Certainly he would have won more seats if the Liberals didn't get some unelectable candidates to run. Certainly in Atlantic Canada the seats they lost was because of the candidates.
Canadian Politics
- Thread starter DOTA
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Certainly he would have won more seats if the Liberals didn't get some unelectable candidates to run. Certainly in Atlantic Canada the seats they lost was because of the candidates.
For those that are interested in how things changed (spoiler: not much) compared to the 2019 elections, Radio-Canada has created this really nice infographic that takes you through the different areas of Canada, and a few urban regions:
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/20...es-vainqueur-perdant-partis-circonscriptions/
(No real need to be able to follow the French text; you'll be able to see what they're describing by just scrolling through the page and clicking the before/after buttons.)
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/20...es-vainqueur-perdant-partis-circonscriptions/
(No real need to be able to follow the French text; you'll be able to see what they're describing by just scrolling through the page and clicking the before/after buttons.)
Just curious, how strong is the Quebec separatism sentiment in Canada? Is it anything comparable to for example Catalonia?
It's pretty weak these days. There's no real threat of Quebec separating (not sure if it's more difficult legally since the mid 1990s) but they have their own party to ensure they feel distinct from the rest of us and their their special concerns receive attention.
There is no legal issue, there is just much less appetite. Sovereignists recognize this as well (apart from the Parti Québécois), and so the focus now is rather on getting as much power away from the federal and into the provincial level - see basically anything Legault (the Quebec premier) ever says about federal politics (who is himself a former sovereignist who now self-identifies as a nationalist).
The Bloc Québécois is an interesting case. Once elected, they seem to achieve next to nothing in parliament. However, anyone conducting politics that affect Quebec or campaigning in Quebec for federal elections will have to make sure they do not step on any toes that will lead people to vote for the Bloc - meaning that the mere existence of the Bloc means that Quebec nationalist issues do need to be taken into account at all times. (Ironically, while all parties made sure of that to the best of their ability, the Bloc's biggest boost in these elections instead seems to have been the question about Quebec xenophobia in one of the English-language debates. Thanks, moderator!
)Pleased to see it's all going really well for you all.
Congrats to the NDP. Although not following Canadian politics, it's good to see a left leaning party have influence in the Parliament.
Vive le Québec libre!
De Gaulle has a lot to answer for.
Very surprised that one of the ridings here in Calgary flipped to Liberal, and the popular vote numbers were quite a bit less than last time. Maybe the start of a slow turn.
What do you think is behind that? With O'Toole moving the Cons to the Centre a little, I thought the PPC would maybe make inroads in AB and SK (without gaining seats), not the Libs.
I don't have citizenship yet and so can't vote, so I have less interest in Canadian politics than I should but from what I can tell the PPC achieved feck all. From what I've been able to piece together, the conservative candidate in that riding was completely absent the entire campaign but the liberal candidate was everywhere. It's not completely unexpected either tbh, society in general tends to lean more left than right, especially as younger and younger generations get to vote. We're seeing it slowly in Texas of all places.
The three seats The Liberals lost in Atlantic Canada was their own problems.
The youth or younger people don't vote for a party just because their parents and grandparents voted for it. Now it's a lot more issue based and hence NDP gained a lot of votes.
In one riding no one even knew how the NDP candidate looks like. There was no pic of him on any signs. Not even on his website yet he came third. He didn't even do any campaigning either. The Tories beat The Liberals as the Liberals ran a person whom no one liked.
The youth or younger people don't vote for a party just because their parents and grandparents voted for it. Now it's a lot more issue based and hence NDP gained a lot of votes.
In one riding no one even knew how the NDP candidate looks like. There was no pic of him on any signs. Not even on his website yet he came third. He didn't even do any campaigning either. The Tories beat The Liberals as the Liberals ran a person whom no one liked.
Yeah, fair enough. I was surprised anyway that the NDP and Libs didn't enter anything in either Edmonton or Calgary, so I guess the current outcome is actually more normal than what happened in 2019. Happy to hear that the PPC got nowhere in AB though.
I'm beginning to think that the NDP didn't have the money to challenge everywhere and were happy to hold onto what they had and keep the lights on.
I thought Edmonton centre may be taken by The Libs? And Calgary SkyView has been taken by The Libs. Edmonton Griesback and Strathcona taken by NDP.
Correct. I meant that I was surprised in 2019 that they didn't have anything at all, and that that one is really the odd one out, not this election when the NDP and Libs got some urban seats again in AB.
Edmonton Centre is currently a difference of 136 votes btw, with 0.48% of votes still coming. I guess they might do a recount there.
This has little to do with the truckers anymore, so I figured I'd respond here.
Can you talk a bit more on the dynamics in NB? I thought the balance Franco-Anglo isn't all that bad (40-60?), but the Francos seem to have little influence. Or is that just right now because of Higgs? And more generally, what parties play a real role in NB (just Libs and Prog-Cons?), and where would you generally put the province as a whole on the political map? Centre to centre-left? (Not under Higgs obviously, but I mean in terms of general political leanings.)
I think I have some sense of this for most provinces, but I feel I know little about NB, PEI, and NL in this regard.
It's probably 75 to 25 to the Anglophones now. The Francophones have too much influence. That means any government job, you have to be bilingual. With a lot of new immigrants coming in and speaking English it's getting worse.
The Francophones have a political association. SANB.
The others don't. They have undue influence and especially with Dominique Le Blanc as the no 2 guy in federal government.
The People's Alliance is one of those minor parties that's against the Francophone influence in the NB. They defeated the Lib Candidate who was then the Lib leader.
Higgs himself is a former Irving Executive so that's a problem in itself. I don't think he is a bad Premier. His worst situation was the nursing shortage but he is hampered by The Nursing Act and needs to change the act to ease the shortage. It's going to be his last term I feel.
NB is never center left. It's a cesspool of corruption be it the Libs or PCs. The NDP is non existent. It's quite funny that in the last federal election the NDP guy got more than a few thousand votes but no one ever knew how he looks like. Not even a FB page or a yard sign. Not even one. The Lib provincial leadership election is in August and the Francophones have dragged out someone who has withdrawn initially to run against an anglophone candidate.
The newspaper media owned by the Irving's has been sold to The owner of The National and the media is going to go more right wing.
I would say that if Peter Mckay had won the Tory leadership he would have wiped out the Maritimes with a few exceptions like Dominique Le Blanc.
The Libs could win the next election if they elect a good leader and of course good candidates. Lots of times the PC have better candidates and are not hampered by the Francophones politics.
Interesting - thanks for the write-up.
That sounds more centre-right then, and made quite aligned with Quebec, where the left has largely disappeared the last two decades. (Québec Solidaire is basically the only remaning leftist party and they're very small. Whether the QC Liberals will now really make the move to the left that its leader is proposing remains to be seen.)
What's with the corruption? The effect of a small province (in population) where there are too many connections between political and business leaders?
The francophone point is interesting to me. I can understand why their influence seems disproportionate from an anglo view, but from a franco point of view, it also makes sense to try and cling to their historical position of influence - supported by their strong ability to organize (like here in Ontario). Being part of the Franco-Ontarion community myself, I can totally see why the franco community in NB would organize the way it's doing. Ultimately though, it seems like NB may go in the direction of a situation like in Ontario (or now also in Nova Scotia, I think), where there are lots of privileges for francophones, but they're not officially bilingual provinces. That makes me kinda sad, but it's an irreversible demographic trend, fuelled especially by the fact that most population growth in Canada now happens due to immigration (as detailed in the first results of Census 2021), and immigrans overwhelmingly will choose English as their first official language.
Actually the main reason in NB with the language issue is The Francophone community. They have separate everything. Including a separate health service and also schools. Non francophone children could not join francophone schools because they refused to accept non french speaking children. A few years they were forced to accept it now. They said that accepting non french speaking children would destroy the french language. This is ridiculous. Getting everyone to speak french and English is the best way.
I think it's going to come to a head very soon. The People's Alliance who I would say are a fringe party is getting a fair bit of support now.
All governments have made it worse. What makes it worse is that to get a provincial job you have to be bilingual. I know a french porter in an anglophone hospital who couldn't get a permanent job as a porter because he didn't pass the written test. I mean what written test does a porter need to push a wheelchair? He speaks perfect English. It's ridiculous.
As for the corruption it's big. Irving controls most of it when the Tories are in power and another company when the Libs are in power.
Both parties should combine the health services and provide dual language service. No one is against that. But having dual so many services is costing the province a lot of money. People are moving away and the tax base is getting smaller.
Even federally the Libs are losing big time and I don't think they would survive in the Maritimes with Trudeau in charge. As I said before if Peter Mckay had won the Tory leadership, he would have wiped the floor in the general election certainly in the Maritimes.
Ah, yeah, that does sound a bit messy. You do have separate school boards here in Ontario (English Catholic, English General, French Catholic, French General), but that makes sense, cause you can't have bilingual schooling. It's easier to get to a French school though, as long as your child can follow and you can support it in French (you can talk to school in English, but any e-mails and documents come in French). The travesty here is rather the existence of Catholic boards.
It's funny you say it feels like people are leaving NB, cause overall, that's not actually true. The latest demographics show that people have actually started migrating more to the maritimes (not NL) than away from it for the first time in decades, and in the 2016-2021 Census period, population growth in the Maritimes outstripped the Prairies for the first time since the 1940s.
The MacKay thing is the perpetual dilemma of this united federal Conversative Party. Get a progressive conservative like MacKay in, and you can get some gains in the Maritimes, suburban ON and QC; but you lose interest in rural Ontario and BC and in the Prairies (not such much rural Quebec: too much Bloc); but choose a social conservative and its the opposite. Therre is no win-win situation for them, and I just don't see how the party can survive in the long run.
The inflow of migration is just these few years. The cost of living was cheaper then but it's shot up now due to many reasons including housing shortage and high gas prices.
So a lot of people who moved from other provinces are moving out again. Nova Scotia is getting a fair bit of them. I deal with both the Provincial and federal government at a fairly senior level. Both do seem to understand the issues. But it seems handicapped by the civil service and other vested groups.
The provisional ridings are going to be redrawn and you can bet Higgs is going to do it in a way that benefits them.
The shortage in the health services is something he agrees but nothing much he can do unless he amends the Nursing Act.
This is a great development:
Toronto may follow soon. It may not change much to the opioid crisis, but it's a great first step towards treating addiction differently and helping people with substance use issues better. As the article from the first tweet says:
Toronto may follow soon. It may not change much to the opioid crisis, but it's a great first step towards treating addiction differently and helping people with substance use issues better. As the article from the first tweet says:
Also, for anyone who likes the Law & Order approach - the police actually want this decriminalization:
I suppose this should be seen as a pilot, given the limited geographic scope. Let's see what it does and what happens next.
Yes, lots of Torontonians will appreciate the ability to freely do cocaine without fear of being criminally prosecuted, especially here on Bay street.
What has criminalization of possession ever done against that though?
It would be nice if those people had the morality to either stop using or stop complaining about gang violence (you can't like having coke and complain about the criminality around it!), but that's a different discussion.
What has criminalization of possession ever done against that though?
It would be nice if those people had the morality to either stop using or stop complaining about gang violence (you can't like having coke and complain about the criminality around it!), but that's a different discussion.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good thing but it feels like it ignores where users get the drugs and all that comes with that.
For me, a proper approach should include provision of these small amounts of drugs through dispensaries where the source is not the illegal market. And they should be provided for free to addicts in low income areas. Finally anyone who wants to get their drugs this way should get them in conjunction with counseling and treatment.
We lighten the burden on the oppressed, the justice system and other individuals but problems like gang violence, burglary, theft, robbery and overdose are likely to remain and potentially get worse.
On the surface it seems like all action but no plan. I dnotont see how it's going to reduce the amount of drugs laced with fentanyl on the streets.
Oh, absolutely. I don't think anyone is pretending otherwise though. This is just making waves because decriminalization of possession is a new thing in Canada, and as such it's a bit of a breakthrough moment. But you're right, it won't solve much, if anything. It's just a tiny part of everything that could/should be done.
A bigger plan is also in the making btw, the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy. Well, the strategy exists already, but implementation hasn't properly started yet. Hopefully early next year, I think. If that's done properly, it should really move things. Fingers crossed!
I don't agree that crime will continue the same as the stigma, perception and real convictions will diminish considerably what will avoid people to get excluded from the society, to be able to get the opportunity to get in the societal parameters and not to have to commit crimes. decriminalization of drugs did wonders in Portugal (one of the first) in the last 20 years
https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decriminalisation-in-portugal-setting-the-record-straight
- Drug usage dropped
- Crime drug related dropped
- HIV dropped
- And more
Obviously they increase treatement and counselling services among other actions. But certainly is a very good move as per other countries experiences
https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decriminalisation-in-portugal-setting-the-record-straight
- Drug usage dropped
- Crime drug related dropped
- HIV dropped
- And more
Obviously they increase treatement and counselling services among other actions. But certainly is a very good move as per other countries experiences
Portugal had a holistic approach though, including methadon provision and a whole care plan. This Canadian step is just decriminalization; there is nothing else attached to this announcement. So it will help people reach out about their addictions and hide it less, but when they do reach out, there isn't a better service to support them and help them leave the life they're in. As such, I don't think this will make a huge difference to drug use (and the petty crime involved in people trying to get the cash to buy their next dose) or drug dealing (and the bigger criminality the dealers are involved in).
But as I said, it's a good start. And I do think it's important, cause a holistic approach really needs decriminalization, and that political wall had yet to be breached. (And I don't know the particulars of BC. Maybe they already do have that holistic approach and decriminalization was their final requirement to make it work!)
Yes, you are 100% right. Lers see the next steps
My biggest concern really is that this isn't going to make any kind of dent in deaths from drugs tainted with fentanyl, which is the big problem right now.
Maybe removing the stigma and threat of prosecution will help but I'm not sure.
Maybe removing the stigma and threat of prosecution will help but I'm not sure.
I'm not sure what can help with that though. The government isn't going to create their own drugs or otherwise regulate their production. I'm thinking maybe supervised safe injection sites are best here, where people can get their drugs tested and they will get immediate help if their shot goes wrong. That might help because, if people keep hearing at these sites that their drug dose is bad, they'll start complaining to their dealers or switch dealers, which might ultimately lead to producers wanting to provide better product as well.
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Yeah those sites are the only thing that can help...but not everyone goes there. Maybe the decriminalization will encourage people to ask pharmacies for naloxone if they're going to get high elsewhere.
Yeah, even with a lot more of those sites, I don't see your typical Bay Street guy going there to have their coke tested.
Or lots of others, but those users especially not. I'm not sure where they figure in the current crisis though, if at all.
That's the concerning part, there are plenty of users who are not the stereotypical heroin addict from East Hastings street. With over 4000 deaths in 2020 alone from opioid abuse it's reasonable to assume that there are a lot of victims living realtively comfortable lives in the suburbs, too.
Article on CBC today, basically going through all the things you've been pointing out (and I agree with):
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada-overdose-crisis-toxic-supply-decriminalization-1.6477015
True, for example, the rave scene is quite big in vancouver area and i have some acquantainces that told me some fentanyl scares of their friends
Anyway, recreational users are not the target. The target are precisely those from east hastings like, that are outside the protection and out of society. I have no doubt that decriminalizing will help to make use of the supporting tools that are already in place as they will feel safe that along the way, they will not be intercepted as they are not dping anything ilegal. Will not be a solution for everyone, but certainly will save lives
If you like Trumpists this much, Pierre, why don't you feck off very deep to the South of the border?