[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Malthus]

Heh, politicians complaining about the perks enjoyed by those in power - only to happily take those same perks themselves once in power - is so common as to hardly register. 

[Valmy]

hott?

Not really.

[Barrister]

Heh, politicians complaining about the perks enjoyed by those in power - only to happily take those same perks themselves once in power - is so common as to hardly register. 

I could care less about whether the government is paying for a nanny for Trudeau's kids.

What gives this story legs is how it flies directly against his own election rhetoric.  For any Americans still reading this thread, the Conservatives while in power had brought in a policy where parents would receive $100 / child to help cover off child care expenses.  The Liberals attacked this - they'd prefer to institute government-run day care centres to help out low income parents.  Both are defensible policy options, and there are pros and cons to each.

But in attacking the Conservatives, Trudeau made it very personal.  He said that wealthy families LIKE HIS OWN don't need that money.  He even promised he would give his own $300 / month to charity.

And then the first thing he does is get the government to hire him two nannies.

[Valmy]

Man $100.00 wouldn't cover shit for child care. I pay more for child care than I pay for my mortgage.

[Martinus]

I could care less about whether the government is paying for a nanny for Trudeau's kids.

The proper expression is "I couldn't care less". If you could care less, it's not really much of a statement.

[garbon]

I could care less about whether the government is paying for a nanny for Trudeau's kids.

The proper expression is "I couldn't care less". If you could care less, it's not really much of a statement.

http://blog.dictionary.com/could-care-less/

When you want to colloquially express that you don't care at all about something you might say "I couldn't care less." This phrase first popped up in British English at the turn of the 20th century and is still popular today. In the 1960s, a controversial American variant of this phase entered popular usage: "I could care less." Many native English speakers, both in the UK and US, find this expression to be logically flawed. If you couldn't care less, then you care so little about something that it would be impossible for you to care any less than you do. If you could care less, however, you are saying, literally, that it is possible for you to care less than you care now. Those who take issue with this believe this later variant says very little about your level of caring, and so eschew it.

...

The argument of logic falls apart when you consider the fact that both these phrases are idioms. In English, along with other languages, idioms are not required to follow logic, and to point out the lack of logic in one idiom and not all idioms is...illogical. Take the expression "head over heels," which makes far less sense than the expression "heels over head" when you think about the physics of a somersault. It turns out "heels over head" entered English around 1400, over 250 years before "head over heels," however, the "logical" version of this idiom has not been in popular usage since the late Victorian era.

The usage of "couldn't care less" versus "could care less" is a very polarizing issue as you can see in British comedian David Mitchell's rant, though both phrases are in popular usage. Because most modern English dictionaries define words and phrases using a descriptive approach, you'll find both "couldn't care less" and "could care less" in Dictionary.com. The lexicographers at Dictionary.com aim to record language as it is actually used, without judgment. That said, not everyone you encounter will be a lexicographer, so be aware that those in the camp of David Mitchell will cringe if you use "I could care less" in conversation.

But then I've learned that people whose first language isn't English, tend to be the most rigid.

[Malthus]

Heh, politicians complaining about the perks enjoyed by those in power - only to happily take those same perks themselves once in power - is so common as to hardly register. 

I could care less about whether the government is paying for a nanny for Trudeau's kids.

What gives this story legs is how it flies directly against his own election rhetoric.  For any Americans still reading this thread, the Conservatives while in power had brought in a policy where parents would receive $100 / child to help cover off child care expenses.  The Liberals attacked this - they'd prefer to institute government-run day care centres to help out low income parents.  Both are defensible policy options, and there are pros and cons to each.

But in attacking the Conservatives, Trudeau made it very personal.  He said that wealthy families LIKE HIS OWN don't need that money.  He even promised he would give his own $300 / month to charity.

And then the first thing he does is get the government to hire him two nannies.

Sure, but certainly if pressed Trudeau would say it's a function of him being PM, and that had he lost the election, and been reduced to private citizen status, he'd have ponied up the cash to charity like he said. 

[Valmy]

I could care less about whether the government is paying for a nanny for Trudeau's kids.

The proper expression is "I couldn't care less". If you could care less, it's not really much of a statement.

Stand strong Marty. Garbon's embrace of plebeian idioms cannot be tolerated.

[garbon]

Yeah, can't have language changing or anything like that.

[Valmy]

Yeah, can't have language changing or anything like that.

Not in ways I find stupid anyway

[Josephus]

Globe editorial on Trudeau's nannies special assistants.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/the-pms-nannies-in-politics-people-remember-the-little-things/article27550366/?click=sf_globe

[Admiral Yi]

When he said "rich people like me" was he talking about the PM's salary?  I thought up to recently he's had a bunch of fucking around jobs.

[Josephus]

He's wealthy, his fuck around jobs notwithstanding.

[Admiral Yi]

He's wealthy, his fuck around jobs notwithstanding.

Where did he get it from?  Did his pop cash in after he left office?

[PRC]

I don't think he cashed in, but Pierre sold his memoirs as a book which sold very well in Canada at least.  I don't think Justin Trudeau is exceptionally wealthy... well-off sure, but I don't think so well-off that his grandkids well being would be as secure as his own.