but we can't be complacent and we have to have difficult conversations with friends, family and acquaintances -- and provide articles and data to them if possible.
There's a reason Poilievre and his ilk are referred to as maple MAGA; that reason being their tendency to mirror MAGA rhetoric, hate, divisiveness and general casual xenophobia. You're making the point that Poilievre won't be as bad as Trump down south. It's been 2.5 weeks man, and the orange cheeto's already getting articles of impeachment readied against him. While everyone was warning people about Project 2025, there were commentators who were making the same exact argument that you're making: that Trump won't be *so* bad. Turns out, he is exactly *this* bad.
I understand where you're coming from. I just disagree with your premise. Give me one solid proposal that Poilievre's articulated other than "axe the tax" and Trudeau must go. His entire personality and his entire platform is based around *owning* the Libs. That's why we had maple MAGA here and actual MAGA in the south fawning over his apple eating antics. Pure clownery and visuals, but nothing substantive at all. We don't need to let people lull into the false sense that Poilievre's not as bad as Trump. He is exactly as bad as Trump. Removing pharmacare, dental care, privatizing crown lands and corporations is a mirror of what Trump's doing in the US right now. Do we really want that taking place here? The answer is a big fat no.
A Poilievre majority government would be a lot like the Harper majority government, but much meaner, nastier and angrier. They would do things that would primarily motivated to own the Liberals (because that is what the base demands). They would do unconstitutional things, for the sake of having the fights with the courts.
A Poilievre minority government would probably not last longer than 3-4 months.
Personally I think the Trump effect will be so significant that the new Liberal leader will go for an election shortly after becoming Prime Minister. In this scenario I see the Liberals win a strong minority government or perhaps even a small majority. There is nothing like the threat of a trade war to sharper the focus.
My biggest fear with a Poilievre government at this time, is that he will be unable to stand up to Trump, because in spite of all his bluster, he is weak. He also wants the job for self serving reasons and not for the good of the country. He is not worthy of our trust.
It would be great to have the liberals as a majority. Getting there could be done, but would need most of Ontario, BC, Manitoba, and at least part of Quebec.
But that's the rub: NDP. There's fairly solid local NDP support in BC, Manitoba, and potentially Alberta, and on a limb Saskatchewan. I don't follow Quebec enough to comment.
But the provincial NDP's are so far removed from the federal NDP as to be unrecognizable. The libs (IMHO) don't exist in the above places. What will happen is a vote split on the progressive side and the cons will win a narrow majority.
If Jagmeet and (insert lib name here) agree to merge, then things will change dramatically. The new party might even get a few center right candidates that have popular support and a streak of good character. Not only will there be a large majority government, there will be a broad consensus of what the future of Canada will look like. Will there be catfights? Sure, but get them out in the open. Interprovincial tiffs? A strong and authentic federal government can provide conciliation and recognize genuine concerns. This is required to prepare Canada for a seismic shift in its worldview because its sugardaddy is not around. And in fact wants to give us some very unwanted attention.
The cons won't sell us down the river, we will have done it. Without bold thinking, Canada will be lost forever.
Absolutely true! And we need to reach people that we have not reached before. I looked at Colletto's data on what different generations use to get their news. His final advice (as I saw it) is for organizations, politicians, political party members, and just plain people -- use a variety of sources to get their messages out -- plainly but not deriding anyone's concerns. Also, people trust the words of people with whom they are acquainted and just may pay attention when it is so essential.
Uh, Evan. Please do not trade in the dangerous idea that PP is not as bad as Trump. The first rule of the creep of fascism is that imagining it taking hold remains absurd to the point of being funny until it's not funny and very, very real. First, the comparison shouldn't be direct but in a matter of degrees, as PP's particular schoolyard brand of Scorched Earth may, in fact, be as devastating to Canada and its received values and institutions as Trump et al.'s current more forceful detonations are to the (can't believe I'm saying this) generally more institutionally resilient U.S.
Second, he is, in fact, actually demonstrably as bad. Very, very bad. And his pedigree shows just how much. Like Trump 1.0, the HarperCon pigs that included PP weren't able to get away with as much as they would have liked. But they sure tried, and they did get away with plenty that we should never, EVER forgive them for: robocalls, corporate sell-outs to China, abolishing the wheat board and letting its assets go to a Saudi Arabian investment, and the worst offences, with very clear resonance to what Trump is doing now, trying to shut down StatsCan, throwing data and books from the national archives into dumpsters, inviting the criminal oil & gas industry to rewrite Canadian environmental policy, muzzling government scientists (this directly affected me as a journalist as I couldn't get access) by not allowing them to either communicate with colleagues unless it was cleared by gov't, or attend international conferences at all—not to mention actually taking down climate-change data and pages from government websites.
If you think Canada's Cons and Maple MAGA are just spouting rhetoric because its fun and incendiary and makes progressives squirm, and they're actually too milquetoast in the end to be a threat to our democracy, you're going to be walking back a lot of columns in a few months.
- pilloried Trudeau during the outrageous trucker siege of Ottawa (and brought donuts to said truckers)
- blamed Trudeau for the price of gas and groceries, COVID mandates, distressed and isolated teenagers, western alienation, failing small businesses, a “coverup” budget and gatekeeper elites who run everything for their own benefit (hmm - that last part sounds more like the Conservatives)
- his vicious attacks on fellow Conservatives seeking the party’s leadership (Jean Charest and Patrick Brown)
You may think I'm crazy but I don't think Poilievre is going to win the next election.
We are in an existential crisis and I hope voters see he is not the man to meet the moment.
but we can't be complacent and we have to have difficult conversations with friends, family and acquaintances -- and provide articles and data to them if possible.
There's a reason Poilievre and his ilk are referred to as maple MAGA; that reason being their tendency to mirror MAGA rhetoric, hate, divisiveness and general casual xenophobia. You're making the point that Poilievre won't be as bad as Trump down south. It's been 2.5 weeks man, and the orange cheeto's already getting articles of impeachment readied against him. While everyone was warning people about Project 2025, there were commentators who were making the same exact argument that you're making: that Trump won't be *so* bad. Turns out, he is exactly *this* bad.
I understand where you're coming from. I just disagree with your premise. Give me one solid proposal that Poilievre's articulated other than "axe the tax" and Trudeau must go. His entire personality and his entire platform is based around *owning* the Libs. That's why we had maple MAGA here and actual MAGA in the south fawning over his apple eating antics. Pure clownery and visuals, but nothing substantive at all. We don't need to let people lull into the false sense that Poilievre's not as bad as Trump. He is exactly as bad as Trump. Removing pharmacare, dental care, privatizing crown lands and corporations is a mirror of what Trump's doing in the US right now. Do we really want that taking place here? The answer is a big fat no.
A Poilievre majority government would be a lot like the Harper majority government, but much meaner, nastier and angrier. They would do things that would primarily motivated to own the Liberals (because that is what the base demands). They would do unconstitutional things, for the sake of having the fights with the courts.
A Poilievre minority government would probably not last longer than 3-4 months.
Personally I think the Trump effect will be so significant that the new Liberal leader will go for an election shortly after becoming Prime Minister. In this scenario I see the Liberals win a strong minority government or perhaps even a small majority. There is nothing like the threat of a trade war to sharper the focus.
My biggest fear with a Poilievre government at this time, is that he will be unable to stand up to Trump, because in spite of all his bluster, he is weak. He also wants the job for self serving reasons and not for the good of the country. He is not worthy of our trust.
It would be great to have the liberals as a majority. Getting there could be done, but would need most of Ontario, BC, Manitoba, and at least part of Quebec.
But that's the rub: NDP. There's fairly solid local NDP support in BC, Manitoba, and potentially Alberta, and on a limb Saskatchewan. I don't follow Quebec enough to comment.
But the provincial NDP's are so far removed from the federal NDP as to be unrecognizable. The libs (IMHO) don't exist in the above places. What will happen is a vote split on the progressive side and the cons will win a narrow majority.
If Jagmeet and (insert lib name here) agree to merge, then things will change dramatically. The new party might even get a few center right candidates that have popular support and a streak of good character. Not only will there be a large majority government, there will be a broad consensus of what the future of Canada will look like. Will there be catfights? Sure, but get them out in the open. Interprovincial tiffs? A strong and authentic federal government can provide conciliation and recognize genuine concerns. This is required to prepare Canada for a seismic shift in its worldview because its sugardaddy is not around. And in fact wants to give us some very unwanted attention.
The cons won't sell us down the river, we will have done it. Without bold thinking, Canada will be lost forever.
Absolutely true! And we need to reach people that we have not reached before. I looked at Colletto's data on what different generations use to get their news. His final advice (as I saw it) is for organizations, politicians, political party members, and just plain people -- use a variety of sources to get their messages out -- plainly but not deriding anyone's concerns. Also, people trust the words of people with whom they are acquainted and just may pay attention when it is so essential.
Uh, Evan. Please do not trade in the dangerous idea that PP is not as bad as Trump. The first rule of the creep of fascism is that imagining it taking hold remains absurd to the point of being funny until it's not funny and very, very real. First, the comparison shouldn't be direct but in a matter of degrees, as PP's particular schoolyard brand of Scorched Earth may, in fact, be as devastating to Canada and its received values and institutions as Trump et al.'s current more forceful detonations are to the (can't believe I'm saying this) generally more institutionally resilient U.S.
Second, he is, in fact, actually demonstrably as bad. Very, very bad. And his pedigree shows just how much. Like Trump 1.0, the HarperCon pigs that included PP weren't able to get away with as much as they would have liked. But they sure tried, and they did get away with plenty that we should never, EVER forgive them for: robocalls, corporate sell-outs to China, abolishing the wheat board and letting its assets go to a Saudi Arabian investment, and the worst offences, with very clear resonance to what Trump is doing now, trying to shut down StatsCan, throwing data and books from the national archives into dumpsters, inviting the criminal oil & gas industry to rewrite Canadian environmental policy, muzzling government scientists (this directly affected me as a journalist as I couldn't get access) by not allowing them to either communicate with colleagues unless it was cleared by gov't, or attend international conferences at all—not to mention actually taking down climate-change data and pages from government websites.
If you think Canada's Cons and Maple MAGA are just spouting rhetoric because its fun and incendiary and makes progressives squirm, and they're actually too milquetoast in the end to be a threat to our democracy, you're going to be walking back a lot of columns in a few months.
Here as some Pierre Poilievre's best actions (still think he isn't that bad - I think he will be worse if he wins) :
- he produced legislation that actually made it harder to vote ipolitics.ca/news/poili…
- the “Zero tolerance for Barbaric Practices Act” cbc.ca/news/politics/ca…
- the “Snitch line” theguardian.com/world/2…
- had referenced “tar babies” in the House of Commons
- believed First Nations peoples needed a better work ethic rather than compensation for the residential schools atrocities cbc.ca/news/canada/cons…
- told his fellow MPs on a legislative committee “fuck you guys“ youtube.com/watch?v=kjT…
- pilloried Trudeau during the outrageous trucker siege of Ottawa (and brought donuts to said truckers)
- blamed Trudeau for the price of gas and groceries, COVID mandates, distressed and isolated teenagers, western alienation, failing small businesses, a “coverup” budget and gatekeeper elites who run everything for their own benefit (hmm - that last part sounds more like the Conservatives)
- his vicious attacks on fellow Conservatives seeking the party’s leadership (Jean Charest and Patrick Brown)
- threatening to the governor of the Bank of Canada macleans.ca/politics/po…
- hailing cryptocurrency as the answer to inflation cbc.ca/news/politics/po…
The full list can be found here thetyee.ca/Analysis/202…
So is this really the candidate (can’t say man as he does not behave like an adult) we want to run Canada?