Canadian Politics – Page 2

Berman Flails Over Jurisdictions

Sure, most Canadians are appalled at the recent decisions by the Talibangelists on the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), and the loss of rights and freedoms their overturning Roe v. Wade represents to women. But aside from never voting for Conservatives to avoid the same thing happening here, what can Canadians do? After all, it’s an American legal decision and legal problem, not ours. Abortion rights in Canada were unaffected by the decision.* Well, according to CollingwoodToday, our own councillor, Steve “Mr. Mediocrity” Berman leapt into action last week to announce he plans to present a notion of a motion sometime … click below for more ↓

The Talibangelists Are Winning

2022-06-30 2022-06-30 Canadian Politics / Evangelicals / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / Theocracy / US Politics7 Comments

I imagine what I’m feeling now about the rise of the extremist, pseudo-Christian right (aka the Talibangelists, aka Christofascists) in the USA, Canada, and in other democracies is what my English father must have felt watching the events in Germany from 1934 on. He would have seen photographs and newsreels showing the brownshirts, the SS, the rallies of eager followers raising their arms in salute, the adoring crowds lining the streets to wave as their fuhrer drove by. My father would have read with a sinking heart the stories in the newspapers or heard the radio news about the decade-long … click below for more ↓

Ontario, I Am Ashamed and Embarrassed

2022-06-03 2022-06-06 Canadian Politics / Musings / Provincial Politics / Rightwing claptrap6 Comments

This morning, Ontario, I am ashamed of you. Ontario, you had an opportunity to do the right thing, and chose — deliberately chose — not to. I am ashamed and embarrassed by your choice. And that includes your choice not to vote. At stake was the future of this province; its education, healthcare, environment, libraries, long-term care; at stake were our seniors, and our children. None of that mattered to Ontario. Instead of voting for a better future, Ontario voted for Doug Ford. Well, not all of you: few of you actually cared enough to vote. Less than half of … click below for more ↓

Right v. Left in Modern Politics

2022-05-30 2022-05-31 Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Musings / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / US Politics3 Comments

There’s a lot of palaver on social media about right v. left (or left v. right if you are so inclined), with webs of comments about the differences between these opposing political wings. And, at least among the comments I’ve read from Americans, there’s also a lot of misinformation and disinformation in play, especially about what constitutes the left (usually coupled with invectives and name-calling from the right). While many Canadians and Europeans (as socialist and culturally pluralist states) have a fair appreciation of what those political terms (left and right) mean, Americans —a nation of highly polarized, confrontational politics … click below for more ↓

Debunking Poilievre’s Tweets, Part 2

2022-04-23 2022-04-23 Canadian Politics / Censorship / Ideologies / Politics / Rightwing claptrap3 Comments

This is a continuation of my debunking of a small sample of Pierre Poilievre’s (aka Skippy’s) 2022 tweets. His tweets are presented in italics; my responses follow in roman text. See if you can spot in his words 1) His lack of knowledge about the subject; 2) Blatant lies; 3) Disinformation; 4) Vapid libertarian piffle; 5) Hubris. Please read Part 1 for an introduction and previous comments. Apr. 13: Let’s put an end to #JustinFlation so we can give Albertans, and all Canadians, back control of their lives. Sigh. He keeps whipping that dreary MAGA-hat slogan, without saying what control … click below for more ↓

Debunking Poilievre’s Tweets Part 1

2022-04-22 2022-04-25 Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Political philosophy / Politics / Provincial Politics / Rightwing claptrap2 Comments

Pierre Poilievre — aka Skippy — tweets a lot. A lot. Not quite in the Donald-Trump-tweeting-on-the-toilet range, but close. And he often repeat-tweets his angry, bumper-sticker slogans that are little more than libertarian micro rages. They are big on emotion but empty on substance. no details, facts, or anything even vaguely resembling a coherent platform that would benefit Canadians. His Twitter profile lists him as “Member of Parliament for Carleton and candidate for Prime Minister of Canada” which is pretty arrogant, given that he’s not even been elected as party leader yet. And even if he is, he won’t get … click below for more ↓

Poilievre’s Wacky, Quacky Economics

2022-04-21 2022-04-22 Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Politics / Rightwing claptrap7 Comments

Pierre Poilievre — aka Skippy — loves cryptocurrency and wants to make Canada the world’s crypto capital. Crypto is a computing process, not a product, it’s well outside the capabilities of individual computer systems to “mine” so it is controlled by large crypto-mining farms owned by corporate interests, using vast amounts of energy to produce numbers (one estimate suggests crypto miners spend more than $1 billion monthly on energy costs). In other words, crypto is a corporate service that produces no products or benefits, but has been determined by its investors to have value. Back in February, Skippy was interviewed … click below for more ↓

Debunking Poilievre’s Freedom Myth

2022-04-20 2022-04-21 Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Political fads / Political philosophy / Politics / Rightwing claptrapOne Comment

If you listen to Pierre Poilievre, the leading — and rightmost — candidate for the Conservative Party’s leadership, Canada is a dictatorship suffering under the thumb of the tyrant, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. To escape from the authoritarian rule of the Liberals, Poilievre (aka Skippy) promises to make us “the freest place in the world.” In a recent interview published in Macleans, Poilievre used the words freedom or freedoms 24 times. In one answer to the interviewer, Skippy said, I believe in freedom of speech on the internet, so governments shouldn’t control what we see and say online. Which exposes his … click below for more ↓

This Says It All

2022-02-07 2022-02-07 Canadian Politics / Conspiracy Theories / Critical Thinking / Ideologies / Political fads17 Comments

The clearest, most concise statement about the alt-right protests and demonstrations comes from Mark Carney, former governor of both the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada. This protest was never about freedom: it was always about pushing a virulently rightwing agenda, endorsed by the treasonous Donald Trump, to hold the lawful government hostage. Source: Globe & Mail post on Facebook. Click the image to see the full column by Carney in today’s G&M (subscription required). See the comments below my previous post for links to other, related articles and analyses. And also on FB, Tony Veltri (of New … click below for more ↓

Conservatives Eat Their Own

2022-02-04 2022-02-04 Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Politics / Social Order & Disorder6 Comments

So the alt-right segment of the Conservative Party dumped Erin O’Toole, its latest leader, for being too moderate. Too much like a human, methinks, and that made him vulnerable. The alt-right members are dragging the party into the Repugnican side of politics: an authoritarian, pseudo-Christian, racist, and separatist/libertarian ideology. The elect-then-dump-’em routine would be comical if it weren’t scary because one day these neo-fascists might become the government. And, seeing the disaster of Trump’s four years when the alt-right had power, it scares the crap out of me that it could happen here. Couldn’t it? Consider that the far-right organizer … click below for more ↓

Should Candidates and Officials Disclose Criminal Records?

2022-01-13 2022-01-13 Canadian Politics / Collingwood / deception & secrecy / Election campaigns / Municipal Politics / Musings / Politics / Provincial Politics5 Comments

Some questions about openness and truth to consider as we start a year in which we have both a provincial and municipal election coming… Should a candidate for office disclose their criminal records when they campaign? Should they disclose it only if they were convicted of an offence or should they disclose charges as well? For full public transparency and accountability, should officeholders disclose any charges and convictions? Should candidates or officeholders disclose when they have been or are being sued and why? Would you vote for a candidate in an election who had a criminal record? Are there some … click below for more ↓

Uppercase Imperialism?

2021-09-22 2021-09-22 Canadian Politics / History & Biography / Indigenous issues / Language & Grammar / Political fadsLeave a comment

Dr. Linda Manyguns has stylized herself as Dr. linda manyguns because she stopped using uppercase (capital) letters to protest the “symbols of hierarchy.” Manyguns is the associate vice-president of indigenization and decolonization at Mt. Royal University in Alberta. On her own office’s website, she wrote: we resist acknowledging the power structures that oppress and join the movement that does not capitalize. the office of indigenization and decolonization supports acts that focus on inclusion and support the right of all people to positive inclusion and change. I get it, sort of: language is culture. Language can be imperialist, oppressive, and controlling. … click below for more ↓

Will communism as a dominant political ideology ever make a comeback

2020-09-06 2020-09-06 Canadian Politics / Ideologies / International politics / Politics / US PoliticsLeave a comment

I took the title from a discussion on Quora about whether Communism is dead or will re-emerge, and if so under what conditions. I don’t believe that the author of the post (Susanna Viljanen, from Aalto University in Finland) who opens that discussion wanted to see Communism arise again, but rather is asking if it can, and under what circumstances. She clearly states at the beginning of her argument, By now, Communism is dead and buried. Its failure was so spectacular, its achievements so appalling and its legacy so hateful and bitter that nobody in their sane minds – especially … click below for more ↓

Where is Wat Tyler Now That We Need Him?

2020-08-21 2020-08-21 Canadian Politics / Political fads / Political philosophy / Politics / Social Order & Disorder / US PoliticsLeave a comment

I was disappointed that the Occupy Wall Street movement, which began with such vigor and hope in 2011, soon petered out into a sputtering, unfocused political miasma barely a year later. I was even more deeply disappointed that the antifa (anti-fascist) protests, which also seemed to have such promise earlier this year, lost its momentum and focus by mid-summer, 2020. The Black Lives Matter movement, which looked like it, too, had real strength and direction earlier this year, seems to have withered by the late summer of 2020. These are merely the latest popular uprisings and protests against the machinery … click below for more ↓