[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[crazy canuck]

Paull Wells on the GG debacle.

https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-problem-with-modernizing-and-the-governor-general/

What a remarkable piece on the virtues of small-c conservative ideology!

Agreed.  And I would add the transition to "Transaction Man" is very apt to what has happened to conservative ideology since the Reagan years.

Also Wells has a great sense of humour - "You might almost say modernizing the office is one of our oldest traditions."

[Oexmelin]

What a remarkable piece on the virtues of small-c conservative ideology!

Yes, I thought you'd appreciate.

[Barrister]

What a remarkable piece on the virtues of small-c conservative ideology!

Yes, I thought you'd appreciate.

I interviewed for a management position a year or two ago.  I knew one of the questions was going to be "what changes would you want to make" in the office.  So I came up with an answer, but what I really wanted to say was "I'll do the job as it is the right way".

[Jacob]

I interviewed for a management position a year or two ago.  I knew one of the questions was going to be "what changes would you want to make" in the office.  So I came up with an answer, but what I really wanted to say was "I'll do the job as it is the right way".

That's a solid answer, IMO.

[Barrister]

I interviewed for a management position a year or two ago.  I knew one of the questions was going to be "what changes would you want to make" in the office.  So I came up with an answer, but what I really wanted to say was "I'll do the job as it is the right way".

That's a solid answer, IMO.

So the answer I gave was to change how we assign files - that we assign our Crowns to specific courtrooms, rather than to specific files.  It's the way it used to be done 10 years ago, and in the meeting it got some sympathy, but was pointed out we'd need the buy-in of the local judiciary which they thought was unlikely.

One global pandemic later and we now assign our Crowns to specific courtrooms.

I agree it's a solid answer - but it wasn't what they were looking for.  Like "Transaction Man" we're looking for some magic process change that will make things better around here.

[saskganesh]

And you'll no doubt remember that in the 1995 election the NDP was returned to third party status which I believe it has remained in ever since.

They are currently the Official Opposition. Their base is the north and in the cities, most notably all of old Toronto.

[Barrister]

And you'll no doubt remember that in the 1995 election the NDP was returned to third party status which I believe it has remained in ever since.

They are currently the Official Opposition. Their base is the north and in the cities, most notably all of old Toronto.

I stand corrected.

[Jacob]

Hey Beeb, you were a prosecutor up North. How likely do you think it is that these assholes will see jail time?

The now-former president and CEO of a Canadian casino company and his wife are the couple accused of breaking Yukon COVID-19 rules and chartering a plane to the small community of Beaver Creek to receive doses of the Moderna vaccine.

...

Yukon Community Services Minister John Streicker told CBC Monday the couple arrived in Whitehorse on Jan. 19. However, instead of completing a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period, the Bakers on Jan. 21 chartered a flight to Beaver Creek, a community of about 100 people that is located roughly 450 kilometres northwest of Whitehorse near the Alaska border.

There, according to Streicker, they took advantage of a mobile vaccination clinic that was administering the first doses of the Moderna vaccine to locals, claiming they were new employees at an area motel.

...

The pair are accused of violating the territorial Civil Emergency Measures Act (CEMA) by failing to self-isolate and failing to adhere to entry declarations.

...

After going to the hotel where the two were supposed to be self-isolating, CEMA officers found they'd already checked out. The officers returned to the airport and located the couple as they were getting ready to leave the territory, Streicker said.

...

CEMA violations come with a maximum penalty of a $500 fine per charge, six months' jail or both. The couple has 30 days to either pay the fine or plead not guilty and request a trial.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/great-canadian-gaming-ceo-yukon-covid-vaccines-1.5886734

[Barrister]

Hey Beeb, you were a prosecutor up North. How likely do you think it is that these assholes will see jail time?

The now-former president and CEO of a Canadian casino company and his wife are the couple accused of breaking Yukon COVID-19 rules and chartering a plane to the small community of Beaver Creek to receive doses of the Moderna vaccine.

...

Yukon Community Services Minister John Streicker told CBC Monday the couple arrived in Whitehorse on Jan. 19. However, instead of completing a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period, the Bakers on Jan. 21 chartered a flight to Beaver Creek, a community of about 100 people that is located roughly 450 kilometres northwest of Whitehorse near the Alaska border.

There, according to Streicker, they took advantage of a mobile vaccination clinic that was administering the first doses of the Moderna vaccine to locals, claiming they were new employees at an area motel.

...

The pair are accused of violating the territorial Civil Emergency Measures Act (CEMA) by failing to self-isolate and failing to adhere to entry declarations.

...

After going to the hotel where the two were supposed to be self-isolating, CEMA officers found they'd already checked out. The officers returned to the airport and located the couple as they were getting ready to leave the territory, Streicker said.

...

CEMA violations come with a maximum penalty of a $500 fine per charge, six months' jail or both. The couple has 30 days to either pay the fine or plead not guilty and request a trial.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/great-canadian-gaming-ceo-yukon-covid-vaccines-1.5886734

No idea - I've never prosecuted people during a global pandemic before!

But I'm shocked these people weren't caught out immediately.  I did the circuit that covers Beaver Creek for awhile and I've done court there before.  It's a town of <200 people, everybody knows everybody.

[Jacob]

No idea - I've never prosecuted people during a global pandemic before!

Come on, just make something up then 

But I'm shocked these people weren't caught out immediately.  I did the circuit that covers Beaver Creek for awhile and I've done court there before.  It's a town of <200 people, everybody knows everybody.

I think the people they initially bamboozled were the out of town clinic workers, but people caught on pretty quick.

[crazy canuck]

No idea - I've never prosecuted people during a global pandemic before!

Come on, just make something up then 

But I'm shocked these people weren't caught out immediately.  I did the circuit that covers Beaver Creek for awhile and I've done court there before.  It's a town of <200 people, everybody knows everybody.

I think the people they initially bamboozled were the out of town clinic workers, but people caught on pretty quick.

The people doing the clinic were from out of town themselves, so they had no idea these two were being frauds.

edit, it was indeed the locals who realized something was not right, but by that time the two had jumped back on their plane out and had got back to Whitehorse - where they were caught in the end.

[viper37]

they'll be fined 500$, they will pay, end of story.  Unfortunately.

[viper37]

Paull Wells on the GG debacle.

https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-problem-with-modernizing-and-the-governor-general/

What a remarkable piece on the virtues of small-c conservative ideology!

I will jumped 10' in the air whenever I see a small-c conservative proposing the abolition of GG and cutting ties to monarchy.  Sadly, there's no way I'll be held to that bet while I'm alive.

It's another debacle in a long story of debacles.  I can't wrap my heads around small-c conservative being opposed to wellfare while at the same time cheering for what is essentially a wellfare title and position. C'mon.  Signing papers that you don't have to read.  Just about anyone out of high school could do that.  FFS, the Prime Minister could do it.

[crazy canuck]

Paull Wells on the GG debacle.

https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-problem-with-modernizing-and-the-governor-general/

What a remarkable piece on the virtues of small-c conservative ideology!

I will jumped 10' in the air whenever I see a small-c conservative proposing the abolition of GG and cutting ties to monarchy.  Sadly, there's no way I'll be held to that bet while I'm alive.

It's another debacle in a long story of debacles.  I can't wrap my heads around small-c conservative being opposed to wellfare while at the same time cheering for what is essentially a wellfare title and position. C'mon.  Signing papers that you don't have to read.  Just about anyone out of high school could do that.  FFS, the Prime Minister could do it.

I think that first you would need to find a small-c conservative politician. 

I suspect our understanding of small-c conservative is different though, given that you think it means opposing a policy that has been around for longer than any of the politicians you are referring to have been alive. 

[Malthus]

One way of stating the essence of small-c conservatism is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". 😄

I rather suspect that a small-c conservative would look at the GG and say that the office plays its part in an overall machinery of government that tries to protect political continuity without the dramatic upheavals that come from investing all legitimacy and political power in the hands of democratically elected leaders and parties. While the role of the GG may be small, it is important - to remind everyone that the Prime Minister is not the ruler, merely first among ministers, and so to avoid delusions of grandeur and disregard for courtesies and conventions necessary for good governance, such as displayed during the recent Trump Presidency to our south.

Sure, mistakes can be made in appointing the wrong person - that is true of literally any position or office. Other systems do the same job through an elected figure, rather than an appointed one. That probably would not make much difference.