Canadian Politics Megathread: That is simply not Trudeau

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Hexigrammus: May 22, 2006; Cheech Wizard stories are clean, wholesome, reflective truths that go great with the marijuana munchies and a blow job.

He's talking about a Port Authority and SNC Lavelin, so my immediate response is: "Well, duh!"

I'm not sure what the history of Port Authorities is, but somewhere along the line control passed from the federal government to these opaque, appointed boards. More and more they seem to represent the interests of a few high level industries and gently caress anyone else who lives and works on the waterfront.

Someone needs to grab a pry bar and start turning over rocks.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 06:46

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# ? May 9, 2024 17:01

ZShakespeare: Jul 20, 2003; The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose!

The difference is when an individual bribes a politician it's considered corruption. When a corporation bribes a politician it's considered normal.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 07:16

Kafka Esq.: Jan 1, 2005; "If you ever even think about calling me anything but 'The Crab' I will go so fucking crab on your ass you won't even see what crab'd your crab" -The Crab(TM)

quote:

A good Monday morning to you. It's International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which marks the day Russian troops liberated the Auschwitz death camp in 1945 and laid bare the atrocities of the Nazis. It is also Community Manager Appreciation Day, which, in our case, is a chance to say thank you to our friends at The Hub.

They're ba-ack (said in the Poltergeist way) ... as in Parliament's non-resident ruckus raisers. After a six-week cooling off, the MPs are back in the House for the next three weeks, which -- somewhat ironically -- wraps up on Valentine's Day. In the interim, don't expect a lot of sweetness and light.

Down in the polls, the Conservatives are loaded for bear and looking to extricated themselves from the mire of senate scandals and robocalls, not to mention a few questions about Chuck Strahl and the lobbying activities of other former Conservative MPs, gas prices, the growing income gap, and the flagging Canadian dollar. So, what's in the cards? Lots of feel-good stuff, like stronger rail-transport regulations ... a deal on the skills agenda, maybe? ... and, of course, plenty of cellphone-rates bashing.

The NDP have to fight their battles on two fronts. As Her Majesty's opposition, its MPs are duty bound to challenge the government, but at some point, they must be getting sick of watching the Liberals benefit from Tom Mulcair's prosecutorial prowess.

And the Liberals? At some point, they'll have to show their cards -- assuming they have cards -- but that is not expected until at least next month, after they hold their first policy convention with Justin Trudeau as their leader.

And what of the Green Party? Well, we'll know more today as Laura Beaulne-Steubing plans to shadow party leader Elizabeth May through her first day back.
First up, though, is a proposed emergency debate on the increasingly worrisome situation in Ukraine. Two Conservative MPs, Ted Opitz and James Bezan, called for the debate, which Harper agreed should be a priority. In Toronto, Ukrainian-Canadians rallied in a bid to end the violence in Kiev. Ukraine's justice minister Olena Lukash warned anti-government protesters occupying her ministry that she will declare a state of emergency if they do not leave.

An interesting story on CBC this morning my shed some light on why so few Conservatives feel the need to resign when significant errors are committed. The new line of defence: there's no reason to believe we knew anything.

Of course, there's actually some governing going on, too. Speaking from Davos over the weekend (nice backdrop), Trade Minister Ed Fast says Canada has "many irons in the fire" when it comes to trade deals, though nothing as big as the nearly $8-billion in new investment that Mexico came away with.

Back to the Senate scandal, the first of three interim reports by Auditor General Michael Ferguson is expected any day now. Ferguson's investigators have gone through the expense accounts of the first 35 senators on their list: the leaders, deputy leaders, whips and members of the internal economy committee.

And, in case you think the Senate scandal is uniquely a Conservative one, there's growing suspicion that the RCMP is taking a closer look a former Liberal senator Mac Harb and his ties to a former diplomat stationed in Ottawa.

If the mailbag drops at a community post box and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a noise? In case the answer is no, a few hundred postal workers and their supporters rallied near Parliament Hill yesterday to protest the proposed changes to Canada Post, which they say will eliminate between 6,000 and 8,000 jobs.

Congratulations to Don Newman, who has joined Toronto-based Temple Scott Associates as Principal Strategic Counsel. Newman will be leaving his position at Bluesky Strategy Group, but will remain Chairman of Canada 2020.

The funeral for Peter McSheffrey, one of the two Ottawa-area accountants killed last week in Kabul, will be held today. A funeral for Martin Glazers will be held Saturday, Feb. 1.

Here and there:

Commons question period gets underway at 2:15 p.m..

The Charbonneau Commission looking into corruption in Quebec's construction industry continues its hearings in Montreal. Michel Arsenault, former president of the Quebec Federation of Labour, is scheduled to testify.

House Leader Peter Van Loan and Minister Denis Lebel make a brief statement in Ottawa on the upcoming parliamentary sitting and take questions from media representatives.

Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty meets with private sector economists in Ottawa.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and MP Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay-Superior North) hold a press conference in Ottawa to make an announcement.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair gives a speech in Ottawa on last week's affordability tour and the NDP's plans for the new session.

Senate defence committee hears from Department of National Defence officials on the follow-up to the committee's report on the Reserves.

Senate official languages committee hears witnesses on CBC/Radio-Canada's obligations under the Official Languages Act.

Deb Matthews, minister of Health and Long-Term Care and Deputy Premier of Ontario, speaks to the Empire Club of Canada in Toronto about "Ontario's Action Plan for Health Care - Year Two Update."

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Alpine Canada Alpin will nominate members of the 2014 Canadian Olympic Ski Cross Team who will compete in Sochi, Russia.

NWT Premier Bob McLeod holds teleconference with media to speak about devolution and the hearings on Bill C-15.

Overseas, peace talks on Syria offered a glimmer of hope that could end the siege of Homs. The Assad government said women and children could leave the besieged rebel city yesterday. There was also discussion on releasing prisoners and enabling access for aid convoys to get through.

In Bangkok, the Election Commission is recommending that elections planned for next week are delayed for at least one month in a bid to quell unrest.

In financial markets, it's red ink across the board as concerns about growth rates and currency fluctuations continue to weigh on investors. North American markets, which were creamed last week, are currently looking mostly flat to start the week.

In Featured Opinion this morning:

Michael Harris looks at the state of political dissent in Canada and notes how Stephen Harper will spare no expense to limit public discourse, particularly when it comes to the oil business. "The reason all that hot pitch came down on Neil Young, some of it directly from the PMO, is that the opinion he expressed was about the Alberta tar sands, and the donation he made was to a First Nations Band to help them fight for their rights in court."

Fen Hampson and Derek Burney said the deaths of Peter McSheffrey and Martin Glazers in Afghanistan are a start reminder of the perils of interfering in the affairs of other countries. "While the socio-economic situation in Afghanistan undoubtedly improved in some respects, the scars are long and deep. So should be the lessons."

In an op-ed, Len Garis, fire chief for the City of Surrey, says that despite the gruesome fears that flow from disasters like last week's fire at a seniors' residence in Quebec, wood construction is still among the safest ways to build. "The scientific findings are clear: Upon completion, wood frame construction is just as safe as any other building type."

And the editors at Bloomberg take a look at the NSA's defence of its eavesdropping programs and calls B.S. "After seven years of evidence, in other words, the basic premise used to rationalize this program has never been validated. What�s left to justify its costs?"

In case it comes up in the Starbucks line, Daft Punk was the big winner in the Grammys last night, winning both album of the year and record of the year (Get Lucky). Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were nominated for seven awards and came away with four, including Best Rap Performance (Thrift Shop). Here's the full list of winners and nominees, in case you have some time for iTunes today. And, for those who delve into nostalgia, here's CNN's 20 Greatest Albums to never win a Grammy.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 14:48

Paper Jam Dipper: Jul 14, 2007; by XyloJW

The Neil Young thing just blows my mind.

I mean, if you want to rip on Neil Young's politics it isn't hard. Heck, there's a dozen interviews where Graham Nash does it, saying Young changes his political party depending on which side of the bed he wakes up on. Young has supported the Democrats and the Republicans in the United States throughout his life. One could just point to that and say Young will support the oilsands in due time just because he doesn't really have a moral platform. He just gets emotional.

Buuuut instead we get this gem on CBC.ca: "If he had some talent he would be a lot more believable, as it is all he wants to do is grandstand."

Yeesh. If you're gonna try to slam the guy, going after one of the most legendary music careers of all time is not the way to go. You just sound dumb.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 15:51

StoicRomance: Jan 3, 2013

He's no Linkin Park, that's for sure.

Living in Calgary, this Neil Young poo poo was on the front page of our paper of record 4 out of 7 days last week. He threw his show in the building I work in and there were reporters crawling all over the place looking for a scoop. The one they found?

While he was playing his show, his tour bus was running! Nevermind most artists stay on the bus and only get out to go play music for an hour, but they were running and producing life-sustaining heat for hours! HE'S JUST AS BAD AS THE OIL SANDS!

It was a long week around the water cooler, let me tell you.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 17:58

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

TOTAL SHUTDOWN OF THE OIL INDUSTRY :bahgawd:

PUTTING LIVES AT RISK :byodood:

Juul-Whip fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Jan 27, 2014

# ? Jan 27, 2014 18:32

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; "Tiny Trains"

Yes shut it down or at least cut back significantly since it's of no benefit other than the few workers directly employed and getting exploited as poo poo. A good outcome and one of the reasons I'm involved in any pipe-line stuff, AND anti rail shipments. You can be anti-both! You can be anti-the entire loving industry in its current form.

Baronjutter fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Jan 27, 2014

# ? Jan 27, 2014 18:38

Demon_Corsair: Mar 22, 2004; Goodbye stealing souls, hello stealing booty.

PT6A posted:

I never said it wasn't? I'm just making the point that good economic conditions in one part of the country do, in fact, benefit those in other areas of the country, just as it was when the East was stronger than the West. I'll admit I'm not overly thrilled with it, but under the current structure, the have-not provinces are definitely benefitting from the energy industry in Alberta.

Are there even minimum wage earners in Calgary? Part-time retail can earn you $12-14/hour, mowing lawns or shovelling snow can easily be $25-30/hour, and companies are struggling to hire at those rates. I agree that public servants get shafted, but that's really an issue of our lovely provincial government which needs immediate removal. Salaries for public servants should be tied to a cost-of-living index at the very least, and they should be fairly compensated. We should find money for this by tweaking our provincial income tax structure for businesses and individuals, and possibly royalties but only on newly-approved projects or expansions (as I've argued at length about earlier in the thread already).

The problem is cost of living in Calgary assumes you make oil and gas money. I'm paying 1k for a lovely one bedroom now, and am afraid to look for a new aparentment because unless I get lucky I will end up paying 1200-1500 for a maybe decent one. And unless I move out to dover or forest lawn, prices don't get that much cheaper in the suburbs.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 18:44

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

Baronjutter posted:

Yes shut it down or at least cut back significantly since it's of no benefit other than the few workers directly employed and getting exploited as poo poo. A good outcome and one of the reasons I'm involved in any pipe-line stuff, AND anti rail shipments. You can be anti-both! You can be anti-the entire loving industry in its current form.

DO YOU WANT TO END UP LIKE GREECE?! :freep:

# ? Jan 27, 2014 18:45

Kafka Esq.: Jan 1, 2005; "If you ever even think about calling me anything but 'The Crab' I will go so fucking crab on your ass you won't even see what crab'd your crab" -The Crab(TM)

I had a great time slapping down a colleague about the Greece talking point. Mark Blyth does such a great job in his Austerity book that it's basically impossible not to quote it directly in terms that work for even the humblest conversation. That's basically gold for Canadian political conversations.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 18:54

Paper Jam Dipper: Jul 14, 2007; by XyloJW

Kafka Esq. posted:

I had a great time slapping down a colleague about the Greece talking point. Mark Blyth does such a great job in his Austerity book that it's basically impossible not to quote it directly in terms that work for even the humblest conversation. That's basically gold for Canadian political conversations.

That book is like my economic bible.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 19:09

Ron Paul Atreides: Apr 19, 2012; Uyghurs situation in Xinjiang? Just a police action, do not fret. Not ongoing genocide like in EVIL Canada.

I am definitely not a tankie.

Kafka Esq. posted:

I had a great time slapping down a colleague about the Greece talking point. Mark Blyth does such a great job in his Austerity book that it's basically impossible not to quote it directly in terms that work for even the humblest conversation. That's basically gold for Canadian political conversations.

Is it just called Austerity? Have an amazon link?

# ? Jan 27, 2014 20:41

Chamale: Jul 11, 2010; I'm helping!

Baronjutter posted:

Yes shut it down or at least cut back significantly since it's of no benefit other than the few workers directly employed and getting exploited as poo poo. A good outcome and one of the reasons I'm involved in any pipe-line stuff, AND anti rail shipments. You can be anti-both! You can be anti-the entire loving industry in its current form.

Oil backs too much of Alberta's economy to shut it down or cut it back significantly. I'd like to have the province tax it a lot more, and figure out how to let our natural resources give the maximum benefit to citizens and not just the oil company. The problem is that our politicians are working with the oil companies to give them easy guaranteed returns, and the Conservatives or Wild Rose party won't change that. Stopping the pipelines and letting rail traffic continue would be a terrible mistake, because the rail traffic is more dangerous than pipeline transportation. We could hike taxes on oil production and approve a pipeline and it would be a net benefit to average people and the companies. I have serious misgivings about the land acquisition used to route the Northern Gateway pipeline, but in the end the best solution involves some kind of pipeline and not continued rail transport.

THC posted:

PUTTING LIVES AT RISK

You're ridicule the idea that oil transportation by rail is putting lives at risk. 47 people died in Lac-M�gantic. What is wrong with you?

# ? Jan 27, 2014 20:44

TheKingofSprings: Oct 9, 2012

AATREK CURES KIDS posted:

You're ridicule the idea that oil transportation by rail is putting lives at risk. 47 people died in Lac-M�gantic. What is wrong with you?

Unless you're talking about some post from a few months ago you might want to re-read the headline and the content of his post!

# ? Jan 27, 2014 20:49

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

Kelly McParland posted:

No doubt there are extremists who would be content to see that happen � crippling the oilsands is the end goal of the U.S. movement � but even the kind of people who get their political views from Robert Redford or Neil Young would be hard-pressed to justify support for the massive joblessness and economic chaos that would ensue.

MASSIVE JOBLESSNESS AND ECONOMIC CHAOS :supaburn:

# ? Jan 27, 2014 20:56

Heavy neutrino: Sep 16, 2007; You made a fine post for yourself. ...For a casualry, I suppose.

B-b-but I thought... Economic chaos -- the free and unfettered market -- was the way to go?

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:00

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

It's all a huge conspiracy to gently caress Alberta you see. Obviously the environmental concerns are a cynical smokescreen. Those uptight ~~Easterners~~ ~~British Columbians~~ ~~Quebeckers~~ ~~Europeans~~ Americans are jealous of our hard-won prosperity. They hate us for our freedoms, they want to destroy our way of life. You're either with us or you're with the ecoterrorists.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:03

InfiniteZero: Sep 11, 2004; PINK GUITAR FIRE ROBOT; College Slice

Samurai Quack posted:

Is it just called Austerity? Have an amazon link?

Specifically it's called Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea

Kindle version on Amazon Canada here:

http://amzn.to/1b1N28i

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:08

Heavy neutrino: Sep 16, 2007; You made a fine post for yourself. ...For a casualry, I suppose.

What's the Greece argument anyway? I thought their issue was having to compete with the more productive German industry because they use the Euro. How does that even apply to Canada? Is it just used as sort sort of boogeyman for what happens if you don't bend to the demands of the global rich?

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:12

Chamale: Jul 11, 2010; I'm helping!

THC posted:

MASSIVE JOBLESSNESS AND ECONOMIC CHAOS

Crippling the oilsands would cause massive joblessness in Alberta. Our irresponsible provincial government hasn't structured the economy for a smooth transition away from oil, which certainly should be done, but yanking out the carpet from our economy is not the solution. People in this thread act like it's hyperbole to say that oil is critical to the Alberta economy, but it is. Stopping the oilsands would be like outlawing tourism in PEI.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:24

Kafka Esq.: Jan 1, 2005; "If you ever even think about calling me anything but 'The Crab' I will go so fucking crab on your ass you won't even see what crab'd your crab" -The Crab(TM)

Heavy neutrino posted:

What's the Greece argument anyway? I thought their issue was having to compete with the more productive German industry because they use the Euro. How does that even apply to Canada? Is it just used as sort sort of boogeyman for what happens if you don't bend to the demands of the global rich?

The Greece argument is basically a misunderstanding about financing debt. The Greeks had risky debt because of systemic disadvantages in economies within the Euro. The UK, French and German banks invested in this debt due to the earning potential of high risk, high yield debt. This financed the Greek spending on welfare. The Euro starts to get in trouble as the bills come due, because the central bank of the EU has to bail them out, due to the Greeks (and the Portuguese, Irish etc, the PIIGS) having no ability to devalue their currencies to inflate their way out of debt, or to print money (which only the central bank can do).

Canada can do both of those things, and isn't at the mercy of an unsympathetic political body to do so. So the comparison to any of the PIIGS' current situation is dumb as hell.

edit: in fact, you could argue (as Andrew Coyne did this weekend) that the government is pressuring the new governor of the BoC to devalue the currency for exactly that reason.

Kafka Esq. fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Jan 27, 2014

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:26

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

AATREK CURES KIDS posted:

Crippling the oilsands would cause massive joblessness in Alberta. Our irresponsible provincial government hasn't structured the economy for a smooth transition away from oil, which certainly should be done, but yanking out the carpet from our economy is not the solution. People in this thread act like it's hyperbole to say that oil is critical to the Alberta economy, but it is. Stopping the oilsands would be like outlawing tourism in PEI.

Good thing nobody's suggesting we shut down the oil sands, just that projects should not be rubber-stamped "BECAUSE THE ECONOMY" and companies should actually be held fully accountable for the risks they take with our environment and the disasters they cause - if that would yank the carpet out that's their loving problem for being atrocious businesspeople, not anyone else's. Also maybe we should not have an oil lobbyist prime minister and an oil lobbyist environment minister and an oil lobbyist industry minister and an oil lobbyist overseeing CSIS.

Hyperbole is saying that if you're against runaway, irresponsible oil sands development then you're in favour of massive unemployment and rail disasters and people dying in fiery conflagrations.

Juul-Whip fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Jan 27, 2014

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:31

InfiniteZero: Sep 11, 2004; PINK GUITAR FIRE ROBOT; College Slice

Heavy neutrino posted:

What's the Greece argument anyway?

IF WE DON'T VOTE CONSERVATIVE WE WILL BE LIKE GREECE BY SUMMER.

Normally in all caps like that.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:37

egg tats: Apr 3, 2010

Edit ^^^^ oh poo poo I'd better change my party affiliation!

AATREK CURES KIDS posted:

Crippling the oilsands would cause massive joblessness in Alberta. Our irresponsible provincial government hasn't structured the economy for a smooth transition away from oil, which certainly should be done, but yanking out the carpet from our economy is not the solution. People in this thread act like it's hyperbole to say that oil is critical to the Alberta economy, but it is. Stopping the oilsands would be like outlawing tourism in PEI.

I'd lend more credence to the massive joblessness argument if it came with the disclaimer that it's the fault of the albertan and Canadian governments for deciding an economic plan with a single bullet point was a good idea. Instead they range from heavily implying to outright stating it's the fault of literally any group that has never supported a laser focus on oil extraction.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:38

Heavy neutrino: Sep 16, 2007; You made a fine post for yourself. ...For a casualry, I suppose.

Kafka Esq. posted:

The Greece argument is basically a misunderstanding about financing debt. The Greeks had risky debt because of systemic disadvantages in economies within the Euro. The UK, French and German banks invested in this debt due to the earning potential of high risk, high yield debt. This financed the Greek spending on welfare. The Euro starts to get in trouble as the bills come due, because the central bank of the EU has to bail them out, due to the Greeks (and the Portuguese, Irish etc, the PIIGS) having no ability to devalue their currencies to inflate their way out of debt, or to print money (which only the central bank can do).

Canada can do both of those things, and isn't at the mercy of an unsympathetic political body to do so. So the comparison to any of the PIIGS' current situation is dumb as hell.

edit: in fact, you could argue (as Andrew Coyne did this weekend) that the government is pressuring the new governor of the BoC to devalue the currency for exactly that reason.

Thanks. I'd figured Greece had massive issues due to having little to no control over its currency, but I didn't know much more than that. From what I'm reading out of your post, I guess I was right -- the argument is "accept all the demands of the global rich or we will literally be speaking Greek and throwing molotovs at riot police in 2015"

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:44

Chamale: Jul 11, 2010; I'm helping!

THC posted:

Good thing nobody's suggesting we shut down the oil sands, just that projects should not be rubber-stamped "BECAUSE THE ECONOMY" and companies should actually be held fully accountable for the risks they take with our environment and the disasters they cause - if that would yank the carpet out that's their loving problem for being atrocious businesspeople, not anyone else's. Also maybe we should not have an oil lobbyist prime minister and an oil lobbyist environment minister and an oil lobbyist industry minister and an oil lobbyist overseeing CSIS.

Hyperbole is saying that if you're against runaway, irresponsible oil sands development then you're in favour of massive unemployment and rail disasters and people dying in fiery conflagrations.

senae posted:

I'd lend more credence to the massive joblessness argument if it came with the disclaimer that it's the fault of the albertan and Canadian governments for deciding an economic plan with a single bullet point was a good idea. Instead they range from heavily implying to outright stating it's the fault of literally any group that has never supported a laser focus on oil extraction.

I agree with both of these posts, I apologize if I've been getting too charged with my rhetoric.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 21:46

Professor Shark: May 22, 2012

Do you think that the folks at CBC look for the worst photos of Jim and purposefully put them on the front page?

# ? Jan 27, 2014 22:39

Wistful of Dollars: Aug 25, 2009

Professor Shark posted:

Do you think that the folks at CBC look for the worst photos of Jim and purposefully put them on the front page?

You think it's easy to pass a budget? Takes a lot of hard effort to get it out.

# ? Jan 27, 2014 23:11

RBC: Nov 23, 2007; IM STILL SPENDING MONEY FROM 1888

AATREK CURES KIDS posted:

Crippling the oilsands would cause massive joblessness in Alberta. Our irresponsible provincial government hasn't structured the economy for a smooth transition away from oil, which certainly should be done, but yanking out the carpet from our economy is not the solution. People in this thread act like it's hyperbole to say that oil is critical to the Alberta economy, but it is. Stopping the oilsands would be like outlawing tourism in PEI.

Good.

# ? Jan 28, 2014 00:19

Alctel: Jan 16, 2004; I love snails

RBC posted:

Good.

Why on earth is that 'good'

# ? Jan 28, 2014 02:50

Whiskey Sours: Jan 25, 2014; Weather proof.

Alctel posted:

Why on earth is that 'good'

Because taking away Alberta's ~~welfare~~ oil industry will force them to ~~get a job~~ build a diverse economy.

The downside is that all those oil workers will probably move to BC, and I don't want them on this side of the Rockies.

# ? Jan 28, 2014 03:05

Kafka Esq.: Jan 1, 2005; "If you ever even think about calling me anything but 'The Crab' I will go so fucking crab on your ass you won't even see what crab'd your crab" -The Crab(TM)

Okay, so, question period was exciting today, right, politics junkies?

(can we please stop the petty bullshit in this sitting? gently caress)

# ? Jan 28, 2014 03:22

a primate: Jun 2, 2010

Kafka Esq. posted:

Okay, so, question period was exciting today, right, politics junkies?

(can we please stop the petty bullshit in this sitting? gently caress)

I'm watching right now with a Scotch and it's pretty good so far. Any choice bits I should skip to?

# ? Jan 28, 2014 03:37

Kafka Esq.: Jan 1, 2005; "If you ever even think about calling me anything but 'The Crab' I will go so fucking crab on your ass you won't even see what crab'd your crab" -The Crab(TM)

Flaherty saying he doesn't talk about the dollar, basically lying through his big stupid mouth.

# ? Jan 28, 2014 03:45

apatheticman: May 13, 2003; Wedge Regret

Kafka Esq. posted:

Flaherty saying he doesn't talk about the dollar, basically lying through his big stupid mouth.

Either that or hes just that incompetent.

# ? Jan 28, 2014 05:52

Lars Blitzer: Aug 17, 2004; He drinks a Whiskey drink, he drinks a Vodka drink
He drinks a Lager drink, he drinks a Cider drink...

Dick Tracy's number one fan.

Whiteycar posted:

Either that or hes just that incompetent.

Why not both? In other news, Mulcair's forcing a vote on Canada Post home delivery, hammering on about the Senate and the refused 27 out of 27 access to information requests, and made a stop on something about uniting the progressives.

# ? Jan 28, 2014 06:37

linoleum floors: Mar 25, 2012; Please. Let me tell you all about how you're all idiots. I am of superior intellect here. Go suck some dicks. You have all fucking stupid opinions. This is my fucking opinion.

Alctel posted:

Why on earth is that 'good'

Hmm perhaps some of us consider an economy based on literally destroying the global environment a "bad thing"

# ? Jan 28, 2014 13:46

apatheticman: May 13, 2003; Wedge Regret

In Calgary news, the Sun's Rick Bell seems to have a bug up his rear end about a "Sunshine" list for Calgary civil servants.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/01/2...ncy-on-salaries

The fact that the man has any political influence in Calgary is laughable. I am surprised lists like these can even exist with current privacy legislation. I am also surprised that the unions seem to be giving the thumbs up, doesn't seem like terrible foresight to me. When have these lists ever been used for anything but attack civil servants their "luxurious" wages?

# ? Jan 28, 2014 14:39

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

linoleum floors posted:

Hmm perhaps some of us consider an economy based on literally destroying the global environment a "bad thing"

Why, then, not do something to address the demand side of the equation instead of the supply side? Future generations will thank you for it if you actually get off your rear end, leave the Internet, and start coming up with practical ways to replace oil. What are you waiting for?

Like all leftists, the "environmentalist left," no matter if they try to hide it or not, always ends up pining for Uncle Joe's good-ol'-fashioned command economy, without realizing that it hasn't worked in the past, and will never work in the future. Even if we called a halt to all fossil fuel exploration in Canada, there's still be plenty of countries willing to "literally destroy" the global environment for a bigger piece of the pie, and we'd only be out the money.

P.S. To anyone who's wondering why Alberta feels alienated by everyone except the CPC, it's people like the poster I'm quoting and RBC. Even if I felt comfortable voting for another party, I'd probably vote for the CPC just out of spite at this point.

# ? Jan 28, 2014 18:07

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# ? May 9, 2024 17:01

cowofwar: Jul 30, 2002; by Athanatos

PT6A posted:

Why, then, not do something to address the demand side of the equation instead of the supply side? Future generations will thank you for it if you actually get off your rear end, leave the Internet, and start coming up with practical ways to replace oil. What are you waiting for?

Like all leftists, the "environmentalist left," no matter if they try to hide it or not, always ends up pining for Uncle Joe's good-ol'-fashioned command economy, without realizing that it hasn't worked in the past, and will never work in the future. Even if we called a halt to all fossil fuel exploration in Canada, there's still be plenty of countries willing to "literally destroy" the global environment for a bigger piece of the pie, and we'd only be out the money.

P.S. To anyone who's wondering why Alberta feels alienated by everyone except the CPC, it's people like the poster I'm quoting and RBC. Even if I felt comfortable voting for another party, I'd probably vote for the CPC just out of spite at this point.

Yeah there are plenty of other poor countries with no infrastructure, educated population or deep skills pool that can't diversify their economy and produce value added goods along with finance and high tech. These countries are forced to sell bulk resources and destroy their environment as a result.

But Canada doesn't need to do that, we have everything needed to get off a resource driven economy, yet we double down and send raw resources elsewhere and miss out on the better margins involved in refinement.

Us "leftists" know that we could do better if the government was run with long term vision but the system, people and vested interests are only interested in the short term.

# ? Jan 28, 2014 18:13

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Canadian Politics Megathread: That is simply not Trudeau

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