[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Barrister]

Jagmeet Singh's first order of business is making it to 2025 so that he can secure his pension.  Other than that, the only thing that he seems to do anything other than make generic NDP noises over is the whole India-Khalistan argument, which is a pointless argument for any Canadian to involve themselves in. 

To the extent pensions are a concern for the NDP I think it has to do with other MPs, not so much Singh.

I agree Singh as leader doesn't really have much of any defined positions (at least in the public's awareness) other than pro-Khalistan.  I've said this before - as a prominent Sikh-Canadian politician I certainly don't expect him to be silent on the issue, but he has to be careful about it not defining him either.

[Barrister]

Just as a sign of how hap-hazard the GST "holiday" is - 5 provinces have harmonized sales taxes, and this "holiday" would also prevent revenues from flowing to those provinces.  The provinces were apparently given 24 hours notice of this change.  Perhaps understandable - as the more notice you give, the bigger likelihood of it being leaked.  But it also reeks of desperation.

Provinces are now asking the Feds to make up their own lost revenue.

[Grey Fox]

Oh, that's why Quebec is asking for a compensation if they also start a TVQ break.

[Josephus]

Same for the NDP, who will support this. 

I think they pushed for this and what they got was a watered down version. The NDP also wanted GST removed permanently from such things as phone bills and Internet.

[crazy canuck]

Same for the NDP, who will support this. 

I think they pushed for this and what they got was a watered down version. The NDP also wanted GST removed permanently from such things as phone bills and Internet.

And that's another reason why the NDP are currently really bad at politics.

It makes no sense to have a temporary Christmas reprieve from the GST. In the provinces that have harmonized taxes it's going to cost more than the benefit to just administer this mess.

If elimination of the GST is a good public policy then push for that.

[crazy canuck]

The Globe and Mail has a report analyzing the effect of both the cash giveaway and the GST holiday.

The benefit to people is fleeting, and the harm could be fairly long, lasting as the bank of Canada will likely now not reduce its rate as it had signalled it would do.

Thanks Justin

[Josephus]

So if the NDP sucks, and the Liberals suck......who do we vote for? Certainly not PP?

[Grey Fox]

Bloc Majoritaire!

Seriously, you RoC people are in a tight situation.

[HVC]

I'll begrudgingly vote liberal because as bad as they are the others are (suprisingly) worse. Dammit.

[viper37]

So if the NDP sucks, and the Liberals suck......who do we vote for? Certainly not PP?

How bad are the Greens?

[viper37]

There was a violent protest in Montreal yesterday.  Anti-NATO, pro-Palestine and whatever.

One the militant made a Nazi salute.
Turms out she was a Second Cup franchisee at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital.  Her contract has been terminated and the shop closed.

Im French:
https://x.com/hassinhadi/status/1860474546010128689

[Valmy]

I'll begrudgingly vote liberal because as bad as they are the others are (suprisingly) worse. Dammit.

Every political party's dream: just be less shitty than your rivals.

[HVC]

I'll begrudgingly vote liberal because as bad as they are the others are (suprisingly) worse. Dammit.

Every political party's dream: just be less shitty than your rivals.

And I'm not above casting a protest vote, much to Josephus' chagrin . I just can't in good conscience vote for Mr. P. Looking at the wacky shit going on in Alberta it looks like the days of Harper's Conservatives are gone, if not yet buried.

[Josephus]

Protest votes are dumb; you might as well not vote. My dad, rest his soul, a staunch Catholic, used to vote for the Family Coalition party. I used to tell him, he may as well stay home.

It's gonna be tough for me to figure out whom to vote. More than likely I'll do what I normally do and see who's the best candidate to beat the incumbent Conservative candidate. But I am as tired of Trudeau as anybody else, but I'd rather 4 more years of him than PP

[Neil]

I like to remember that politicians aren't always as bad as they act.  For example, the Trudeau Liberals campaigned originally on electoral reform, which would have been monstrous.  So with Polievre saying dumb things about cryptocurrency, I just remember that it's likely that he's just saying silly things for suckers.  And if all else fails, the courts are designed to be a reliable source of Liberal legislation(-from-the-bench), even during Conservative governments. 

I'm of the opinion that Polievre is of the more libertarian wing of the party, but he's still within the party.  He's not completely unrestrained by good sense like Maxime Bernier.