Canadian election and other political stuff

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

I am not there at this moment but I do love Vancouver. I’ll always think of it as “my city” no matter where I live because the most important years of my adult life have been there and it is a gem. Too bad it’s so dang expensive to live there, and there’s such a housing crisis and problems flowing from that (not unlike Toronto and every city). I hope the PM can fix that fairly quickly. And I hope there’s a new mayor next election. He really sucks. Worst we’ve had. He wants to invest city money into bitcoin. He just reminds me of a tech-bro/ frat boy. Like he’d get along with Elon and Joe Rogan.

 

[Jaebius]

In Vancouver in Spring, you can go skiing in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon. I’ve never done that but many do.

Going beyond this little debate, and back to the thread's topic, I consider it a huge mistake for our Prime Minister to have made a dig at one of Canada's major cities. I'd feel much the same way if he'd unfairly and unnecessarily instead mocked Vancouver or another place

 

[Jaebius]

Toronto.culture reports, "Mark Carney will not participate in the key French-language TVA debate, the Liberal Party has confirmed. The move is drawing criticism and raising questions about his engagement with Quebec and francophone communities during the election campaign."

Carney is once again showing that he's not the right choice for Canadians

 

[Luce NDs]

You can't make the rest of Canada care about London. No matter how much you try, you'll always be the other London and most of us aren't sure if you really exist.

We are conditioned to be uncaring by some means we don't understand ... industrialized? Few stop to mull and digest ...

 

[Luce NDs]

Why is it so many people get so emotional about the information about where other people live and then appear to hate anything they are unaware of? These people begin to preach on me and I like the populace hate being preached at about my free choice ... so something has to go down ... thus the world descends into dispute ... why? Go think about it ...

Alas we are not allowed as the industry dictates against it ... the swirl continues as a dark and stormy night kicking out stories, myths and others ... nothing is acceptable! What does nothing come to ...

 

[paradox3]

Lifelong

I am not there at this moment but I do love Vancouver. I’ll always think of it as “my city” no matter where I live because the most important years of my adult life have been there and it is a gem. Too bad it’s so dang expensive to live there, and there’s such a housing crisis and problems flowing from that (not unlike Toronto and every city).

Lifelong Torontonian here. Even other residents of Ontario love to hate on Toronto. I'm fine with it.

Our children live close to us but not too close. Major selling point!

 

[Jaebius]

Lifelong

Lifelong Torontonian here. Even other residents of Ontario love to hate on Toronto. I'm fine with it.

Feel they're jealous of Toronto's greatness and prominence

 

[Luce NDs]

Feel they're jealous of Toronto's greatness and prominence

Tends towards gross emotional stance ... no balance ... and even the people of the rock used to drift there towards the centre of power ... thus intelligence is laid down as a lyre ... the lion of Dauid! No dou'id ... doubt? Transcendent letters ... as transmogrification ... all mulled and chewed ...

 

[Northwind]

Driving with a relative through three (2 and half) prairie provinces was an experience.

Is that now? The Prairies have their own beauty. One of my favourite trips across was when the canola and flax were out fields of yellow for miles. The flax looked like small blue lakes. Add the bright blue sky and it was beautiful.

 

[Mendalla]

Lifelong Torontonian here. Even other residents of Ontario love to hate on Toronto. I'm fine with it.

See, I don't hate on Toronto. Good city if you're looking for a cultural or entertainment scene. It's just not for me. Even London is starting to feel a bit "big city" to me with a plethora of new high rises going up downtown and sprawling suburbs around the edges. I grew up in Kitchener in the 70s and 80s when it was just broaching 100K population and that seems to be my sweet spot. Hamilton was good in that it wasn't too big in feel when I was there and you could get to downtown Toronto in an hour or less. But had I remained in Hamilton, I'd have been looking to move out to Waterdown or Ancaster, probably. Too much heavy industry and sprawl in Hamilton proper.

But that's not about the election. Though there isn't much to talk about. Rival tax cuts from the Libs and Cons. Jabs at DJT from all concerned. Lots of talk about tariffs and trade, of course. Nothing that inspires much so far.

I was looking at the current candidate lists for the London ridings and there seems to be no Greens here?? Need to look into that. I was going to go back to Green this election, I think. My gut feeling is my riding will either stay Liberal or go NDP, though. Other than a blue blip during the Harper majority, it's been pretty solidly red federally for the time I've lived in it and went orange in the last two provincial elections after years of being Liberal provincially (Deb Matthews, who was in cabinet under both McGuinty and Wynne). The current MP is a bit uninspiring and like the Conservative he replaced, is a bit of a party mouthpiece moreso than a representative of the riding.

 

[Northwind]

I just heard a news story that Nanaimo might have a four way race - NDP, Green, CPC and Liberal. Hubby and I were talking yesterday. I made the argument that Liberals don't have a chance on the island. Now I hear this. It would be great to have more than a few Liberal MPs west of the MB/SK border. The NDP MP is running again in the riding where I vote. He'll likely get my vote. That riding will probably be a battle between CPC and NDP.

 

[Mendalla]

I just heard a news story that Nanaimo might have a four way race - NDP, Green, CPC and Liberal.

No often you see that in a riding. Usually a couple parties will be well ahead in any riding, at most a three-way. Could be an interesting riding to be in, I guess.

 

[Northwind]

No often you see that in a riding. Usually a couple parties will be well ahead in any riding, at most a three-way. Could be an interesting riding to be in, I guess.

You do in other parts of the country. It's extremely surprising to see that Liberals are even an option in this part of the world.

 

[chansen]

See, I don't hate on Toronto. Good city if you're looking for a cultural or entertainment scene. It's just not for me.

Same. I like where I live. I'm within easy driving to Toronto for work, shopping and events, but I have zero interest in living within the city.

 

[Mendalla]

So a source with security clearance says CSIS has found interference by India in Poilievre's 2022 leadership campaign. Apparently, the Conservative leader himself was unaware. Poilievre's lack of security clearance means he can't actually see the report in its entirety. I kind of hope this won't be a campaign issue because, honestly, an anonymous source leaking something like this in a campaign reeks of interference, even if it isn't. Carney has already jumped on it, though, as a reason to highlight Poilievre's refusal to get a security clearance.

CSIS alleges India organized support for Poilievre’s 2022 Conservative leadership bid

Agency’s assessment does not point to a highly organized effort or indicate the Conservative leader’s circle knew of the actions, source says

www.theglobeandmail.com

And CBC's Poll Tracker, which aggregates results from multiple polls, can be found here:

Poll Tracker

If an election were held today, who would win? The CBC News Poll Tracker is your guide to following the polls. Get the latest numbers and analysis on where the political parties stand from Éric Grenier.

newsinteractives.cbc.ca

It has the Liberals not that far ahead on popular vote but is projecting a high probability of a Liberal majority. Why? Once again, the Conservatives seem to be getting screwed by having support that is metres deep but centimeters wide. Winning a few ridings by large margins rather than many ridings by slimmer ones hurts them time and time again, it seems. You simply can't win elections that way in a first-past-the-post system. Winning a riding by 15% gives no advantage over winning it by 1%. Also, CPC support is still concentrated in the West when Ontario and Quebec are the provinces where the population, and therefore seats, are concentrated. I was hoping for a close race this time when I first saw these results, but the deeper analysis suggests that's being optimistic. Amazing when you consider that the Cons were basically a shoo-in at the end of 2024. Now they are going to be fighting tooth and nail, riding by riding, it seems.

 

[Luce NDs]

Is honesty a high point of politics and thus the chill on the spine ... when they claim they are the only ones that know something?

Appears a bit gauche to me ... somewhat crude and rough around the fringe! Steer clear of that ... it may actually be a gross Black Hole reification of something fluffy ... not physical? Pithy eh ... or pi thyeh ... god plae or word platens ... derived from Plate-OH as flat out ... like Pan in the sphere of influence ...

We know nothing especially those that say they do until questioned ... some manufacture alternate facts out of nothing ... quite a conspiracy when placed under etude ... multitudes ? Mani ayes watching ... collectively the social "i" as imaginary to the power that fears it ... paranoia? Those determined will say: "I don't know about that!" It slipped their mined or perhaps they lost that as virtue ... all? Depends on how writ ...

 

[WhyCzar]

Poilievre’s longstanding explanation for not taking the clearance is to avoid the inevitable gag order that comes with access to top security documents.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) policies that allow Poilievre to be briefed on information he needs to know through “Threat Reduction Measures (TRMs), which is found under section 12.1 of the CSIS Act — and do not restrict his ability to speak on the matter.

“Unlike others who are willing to limit their ability to hold the government accountable on important issues of national security, Mr. Poilievre will not be gagged and unable to speak or act on information he may receive,” Sebastian Skamski, of Poilievre’s office, wrote.

 

[Waterfall]

Poilievre’s longstanding explanation for not taking the clearance is to avoid the inevitable gag order that comes with access to top security documents.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) policies that allow Poilievre to be briefed on information he needs to know through “Threat Reduction Measures (TRMs), which is found under section 12.1 of the CSIS Act — and do not restrict his ability to speak on the matter.

“Unlike others who are willing to limit their ability to hold the government accountable on important issues of national security, Mr. Poilievre will not be gagged and unable to speak or act on information he may receive,” Sebastian Skamski, of Poilievre’s office, wrote.

You don't see a need to NOT reveal everything to hostile nations?

 

[Northwind]

You don't see a need to NOT reveal everything to hostile nations?

There is a reason some things are considered top secret and that only some people can get that information.

The fiasco with the American social media strategy chat shows that.

 

[Mendalla]

Yeah, Walz and company got lucky they invited an ethical reporter. There's more than a few who wouldn't have sat on the story until after the attack. Though my understanding is that in this case, the reporter didn't fully believe that he'd heard what he heard until the attack actually happened.

I hope Poilievre realizes that if he does become PM, the clearance is basically mandatory for him to function.