Canadian Federal Politics Thread v5

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

If I was the Libs I would use "Trump Values" in every attack ad, press conferences and debates.

I'm sure they will.
CPC will attack the new Liberal leader as just like JT, Liberals will attach PP as too much like Trump.

Of course. some Canadians really want our own Trump; but I don't think enough for PP to leverage that as a benefit to him.

It may be difficult for him to play a role that's somewhat defiant to Trump in protection of Canada but also using successful Trump strategies.
He'll be walking a tight rope and the longer an election gets pushed out, the harder it will be.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by BoLevi

Harper's approach wasn't great. PPs isn't great.

Any solution that doesn't involve removing equalization payments is not good enough.

The problem in this country is that you can't get elected if you do two things- there's more, but these are two:

1. Propose to remove tariffs and the monopoly of the dairy cartel
2. Reduce Central Canada's ability to transfer wealth from the West.

Harper and PP both know this. But they also want to get elected.

Transfer payments move wealth from high-earning Canadians to lower earning Canadians. We’re fortunate enough to live in part of the country with more high-earning citizens than New Brunswick or Manitoba (partly because their younger and more productive people have moved here), so there’s a net shift of money out of the province.

You know where a similar transfer happens? From Alberta’s cities, which are young and productive, to Alberta’s rural communities, made up of people who are older and have lower incomes. Should we scrap this socialist model, keep Calgary taxes in Calgary, and let hospitals and schools in rural Alberta close?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I struggle to think of a country besides Canada where the right are actually less patriotic than the rest of society.

There’s a kind of absurd irony to Canadian right-wingers wearing “51st State” t-shirts and MAGA hats. So you revere the conservatives in a foreign country where conservatives have contempt for anything foreign. The cognitive dissonance is incredible.

What is incredible is decades of terrible policy by our governments that made us entirely dependent on a country that now wants to blow up our economy.

This isn't a right / left thing. This is an effective government thing. And we haven't had an effective government for decades that actually would solve the bigger issues our country faces.

Like interprovincial trade. Doug Ford is a bloody joke for saying anything about Canada First. Ontario is the biggest issue in Canada when it comes to doing more interprovincial trade. And how he wants to us to believe he cares about anything else other than oh rah rah I'm so tough to win the election? A joke.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Canada exports more oil and gas today than it ever has before.

I understand that for a lot people who work in O&G it will never be enough - that dream of a $3 million house in Springbank remains out of reach. They want someone to blame, and U.S. shale producers and OPEC aren’t as attractive targets as eastern politicians.

We export more oil & gas than ever before, to the US.

We only recently got the ability to export more to the world market because of Trans Mountain.

Our country suffers because you think this has to do with the a $3 million dollar house when it is actually about foundationally changing how Canada develops its resources and offers them to the world. Because just selling them to the US is not the solution.

In other words, this about creating generational wealth for all Canadians, because in case you haven't noticed, we're not really doing great when it comes to even performing against the poorest states in the US. Maybe wake up, eh?

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Azure

What is incredible is decades of terrible policy by our governments that made us entirely dependent on a country that now wants to blow up our economy.

This isn't a right / left thing. This is an effective government thing. And we haven't had an effective government for decades that actually would solve the bigger issues our country faces.

Like interprovincial trade. Doug Ford is a bloody joke for saying anything about Canada First. Ontario is the biggest issue in Canada when it comes to doing more interprovincial trade. And how he wants to us to believe he cares about anything else other than oh rah rah I'm so tough to win the election? A joke.

Just accepting your premise for the sake of argument, what do you propose as a solution? The only thing I can think of is a constitutional amendment that significantly broadens the jurisdiction of the federal government and significantly narrows the jurisdiction of provincial governments. That seems a strange thing to wish for if you're an angry conservative Albertan...

I suppose the other option is a constitutional amendment that significantly broadens the jurisdiction of Alberta and significantly narrows the jurisdiction of the federal government and the other provincial governments. But that will probably be a hard sell.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Transfer payments move wealth from high-earning Canadians to lower earning Canadians. We’re fortunate enough to live in part of the country with more high-earning citizens than New Brunswick or Manitoba (partly because their younger and more productive people have moved here), so there’s a net shift of money out of the province.

You know where a similar transfer happens? From Alberta’s cities, which are young and productive, to Alberta’s rural communities, made up of people who are older and have lower incomes. Should we scrap this socialist model, keep Calgary taxes in Calgary, and let hospitals and schools in rural Alberta close?

Yes this is pretty much how I feel about it. The regionalist propaganda has convinced many people that it's a place based wealth transfer when really it's a means based wealth transfer. Someone in Toronto who makes 100K per year pays the same amount for equalization as someone who makes 100K per year in Calgary.

Regardless of all that my point wasn't about equalization at all and more about how two-faced folk like the UCP and Moe are with how they will become apocalyptic about equalization... but only when a politician they don't identify with is the one in charge of or opining about it. If they actually cared about the topic they would spazz just as hard about it regardless of the color of the tie that the politician of the day are wearing and that they don't is telling.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Transfer payments move wealth from high-earning Canadians to lower earning Canadians. We’re fortunate enough to live in part of the country with more high-earning citizens than New Brunswick or Manitoba (partly because their younger and more productive people have moved here), so there’s a net shift of money out of the province.

You know where a similar transfer happens? From Alberta’s cities, which are young and productive, to Alberta’s rural communities, made up of people who are older and have lower incomes. Should we scrap this socialist model, keep Calgary taxes in Calgary, and let hospitals and schools in rural Alberta close?

It’s really fortunate for Calgary and Edmonton that the province of Athabasca wasn’t established.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

The government is antiquated and needs a modernization which also means that some jobs losses will be expected. I need to renew my passport in the next few months. Paper and mail is the only option for requesting a new passport which means that there is a multitude of people sitting in an office in Gatineau opening up letter, scanning papers, likely transposing information from that paper into a software form and finally processing the application. I have no idea why the information can't just be entered by the public into a government system to cut down on time and effort. They should be able to create a portal for using a selfie as a passport photo as well.

Good news, they are working on it:

Online passport renewal is now available

We’ve introduced online passport renewal for adults, starting with a small number of people. You may be randomly offered the online application if you need your passport in 20 business days or more.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...form-fees.html


It's not like we've made no progress on modernizing things, and a 10 year passport should have enough checks to keep it secure from fraud.


Coming home from Mexico I took a moment to enjoy just how great re-entering Canada is compared to the past. I filed my info in ArriveCan. I have a new phone, and hadn't set it up, but once the plane landed I got data, entered all the info on the taxi in, then went to a machine, did a quick scan and photo(no line despite being mid-plane) and walked on out. No more soul crushing line mazes where you get grilled about returning home. My point is, it's not all garbage.

[Ironhorse]

People still use ArriveCAN? When I went through the YYC international arrivals last fall, processing was as quick as can be through the new kiosks. And we were at the back of the plane.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Makarov

Just accepting your premise for the sake of argument, what do you propose as a solution? The only thing I can think of is a constitutional amendment that significantly broadens the jurisdiction of the federal government and significantly narrows the jurisdiction of provincial governments. That seems a strange thing to wish for if you're an angry conservative Albertan...

I suppose the other option is a constitutional amendment that significantly broadens the jurisdiction of Alberta and significantly narrows the jurisdiction of the federal government and the other provincial governments. But that will probably be a hard sell.

I'm not Albertan, so outside of understanding the benefits of the oil & gas industry to the rest of Canada, I don't view everything through that lens.

But the constitutional amendment is a good start.

An energy corridor would also be a good start.

You know what would also be a good start? Legalizing direct to consumer alcohol sales in Canada across all provinces. Why can't I buy booze online from Quebec, BC or Alberta? Just a small example, but a good example of braindead polices that negatively affects all Canadians.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

People still use ArriveCAN? When I went through the YYC international arrivals last fall, processing was as quick as can be through the new kiosks. And we were at the back of the plane.

I figured taxiing sucks anyway, may as well do it then vs at the machine. But yes, doing it at the machine doesn't take all that long either. Point is, options, fast, tech, yay.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Azure

I'm not Albertan, so outside of understanding the benefits of the oil & gas industry to the rest of Canada, I don't view everything through that lens.

But the constitutional amendment is a good start.

An energy corridor would also be a good start.

You know what would also be a good start? Legalizing direct to consumer alcohol sales in Canada across all provinces. Why can't I buy booze online from Quebec, BC or Alberta? Just a small example, but a good example of braindead polices that negatively affects all Canadians.

This booze thing is a real issue for you, eh?

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

People still use ArriveCAN? When I went through the YYC international arrivals last fall, processing was as quick as can be through the new kiosks. And we were at the back of the plane.

Ya, I fly down to San Fran pretty frequently to visit my sister and her family, coming back through Vancouver, customs takes less than a minute (not accounting for the long walk lol) every time

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Good news, they are working on it:



https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...form-fees.html


It's not like we've made no progress on modernizing things, and a 10 year passport should have enough checks to keep it secure from fraud.


Coming home from Mexico I took a moment to enjoy just how great re-entering Canada is compared to the past. I filed my info in ArriveCan. I have a new phone, and hadn't set it up, but once the plane landed I got data, entered all the info on the taxi in, then went to a machine, did a quick scan and photo(no line despite being mid-plane) and walked on out. No more soul crushing line mazes where you get grilled about returning home. My point is, it's not all garbage.

Its 2025. This should be expected from any 1st world country.

And it has nothing to do with how we should measure ourselves as a country.

What we SHOULD be using is maybe GDP per capita? Or is that the boogyman subject nobody wants to talk about?

1st world country rich with resources getting poorer by the year because of decades of incompetant government stupidity. Both provincial and federal.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

This booze thing is a real issue for you, eh?

I enjoy beer, hardly drink hard alcohol.

Manitoba actually has decent selection of non mainstream beers, so its not like its not available.

But, its just an example of something that directly goes against the consumer. Just a dumb policy.

But ask Doug Ford why he doesn't agree with it. I guess its not Canada First enough for him.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Azure

Its 2025. This should be expected from any 1st world country.

And it has nothing to do with how we should measure ourselves as a country.

What we SHOULD be using is maybe GDP per capita? Or is that the boogyman subject nobody wants to talk about?

1st world country rich with resources getting poorer by the year because of decades of incompetant government stupidity. Both provincial and federal.

Like the US? Oh..wait. How many countries have as good and easy a system? Why do you #### on absolutely everything?

[BoLevi]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Transfer payments move wealth from high-earning Canadians to lower earning Canadians. We’re fortunate enough to live in part of the country with more high-earning citizens than New Brunswick or Manitoba (partly because their younger and more productive people have moved here), so there’s a net shift of money out of the province.

You know where a similar transfer happens? From Alberta’s cities, which are young and productive, to Alberta’s rural communities, made up of people who are older and have lower incomes. Should we scrap this socialist model, keep Calgary taxes in Calgary, and let hospitals and schools in rural Alberta close?

Equalality is always available to every citizen. They just have to move to the location with the more productive economy.

It's never a good idea to transfer wealth from more productive jurisdictions to less productive jurisdictions. It just reduces labour mobility.

Equalization would be more justifiable if we didn't have freedom of movement. Anyone can move to Alberta.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Like the US? Oh..wait. How many countries have as good and easy a system? Why do you #### on absolutely everything?

He's going to stroke out when the Libs win 4 in a row. Things are rough on Portage.

[Firebot]

https://www.thestar.com/politics/fed...a6e815131.html

Carney being supported by Catherine McKenna, Steven Guilbeault, Jonathan Wilkinson, all huge advocates of the carbon tax, while pretending that the carbon tax is dead if you elect Carney.

“Mr. Poilievre has spent the last three years polarizing this issue, lying about the facts on this issue,” Wilkinson said.

Sounds like Wilkinson is furiously steaming, and it appears the Liberals core still think it's all just a messaging issue.

Going back in memory lane, on what he thought and how he felt about Canadians and provinces being upset.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wil...nces-1.7146585

"Based on the facts, the seven premiers are just wrong," Wilkinson told guest host David Common.

"I think we do need to do a better job of communicating the affordability dimensions of the price on pollution, because it is something that makes life more affordable," he said.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10158344/...litical-fight/

This article from January 8 2025 "Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says he would be 'committed' to the consumer carbon tax should he become Liberal ..."

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/arti...al-leadership/

“The consumer portion of the carbon price, I will continue to make the argument to Canadians that, actually, it enhances our ability to address climate change, and it does so in a manner that's affordable,” Wilkinson said in an interview with CTV’s Power Play on Wednesday.

Let's trust these guys to save you from themselves!

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by BoLevi

Equalality is always available to every citizen. They just have to move to the location with the more productive economy.

It's never a good idea to transfer wealth from more productive jurisdictions to less productive jurisdictions. It just reduces labour mobility.

Equalization would be more justifiable if we didn't have freedom of movement. Anyone can move to Alberta.

Anyone can move to a city, so we should stop subsidizing rural communities.