[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Barrister]

Alberta Premier shares a stage with Tucker Carlson - also Jordan Peterson and Conrad Black.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/tucker-carlson-danielle-smith-calgary-analysis-1.7094117

I just don't get why she does stuff like this.  What exactly is the upside to her to being seen with Tucker Carlson?  Surely all the Tucker Carlson fans in Alberta already vote UCP?

[Sheilbh]

Too online.

[Grey Fox]

Alberta Premier shares a stage with Tucker Carlson - also Jordan Peterson and Conrad Black.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/tucker-carlson-danielle-smith-calgary-analysis-1.7094117

I just don't get why she does stuff like this.  What exactly is the upside to her to being seen with Tucker Carlson?  Surely all the Tucker Carlson fans in Alberta already vote UCP?

That's the people she wants validation from.

You seen the pictures from her tweet about it? She's fangirling hard in that one.

[crazy canuck]

Alberta Premier shares a stage with Tucker Carlson - also Jordan Peterson and Conrad Black.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/tucker-carlson-danielle-smith-calgary-analysis-1.7094117

I just don't get why she does stuff like this.  What exactly is the upside to her to being seen with Tucker Carlson?  Surely all the Tucker Carlson fans in Alberta already vote UCP?

That's the people she wants validation from.

You seen the pictures from her tweet about it? She's fangirling hard in that one.

Even if she is not a true fan, perhaps she does not want to risk bring perceived as not right wing enough.  She saw what happened to Jason Kenney.

[Barrister]

NDP pushing the Liberals for a national pharmacare program - which was covered in their "supply and confidence" deal.

I'm going to predict we do not see Pharmacare in any meaningful way before the end of this term.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp-asked-liberals-to-start-covering-some-medicines-1.7095305

The problem is the Liberals are already spending so much money - the deficit for this year is expected to be $40 billion.  (Remember when Trudeau promised a "modest" deficit for three years when first elected?  They've run a deficit every single year in power).

The article I linked to says a full pharmacare program would cost $15 billion, although there might be a savings of $5 billion.

The other problems - the NDP doesn't really have any leverage.  The only leverage they have would be to pull their support for the Liberals.  The problem though is that could trigger an immediate election - and one the Conservatives are currently set to win according to polls.  The NDP on the other hand seems set to finish exactly where they did in the last election.

Not that the NDP is guaranteed to always support the Liberals - they did pull support from Paul Martin's Liberals as a result of the sponsorship scandal in 2006 - but I'm not sure if they now see that as a mistake.

Finally though - I'm not sure how much of a winner a pharmacare program would be?  Googling it, about 80% of adults in Canada have a prescription drug plan (mostly through work).  And of those 20% who don't have coverage - how many need prescription drugs on a regular basis?  Don't get me wrong, I know if you do need prescription drugs and don't have a plan, a national pharmacare program would be massive - but in cold hard politics how much of a voting block is that anyways?

[Barrister]

Such a coward. He's right but you are a liberal in part of Canada that votes Liberal, fight!

Confirming he's a coward, the MP in question walks back his statement a day later.

Liberal MP Ken McDonald has done an about-face on comments to a Radio-Canada reporter this week when he said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be subject to a leadership review.

In a statement sent Thursday morning, McDonald walked back his comments, insisting he wasn't calling for a leadership review.

"The intent of my recent public comments was not to personally call for a leadership review, and I am not calling for one now," said McDonald, the member of Parliament for Newfoundland's Avalon riding.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ken-mcdonald-about-face-trudeau-leadership-review-1.7094270

[Josephus]

The problem is the Liberals are already spending so much money - the deficit for this year is expected to be $40 billion.  (Remember when Trudeau promised a "modest" deficit for three years when first elected?  They've run a deficit every single year in power).

Almost like Harper. Except the Liberals did have that COVID thing to deal with too

[Barrister]

The problem is the Liberals are already spending so much money - the deficit for this year is expected to be $40 billion.  (Remember when Trudeau promised a "modest" deficit for three years when first elected?  They've run a deficit every single year in power).

Almost like Harper. Except the Liberals did have that COVID thing to deal with too

Harper had that "global financial collapse" thing to deal with.

Yet he still managed to balance his last budget.

I would totally cut Trudeau some slack for 2020 and 2021.  YOu don't see me complaining about the $90 billion dollar deficit from 2021-2022.  But now we're in 2024 - if the Covid-related deficit wasn't completely gone by now, it should be well on it's way.  Yet the government has no time scale to get to a balanced budget.

[HVC]

Harper had 7 years to balance his last budget after the 2008 "global collapse", but you only giving Trudeau 1. Hardly comparable.

[Barrister]

Harper had 7 years to balance his last budget after the 2008 "global collapse", but you only giving Trudeau 1. Hardly comparable.

The problem is they're not projecting a balanced budget either.  It's not like Freeland said "the budget should be balanced by 2027".

[HVC]

He's got until 2030, god willing ( )

[Josephus]

The problem is the Liberals are already spending so much money - the deficit for this year is expected to be $40 billion.  (Remember when Trudeau promised a "modest" deficit for three years when first elected?  They've run a deficit every single year in power).

Almost like Harper. Except the Liberals did have that COVID thing to deal with too

Harper had that "global financial collapse" thing to deal with.

Yet he still managed to balance his last budget.

I would totally cut Trudeau some slack for 2020 and 2021.  YOu don't see me complaining about the $90 billion dollar deficit from 2021-2022.  But now we're in 2024 - if the Covid-related deficit wasn't completely gone by now, it should be well on it's way.  Yet the government has no time scale to get to a balanced budget.

I agree BB. Though Harper ran a deficit for six years. My point is that conservatives seem to think that conservatives are fiscally conservative, but they arent' really but they don't complain about deficits so much when they do it. This is true of the Republicans as well.

[HVC]

Canadian oil sands carbon emissions 6300% worse then thought.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/canada-s-oil-sands-carbon-emissions-could-be-underreported-by-6-300-study-1.6744985

Opps

[Barrister]

Canada's fertility falls to an all-time low of 1.33 children per woman.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/statistics-canada-total-fertility-rate-2022-1.7100404

[Barrister]

Conservatives raise a total of $35 million dollars in 2023, a record for the party.

Liberals on the other hand raise $15.6 million, and the NDP $6.8 million.

But really those - all those numbers seem quite miniscule compared to what gets spent in the US.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-party-record-breaking-fundraising-haul-1.7100305