Canada General Discussion (2019-)

[gottsu]

As a person recently interested in Canadian politics I will be having few questions to Canadians in this thread. First ones like this:

1. What are the major accomplishments of Trudeau govt and how they relate to the lives of ordinary Canadians?

2. What peoples around you (friends, family,  relatives, coworkers) think about Trudeau in 2019?

3. What are the major flaws or fails of Trudeau govt?

4. What's the thing with carbon tax? Does carbon tax introduced by Liberals does more harm than good in relation to Canadian John Doe?

5. How's the thing with Quebec as of now? Separatism is still strong?

[gottsu]

5. How's the thing with Quebec as of now? Separatism is still strong?

Not Canadian, but I'll try to answer this one. It's something I'm interested in and I'm bored af right now

Separatism isn't nearly as strong in Quebec as it was during it's heyday - see the godawful results for PQ/BQ in recent elections (and while the QS are nominally sovereignist, I doubt most of their voters vote for them because of that). This has been going on for some time - since 2011 at least, when BQ discovered that talking about sovereignity hurt them, and not talking about it hurt them as well, because why vote for a party that's gonna ignore it's raison d'être, even if you agree with it? Young people used to be the most pro-PQ/pro-separation cohort, but PQ of today is increasingly a retirees' club.

That being said, it's not like the Quebecois are in love with Canada either. I guess that today, Quebec and Alberta are actually quite similar with their approach to the federal government, except that Alberta is angry over ecomomic/resource issues and Quebec over cultural issues. Still, I think the feelings run higher in QC, IIRC, Legault went as far as to invoke the notwithstanding clause with his public sector religious symbol ban.

Chantal Hébert (the expert on Quebec-Canada relations) explained it like this: "It's not that the Quebecers don't want sovereignity; it's that they don't want to be asked."

Thanks for answer, man. Good to see these things, as I am a supporter of federalism in Canada (in Trudeau the Elder fashion).

[gottsu]

As a person recently interested in Canadian politics I will be having few questions to Canadians in this thread. First ones like this:


3. What are the major flaws or fails of Trudeau govt?

Arguably easier question to answer than their accomplishments, but it is of course subjective.

1. Ethics. - The Trudeau/Liberal Party term has been dogged with ethics and conflict of interest situations. Trudeau's government has had four completed ethics commissioner investigations and a fifth is coming. Trudeau's free trip to the private island of the Aga Khan, Bill Morneau 'forgetting' that he owned a villa in France which he didn't disclose, several other incidents relating to Morneau, the appointment of a Liberal Party Member of the Ontario Legislature to a non-partisan position. The most notable is the SNC-Lavalin scandal, in which Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould and President of the Treasury Board (a senior cabinet member) Jane Philpott resigned after Wilson-Raybould claimed that Trudeau had improperly pressured her to prevent the prosecution of infrastructure company SNC-Lavalin, who employs workers in Trudeau's home city of Montreal. This also led to the resignation of Trudeau's closest aide Gerald Butts and Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick (the top civil servant) as they had also allegedly put pressure on her. MPs voted against holding a public inquiry. The matter is ongoing but it arguably resonated the most with Canadians as it was at this point the Conservatives took a lead in the polls, although it has faded.

2. Relations with China and ASEAN: This has varied between laughable events like the 'little potato' incident to more serious matters. At the moment two Canadians are being detained by China, and relations have also soured over the Trudeau-backed arrest of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at the request of the US, and the subsequent blocking of canola imports from Canada by China. Trudeau has been accused of failing to stand up for Canada effectively by the Conservatives. Relations with ASEAN nations have soured after Canada has sent its plastic waste to ASEAN nations, including Cambodia and the Philippines on multiple occasions.

3. Electoral Reform: In 2015, a majority of Canadians voted for parties which backed electoral reform, including the Liberals. A Committee made up of MPs from different parties recommended Mixed Member Proportional Voting to be used. Trudeau however decided to abandon the pledge when he reshuffled his cabinet in 2017, saying it wasn't the right time. This

4. Indigenous Relations: Nothing unique, but Trudeau's hope that indigenous relations would finally improve significantly have not. This will continue to be an ongoing issue.

5. Carbon Tax and Pipelines: The Carbon Tax is supported by many Canadians. From the Conservative viewpoint, it doesn't fight climate change but punishes ordinary Canadians for going to work. This has soured relations with provinces which have fought (and lost) court battles, saying it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (a key constitutional document.) Trudeau has also had to walk a fine line on pipelines, with Alberta blaming him for not getting a government-owned pipeline called TransMountain built. One of Trudeau's own MPs, Wayne Long, has also fought for a pipeline to his province of New Brunswick.

6. Attitude to Defence and Veterans: Trudeau has taken several veterans to court on the basis they were asking for too much. The Conservatives have shown the most outrage over this, linking it to Trudeau's payout of convicted terrorist Omar Khadr. Add in the Trudeau government's alleged mishandling of the trial of Admiral Mark Norman and the false claim by Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan that he was the architect of a major military operation, and you can anger a lot of veterans. General Andrew Leslie, who served in a junior Foreign Affairs role in Trudeau's government was willing to testify against his own government too.

7. Relations with Provinces and Territories: During Trudeau's term, several Liberal provincial governments have lost power to less sympathetic parties. The Liberals have lost in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to the Conservatives (or to the right-wing CAQ in Quebec, their parties are slightly different outside the Liberals), while governments at odds with Trudeau on several occasions have been elected in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Add the consensus government in the Northwest Territories, and you have a whole lot of angry provinces. These disputes have included fights over the carbon tax, whether oil tankers should be allowed on the North Coast of BC, and interprovincial trade. Most of them involve Alberta, which is the second worst province for the Liberals in terms of raw number of seats (Saskatchewan is the worst, but that's partly due to being a lot smaller) - they only have 4 seats, 2 apiece in Calgary and Edmonton. Alberta seems to be the province Trudeau angers the most. Trudeau has also failed to heal conflicts between provinces - Alberta vs. BC and Quebec vs. everyone.

Depending on your background or his perspective, these could be his biggest failures. You could also talk about the Canada Summer Jobs Programme, failure to balance the budget, replacing the Phoenix Pay System for public servants...

Full disclosure that I am not a supporter of Trudeau's.

I am now curious about Trudeau successes, but this has to be done by a Trudeau supporter, I think

BTW What party you support? Conservatives? NPD?

[gottsu]

OK, then what are liberal propositions for 2019?

[gottsu]

Agenda Items (of course, no government HAS to take these things up)

Treasury Board/Public Services and Procurement
5.Phoenix Pay System Replacement

Industry
6.Rural Internet

Heritage
14.Netflix Tax Take 2

Public Safety
31.Bill C-59 review Take 2, alterations to Conservative Legislation (Bill C-35?)

What's going on with these things? Someone explain me, plz

[gottsu]

Justice
32.Review of Prostitution Legislation/Legalization of Prostitution

Why do you want to change the status of prostitution in Canada? I think current status is good, but I do not know the numbers of it and how it serves people, I am for "selling sex legal, buying sex illegal" stance purely on ideological basis.

[gottsu]

https://twitter.com/BoyerMichel/status/1160990131219771398

How's the party strength in there?

[gottsu]

https://twitter.com/HoCChamber/status/1202642749285122048

What you can say about him?