I think one of the strongest moves the Liberals could take would be to take the fight to the provinces, who are 90% responsible for our infrastructure issues.
Don’t (officially) cut immigration. Make all immigration contingent on infrastructure investment. You want student visas? Tied to guaranteed housing/residence spots. Family reunification visas? Tied to healthcare investment in hospital beds and retirement homes. Skilled worker visas? Better be able to show you have the housing stock and schools necessary for their families. TFWs? Tim Hortons can go fuck itself.
It’s a policy that positions the Liberals as the ones fighting *for* Canadians, against a bunch of mostly unpopular provincial politicians. It picks a bunch of fights that can only make the federal liberals look good, and force the CPC into taking positions that potentially bind them up.
And it’s not like the Liberals have provincial wings left that they need to worry about hurting in the crossfire.
I really like this suggestion. I like to think that Sean Fraser is laying the foundation for this right now and they could make the argument some time next year: “we are doing our part, in some cases without any provincial support. Now it is time for the provinces to step up”.
If the Liberals wanted to play a bit dirty, they could announce some *really* ambitious infrastructure funding, billions of dollars of it, but tie it all to 3x or 4x matching provincial dollars. Spend the next year saying “We’re trying to fix this, but Alberta/Sask/Ontario won’t even take our money”. Worst case is it actually works and they get to take credit for five dollars of investment for every dollar they actually contribute
Easier said than done. Even with the current system there’s not many ways to practically get a visa for an opportunity in one part of the country and then settle somewhere completely different.
But it’s also kind of a weird assumption that parts of the country that don’t invest in infrastructure will be somehow more desirable locations. If a province is making such low investments that they can’t qualify for immigration targets, what would be drawing people there?
And finally, it doesn’t need to be a perfect system to exert an enormous amount of policy influence
I don’t think it is dirty at all. We are dealing with provinces that used Covid healthcare funding top ups to give provincial tax cuts. They are not good faith actors.
I would set the multiplier at 2. 2/3 of the funds are provincial, 1/3 federal. Let’s go. Just do it.
One quick fix - if you're trying to get status on an entrepreneurship visa, include the option of investing in non-profit housing instead. Will the investment pay off? No, but small businesses that are redundant (e.g. yet another bubble tea joint) won't either. At least the housing will be around in five years. Make it an ego play by naming the building after the investors to sweeten the deal.
Otherwise, step up public investments in housing and transit in kind with PR and work visa numbers. Colleges and universities dependent on international students should be responsible for their safe housing and well-being. Tie student visas to capital improvements like residence construction - if it goes unused 20 years from now, well, great, you have a stock of affordable housing ready to go.
Housing is just the most obvious problem. Who's building the schools and the hospitals that are needed now and will be needed even more in the future? Where are the doctors that new Canadians need? We are so cheap about this. We want the immigrants (and their labour and money) but we won't invest in the infrastructure that they need. Stretch everything to fit, and Canadians will wrongly blame immigrants for the crises, not the short-sighted politicians who thought we could build a bigger Canada on the cheap.
“We want the immigrants but we won't invest in the infrastructure that they need”
It’s worse than that. We’ve been using immigrants to paper over our investment cuts. Cuts to healthcare, post-secondary, a bunch of places. Hire foreign nurses and doctors for wages that would churn through the domestic workforce too fast, jack up tuition on foreign students. Then tell the voters that you’re a brilliant economist who has given them a tax cut.
We have spent decades growing infrastructure deficits to artificially lower taxes and setting a false expectation of what level of investment (and taxes) is actually necessary to maintain our society. I’m not sure the population has the stomach to have their baseline reset
That’s provincial not federal so people need to start getting hard on our provincial leaders, these provincial leaders get away with too many responsibilities
what will push this over the edge is the rightward / populist / nationalist shift of young people. This trend is in poll results. They perceive no future (cost of living, job automation, and ultimately environmental collapse) and their traditional political options left / centre left offer no solutions or worse. Supporting growth of clear cutting, extraction in old growth forests, and immigration, while not offering a green new deal, rent controls, curbs on airbnb etc. The upcoming generation is right to be scared for their future and this is ripe soil for a nationalist movement.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Pierre and Jenni have been running focus groups and polls regarding immigration levels for several months now. These two would not hesitate for one nano second to use this issue for an attack on Trudeau and the Liberals. Even if they are 15 points ahead, they would just pile on.
The fact that these two have not used immigration yet to attack tells me that they have not found a way yet to spin it without risking support from “newish Canadians”. Right now they need the support from conservative leaning immigrants and they do this by signalling their traditional or religious (read anti-LTBGQ) positions. Raising the topic of immigration is likely jeopardizing this support.
But I think Evan is right. It is totally possible that while the two parties are micro-finessing their immigration message, the public moves on to a much less subtle view on how immigration should be dealt with.
I think one of the strongest moves the Liberals could take would be to take the fight to the provinces, who are 90% responsible for our infrastructure issues.
Don’t (officially) cut immigration. Make all immigration contingent on infrastructure investment. You want student visas? Tied to guaranteed housing/residence spots. Family reunification visas? Tied to healthcare investment in hospital beds and retirement homes. Skilled worker visas? Better be able to show you have the housing stock and schools necessary for their families. TFWs? Tim Hortons can go fuck itself.
It’s a policy that positions the Liberals as the ones fighting *for* Canadians, against a bunch of mostly unpopular provincial politicians. It picks a bunch of fights that can only make the federal liberals look good, and force the CPC into taking positions that potentially bind them up.
And it’s not like the Liberals have provincial wings left that they need to worry about hurting in the crossfire.
I really like this suggestion. I like to think that Sean Fraser is laying the foundation for this right now and they could make the argument some time next year: “we are doing our part, in some cases without any provincial support. Now it is time for the provinces to step up”.
If the Liberals wanted to play a bit dirty, they could announce some *really* ambitious infrastructure funding, billions of dollars of it, but tie it all to 3x or 4x matching provincial dollars. Spend the next year saying “We’re trying to fix this, but Alberta/Sask/Ontario won’t even take our money”. Worst case is it actually works and they get to take credit for five dollars of investment for every dollar they actually contribute
The problem is that, people will just apply through the “easy” provinces and then move once they get their PR.
Easier said than done. Even with the current system there’s not many ways to practically get a visa for an opportunity in one part of the country and then settle somewhere completely different.
But it’s also kind of a weird assumption that parts of the country that don’t invest in infrastructure will be somehow more desirable locations. If a province is making such low investments that they can’t qualify for immigration targets, what would be drawing people there?
And finally, it doesn’t need to be a perfect system to exert an enormous amount of policy influence
I don’t think it is dirty at all. We are dealing with provinces that used Covid healthcare funding top ups to give provincial tax cuts. They are not good faith actors.
I would set the multiplier at 2. 2/3 of the funds are provincial, 1/3 federal. Let’s go. Just do it.
One quick fix - if you're trying to get status on an entrepreneurship visa, include the option of investing in non-profit housing instead. Will the investment pay off? No, but small businesses that are redundant (e.g. yet another bubble tea joint) won't either. At least the housing will be around in five years. Make it an ego play by naming the building after the investors to sweeten the deal.
Otherwise, step up public investments in housing and transit in kind with PR and work visa numbers. Colleges and universities dependent on international students should be responsible for their safe housing and well-being. Tie student visas to capital improvements like residence construction - if it goes unused 20 years from now, well, great, you have a stock of affordable housing ready to go.
Housing is just the most obvious problem. Who's building the schools and the hospitals that are needed now and will be needed even more in the future? Where are the doctors that new Canadians need? We are so cheap about this. We want the immigrants (and their labour and money) but we won't invest in the infrastructure that they need. Stretch everything to fit, and Canadians will wrongly blame immigrants for the crises, not the short-sighted politicians who thought we could build a bigger Canada on the cheap.
“We want the immigrants but we won't invest in the infrastructure that they need”
It’s worse than that. We’ve been using immigrants to paper over our investment cuts. Cuts to healthcare, post-secondary, a bunch of places. Hire foreign nurses and doctors for wages that would churn through the domestic workforce too fast, jack up tuition on foreign students. Then tell the voters that you’re a brilliant economist who has given them a tax cut.
We have spent decades growing infrastructure deficits to artificially lower taxes and setting a false expectation of what level of investment (and taxes) is actually necessary to maintain our society. I’m not sure the population has the stomach to have their baseline reset
Good points.
Immigrants are being ripped off and all people have seen an erosion of many important services until they have become a joke.
That’s provincial not federal so people need to start getting hard on our provincial leaders, these provincial leaders get away with too many responsibilities
what will push this over the edge is the rightward / populist / nationalist shift of young people. This trend is in poll results. They perceive no future (cost of living, job automation, and ultimately environmental collapse) and their traditional political options left / centre left offer no solutions or worse. Supporting growth of clear cutting, extraction in old growth forests, and immigration, while not offering a green new deal, rent controls, curbs on airbnb etc. The upcoming generation is right to be scared for their future and this is ripe soil for a nationalist movement.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Pierre and Jenni have been running focus groups and polls regarding immigration levels for several months now. These two would not hesitate for one nano second to use this issue for an attack on Trudeau and the Liberals. Even if they are 15 points ahead, they would just pile on.
The fact that these two have not used immigration yet to attack tells me that they have not found a way yet to spin it without risking support from “newish Canadians”. Right now they need the support from conservative leaning immigrants and they do this by signalling their traditional or religious (read anti-LTBGQ) positions. Raising the topic of immigration is likely jeopardizing this support.
But I think Evan is right. It is totally possible that while the two parties are micro-finessing their immigration message, the public moves on to a much less subtle view on how immigration should be dealt with.
I disagree,
I think Pierre is just as ideologocally trapped on immigration as the Liberals and NDP. They're also deathly afraid of being seen as Trump lite.
Which leaves a large flank for the PPC to take up the mantle.
.. this is Journalism .. the majority of the rest of them.. are regurgitating rancid sausage making polls for headline diarrhea..
.. the salamanders have spoken young man ! 🦎🏴☠️
.. since when was Governance “If the Liberals want to fix their polls”.. & when did Media get to DICKTAKE democracy via THE FUCKING POLLS ?
“i rarely have the capacity to get romantic when it comes to this country anymore’
You ‘read’ like UnFuckWithAble’ wrote - but all grown up .. & all cleaned up
Will finish reading now.. & bravo m’man.. 🏴☠️🦎🇨🇦