Canada General Discussion

[Linus Van Pelt]

That would require a constitutional amendment, so in practice the PR resolution means little. As for pot... rest assured we'll milk that to the last drop if Brison doesn't persuade Rae to veto it.

Why? The Elections Act can be amended by Parliament, as it was this year.

[Linus Van Pelt]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The thing is that this is mostly directed at non-Anglos hoping to educate their children in English, i.e. some (esp. middle-class federalist) Francophones + certain immigrant groups. What "applying Bill 101" to a level of education means is that you must have yourself been educated in English to send your children to the English system. The Anglophones won't like it, but they're not affected enough to spark some revolt.

The exception to this is getting rid of the language-of-work exemption for businesses with under 50 employees, but I assume they're not actually going to make some little store owner in Aylmer speak French to his staff of three. That's the sort of thing they say they're "considering" every so often to assuage the nutters.

(also, for those more fluent in French, what is "l'obligation d'utiliser un générique en français avec un nom de commerce anglais"? The only sense I can make of this is that it's about things like saying "un mouchoir" instead of "un kleenex", but surely they're not going to write that into the law?)

[Linus Van Pelt]

(also, for those more fluent in French, what is "l'obligation d'utiliser un générique en français avec un nom de commerce anglais"? The only sense I can make of this is that it's about things like saying "un mouchoir" instead of "un kleenex", but surely they're not going to write that into the law?)

No, it's not that. Its the stores which must have a French name. The government already requires it, but some businesses aren't willing to follow, saying they interpret the law another way. It's on the way to the courts.

To solve that, PQ wants to clearly write it in the law. For example, Starbucks Coffee is called Café Starbucks and Staples is called Bureau en Gros, Giant Tiger is called Tigre Géant.

Other businesses must add a generical French name to their name (magasin, électronique, etc.). Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Costco, Gap, Old Navy and Guess are suing.

I see, thanks.

[Linus Van Pelt]

LOL Rob Ford

[Linus Van Pelt]

As I read the Constitution, both abolition and an elected senate (at least if the latter were constitutionally binding on future governments' appointments) would require the consent of 7 provincial legislatures with at least 50% of the population, but term limits, not really being a "method of selection", could be done unanimously by Parliament under section 44.

Section 44 of the Constitution Act, 1982 states: "Subject to sections 41 and 42, Parliament may exclusively make laws amending the Constitution of Canada in relation to executive government of Canada or the Senate and House of Commons." Sections 41 and 42, meanwhile, specify subjects with a stricter amendment formula.

Section 41 is the strictest, requiring Parliament + all provincial legislatures, and lists the office of the Queen or GG, the composition of the Supreme Court, official languages, "the right of a province to a number of members in the House of Commons not less than the number of Senators by which the province is entitled to be represented at the time this Part comes into force" (), and amendments to the amendment formula itself. But nothing otherwise about the Senate is mentioned.

Section 42 lists subjects that require Parliament plus 2/3rds of provinces representing at least 50% of the population (which is also per section 38 the general amendment formula for subjects not mentioned). It lists (among a few other unrelated things) "the powers of the Senate and the method of selecting Senators", and "the number of members by which a province is entitled to be represented in the Senate and the residence qualifications of Senators".

[Linus Van Pelt]

SERIOUS AND WEIGHTY ISSUE IN TORONTO

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2013/08/20/ttc_workers_say_new_uniform_colours_are_too_habslike.html

[Linus Van Pelt]

This poll appears to only use the vague phrase "the international community should intervene in the Syrian conflict", with no mention of anything military. So people who just believe that the UN should be holding negotiations or something like that could easily be answering "yes".

[Linus Van Pelt]

New Ipsos  poll out: 32 CPC, 31 LPC, 27 NDP.

Then the panel said the Ipsos poll could be DOOM for Dippers if continued.

Why is this result supposed to be so bad for the NDP, given the Liberal leads from earlier this year?

[Linus Van Pelt]

Ford has been stripped of most of his powers by Council. Wynne said yesterday that she would hypothetically move only if a) Council makes a specific request b) all-party consent in the Legislature. B isn't happening, obviously.

Why not? Are the Tories afraid of alienating Toronto voters? I know they need to win a few seats in the 416 to win the election, but I don't see it being an unpopular move outside of Toronto.

Hypothetical "Ford Nation" types outside of Toronto are going to be less likely to like Rob Ford than within. They just know him through the media, and wouldn't be familiar with his populist appeal.

Many people in the 905 are likely basically as familiar with Ford's background as people in the city itself. It's not as if places like Mississauga or Markham have their own local TV stations or daily papers.

[Linus Van Pelt]

Who is Hastman?

[Linus Van Pelt]

Who is Hastman?

Ryan Hastman, the Tory candidate against Linda Duncan in Edmonton-Strathcona 2 years ago.

Is he a significant candidate in some way? Why do you hope he climbs the ranks quickly?

[Linus Van Pelt]

1) Fond memories from last time 2) good and talented guy with an economic background.

OK, I see.