[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Barrister]

So my old friend Stephen Fletcher was demoted from cabinet in the shake-up yesterday.  He used to have the minor portfolio of Minister for Transportation.

According to the commuter newspaper I read this morning, he tweeted 'As a Conservative, and a traditionalist, I wish I was demoted for the traditional reason - a sex scandal.'

It's even funnier if you know Stephen.  He's a quadriplegic.

Did you also know this guy? Seems he took Mr. Fletcher's quip seriously. 

http://o.canada.com/2013/07/17/mike-allen-mla-prostitution/

Yup, if you're going to be kicked out of caucus at least do it the right way.   

[Josephus]

Well you guys would be awfully proud of me. Met with Mark Adler, today, a Conservative MP. Was on my best behaviour. Did not wear my NDP pin. Meeting Joe Oliver next. He's even a cabinet minister.

[Barrister]

Well you guys would be awfully proud of me. Met with Mark Adler, today, a Conservative MP. Was on my best behaviour. Did not wear my NDP pin. Meeting Joe Oliver next. He's even a cabinet minister.

Proud of you for doing your job within the minimum ethics required of your profession?

Should I be congratulated for not forging evidence in my trial tomorrow?

[Malthus]

Well you guys would be awfully proud of me. Met with Mark Adler, today, a Conservative MP. Was on my best behaviour. Did not wear my NDP pin. Meeting Joe Oliver next. He's even a cabinet minister.

Proud of you for doing your job within the minimum ethics required of your profession?

Should I be congratulated for not forging evidence in my trial tomorrow?

Would you, if we didn't? 

[HVC]

You're assuming he hasn't already

[Josephus]

Well you guys would be awfully proud of me. Met with Mark Adler, today, a Conservative MP. Was on my best behaviour. Did not wear my NDP pin. Meeting Joe Oliver next. He's even a cabinet minister.

Proud of you for doing your job within the minimum ethics required of your profession?

Should I be congratulated for not forging evidence in my trial tomorrow?

Yeah....but you guys say journalists don't have any ethics....

[viper37]

Just saw "Les États Désunis du Canada" (The Disunited States of Canada).  I don't think it's been dubbed in english, I wouldn't see the point anyway, it's aimed at Quebecers.

It's supposed to be a documentary.  Well, it is factual, but overblown, overdramatized.

It's about the various seperatist movements accross Canada, mainly in the west, but in Newfoundland too.

Basically, a bunch of people, farmers, university teachers, businessmen, talking about how much it costs them to be in Canada, how better their life would be if they were independant.  The poll made in Alberta about independance in 2005 frequently resurface.

So, you listen to all those people, saying Quebec is a socialist state, they have to pay for us, they don't want to, they send tons of money to Ottawa but receives nothings in return.  I hear the same complaints everyday in Quebec, and they're valid for all provinces, I guess, since the Fed gov. is more into "discrete" services than direct link with population.

Anyway, all along the documentary, they ask for specific grievances and here's what we got:
- gay marriage is awful, it's because of Quebec if we have that
- abortion is legal, it's awful it's because of Quebec if we have that
- Kyoto was awful, it's because of Quebec if we have that
- gun registry is awful, it's because of Quebec if we have that, we should have the right to bear arms just like the Yankees

I was expecting something along "seperation of State and Church" but it never did openly.

In the end, it goes on to say that since the Conservatives were elected with a majority, there is no more seperatist movement in Western Canada since they got most of what they wanted.

Gee, I guess I learn a lot on Western Canadian's mentality by watching this

[Jacob]

Sounds like there's a pretty active Francophone propaganda machine working on convincing the Quebecois that English Canada hates them. I suppose it works out well for the Sovereigntists to feed Anglo trolls as it's better to have a common enemy.

I'm curious what would come out of a strong Quebec push to find and promote common interests with other provinces or segments of other provinces; or does that already happen behind the scenes?

[Maximus]

Sounds like there's a pretty active Francophone propaganda machine working on convincing the Quebecois that English Canada hates them.

Yea pretty much. If I had to sum up the western Canadian feelings toward Quebec (when they think about them at all) it would be "stay or go, but stop whining about it".

[viper37]

Sounds like there's a pretty active Francophone propaganda machine working on convincing the Quebecois that English Canada hates them. I suppose it works out well for the Sovereigntists to feed Anglo trolls as it's better to have a common enemy.

I don't get the feeling the documentary makers were seperatists.  More like fringe right-wing movement, imho, close to pseudo libertarian philosophical movements.  It's been out there for a while, on Youtube, but I've never checked it.  But since, I was stucked at home, I watched a lot of tv this week.

I'm curious what would come out of a strong Quebec push to find and promote common interests with other provinces or segments of other provinces; or does that already happen behind the scenes?

It has happenned before, it ended in failure.  English Canadians believe giving anything to Quebec is promoting seperation, and working with an honest seperatist government (Levesque, Bouchard) is akin to working to with the Devil.

So what usually happens is, after a few years of negotiations, some deals are brokered between bureaucrats and the the PM and the Premier announce it (like non confessional schoolboards, or workers improvement programs).

[Grallon]

Sounds like there's a pretty active Francophone propaganda machine working on convincing the Quebecois that English Canada hates them. I suppose it works out well for the Sovereigntists to feed Anglo trolls as it's better to have a common enemy.

Please refer to the article cited in the other thread - no need for propaganda when Canadians do that on their own - and with relish



G.

[crazy canuck]

Gee, I guess I learn a lot on Western Canadian's mentality by watching this

About as much as one learns about gays by reading Marti's posts.

[garbon]

Gee, I guess I learn a lot on Western Canadian's mentality by watching this

About as much as one learns about gays by reading Marti's posts.

Thank you!

[viper37]

Gee, I guess I learn a lot on Western Canadian's mentality by watching this

About as much as one learns about gays by reading Marti's posts.

exactly

[Grey Fox]

I found it funny that the Western separatist have basically the same grievance from the same point of view just from the other side of the tunnels.