[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Barrister]

I just don't know if that's in the DNA of today's NDP.  They're much more concerned with the woke social justice policies than good old-fashioned "socialism".

... at least that's the line the Conservatives are taking in Alberta provincial politics since the NDP has proven a capable governing party.

[crazy canuck]

ok, not just the line of Albertan Conservatives?

[Jacob]

Yeah, Federally I think the conservatives are going to gun for the Liberals and not care about what the NDP.

[viper37]

I just don't know if that's in the DNA of today's NDP.  They're much more concerned with the woke social justice policies than good old-fashioned "socialism".

... at least that's the line the Conservatives are taking in Alberta provincial politics since the NDP has proven a capable governing party.

let's just say there weren't as bad as other NDP governments in Canada, not as bad as the positions taken by the Federal NDP, and not much worst than your current government.

It is entirely possible, after all, that the NDP's difficulties in managing Alberta's economy were foreign in nature to their own governance style, which explains why Alberta is in a terrible position today, having put all its eggs in the same basket, making a 180 turn from the NDP's non working policies.

NDP, Wild Rose, Conservatives, Mayhem from Mars, whatever the party, if the US does not want a pipeline, BC does not want a pipeline, Quebec&Ontario do not want a pipeline, Alberta has a problem that no amount of whining and bitching will solve.  If near all your economy rests solely on oil and even the "diversification" efforts amounted solely to base an entire service industry on the oil godsend, once it becomes clear none of your neighbours want it and your own, extremely good government, governing for all Canadians without prejudice any (Quebec's been told that many times over, so it must be true, hey? ) does little to help you, it makes you wonder: do I have a future in this?

NDP looked at oilsands the way it is: a dying industry due to environmental concerns and effective lobbying from green-types, similar to their silly campaign on seal hunting, which is now backfiring and threatening commercial fish stocks - as predicted.  You can bang your head at the wall as long as you want, it's harder than your head, it will resist.  NDP tried to keep the pipelines flowing while they began to work on finding a solution.  It amounted to nothing, of course, it is the NDP.  But that does not make Kenney's move on going back all in on oil the smart move.

[Barrister]

Yeah, Federally I think the conservatives are going to gun for the Liberals and not care about what the NDP.

It's one of those weird dynamics that the Conservatives need the NDP to do reasonably well in order to win.  It's no co-incidence that the Harper years coincided with the Jack Layton years when the NDP was doing well in the polls.

[Jacob]

It's one of those weird dynamics that the Conservatives need the NDP to do reasonably well in order to win.  It's no co-incidence that the Harper years coincided with the Jack Layton years when the NDP was doing well in the polls.

Seems like you should be talking the NDP up, then, rather than dismiss them as wokeists.

[viper37]

It's one of those weird dynamics that the Conservatives need the NDP to do reasonably well in order to win.  It's no co-incidence that the Harper years coincided with the Jack Layton years when the NDP was doing well in the polls.

Seems like you should be talking the NDP up, then, rather than dismiss them as wokeists.

BB is a Crown Prosecutor, not a politician.  Lying does not naturally come to him.

[Grey Fox]

I'm agree with BB. The NDP is Conservative government enabler.

[Josephus]

Hence my earlier comment about being surprised by Singh not making more of a splash. If I were NDP leader, I'd be saying as loud as I could something along the lines of 'the emergency shows why we need to pull together as a society and enact more socialist measures - and here is our plan for that'.

Way I think the parallel with Churchill may have merit, is that successfully surmounting a crisis may not engender electoral success in the future. Not saying this will happen, of course.

I just don't know if that's in the DNA of today's NDP.  They're much more concerned with the woke social justice policies than good old-fashioned "socialism".

Probably because the Liberal Party is zoning in on a lot of the ideas of "good old-fashioned 'socialism'" but not so much with woke social justice policies; and there's good voters to be had from that.

[crazy canuck]

It's one of those weird dynamics that the Conservatives need the NDP to do reasonably well in order to win.  It's no co-incidence that the Harper years coincided with the Jack Layton years when the NDP was doing well in the polls.

Seems like you should be talking the NDP up, then, rather than dismiss them as wokeists.

BB is a Crown Prosecutor, not a politician.  Lying does not naturally come to him.

And yet he dismisses them as Wokeists.  Not lying in the sense that I don't think he realizes he is wrong.

[Grey Fox]

What's so wrong with new Nafta anyways?

Without actually arguing the merits of the deal, we could have atleast avoided the petty Trump things like the NFL ass-kissing clause.

[crazy canuck]

Alberta Conservatives go full Trumpist.  They are now calling on Canada to impose tariffs on the US.  Might work for their base, just like it did for Trump, but someone will hopefully explain to them that such a move would be contrary to our legal obligations.

edit: not to mention the sure stupidity of fighting with our largest trading partner rather than working with them to develop other sources of energy.

[Jacob]

They're asking us to impose tariffs on the US because Biden followed through on his stated commitment to cancel Keystone XL?

I guess we're in for more "Western alienation" if the rest of us are not going to want to shoot ourselves in the foot over something we saw coming from miles away?

[Barrister]

They're asking us to impose tariffs on the US because Biden followed through on his stated commitment to cancel Keystone XL?

I guess we're in for more "Western alienation" if the rest of us are not going to want to shoot ourselves in the foot over something we saw coming from miles away?

I'm uncertain on the wisdom of tariffs, but am going to fight back on this "well it was in Biden's platform".

When Trump imposed tariffs on Canada's steel, that too was something in his election platform.  But nevertheless we retaliated with our own tariffs because it was a direct attack on a Canadian industry.

This isn't 2015 any longer.  Keystone XL wasn't just a proposal any longer - it was a multi-billion dollar infrastructure project in the middle of construction.  Pulling a permit mid-way through construction directly harms Canada, and whatever the response should be, we shouldn't just roll over and accept it.

[Sheilbh]

This isn't 2015 any longer.  Keystone XL wasn't just a proposal any longer - it was a multi-billion dollar infrastructure project in the middle of construction.  Pulling a permit mid-way through construction directly harms Canada, and whatever the response should be, we shouldn't just roll over and accept it.

But it was always clearly politically contentious in the US and how much can you really rely on a multi-billion dollar infrastructure project that depends on one party holding party?