Discussions

As I get older I realize how pointless it is to engage in party politics.  
I used to have a strong interest in politics but over the years I have been repeatedly turned off by the actions of many politicians.  
The fact is that very few politicians anywhere possess any real principles beyond their own political and financial ambitions. Most politicians of all parties have little understanding or desire to learn about the lives and struggles of hardworking people across the country .

Once a person gets into an elected position it would take a very conscientious and dedicated person to truly stay in contact with the people. Over time a person in an elected position can get tired maybe even burned out or jaded and lose touch with their base.  
 
As with this pandemic there are a few elected officials who struggle with self entitlement and rules do not apply to them. The party leader should keep these people in line.

Those who are elected to govern should remember they to are governed by the laws of the country.  
When elected one should represent all people of the given area that they were elected in.  
Limited terms, no more than three terms, also the ability of voters, of a given riding, to have the right to recall elected representative.  
The final point is one that has been talked about but never had anything done about it.  
Representation by population is what we have, but that means laws can be tailored to suit the masses but ignoring regional differences. A senate that gave all provinces an equal number of representatives, and actually had some power to overturn items, or force them to be addressed for the good of all areas of the country.

Both of the next elections are going to be very hard to vote. I really don’t like any of them or what they represent right now.

There is nothing the Conservatives can do that will impress me or convince me it's in the best interests of Canadians. I was terrified of Scheer becoming PM and am very glad that he did not. Our own Premier has a horrid approval ratings for good reasons.  
 
I am hoping one day to wake up and have an NDP prime minister, which is probably a long shot, so at the very least I am hoping that this will be Brian Pallister's final term as our Premier.  
 
In any case, the best thing anyone can do is try to go directly to the source of information as opposed to media outlets. The second best thing you can do is read stories from many diverse media outlets to try and obtain a well rounded picture.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/politics/no-place-for-far-right-in-conservative-party-o-toole-1.5270396?cid=sm%3Atrueanthem%3Actvnews%3Apost&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1J6FVXQmUrtTyJT2OMu84rroyZbqtiwT-e9aa5DW-Ug8oXO5iDeMBzOnk

Not buying it!! All he's trying to do is attempt to distance himself from what happened at the Capitol. Just like trump tried to do by saying that those people are not his supporters. He's still going to speak in ways to keep those types as supporters. Many of those involved where chanting that they are taking back the US, just like how O'Toole keeps saying take back Canada.

Just yesterday you complained about anything pro liberal being attacked. What do you think your doing in your last post above. Just like spades your assuming his future words. ? Give the guy a chance hes been official opposition like what 3 months? I don’t think any Canadian politician would entice a hate fueled riot north of the boarder. So to even compare them having the same narratives is a joke... maybe even slight far leftish?

I am not 'assuming' anything about what O'Toole may or may not say. What I have presented through out this thread is to express my concern that the events down south are influencing Canadian's views with a larger percentage of those views showing up in the Conservative party. There are a number of conservative members who are using the same rhetoric as Trump and his followers. They are creating an environment that builds fear in the population by saying such things as Trudeau rigged or will rig the election, mail in ballots are fraudulent and they are dehumanizing Trudeau and his party, calling them communists.  
I appreciate that O'Toole has made this statement. He is attempting to reassure Canadians of where he stands. But, as the Conservative party leader, he has to take responsibility for what his members are saying.  
 
In Canada we are no where near as divided (I hope) as the US. But the language being used by some people in parties in our country is a path we do not want to go down. Only the leaders can turn it around.  
 
Edited by Spades!!, 2021-01-17 21:43:32

Sadly Canada is more divided than you think. Remember we do not have a majority federal government. If this isn’t created by division then I don’t know what is.  
Unfortunately much of this division has been caused by the lies and deceit from self serving politicians of all parties.

He was elected way back in August. He's fool and proved it long before his winning the leadership. He needs that far right ideology to win. So he panders to that base. He incites the hate of liberals to his base through his memes. His false claim about Harrington Lake being Trudeau's personal residence. His false claim about Trudeau and WE charity. That's the only reason why he was selected leader.  
 
His father wasn't blue collar middle class, he was upper management at GM with a BA from University of Toronto before becoming MPP for 20 years. So his claim he grewup middle class is b.s. He was better off than most in the middle class.

What are other conservatives members saying that is so bad he needs to take responsibility for. Can you link quotes and links please ?

So he was elected in aug. it takes a little while for him to gain all his elected power. Look at Biden he’s been elected but not fully president yet (BTW one of the first things he plans to Do is shut down keystone xl pipeline expansion that will directly hurt Canada)  
 
Let’s give O’Toole, 4 months in minority government. That parliament has been prorogued for over half that time also. Since were being so critical of our conservative leader. How much do you really think he can accomplish in this short term. And you mentioned false claims about we charity. If they were so false how come J.T. literally had to shutdown the government so no one could find any answers about it. If there was nothing to his he wouldn’t of put such and effort into hiding it.

I want to clarify I’m not a trump supporter either. But I did take time and look at all the party’s campaign promises prior and I knew Biden trying to shut down the keystone XL. I just didn’t think it would be something he did day 1 in office.

As the new cleaner green economy emerges from the shadow of covid 19 there will be no place anymore for fossil fuel industries. Biden will be doing the right thing by shutting down the pipeline. There will be more of that to come in the next few years as demand for these products is reduced.

It seems; if you are a liberal you don’t like the conservatives and if you are a conservatives you don’t like the liberals. Fine. That’s everyone’s right. And you hear bashing and untruths from both sides. Fine. But to claim that the conservatives are as bad as the American republicans is simply a gross exaggeration. And everyone knows it. To site that is simply fear mongering and has no place here in Canada. If you want to start that kind of rioting from either side just start people talking about it and arguing about it. Our politics are (for the most part) civilized. Let’s celebrate and not incite. Differences are a good thing. They create dialogue and discussion to find solutions. Name calling doesn’t.

Our government has committed to change and so has President Elect Biden, the political will and public pressure is now ever present. That means that you, I and everyone else will have to adapt and change our lifestyles, businesses and the way we work and move around. The covid pandemic and resulting economic fallout has and will continue to accelerate those changes, previously ‘blue chip’ industries will follow this change or fail. To appeal to a new generation of voters our politicians will continue to push and drive that change.

I think that they will be forced to follow the lead of North America and Europe as technology evolves.

The statements that concerned me were in the comment sections of various Conservative based groups about election rigging and mail in ballots being fraudulent. I do not have links to provide because it is just what I was seeing in the comments. Plus, like Trevor said, you try to put as balanced a comment possible on these sites and you get called a liberal communist.  
 
Also I spent some time looking at some recent videos by Michelle Rempel Garner who originally sparked my concerns about a MAGA slant to her politics and her language has moderated considerably from the first couple of videos I saw her do.  
Given the 'pot calling the kettle black' tendency to political finger pointing I suspect this next election will see Conservatives focus on the unethical mistakes Trudeau has made, calling him dishonest and hiding facts from Canadians. While Liberals will attack and spread fear that Conservatives are all Trump supporters. The next election should be interesting to see what direction each party takes.

We can't have a discussion on Canadian politics with out talking about Trudeau's new policy to increase Carbon Tax.  
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/eccc/documents/pdf/climate-change/climate-plan/healthy_environment_healthy_economy_plan.pdf  
 
My concern is that for every dollar industry is charged they simply pass the cost on to the consumer. Is this going to lead to energy insecurity, worsening of food insecurity within the more vulnerable populations?  
or  
Will the Carbon Tax Rebate be sufficient to off set this?

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/17/trump-twitter-ban-five-free-speech-experts-weigh-in  
 
https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/carbon-tax-cap-trade/

Your holding the entire Conservative party accountable for the comment section of random people on Facebook.... am I reading this right? Please now common and think for a second here. The politicians aren’t saying this blasphemy some random joe on Facebook is....

Unfortunately for the consumer the carbon taxes placed on industry will be passed on to the consumer , that’s the point. Consumers (that’s all of us) have to consume less of everything to meet environmental targets . This will be especially hard on those less fortunate. I accept that we all need to reduce our environmental foot print but am unconvinced that additional taxation is the way to go about it. My hope is that eventually Canadian politicians will offer more rebates and incentives at least in the short term to those that adopt greener technologies and change their lifestyle habits. This will not be easy for many of us , our lives will change profoundly but I think that Canada for the most part is committed to change and politicians seeking office will have to accept these targets and expectations.

https://spencerfernando.com/2021/01/12/adam-vaughans-divisive-tweets-are-the-last-thing-canada-needs-from-an-mp-right-now/  
 
I posted this based on previous discussions about how divided Canada is.

https://theenergymix.com/2020/07/29/canadian-pension-board-invests-141m-in-chinese-coal-projects-undercutting-federal-phaseout-policy/?fbclid=IwAR0_ZKnJ2Nv5Dcb38v5G-bcLKvrYEHLDfN5cAUEA6PNrReNci4XuGaREPsI  
 
So much for greener futures eh FarmerGeorge

If we don’t work towards cleaner and more sustainable ways of living then the future of our planet and our descendants doesn’t look good. We only have to each use and waste a little less.

In order to reduce our homes footprint I recycle everything that I am able, plastics, paper, cardboard, metal, electronics, glass, old appliances, even vehicles.  
Problem comes that to do this I have to make a round trip of 35 miles in my truck. This recycling is then taken from the dump to, I believe, Gilbert Plains, a minimum 2 hour trip.  
Sometimes because the recycling bins are full, the cardboard gets put in the burning heap, and therefore not very green.  
We are not allowed, under the RM's bylaws, to burn rubbish at our residence, but they burn it at the dump!  
Recycling is a total joke in most westernised countries, how much ends up in containers, shipped overseas and of late returned because it was not what it said on the paperwork.  
Maybe the answer is to make the sales outlets take back the packaging from the products they sold us, at least then the recycling can be done when making the next purchase, saving fuel and creating less pollution.  
Just my thoughts, but as a resident I do not have the right to vote for any party, but they all, in my opinion, are merely looking out for themselves and their cronies.

Is that not enough? Is there any other legislation that protects against hate speech in Canada? Not sure offensive speech can be protected as that is such a subjective. I think Trudeau is using this to boost his reputation as a protector of Canadians lol.

About Nitehawk's comment " who in this thread are not adults?"  
 
Out of respect for Delpmb, I waited for his/her response to this question before responding.  
 
While each of us form opinions about members posting in this thread, every person posting comes from different life experiences. There are areas in life where each of us excel and areas where we have limited understanding or knowledge. None of us have the right to judge the other. But rather engage in respectful discussion allowing space for all of us to grow.  
Looking at the question from a literal standpoint, if there are younger members posting here then I applaud their wanting to engage in a discussion about politics in Canada.  
 
That said: I agree with the comment that there are adults in society who either have a sense of entitlement and feel rules do not apply to them or have complete contempt for society's rules and do what they want regardless. From my comment above, I do believe we cannot really judge these people as we do not know what made them that way. But a few of these people will cause problems for the rest of us and it results in more stringent legislation/restrictions. IMO if we all acted as 'adults' should act, responsible, respectful and mindful of how our actions impact on the people around us, then I suspect there would be less need for rules in our society.

// IMO if we all acted as 'adults' should act, responsible, respectful and mindful of how our actions impact on the people around us, then I suspect there would be less need for rules in our society. //  
 
I would have a much more positive view of the future if this were the case when it came to such existential issues as climate change and the future of . . . life itself.