[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Barrister]

People's Party candidate in BC says he's tired of being called a nazi, posts some videos on twittter asking leader Bernier to denounce racism and white supremacy (also takes leader to task on climate change).  Party's response is to tell the guy he's no longer a candidate.

https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/09/12/ppc-racism-candidate/

[crazy canuck]

Two people from the Cons stopped by again tonight.  I will give them this, they are persistent

[Ancient Demon]

PCs re-elected in Manitoba.

You're welcome.

[Ancient Demon]

People's Party candidate in BC says he's tired of being called a nazi, posts some videos on twittter asking leader Bernier to denounce racism and white supremacy (also takes leader to task on climate change).  Party's response is to tell the guy he's no longer a candidate.

https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/09/12/ppc-racism-candidate/

Well that's disappointing. I would think one can both support free speech and denounce racism.

[Valmy]

People's Party candidate in BC says he's tired of being called a nazi, posts some videos on twittter asking leader Bernier to denounce racism and white supremacy (also takes leader to task on climate change).  Party's response is to tell the guy he's no longer a candidate.

https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/09/12/ppc-racism-candidate/

Well that's disappointing. I would think one can both support free speech and denounce racism.

I mean it is something I do all the time.

[Grey Fox]

The PLC sent a letter to my home address addressed to the previous owner. It's a personalized letter, using his first name, asking for donation & depicting how 2019 is different from 2015 & the Cons are even badder than before.

My home's previous owner died in 2011.

[crazy canuck]

The CBC has identified my riding as one of the 60 in the Country that will determine this elections - which I suppose explains all visits to my door from the parties.  The analysis for this riding is that although the Liberals won in a landslide last election, this riding has traditionally gone Conservative.  There is a chance that some of the traditional Conservative vote will come back and that the support the Liberals received last time from more progressive voters is likely to go to the Greens and NDP, and particularly the Greens.  Any loss of support by the Libs helps the Cons.

I am definitely one of those voters the CBC had in mind 

[Zoupa]

Reason #532764 for continued Quebec separatism sentiment:

The Liberal party of Canada rolled out their campaign song, in French and English. The French is gibberish. You can tell some intern just plugged it in google translate or something similar.

For the few of you that speak:
« [On lève] une main haute/Pour tout main/ [On lève] une main haute/Osé toi/On peut être avenir aujourd'hui/Si tu restes avec moi »

[Valmy]

Doesn't Trudeau speak French? Maybe he should have glanced at it for a second.

[Oexmelin]

Doesn't Trudeau speak French? Maybe he should have glanced at it for a second.

His mother tongue is clearly English, and he often sounds like Google translate himself. I doubt he would have picked it up. He never was very eloquent in French: his spontaneity is all in English.

[Barrister]

So I've mentionedbefore how I was pretty decent friends with a guy named Stephen Fletcher back in university.  He's a quadriplegic, but was elected as an MP several times, was named as a minor minister, but subsequently demoted.

He lost his riding in 2015, but in 2016 he ran for the Manitoba PCs and won.  Except about a year later he was kicked out of caucus because he was publicly questioning some of the things Premier Pallister was doing.

Since then he was named leader of the moribund Manitoba Party, but subsequently did not run in the very recent 2019 Manitoba election.  Instead, (after being refused to run for the Conservative nomination) he threw his hat in the ring with Maxime Bernier, running under the People's Party label.  He is probably one of their highest-profile candidates, which is not a high bar to clear.

Anyways, now that the election campaign is on, he is re-using signs from 2015, and has just painted over the Conservative Party logo.  Conservatives are threatening lawsuits, saying the signs belonged to the riding association, not Fletcher personally.  Fletcher says he's just being environmentally conscious.

Personally, I have had no clue what the hell he's been doing these last few years...

[Barrister]

So, here's the Green Party's climate plan:

If Greens are elected in sufficient numbers to either form government or exert significant influence in a minority parliament, Green MPs will:

1. Declare a Climate Emergency
Accept, at every level of government, that climate is not an environmental issue. It is the gravest security threat the world has ever seen.

2. Establish an inner cabinet of all parties
Modelled on the war cabinets of Mackenzie King and Winston Churchill, parties will work together to ensure that climate is no longer treated like a political football. It requires all hands on deck.

3. Set stringent new targets
Establish our new target and file it as Canada's Nationally Determined Contribution with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: 60 per cent GHG reductions against 2005 levels by 2030; zero emissions by 2050.

4. Assume leadership
Attend the next climate negotiation in Chile this year and press other countries to also double their efforts.

5. Respect evidence
Restore funding of climate research within the Government of Canada and in the network of universities that received financial support before 2011.

6. Maintain carbon pricing
Revenue neutrality will be achieved through carbon fee and dividend and we will eliminate all subsidies to fossil fuels.

7. Ban fracking
No exceptions. It destroys ecosystems, contaminates ground and surface water, endangers our health and it's a major source of GHGs.

8. Green the grid
By 2030, remove all fossil fuel generation from our national east-west electricity grid.

9. And modernize the grid
By 2030, rebuild and revamp the east-west electricity grid to ensure that renewable energy can be transmitted from one province to another.

10. Plug in to EVs
By 2030 ensure all new cars are electric. By 2040, replace all internal combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles, working with car makers to develop EVs that can replace working vehicles for Canadians in rural areas. Build a cross-country electric vehicle charging system so that drivers can cruise from St. John's, NL to Prince Rupert, B.C. – with seamless ease.

11. Get Canada back on track
Modernize VIA Rail, expand service and ensure trans-modal connections across Canada to light rail and electric buses, so that no one in rural and remote areas of Canada lacks efficient, affordable and safe public transit.

12. Complete a national building retrofit
Create millions of new, well-paying jobs in the trades by retrofitting every building in Canada – residential, commercial, and institutional – to be carbon neutral by 2030.

13. Turn off the tap to oil imports
End all imports of foreign oil. As fossil fuel use declines, use only Canadian fossil fuels and allow investment in upgraders to turn Canadian solid bitumen into gas, diesel, propane and other products for the Canadian market, providing jobs in Alberta. By 2050, shift all Canadian bitumen from fuel to feedstock for the petrochemical industry.

14. Switch to bio-diesel
Promote the development of local, small scale bio-diesel production, primarily relying on used vegetable fat from restaurants. Mandate the switch to bio-diesel for agricultural, fishing and forestry equipment.

15. Create new partnerships for renewables
Form partnerships with Indigenous peoples, providing economic opportunities by ramping up renewables on their lands. Harness abandoned deep oil wells, wherever feasible, for geothermal energy, using workers who drilled the wells to manage the renewable energy generation.

16. Call for all hands on deck
Engage every municipality and community organization, as well as every school and university to step up and plant trees, install solar panels, heat pumps, assist in retrofitting buildings to maximize energy efficiency.

17. Prioritize adaptation
Invest significant resources in adaptation measures to protect Canadian resource sectors such as agriculture, fishing and forestry from the ravages of climate change. Review all infrastructure investments for adaptation to climate change. Map flood plains, tornado corridors and other areas of natural vulnerability and adjust land use plans accordingly.

18. Change planes
Cancel the purchase of F35s and buy more water bombers to protect communities from forest fires. Cut standing dead timber to establish fire breaks and save lives.

19. Curtail the "other" GHG sources
Address the fossil fuel use that falls outside the Paris Agreement – emissions from international shipping, aviation and the military.

20. Restore carbon sinks
Launch a global effort to restore carbon sinks, focusing on replanting forests and restoring the planet's mangrove forests as quickly as possible.

Sigh.

The first five items - fully a quarter of the entire plan, is pure "virtue signalling".  None of it actually does anything to reduce GHGs.  And by the way, is there anyone who seriously believes we can go to zero emissions?  There's still agriculture, industrial petrochemical use, air travel...

Item six is actually just maintaining the status quo.

7 - ban fracking.  Again this is pure virtue signalling.  Regulation of natural resources are within the jurisdiction of the provinces.  And in any event, I'm unaware of any way in which fracking produces any more GHGs than conventional production.

8 & 9 - "green the grid".  Move to 100% non-fossil fuel electrical generation.  Now this is an area we can do a lot more of, but within 10 years?  That's ludicrous.  Canada is blessed with lots of hydro power, and there might be some more room for expansion there (along with a national grid), but those projects take over a decade to complete.  Solar and wind can and will expand, but there's the issue of having a stable baseline.

10 electric vehicles.  Again great (if we move to carbon-free electricity - right now there's no environmental point to buiying an EV in Alberta), but within 10 years?  The lifespan of most vehicles is in excess of 10 years.

11 modernize VIA.  Umm isn't VIA still using diesel engines?  Another one where good idea, but suddenly having a national railway grid is wildly expensive.

12 retrofitting every building in Canada in 10 years.  That's just fantasy.

13 End foreign oil.  This is an interesting one.  It's the one time where they acknowledge we will be using oil for awhile, including in the petrochemical industry.  But does this mean the Green's support something like Energy East, to get Alberta oil to eastern Canada by pipeline?

14 bio-diesel.  Bio-diesel has just as much GHGs as regular diesel.

And I'm losing steam here, but the remaining points lack a ton of detail as well.

This just doesn't seem like a serious policy document to me.

[Barrister]

Reason #532764 for continued Quebec separatism sentiment:

The Liberal party of Canada rolled out their campaign song, in French and English. The French is gibberish. You can tell some intern just plugged it in google translate or something similar.

For the few of you that speak:
« [On lève] une main haute/Pour tout main/ [On lève] une main haute/Osé toi/On peut être avenir aujourd'hui/Si tu restes avec moi »

The song is by the band The Strumbellas.  It was released in English on their last album, and at the request of the Libs they recorded a French version.  The translation was done by the band themselves, but obviously no-one at Liberal HQ thought to listen to it before releasing it.

[crazy canuck]

So, here's the Green Party's climate plan:

If Greens are elected in sufficient numbers to either form government or exert significant influence in a minority parliament, Green MPs will:

1. Declare a Climate Emergency
Accept, at every level of government, that climate is not an environmental issue. It is the gravest security threat the world has ever seen.

2. Establish an inner cabinet of all parties
Modelled on the war cabinets of Mackenzie King and Winston Churchill, parties will work together to ensure that climate is no longer treated like a political football. It requires all hands on deck.

3. Set stringent new targets
Establish our new target and file it as Canada's Nationally Determined Contribution with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: 60 per cent GHG reductions against 2005 levels by 2030; zero emissions by 2050.

4. Assume leadership
Attend the next climate negotiation in Chile this year and press other countries to also double their efforts.

5. Respect evidence
Restore funding of climate research within the Government of Canada and in the network of universities that received financial support before 2011.

6. Maintain carbon pricing
Revenue neutrality will be achieved through carbon fee and dividend and we will eliminate all subsidies to fossil fuels.

7. Ban fracking
No exceptions. It destroys ecosystems, contaminates ground and surface water, endangers our health and it's a major source of GHGs.

8. Green the grid
By 2030, remove all fossil fuel generation from our national east-west electricity grid.

9. And modernize the grid
By 2030, rebuild and revamp the east-west electricity grid to ensure that renewable energy can be transmitted from one province to another.

10. Plug in to EVs
By 2030 ensure all new cars are electric. By 2040, replace all internal combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles, working with car makers to develop EVs that can replace working vehicles for Canadians in rural areas. Build a cross-country electric vehicle charging system so that drivers can cruise from St. John's, NL to Prince Rupert, B.C. – with seamless ease.

11. Get Canada back on track
Modernize VIA Rail, expand service and ensure trans-modal connections across Canada to light rail and electric buses, so that no one in rural and remote areas of Canada lacks efficient, affordable and safe public transit.

12. Complete a national building retrofit
Create millions of new, well-paying jobs in the trades by retrofitting every building in Canada – residential, commercial, and institutional – to be carbon neutral by 2030.

13. Turn off the tap to oil imports
End all imports of foreign oil. As fossil fuel use declines, use only Canadian fossil fuels and allow investment in upgraders to turn Canadian solid bitumen into gas, diesel, propane and other products for the Canadian market, providing jobs in Alberta. By 2050, shift all Canadian bitumen from fuel to feedstock for the petrochemical industry.

14. Switch to bio-diesel
Promote the development of local, small scale bio-diesel production, primarily relying on used vegetable fat from restaurants. Mandate the switch to bio-diesel for agricultural, fishing and forestry equipment.

15. Create new partnerships for renewables
Form partnerships with Indigenous peoples, providing economic opportunities by ramping up renewables on their lands. Harness abandoned deep oil wells, wherever feasible, for geothermal energy, using workers who drilled the wells to manage the renewable energy generation.

16. Call for all hands on deck
Engage every municipality and community organization, as well as every school and university to step up and plant trees, install solar panels, heat pumps, assist in retrofitting buildings to maximize energy efficiency.

17. Prioritize adaptation
Invest significant resources in adaptation measures to protect Canadian resource sectors such as agriculture, fishing and forestry from the ravages of climate change. Review all infrastructure investments for adaptation to climate change. Map flood plains, tornado corridors and other areas of natural vulnerability and adjust land use plans accordingly.

18. Change planes
Cancel the purchase of F35s and buy more water bombers to protect communities from forest fires. Cut standing dead timber to establish fire breaks and save lives.

19. Curtail the "other" GHG sources
Address the fossil fuel use that falls outside the Paris Agreement – emissions from international shipping, aviation and the military.

20. Restore carbon sinks
Launch a global effort to restore carbon sinks, focusing on replanting forests and restoring the planet's mangrove forests as quickly as possible.

Sigh.

The first five items - fully a quarter of the entire plan, is pure "virtue signalling".  None of it actually does anything to reduce GHGs.  And by the way, is there anyone who seriously believes we can go to zero emissions?  There's still agriculture, industrial petrochemical use, air travel...

Item six is actually just maintaining the status quo.

7 - ban fracking.  Again this is pure virtue signalling.  Regulation of natural resources are within the jurisdiction of the provinces.  And in any event, I'm unaware of any way in which fracking produces any more GHGs than conventional production.

8 & 9 - "green the grid".  Move to 100% non-fossil fuel electrical generation.  Now this is an area we can do a lot more of, but within 10 years?  That's ludicrous.  Canada is blessed with lots of hydro power, and there might be some more room for expansion there (along with a national grid), but those projects take over a decade to complete.  Solar and wind can and will expand, but there's the issue of having a stable baseline.

10 electric vehicles.  Again great (if we move to carbon-free electricity - right now there's no environmental point to buiying an EV in Alberta), but within 10 years?  The lifespan of most vehicles is in excess of 10 years.

11 modernize VIA.  Umm isn't VIA still using diesel engines?  Another one where good idea, but suddenly having a national railway grid is wildly expensive.

12 retrofitting every building in Canada in 10 years.  That's just fantasy.

13 End foreign oil.  This is an interesting one.  It's the one time where they acknowledge we will be using oil for awhile, including in the petrochemical industry.  But does this mean the Green's support something like Energy East, to get Alberta oil to eastern Canada by pipeline?

14 bio-diesel.  Bio-diesel has just as much GHGs as regular diesel.

And I'm losing steam here, but the remaining points lack a ton of detail as well.

This just doesn't seem like a serious policy document to me.

I disagree with much of what you have said.  But I will pick on one easy one for now. Point number 5 is not virtue signaling - it provides funding to research where it is most needed - You may have simply skimmed over the headings without actually reading the substance of what is proposed.  Here it is: "Restore funding of climate research within the Government of Canada and in the network of universities that received financial support before 2011"

[Valmy]

Doesn't Trudeau speak French? Maybe he should have glanced at it for a second.

His mother tongue is clearly English, and he often sounds like Google translate himself. I doubt he would have picked it up. He never was very eloquent in French: his spontaneity is all in English.

Really? Huh. I guess I just presumed his first language was French.