided

High undecided number, but the Liberals are still leading and the breakdown is actually very similar to the Ontario numbers in the EKOS polls that have shown the Liberals within single digits nationally.

https://338canada.com/federal.htm
results were as of yesterday. Safe to assume the Liberals were always going to close the gap before election with a new leader.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

It always seems insensitive to ask but what’s up with that anyway?

Terry Fox is the least controversial thing to base Canadian identity and pride around. UN peacekeeping served that role for a while, but it became impossible to maintain that narrative over the last 20 years as peacekeeping stopped being a thing.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by shotinthebacklund

https://338canada.com/federal.htm
results were as of yesterday. Safe to assume the Liberals were always going to close the gap before election with a new leader.

The Policy de jour is USA Canadian relations, and conservatives like the UCP and Smith have been widely criticized.

Polivier needs to distance himself from the crazies, and make promises to the middle if he wants a long and strong government.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

The Policy de jour is USA Canadian relations, and conservatives like the UCP and Smith have been widely criticized.

Polivier needs to distance himself from the crazies, and make promises to the middle if he wants a long and strong government.

Distance himself from himself? hahahaa

He is the ultimate batkyit crazy dweeb!

He had no chance with Southern Ontario.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'm gonna stop you right there...

There is a tariff like cost in place between in the restrictions, but its never really been clearly explained how Canadians are paying more.

Maybe move past your irrational hatred for PP and acknowledge that?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Ford takes the quickest and easiest buck every time.

Canada First!

*as long as Ford gets elected.

[Azure]

Well duh. Maybe tell your former boss to use his common sense if he has any?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1883646346915365333

[ThePrince]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Precisely why Canada should do what I said a couple weeks ago. Make new friends. It involves increased export of energy though so BC would need to get their head around that.

If the US don’t wanna be buds anymore time to go make new buds who will. Like this should be pretty obvious. I’m thinking Asian societies which have been begging for Canadian energy for the last 20 years. And not in like a decade, now.

If only there were people a decade ago, or five years ago, or three years ago, or last year who thought we would benefit from additional infrastructure to diversify the markets Canada sells into. If only there were people who screamed at the top of their lungs that Canada has a wealth of resources, and we can benefit by accelerating the development of those resources for the good of all Canadians.

People who would have fought back against the over-regulation and bureaucracy that's creeped into trying to get any infrastructure projects off of the ground.

Wish there was people like that around back then. Nobody at all could have seen this coming because diversification is stupid, and not at all a risk mitigation strategy that's used extensively throughout the world to manage financial risk.

Oh well, guess we'll just be screwed for the next four years because it's too late to get anything approved or built in the next four years, and then we'll forget about it until the next time this comes up.

The most prominent form of Canadian arrogance is thinking we're the ####, when really we just so happen to live next to the largest economy in the world and have been able to feed them the fuel they need to grow for decades. We've squandered the opportunity to use that to help us gain an economic advantage and diversify our markets, and instead gone the other way to virtue signaling and a massive superiority complex bred from this arrogance. We are no different than the child who grew up with a rich daddy that paid for everything, and think we somehow earned it.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by ThePrince

If only there were people a decade ago, or five years ago, or three years ago, or last year who thought we would benefit from additional infrastructure to diversify the markets Canada sells into. If only there were people who screamed at the top of their lungs that Canada has a wealth of resources, and we can benefit by accelerating the development of those resources for the good of all Canadians.

People who would have fought back against the over-regulation and bureaucracy that's creeped into trying to get any infrastructure projects off of the ground.

Wish there was people like that around back then. Nobody at all could have seen this coming because diversification is stupid, and not at all a risk mitigation strategy that's used extensively throughout the world to manage financial risk.

Oh well, guess we'll just be screwed for the next four years because it's too late to get anything approved or built in the next four years, and then we'll forget about it until the next time this comes up.

The most prominent form of Canadian arrogance is thinking we're the ####, when really we just so happen to live next to the largest economy in the world and have been able to feed them the fuel they need to grow for decades. We've squandered the opportunity to use that to help us gain an economic advantage and diversify our markets, and instead gone the other way to virtue signaling and a massive superiority complex bred from this arrogance. We are no different than the child who grew up with a rich daddy that paid for everything, and think we somehow earned it.

Yeah, the free market should've done something about that ...

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by ThePrince

If only there were people a decade ago, or five years ago, or three years ago, or last year who thought we would benefit from additional infrastructure to diversify the markets Canada sells into. If only there were people who screamed at the top of their lungs that Canada has a wealth of resources, and we can benefit by accelerating the development of those resources for the good of all Canadians.

People who would have fought back against the over-regulation and bureaucracy that's creeped into trying to get any infrastructure projects off of the ground.

Wish there was people like that around back then. Nobody at all could have seen this coming because diversification is stupid, and not at all a risk mitigation strategy that's used extensively throughout the world to manage financial risk.

Oh well, guess we'll just be screwed for the next four years because it's too late to get anything approved or built in the next four years, and then we'll forget about it until the next time this comes up.

The most prominent form of Canadian arrogance is thinking we're the ####, when really we just so happen to live next to the largest economy in the world and have been able to feed them the fuel they need to grow for decades. We've squandered the opportunity to use that to help us gain an economic advantage and diversify our markets, and instead gone the other way to virtue signaling and a massive superiority complex bred from this arrogance. We are no different than the child who grew up with a rich daddy that paid for everything, and think we somehow earned it.

Some of the same people who were trying to argue for these projects back then are actively lobbying to do the same sabotage(for a lack of a better term) to other industries. It’s a #### show because of how much corporate money is in politics. It’s not impacting only one industry or special interest group.

You’re right on a lot of your points, though there are more factors that were involved in why the projects didn’t get off the ground but right now it’s pointless and unproductive to play the blame game, we need to find solutions. The blame game is what got us here in the first place. Unfortunately our elected officials can’t seem to pull their heads out of their asses, think pragmatically and do their job: represent and fight for the best interests of their constituents.

[ThePrince]

Originally Posted by Cappy

Yeah, the free market should've done something about that ...

Ya, it's totally a free market situation when you look at the over-regulation, taxation, and political issues.

The lack of infrastructure in Canada actually literally is the free market speaking and saying "Canada is not investable, we can make a better return elsewhere and not have to deal with the issues listed above".

I've said this time and again on this board, but Canada has gotten to a point where there is no investment thesis anymore. So not sure where you're coming from.

[Fuzz]

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/dail...01-png-eng.htm


It's not, you know, taking off, but it's not not happening. Haven't looked deeply, but sum links here might explain the story.


https://www.international.gc.ca/trad....aspx?lang=eng

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by BoLevi

Many of this active posters here are pretty leftist.

I think the active posters are pretty centrist by Canadian standards. Which might be left of American standards I guess.

[Fuzz]

Canada is open for business and welcomes foreign investment

• Canada will be the 2nd best country in the G20 for doing business throughout the next five years (2024-2028); it has consistently ranked among the top 10 countries in the last 5 years. Economist Intelligence Unit, August 2024.
• Among the G20 countries, Canada ranks 3rd with respect to the ease of starting a business. GEM Consortium, Global Entrepreneurship monitor – 2023/2024 Global Report, 2024.
• Canada ranks 5th among G20 countries in terms of the least complex jurisdiction for conducting business. TMF Group’s Global Business Complexity Index, June 2024.
• Foreign investors choose Canada: Canada had the second-largest foreign direct investment (FDI) stock to GDP ratio among G20 countries in 2022. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, April 2024.
• Of the 25 countries included in the Kearney FDI Confidence Index, a measure of the likelihood of a market attracting investment in the next three years, Canada ranks 2nd overall after the United States. Kearney, April 2024.

https://www.international.gc.ca/trad...px?lang=eng#a2


I know the above is horn tooting, but by the narrative presented by some posters, you'd think we arrest anyone who walks into the country with investment dollars.

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by Cappy

Yeah, the free market should've done something about that ...

Free market is saying that is it cheaper to refine oil in the US in refineries located in Texas and export it back to Canada, than refining the oil in Canada.

Free market says that when oil crashed to negative pricing in 2020 and Irving finally bought Alberta oil as it was finally profitable for Irving to refine it at its refineries, it was cheaper to ship it across the fricking Panama Canal than it was for it to travel within the same country (which Energy East would have facilitated interprovincial trade and energy supply).

https://twitter.com/user/status/1257709178719633409

Free market dictates it made more economical sense for Onvitiv to relocate it's Calgary headquarters to the US.

Free market dictates that Shell divested its oil sands assets for more lucrative projects outside of Canada after significant political turmoil in Canada and new proposed regulations such as Bill C-69 showing worsening situation.

The free market will do what is most profitable. Canada is currently not very friendly to investments within Canada.