Old & Corrupted: Canadian Politics 2024-25

a new hopefully Zing-friendly thread

Weirdly, since this thread was begun, the old one now loads in Zing. I’m guessing witchcraft is at work.

After the 2021 election, my one staunch conservative friend and I were talking politics (as we inevitably do, despite our goodwill attempts to avoid it) and I said that Trudeau was going to try to contest the next election because his massive ego wouldn’t let him bow out gracefully; he would have to be crushed into the ground by an opponent or forcibly chucked out by the party (which would never do so). My friend expressed surprise and said I was the only person he’d met that thought that, besides Ben Mulroney (these are the circles he frequents on the 364 days a year when he’s not slumming it with me) — that everyone he knew expected Trudeau to step down as leader as soon as a suitable replacement could be found, since the dude was so obviously done, as in nobody was voting for him, just against the Conservatives. Yet here we are. Wildly unpopular, deeply ineffectual, inspiring nobody, and committed to fucking running again, banking on the hope that Pollievre is so distasteful to us that we’ll hold our nose and swallow a medicine spoonful of Trudeau yet again.

A reasonable leader would have set the party free to groom an inspiring successor well before any election talk was in the air. But nOoooo…

When PM Alt-right Milhouse is in power, I hope JT at least has the sense of shame that it’s his fault, and that it haunts him haggard. (This will be small comfort for the rest of us, suffering under an austerity budget, rights and liberties being curtailed, and federal services and infrastructure being sold off to Telus and Shopify.)

What I still don't really get is why people's understandable fatigue with JT and the Liberals necessarily means a turn to lite fascism. I'm familiar with this routine pendulum swing in other contexts, but I moved here in 2014 when the NDP was on the cusp of majority viability and I'm still confused about what happened to stifle that. (tbf I can't even come close to understanding what people see in conservatism these days, so the problem isn't really my ignorance)

Not that I disagree with the point that JT's vanity is a disaster for us all!

Layton had some magic about him, I can’t think of it any other way than that. He talked about love being a primary motivating force in politics and somehow didn’t sound like a hippie! If he hadn’t died, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he’d have become our first NDP PM.

And now we’d all probably be sick of him too, moaning about how disappointed we are that he didn’t live up to his promise. Ah, but maybe not…

Heard on CBC radio that there are Liberal MPs who are calling Poilievre weird. Maybe a little too transparent? Strange, flaky, peculiar--there are other words that work.

Canadians don’t have an original thought in our heads when it comes to politics.

that peculiar Pierre

I suppose the Liberals might have trouble going after him with "phony" but that's my main impression, and if they keep doing stuff like this maybe it would stick? https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/20/canada-conservatives-video-other-countries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-imeR4n9PU

“Weird” works because it points out how fucked up the maga worldview is and delegitimizes it all in one swell foop. I wish there was another word, one that meant “weird and boring and unoriginal and an opportunistic hack and a dweeb and a conman and a tryhard and someone you do fucking well not want running the goddamn country.”

In other news, hey BC can you get your head out of your ass? Every other province who votes in the conservatives has voted in DEEP FUCKING PROBLEMS with them, don’t be stupid.

yeah this shit's getting scary with the BC United/Libs pulling out today

and the BC Conservatives are definitely the Polievre/Danielle Smith version, not the Ford nation types or the PCs

Interesting development: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-staffers-gaza-montreal-byelection-1.7306984

I went back and found this post i made in the 2020 Canadian politics thread

so uh are the BC Liberals even going to exist by the end of this election

― josh az (2011nostalgia), Thursday, October 15, 2020 5:21 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Only took just under four years but this finally came true

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jagmeet-singh-ndp-ending-agreement-1.7312910

I'm getting nervous.

Are the NDP in any position to benefit from a sudden election?

Couldn't say, though I'm sure someone far more knowledgable on the subject can. Just dreading P.P.

Are the NDP in any position to benefit from a sudden election?

I could see some typical liberal voters going to the NDP if they think the Liberal party is a lost cause. There is nothing in the polls indicating something like that is going to happen though, it seems like all ex-liberal voters are going the other way.

weird how Jagmeet is not giving any clear explanation for ending the agreement now. There's nothing about it until the end of the article:

On Tuesday, NDP labour critic Matthew Green said the NDP has been re-evaluating the deal since Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration less than 24 hours after Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National Railway locked out their workers after failing to reach a deal at the bargaining table.

"After Sellout Singh did this stunt today, he is going to have to vote on whether he keeps Justin Trudeau's costly government in power, or whether he triggers a carbon tax election."

Right then, let's all talk like we're back in the schoolyard.

Shut up Skippy, you dirty taint.

lord knows I don't know what regular Canadians think about anything tbrr, but is the carbon tax really such a hot issue that "carbon tax election" is a thing anyone other than PP will get juiced about?

We have an encampment 15 minutes west of town at a prominent gas station. They will be protesting the carbon tax until they all die of old age, even if skippy scraps it.

There’s so much fucked about this ginned-up outrage about the carbon levy, but the thing that gets me is that if PP was to scrap it, our exports would drop by like 40% overnight, since so many of our biggest trading partners have requirements about this. So the Cons will get in, then after a review they will keep the levy, and everyone will be absolutely fine with that.

Fuck this country North America humanity right now.

"Sellout Singh"--the anxiety of influence.

Pollievre has no anxiety about it at all. He’s like “It worked for the orange guy, it’ll work here” and sleeps posturepedic-soundly every night.

Oh, I know--just granting such transparent imitation pseudo-loftiness.

I sincerely hope the Dems CRUSH the US election & go hard on “neighbourly” social programs and that takes the wind out of PP’s pseudo-sails & puts _some_ in the NDP’s at least. I’m sure that fear-calculus is beeping in PP’s little lizard brain & is at least half the reason he’d love Singh to trigger an election this fall.

If I were Singh, the taunt that I was triggering “a carbon tax election” would be enough to keep me from doing so quite decisively. But I’m petty like that.

oups: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/government-should-remove-more-than-330-names-on-victims-of-communism-memorial-because-of-potential-nazi-or-fascist-links-report-recommends

The Department of Canadian Heritage is being told that more than half of the 550 names on the Memorial to the Victims of Communism should be removed because of potential links to the Nazis or questions about affiliations with fascist groups, according to government records.

As originally planned, there were to be 553 entries on the Ottawa memorial’s Wall of Remembrance.

Highly unlikely that any on the proposed list were Canadian so why are we even going to that detail? I'd hoped that the Libs during their tenure would've sunk this sketchy Harper-based project but it appears that they managed to fail at this too.

good luck British Columbia

John Rustad's internet conspiracy brainrot, a thread #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/U524GYPTpW

— Matt Hannah (@mattjdh) October 19, 2024

Was just looking at a "FB memory" where, nine years ago today, I decided I cared more about baseball than Canadian politics because I decided Jays-win (in the ALCS vs. the Royals; Jays were down 2-0)/Harper-wins was preferable to Jays-lose/Harper-loses. This is still pre-Trump; if it came down to the same situation today but with our Trump acolyte running...elimination loss, I'd still go with the Jays; otherwise, I think I'd take the Jays loss, but honestly I'm not sure.

respectfully, that's insane

now if there was something important like a Canucks cup on the line, maybe I'd feel differently

I had second thoughts as soon as I posted...There's an unstated and quite probably naive belief there that we'd just get a pale, Canadian version of Trump--that ours could never be close to as destructive as the real thing. But that's not a risk worth taking, I realize.

(And hometown sports fandom has insanity as a given.)

Haha, my own FB memory for today in 2015 was changing my wallpaper to a really pouty photo of Harper's face

I know Trump has me already misremembering Harper as a Romney-type when he was in fact harder right.

Oh yeah, Harper was proto-fasc. The war on science and the media; the appeal to "old stock" Cdns, the military parades at hockey games, and that's only that which I can still immediately remember.

Pretty sure he “consults” actual fascists now too.

My memories of Mike Harris--his hatred of teachers, and how he got a sizeable part of the public to go along with him on that--are sharper and more personal.

a pale, Canadian version of Trump--that ours could never be close to as destructive as the real thing

i recall wondering how the hell rob ford happened, and then

looks like BC is ending up with one of the strangest possible results yeesh

the conversation above is bringing back traumatic memories of the brief moment in 2011 when a Jack Layton government and Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup were somehow within reach

my thinking was that the Jays already won two World Series in our lifetime, so the joy you would experience from just a playoff series win wouldn't really compare to the permanent damage PP is going to cause

You're right--myopic comment based on memories of how awful I felt when the Jays bowed out in 2015.

rob ford was the harbinger of "yes, i smoke crack but why do you think that disqualifies me or requires me to resign" style of politics

so we're planning a population decline to, allegedly, tackle the housing crisis, amazing: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/new-immigration-levels-plan-1.7361972

Postal strike. From CBC:

What does this mean for letters to Santa?

CBC News has contacted Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) about Canada Post's holiday tradition. The corporation responded with an email saying the strike has "impacted Canadians, small businesses, as well as our ability to get mail to and from Santa in the North Pole."

smart to include a blatant lie in your official response to a strike

I'm a unionized teacher, so 100% pro-union, but above and beyond that, throwing in "from"--not only can't your kids send letters, they won't get gifts.

why does Trump love Carney so much

the "film tariffs" which is totally a thing that makes sense as a concept, are spreading a lot of fear and angst among my friends and loved ones. Jon Voight can go fuck himself

A friend in town told me about something that I haven't bothered to check--that when Trump's son got into some serious financial trouble, Brookfield bailed him out when Carney was there? Sounds plausible, at least.

Also: no photos in circulation of Melania Trump eyeing Carney salaciously.

This is great: "Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign, it's not for sale."

And with that statement, DJT's brain began to spin as he tried to grasp how some other country had managed to buy Canada before he could. "Probably Jina," he mumbled to himself before his thoughts turned to the upcoming lunch menu

Also Carney joined Brookfield in August 2020 but the Brookfield acquisition of Kushner's Manhattan office tower lease happened two years earlier, in 2018

Good to know--will gladly point that out to my friend (a good guy, but a churchgoer and--inexplicably, for that very reason, if you ask me--a conservative).

Saw the Carney clip: as soon as Trump says "never say never," Carney silently (or maybe audibly and it was noisy) mouths "never" five or six times for the reporters. Love it.

is it just me or does trump seem to like carney? if so, anyone got any theories as to why? respect for his wall street background?

Sawdust Lagoon shot down my one (second-hand) theory above. Who knows? Maybe his Canadian ire was just 100% Trudeau-focused.

maybe his central casting bankerness

though it's always possible today is the historical high point of the relationship

As soon as it sinks in that Carney made him look silly--will probably take a day and a few dozen headlines--antipathy will rapidly take hold.

There's also that Carney just won a big election after the party was down in the polls, Trump likes winners.

Yeah--I think he even joked about it at the beginning, how he deserved the credit for Carney winning. Um, yeah, but...

This joke is going to be very adaptable for the next few months:

https://i.postimg.cc/5yXwpMSp/alberta.jpg

(How unusual is this, by the way? I know newly appointed leaders without a seat have to do this sometimes, but when did it last happen because of a loss?)

it happened to Christy Clark when she won as Premier but lost her seat (to BC's current premier David Eby). She also found a safe riding in the boonies to run again. It was embarrassing and all, though she's a shameless character. But it didn't have much practical effect.

Something just flashed across my mind that I meant to post the other day. Saw an interview with Michael Ignatieff the other day, talking about tariffs. Was reminded that it's too bad he was so ill-equipped for politics; he really is a smart, incisive guy.

Americans who open up this thread might dismiss this analogy, but he's a bit like our Bill Bradley.

he could have taken us into Iraq

Thank god we didn’t elect a conservative who’d import maga policies here, and thank we’ll never elect a right-wing govt that might use govt powers to do mass deportations.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-legislation-border-fentanyl-1.7550684

Important Canadian political news: https://www.complex.com/music/a/jadegomez510/drake-jagmeet-singh-response

the apology is truly pathetic, but so is Drake having the bandwidth to care about being slighted by Jagmeet Singh lol

"i went for Sza" pretty funny though

sigh

A round-up of Carney's quieter approach to creeping fascism: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/18/canada-trump-flood-zone

Katy Perry, the new Margot Kidder/Liona Boyd.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/30/entertainment/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-montreal

...Babs Streisand

I was thinking of post-breakup, but I did miss Kim Cattrall.

Katy had to make do when she couldn't arrange a date with Chrétien

"His father, late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was a bachelor when he became prime minister. He dated actresses Barbra Streisand and Kim Cattrall and married a 22-year-old woman while in office at age 51."

Just some 22 yo with no name.

I guess he's too dull a figure to spur much posting (it's telling that the last revive was about Justin), but Carney's tenure has been an incredible bait & switch

Tuned out--is he up to no good?

he's pretty much like I expected him to be, I wasn't expecting much

nor was I, but I do think you could safely say that he wouldn't have won the election if he'd admitted that he was going to repeal tech regulations at the US's request and drop retaliatory tariffs in his first few months

is he better or worse than the alternatives?

in any case i don't envy him -- nor any other historical ally of the US -- trying to thread the needle of retaining sovereignty vs. maintaining an economy vs. appeasing a madman

some good news: https://globalnews.ca/news/11349082/new-covid-19-vaccine-made-in-canada/

i hope there will be a bigger fallout from the prime minister office inviting the president of the fucking heritage foundation, but somehow i doubt it.

but maybe it'll remove any remaining doubt on where carney actually stands.

Prob more Art of War strategy on the PMO's part

I feel like Canadians voted for Carney so they wouldn't have to pay attention to the news

Does it not feel better/different than if there was a Conservative pro-Trump PM?

I was, of course, rooting for a Carney win, and I think it’s a better outcome than the alternative, but my friends who are Carney stans madden me.

I feel like Canadians voted for Carney so they wouldn't have to pay attention to the news

Actually, I think that's pretty accurate--some kind of perhaps naive faith that he'd obviously be much better than PP, and that once elected you could forget about him and lead your life (guilty as charged).

I generally like the fact that Canada is not an "important" country and can be ignored at times, but I also think this attitude points to the way that climate change has never become a "news story" that captures public attention. It's hard not read this G&M article on the fast-tracked infrastructure projects and conclude anything other than that we are all going to burn: https://archive.ph/5IcEG

btw I'm not shaming anyone for ignoring the news. nothing is more apparent to me right now than the powerlessness we all share as non-elites, and paying attention is of very little benefit.

people who actively hype up Carney, however, are out of their minds

Kinda pissed about the EV walkback announced today. And I don't expect anything tangible to come from the 60-day review.

HoC standing ovation for Charlie Kirk: https://bsky.app/profile/rachelgilmore.bsky.social/post/3lyvk3xj73s2k

I had to lol at "He was assassinated in an attempt to silence his voice"...I'm pretty sure it worked Rachael

jfc. beyond revolting.

Not surprised the Cons pulled this, because they haven’t got an original thought between them all, but the fact the Libs went along with it is repulsive.

the whole grotesque spectacle was revolting, but the most shameful part? the "family values" dogwhistle.