[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[viper37]

I remember in, like April 2020 or so, at the height of the start of this pandemic. I walked into my local grocery store, after waiting in line outside for 30 minutes, and walking around and seeing so many bare shelves. It ranks as one of the most surreal moments of my life.

tp aside, I don't remember seeing generally empty shelves in my grocery store.

You must have missed it. There was a good month when people where hoarding. There were empty shelves. Not just tp. As BB mentioned, yeast and all baking products. I remember canned goods were going quickly. Most grocery stores were putting limits on many things. It was like being in the Soviet Union.

Like Zoupa said, haven't seen it in my usual store.  I do remember seeing some people raiding Costcos in the news, but not local grocery stores.  I do my grocery shopping once a week, so unless it was a shortage during the middle of the week, solved after 2 days, it's impossible I missed it.

[HVC]

Canada is really good at this kind of PR, feeling good about themselves and telling the world they're a bilingual country, or they care about the environment, or Indigenous rights are sacrosanct. The reality is quite different.

A nicer way to put it is that it's somewhat aspirational... but yeah....

Not so long ago, people were fired for speaking French amongst themselves.  In the Federal government.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt80cp6

the 70's? so 40-50 years ago. i mean it was wrong then, not to take anything away from that, but you make i sound like it happened in the last decade.

[viper37]

Unlike the boarding schools, which were mostly shut down two decades before that, whose reprehensible actions had ceased before WWIII, and where it's apparently recent Canadian history.  Yeah, I see.

[viper37]

So I repeat:

Found the other case:
https://www.queensu.ca/iigr/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.iigrwww/files/files/pub/archive/yearinreview/RevueDeLanne1982Dunn-part2.pdf

Don't know if there is an English version of this.

The Caisse de Dépôt et de Placements du Québec wanted to buy another stake in the Canadian Pacific, a private corporation.

The Senate intervene to block the sale of the shares to a provincial entity.  Obviously, it wasn't anti-French at all.  Nothing against Quebec.  Just that those evil Quebecers would have removed trains from Alberta to move them to Quebec.  Yeah, yeah, totally sound reasoning.

[Jacob]

I'd be ok with 2).

My initial response was that it'd be a pretty steep challenge to get everyone customer facing in places like Comox, Castlegar, Nanaimo, Smithers, and similar small town places to speak and maintain their French. Similarly to larger places with fairly small volume of Francophone travellers... but on second thought...

...it doesn't mean it's impossible or shouldn't be done. I'd be curious what the best, most practical way to ensure that level of French proficiency for every staff member. I presume some combination of training and relocation. Maybe some sort of rotation program as well, maybe, where Francophone staff a moved into places where local hiring is unable to attract local candidates with the appropriate language skills. You'd have to have union buy in as well.

I expect it would add cost. I'd be curious to how much it would add. But yeah, it's not an unreasonable starting point. And maybe the costs are relatively minimal.

I'd challenge the aspirational term. I don't think it applies when no effort is made.

I guess that's where we differ. I think efforts are being made in various places and in various ways. It's inconsistent and uneven, but not non-existent IMO.

As for the insult part, this article from an Anglo montrealer sums it better than I can:

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/lise-ravary-language-aside-air-canada-ceo-needs-a-lesson-in-humility

Relevant passages:

At the heart of it: customer service and safety. Language is also a safety issue.

Anglophones and francophones have an equal right to be evacuated in a language they understand.

Remember, many people and politicians are not mad so much because his speech was in English. It was his attitude, summarized as "I don't need French in Quebec" and "I don't have time to learn it," which translates for many into a loud "I don't care about you." François Legault was right: It is insulting. Justin Trudeau chose the word "unacceptable." And avoidable since Rousseau was warned.

Okay, fair enough. Thanks for the additional context.

[crazy canuck]

To Jacob: taken in a vacuum, I also don't care about an airline CEO speaking French.

I do care about a national carrier being able to serve its citizens in their national language.

As for the insult part, I'm not sure what you're referring to. Honestly, I think Quebecers are so jaded to the federal gvt's lack of respect for French that nobody is surprised or insulted, even moreso in Air Canada's case with its decades long disregard.
As noted in the article, this stuff goes back 50 years, and the amount of complaints are only increasing.

Canada is really good at this kind of PR, feeling good about themselves and telling the world they're a bilingual country, or they care about the environment, or Indigenous rights are sacrosanct. The reality is quite different.

To change to a different but related topic, how are you finding living in little Alberta in that section of the Okanagan

[Grey Fox]

https://twitter.com/PremierScottMoe/status/1458114356386824196?t=P51s63T4s05ofm1CPiYdLQ&s=01

Saskatchewan is stealing Quebec's schtick. Those intolerant midsterner.

[Jacob]

Anti-Vax protestors interrupt Rememberance Day ceremonies in Kelowna. This is not, I don't think, a way to win public support.

[crazy canuck]

On a CBC at issue panel there was argument about whether O'Toole's claim that the NDP and Liberals were negotiating a coalition was accurate or not.  The youngest member of the panel accurately pointed out most Canadians wouldn't know if what was being discussed was a technically a coalition or not and would not care.

I think that pretty much sums up our politics at the moment.  Lots of talk about stuff that nobody really cares about.

[Jacob]

Is there some sort of idea that "a coalition" is bad. Or is it so they can throw NDP = Liberal at whoever will supposedly take that in a negative way?

[Barrister]

Is there some sort of idea that "a coalition" is bad. Or is it so they can throw NDP = Liberal at whoever will supposedly take that in a negative way?

Yeah - it ties the two parties together.

If you don't like the Liberals, then there's no point in voting NDP - they'll just support the Liberals.

If you don't like the NDP, then there's no point in voting Liberal either.

Constitutionally, there's nothing wrong with a coalition.  In practice it tends to go poorly for the junior partner however.

[Josephus]

Anti-Vax protestors interrupt Rememberance Day ceremonies in Kelowna. This is not, I don't think, a way to win public support.

I doubt that's their goal. They just want to be disruptive.

[Jacob]

UCP triggers early leadership review of Kenney. Given it's just a month or so ahead of schedule it looks to me like it's primarily a "fuck you" to Kenney.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ucp-trigger-early-kenney-leadership-review-1.6249304

I'd assume that an early leadership review is a sign that Kenney is in trouble? And if he is, are there any clear front runners to replace him?

[Barrister]

UCP triggers early leadership review of Kenney. Given it's just a month or so ahead of schedule it looks to me like it's primarily a "fuck you" to Kenney.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ucp-trigger-early-kenney-leadership-review-1.6249304

I'd assume that an early leadership review is a sign that Kenney is in trouble? And if he is, are there any clear front runners to replace him?

You think it's a sign he's in trouble?  I'd say it's a big flashing neon sign.

I mean Brian Jean (discussed here earlier) is obviously a contender.  But Kenney isn't out yet either.  Besides Jean I don't think anyone in cabinet has stood out in a good way.

As I said earlier though - a lot of the opposition to Kenney from inside the UCP was for enforcing vaccine and mask mandates.  Those are positions that, outside of the hard-core UCP base, are enormously popular in the wider population.  So I don't actually think forcing a leadership race is likely to help the party in the next election, in particular if it's fought over the Covid response.

[HVC]

So he's getting kicked out in part for being too anti-covid? In alberta. With the laxest precautions? alberta is weird.