[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Neil]

Is 'funded by Russia' some sort of mic drop? 

I mean, the labour movement spent much of the Twentieth century being funded to some degree by Russia, but that didn't mean that they were always wrong. 

[Grey Fox]

Well, ain't that fucking golden. Now the right brigade says they weren't always wrong. 2002 you would like some words.

And yes it is a mic drop. It's funded by the fascist enemy of democracy and the west.

[HVC]

I miss the days when the right hated Russia. It was a simpler time.

[Barrister]

I miss the days when the right hated Russia. It was a simpler time.

I'm of the right.

I hate Russia.

[HVC]

I miss the days when the right hated Russia. It was a simpler time.

I'm of the right.

I hate Russia.

That's extenuating circumstances because of the war

[Barrister]

I miss the days when the right hated Russia. It was a simpler time.

I'm of the right.

I hate Russia.

That's extenuating circumstances because of the war

Слава Україні!

But beyond that - Fuck Putin (at risk of triggering Zoupa).

[Josephus]

https://www.cp24.com/news/canada/2025/01/04/pierre-poilievre-outlines-goals-strategy-key-players-in-jordan-peterson-interview/

For BB

[viper37]

Second, Poilievre gives a lengthy interview to none other than Jordan Peterson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dck8eZCpglc

I haven't watched it - because it's 1 hr 40 minutes long.  But I can't recall Poilievre ever sitting down for an interview of that length before.  Say what you will of Peterson, but this seems like an important story.

The thing is though - I can't find hardly a single news story about it.  All I can find is this short article from the right-wing Wester Standard:

https://www.westernstandard.news/canadian/jordan-peterson-and-pierre-poilievre-discuss-canadas-economy-immigration-housing/60861

It summarizes that Poilievre mostly talks about economics, and the lagging standard of living between US and Canada.

The interview seems like it came out around midnight last night, so lots of time to be digested - yet nothing in the media.  Curious.  There were several stories coming from Trudeau's interview on 22 Minutes, for example (including calling him out for cancelling other interviews).

Was Jordan Peterson's youtube channel a friendly location?  Certainly.  But does that mean it should be ignored?  It already has 800k views.

The interview was released Friday, it 1h40m you admit yourself you haven't watch it because it's too long and you expect everyone else to come out of their vacation to submit a lengthy political analysis about what it means?

FYI, the Toronto Star discuss it, so does the CBC and all the right wing media in the country.  The francophone press also talks about it.

You just can't expect all journalists everywhere to watch a 1h40 video and submit a written response when most of the A-team is on vacation 5 minutes after it's released.

[viper37]

It came out less than 12 hours ago, calm your tits.

Plus it's Peterson. I'm not sure why the "media" needs to report on a podcast funded by russia. It'll reach its intended audience and press all the right buttons to make you snowflakes tick.

Peterson is Russia funded? I thought he was just regular ol' standard wackadoo right.

As per Trudeau's sworn testimony, backed by intelligence report.

Peterson threaten to sue, but since it would force the evidence to be disclosed, he didn't.

[viper37]

I want a Bloc Majoritaire flag. I'm sure there is going to be some on Quebec.

Could be nice.

[HVC]

It came out less than 12 hours ago, calm your tits.

Plus it's Peterson. I'm not sure why the "media" needs to report on a podcast funded by russia. It'll reach its intended audience and press all the right buttons to make you snowflakes tick.

Peterson is Russia funded? I thought he was just regular ol' standard wackadoo right.

As per Trudeau's sworn testimony, backed by intelligence report.

Peterson threaten to sue, but since it would force the evidence to be disclosed, he didn't.

Well, didn't know that. It's always nice when colleagues can get together and talk for a bit.

[crazy canuck]

Peterson's decision not to sue had nothing to do with evidence coming out. His threat to sue was always just for show.  When Trudeau made those comments, he did so before a parliamentary committee and therefore everything he said is covered by absolute privilege.

If Peterson had started a lawsuit, there would've been no evidence. They're simply would've been an application to strike the claim.

[viper37]

As per the G&M, Trudeau should announce his resignation before Wednesday's caucus.

Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as early as Monday that he will resign as Liberal Party Leader, three sources said Sunday, as the Prime Minister faces a caucus revolt and dismal public opinion polls that show his party will likely be swept out of power by Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives in a landslide victory.

The sources stressed that they don't know definitely when Mr. Trudeau will announce his plans to leave but said they expect it will happen before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to discuss internal party matters.

One of the sources, who spoke recently to the Prime Minister, said Mr. Trudeau realizes he needs to make an announcement before he meets the Liberal caucus so it doesn't look like he was forced out by his own MPs.
The three sources said they are unsure about what the Liberal Party national executive plans to do to replace Mr. Trudeau as leader. They said it remains unclear whether he will leave immediately or stay on as Prime Minister until a new leader is selected. The Liberal Party national executive, which decides on leadership issues, plans to meet this week, likely after the caucus session.

On Friday, The Globe reported that Mr. Trudeau's advisers are looking at how he can remain Prime Minister while a new Liberal leader is selected. A fourth source said they believed that Mr. Trudeau would stay in his position until a new leader was chosen. The Globe is not identifying the source who was not authorized to discuss the private deliberations.
However, several MPs have expressed a preference for an interim leader, including Alberta Liberal George Chahal who wrote a letter to his caucus colleagues with that request last week.

The party has two options: appoint an interim leader on the recommendation of national caucus or hold a shortened leadership contest. A leadership contest would require the Prime Minister to request that Governor-General Mary Simon prorogue Parliament, which constitutional experts say is not guaranteed.

One of the sources said that the Prime Minister discussed with Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc whether he would be willing to step in as interim leader and prime minister. But the source said that would be unworkable if Mr. LeBlanc, as expected, plans to run for the leadership.

Another of the sources said it makes sense for Mr. Trudeau to remain as Prime Minister until a leader is chosen so he can deal with the incoming administration of Donald Trump and his threat of 25-per-cent tariffs.

A separate Liberal Party source said a leadership race would take at least three months, although the party constitution requests at least four months. Besides, the source said, a leadership race needs enough time to be a true contest. The national executive is aware that shorter timelines can lead to bad choices, the source said. The individual played down an interim leader, noting that no modern sitting prime minister has ever given over leadership in such a manner.

Complicating matters is a scheduled March 28 vote on supply to allow the government to operate but that could happen before the Prime Minister makes a request for prorogation, the Liberal Party source said. The Globe is not identifying the source who was not authorized to discuss party matters.

Mr. Trudeau has remained largely silent since Chrystia Freeland's surprising resignation as finance minister and deputy prime minister on Dec. 16 that led to renewed calls from Liberal MPs for him to leave. She quit on the day she was to deliver her economic and fiscal update, citing concerns over what she called spending gimmicks, such as the GST holiday and $250 rebates, and lack of seriousness in dealing with possible Trump tariffs.

The Atlantic, Ontario and Quebec caucuses have signalled that most of their membership no longer supports Mr. Trudeau remaining at the helm. Of the 153 seats that the Liberals hold in the House of Commons, those three regions account for 131 of them.

The Prime Minister subsequently told MPs that he'd reflect on his future, and his inner circle made it clear just before the holiday break that he wouldn't announce any decisions over that time period.

During the past two weeks, however, Mr. Trudeau's closest advisers have been consulting with senior Liberals about how it could work if Mr. Trudeau remained as leader and Prime Minister until the end of a leadership race to replace him.

Though there is yet no firm answer from Mr. Trudeau nor any concrete rules in place for a leadership race, talk of who might replace him and how they'd structure their own campaigns is already happening.
Prior to the Christmas break, The Globe reported that one of the questions that the Prime Minister was contending with was whether he still had the team behind him to stay on as leader.

The fourth source, who has been in contact with Mr. Trudeau, told The Globe Sunday that if he steps down it's not because the Prime Minister doesn't think he's the right person to lead the party but rather because he came to the conclusion that the caucus is no longer behind him.

In the wake of Ms. Freeland's resignation it was not immediately clear how MPs would respond given that many in the Liberal backbench were unhappy with her performance as finance minister and advocated for her to be replaced. But the source said that over the past few weeks reports from regional caucus meetings and individual calls between MPs and the Prime Minister's team have made it clearer that he doesn't have the team in place any more.

The source said their sense is that Mr. Trudeau knows there's no longer a path for him to stay on.

Liberal candidates who are possible leadership contenders: Ms. Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Transport Minister Anita Anand, former central banker Mark Carney and former B.C. premier Christy Clark.

Polls over the past year have shown the Conservatives with a double-digit advantage over the governing Liberals. An Angus Reid survey, released Friday, suggests that under Mr. Trudeau, the Liberals only have the support of 13 per cent of voters, but those numbers do change if a new leader is in place.

But if Ms. Freeland were to take over, 21 per cent of voters would cast a ballot for the Liberals, the highest number among the leadership candidates tested.

Angus Reid conducted an online survey from Dec. 27 to Tuesday among 2,406 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. Online polls cannot be considered truly random. But for comparison purposes, a sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Source

[Josephus]

Yeah, it's no longer IF he quits but how soon.

I don't know.

Trudeau is 53 years old.  Apparently in the 22 Minutes interview, when asked about quitting, he commented that at that age his father Pierre still had a dozen years of being Prime Minister to go.  With him being separated from Sophie he doesn't exactly have a "spend more time with my family" reason to quit.  I've always felt more than a whiff of narcissism about Trudeau as well (you can of course feel free to disagree).

So with no formal mechanism to force Trudeau out, basically no time to hold a leadership race (I think it would be outrageous to try and prorogue now, in January, until the summer), and Trudeau believing that he's just special enough to be able to bring back the Liberals (in particular now with Donald Trump as a foil) - I'd give him about 60/40 odds of resigning at best.

I think I'm gonna be proven right.  Yet again

[HVC]

I won't a shed a tear over his ending career, I just really wish Mr. P wasn't the next batter up. Any chance we can get pre race batting Harper back?