"Gone is the plaster, the flooring, wiring, plumbing, elevator — in effect the surface layer of almost the whole interior. Now the empty shell is standing waiting for the order either to renovate it from the top to the bottom or to demolish and rebuild."
"There is good reason to think that Trudeau will eke out another victory when voters head to the polls in 2025. His previous two victories were earned with the same strategy: to thoroughly trash the Conservative Party as a dangerous threat to our country’s liberal values. He is likely to deploy it again against Poilievre, who seems to relish such an accusation. It may work."
"But that comes at a cost. Politics has grown rapidly partisan, polarizing, and vitriolic in recent years. Trudeau highlights this growing “toxicity in partisan politics, where opinion becomes identity in a way that we hadn’t seen in a long time,” he says. [...] I put it to the prime minister that he bears some responsibility for that trend."
"He was vowing to replace Canada’s electoral system, which tended to give parties power disproportionate to their level of support"
PR advocates believe that each party should have a number of MPs proportionate to the votes that party has received; but the relationship between power and proportion of MPs is inherently nonlinear.
"On remarquera une chose : l’ingérence étrangère passe par ce qui est le point faible de nos institutions démocratiques : les instances locales des partis politiques, au niveau de la circonscription et des investitures de candidats."
"The restrictions [Japan] imposes on some freedoms beget other freedoms we no longer have: the ability for ordinary people to go about their business peaceably and the freedom for their kids to be independent. Sometimes, striking the right balance between liberty and security can mean thinking outside the box — and even, outside our country."
GOP Rep. Mike Turner, chair of the House Intel Committee, tells CNN that Russian propaganda has taken hold among some of his #Republican colleagues.
"We see directly coming from #Russia ... communications that are anti-#Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor."
@GottaLaff@MikeImBack
if the #CPC comes back into power in Canada -- which the polls indicate is likely -- things will be similar to the years when Stephen Harper was Prime Minister. Opinions vary about how good or bad the federal government was then, but it was not much like the Trump presidency.
"As first reported in the Globe and Mail, Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper have volunteered to lead a campaign to raise the money required to restore the official prime minister’s residence, each of them calling upon their wide network to do so."
Wonderful news. It's crazy that PMs have been too afraid of the optics to have 24 Sussex fixed up while in office...
I've been wondering what the status quo is in terms of taxpayer-funded contraception in Canada:
"[F]ree universal coverage for all women in B.C.; targeted coverage in the Yukon; free oral contraceptives and IUDs for those on Alberta’s low-income benefit plan; free or incredibly cheap birth control to those on Saskatchewan’s low-income plan; free prescription contraception in Manitoba; free prescription contraception for Ontarians under 25 without private coverage."
This is of course in the context of the plans of the Trudeau ministry to bring in #pharmacare , with prescription contraceptives being one of the promised first items, to be provided to all Canadian women regardless of income level or insurance status.
🚨 BOOST CHALLENGE! 🚨Ok #Fediverse and #Mastodon. If I tell my Canadian Member of Parliament, Gord Johns, that he will get 2000 followers within one week of creating a Mastodon account, will you make that happen?
I want him to be able to say when he stands in the House and presents the #e4769 petition for an official Fediverse server that he himself is the first Canadian MP to be on the Fediverse!
Boost for yes! I am going to show him this post! I'm counting on you, literally! 🔥 🙏 2️⃣ 0️⃣ 0️⃣ 0️⃣ 🙏
These subsidies cost Canadian taxpayers at least $6.03 billion, or roughly $214 per taxpayer every year. And unlike the federal #CarbonTax, Canadians don’t get a rebate on this tax. (1/3)
I sometimes wonder whether Prime Minister #JustinTrudeau wouldn't be happier as a provincial premier. Pharmacare, daycares, rental law, school breakfasts — these are all properly provincial jurisdictions; inflation, national defence, crime — federal jurisdictions. Is it a coincidence that the condition of these latter has deteriorated while the Trudeau ministry has spent time and money the former?
Maybe PM Trudeau has been constrained by the #JagmeetSingh agenda...
@BarryCooke The polling results are ambiguous: Canadians tend to say that #ClimateChange is important, but not be willing to pay much in costs; more recently pocketbook issues seem to have become higher priorities.
But I think the general history of Canadian policy is that we're willing to do our fair share, at least if we see our peer nations taking action.
It's good to see writers defending freedom of expression; if they don't do so, then who will?
The Minister of Justice has his explanation to be sure:
"In the article, Virani compares the new measure to existing peace bonds that can be sought in domestic violence cases and to prevent harm to children, terrorism or organized crime offences."
"Sen̓áḵw, an 11-tower development that will Tetrize 6,000 apartments onto just over 10 acres of land in the heart of the city. Once complete, this will be the densest neighbourhood in Canada, providing thousands of homes for Vancouverites who have long been squeezed between the country’s priciest real estate and some of its lowest vacancy rates."
Michael Geist ( @mgeist ), among others, has recommended that #HateSpeech provisions be removed from the proposed #OnlineHarmsAct — many other aspects of the bill are good ideas and relatively uncontroversial, but these changes deserve consideration and debate on their own merits. Seems wise to me.
@mattblaze@mike This is literally how we vote in Canada: a cardboard box and a paper ballot. Granted we're only 40 million people, but no one ever feels the need to question the results.
Alternate Headline that would actually deserve to be on a Canadian top-news page:
“Kate Photo Scandal another reason Canada should divorce itself from this circus”.
I mean, for the love of god, WHO CARES.
They Don't Live Here.
None of them have any impact on our day to day lives.
They aren't even Canadian Citizens.
It's just gossip. That's all it's good for. Stupid, meaningless, gossip.
@chris
The #monarchy is one of the elements of Canadian government that works well, an enduring, non-partisan element at the top of our political system, connecting us to our heritage, a reason for politicians not to put on airs.
Besides, articles like the one you're complaining about exist because of popular interest. If Canada were a republic, the #CBC would still have published that story. Gossip maybe, but gossip many in the public want to read.
I am not opposed to a government programme in which taxes cover the cost of prescription drugs [0], but I do oppose the current #Liberal-#NDP plans for pharmacare. My reasons are as follows:
a) Healthcare is a provincial jurisdiction according to the constitution, and the feds should focus on their own responsibilities, not interfere in those of the provinces;
b) Joint federal-provincial programmes lack accountability and lead to squabbling;
c) Such a programme should be aimed at helping those who lack insurance coverage for prescription drugs, not at also paying for Canadians covered by existing plans;
d) Federal taxes would be better spent on other matters.
[0] Taxpayer-funded drug coverage already exists here in #Québec, and in other jurisdictions as well.
Leaving Australia very impressed.
Traveled extensively across Melbourne and Sydney.
Unified transit with card taps. Ferry to bus to tram to train frequently going anywhere. It makes exploring fun. Their commuter rail is basically a metro to the edge of town.
But beyond dorky stuff. The cities are clean, diverse, interesting, barely any homeless.
It’s caused a lot of reflection for me as a person who mentally categorized Canada as the same.
I think we have a systemic issue with our governance.
@paige Homelessness in Canada has gotten much worse in recent years while our institutions of government haven't changed much, leading me to doubt it's a problem with our institutions as such. Though to be sure there are ways Canada ought to change our government for the better; I would suggest stronger MPs and a weaker PMO.