Canadian Politics Thread

[Gurn]

8 minutes ago, Alflives said:

How long can we continue to increase our national debt to pay for all the treats and goodies people have come to rely on? The recent sharp interest rate hike shocked more than a few. Austerity is coming and it will force many to get out of their comfy recliners and face the real world of hard work. 

Been doing it for decades, what makes it different now?

[D.B Cooper]

2 minutes ago, Gurn said:

you said Main cause in one sentence, but said lockdowns did nothing to stop the spread in the other sentence. This makes them different.

You are grasping at straws homies. 
It’s the same shit. 
Lockdowns did fuck all

Vaccines helped. 

[AriGold]

3 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Been doing it for decades, what makes it different now?

Honest question and here's an honest answer. Inflation, our country is struggling and in a very bad way. It's time to pause or slow down immigration and spend money in our country, not every other one. 

[Spur1]

9 minutes ago, D.B Cooper said:

You are grasping at straws homies. 
It’s the same shit. 
Lockdowns did fuck all

Vaccines helped. 

Please prove to me lockdowns did nothing but first I was wondering where these lockdowns occurred. I don’t recall any in BC. Just recommended. 

[the destroyer of worlds]

21 minutes ago, D.B Cooper said:

You are grasping at straws homies. 
It’s the same shit. 
Lockdowns did fuck all

Vaccines helped. 

 

Except that the data shows us that jurisdictions that took the pandemic seriously had fewer cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.  In the US, counties that voted TRUMP were worse off per capita than counties that voted Biden.  Alberta had a much worse Delta wave than us here in BC.  

 

The things is common.  Populated by people who were critical of Covid policies and bitched and moaned about lockdowns to the point where those jurisdictions opened up early, relaxed, or didn't lockdown at all.

 

And a lot of this was measurable prior to vaccinations topping 70%.

 

Then the cherry on top is they had lower vaccination rates.

[D.B Cooper]

Just now, Spur1 said:

Please prove to me lockdowns did nothing but first I was wondering where these lockdowns occurred. I don’t recall any in BC. Just recommended. 

Stats Canada can show you.  
Numbers still rose while folks were forced to stay home from work and told to not go out.   Just as it did when we were all out living.   
That’s why they didn’t do it again later in the pandy.  
 

Also, I’m not going to play into your purposefully ignore question ‘what lockdown?’   Call it what you want. 
People were denied their jobs by the government and we were all asked to stay home.  
People were getting fines for being out and driving in the Coq.  
Businesses were shut down.  
Wtf do you call that?   
Seeing as we were fully up and running when the pandy started to slow, that alone should tell you all you need to know about the ‘lockdown’. 

[Satchmo]

3 hours ago, D.B Cooper said:

Well, lockdowns did nothing for us, other than cause folks to lose their homes, businesses, careers and mental health.  
As well as creating a scenario where so many people were reliant on government handouts. 
The lockdowns did nothing to slowdown or stop covid.   The eventual vaccines did.  
So, if the boneheads in charge weren’t making poor decision after another….. we would be half as bad off as we are.  
 

 

Ok I'll bite even though it's not the day for this kind of stuff.

 

Lockdowns kept people apart from each other.   That is only a good thing in times of plague.   The lockdowns meant fewer people getting sick, thus saving lives and keeping  our hospitals from treating people in the parking lot due to overcrowding.  Lockdowns, social distancing, and masking were all worthwhile tools to assist in that.  None of those things were totally effective in combatting the virus but still they all helped.  Academics are still debating how much they helped but I have yet to hear any credible arguments that they did nothing at all.  (These days not even Sweden thinks the Swedish approach was a good one.)   Then, as you say, came vaccines to really help us out.

 

I think to say 'folks lost homes, businesses, careers' is a stretch unless you qualified it with the word some.  Restaurants, bars, and many other service industries suffered but were hopefully assisted by all that cash them pinko liberals handed out so freely.    

 

Mental health definitely suffered but not necessarily for the reasons you give.  

 

That's all I have to say on this.    All I really wanted to point out was that I disagreed with you.  And you then pointed out you disagreed with me.   Fair enough.    The day to air our grievances was a few days ago and today is the day for joy to the world.

 

BTW - We are all under one rock or another.

Edited December 25, 2023 by Satchmo

[Heretic]

4 hours ago, Spur1 said:

Country is doing just fine. In the top 5 economies in 2023. 
Stop listening to PP the sky is falling. 

 

Reminds me of Carlin "Ask the people of Pompei if they feel like they're a threat to the planet"...

[Miss Korea]

3 hours ago, D.B Cooper said:

You are grasping at straws homies. 
It’s the same shit. 
Lockdowns did fuck all

Vaccines helped. 

 

What happened to Alberta's "best summer ever"?  Remember it?

[RupertKBD]

9 hours ago, Heretic said:

I didn't know we had a pandemic since 2015!



I love how pro Trudeau people defend him no matter what he does.

 

Oh I don't know....that graphic you posted shows a pretty modest increase.....right up to 2019....

 

And it's not so much that I'm "pro Trudeau", (never voted for him) it's just that I think there are valid reasons for criticism and using the current debt numbers is one of the weaker ones.

[RupertKBD]

6 hours ago, Wiggums said:

Yes a pandemic happened and he went around throwing away money like a fat kid in a convenience store.  Worst PM in Canadian history, absolutely crippled this country. 

 

.....and saved a lot of businesses / livelihoods while doing so.

 

Your argument couldn't be more reductive if that's what you were going for. Maybe let the grownups talk here and head back to wherever it is that your ridiculous take is seen as insightful and accurate.

[RupertKBD]

4 hours ago, D.B Cooper said:

Well, lockdowns did nothing for us, other than cause folks to lose their homes, businesses, careers and mental health.  
As well as creating a scenario where so many people were reliant on government handouts. 
The lockdowns did nothing to slowdown or stop covid.   The eventual vaccines did.  
So, if the boneheads in charge weren’t making poor decision after another….. we would be half as bad off as we are. 

 

Incorrect. Not much more to say when the entire premise of your post is inaccurate....

[4petesake]

18 minutes ago, Miss Korea said:

 

What happened to Alberta's "best summer ever"?  Remember it?

 

Alberta had to ask BC and other provinces to take some emergency care Covid patients, requested ventilators, and asked the Feds to prepare to provide transportation for patients.

 

Related article: Alberta’s dire COVID-19 situation compared to B.C.’s fourth wave fight

 

On Wednesday, Alberta’s premier announced the province is bringing in a proof of vaccination program for some discretionary services. Jason Kenney also apologized for his government’s recent handling of COVID-19, admitting Alberta opened up too quickly.

“It is now clear that we were wrong, and for that I apologize.”

[D.B Cooper]

5 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

.....and saved a lot of businesses / livelihoods while doing so.

 

Your argument couldn't be more reductive if that's what you were going for. Maybe let the grownups talk here and head back to wherever it is that your ridiculous take is seen as insightful and accurate.

Just because you dont agree doesn’t mean you need to be rude. 
Take your own advice and be a grownup, or shut up

[The Lock]

10 hours ago, Heretic said:

Yes, that was posted on LinkedIn, but the link I posted is real - here's a screen shot of that:

 

 

You didn't read any of my post did you. lol

 

I didn't question the link. I said it was done in a propaganda way. Please read the rest of my post because it really shows how you should always question everything you read, even on LinkedIn.

 

Also, could you please provide the link to your graph? It appears incorrect as every other chart I've seen says otherwise. Although the chart you provided just now actually looks better for Trudeau as he was doing better than Harper anyway, so I don't know exactly what you're trying to prove anyway.

Edited December 26, 2023 by The Lock

[RupertKBD]

1 minute ago, D.B Cooper said:

Just because you dont agree doesn’t mean you need to be rude. 
Take your own advice and be a grownup, or shut up

 

A stupid post deserves nothing but ridicule.... and I don't GAF what the "freedumb" crowd thinks of it....

[The Lock]

8 minutes ago, D.B Cooper said:

Just because you dont agree doesn’t mean you need to be rude. 
Take your own advice and be a grownup, or shut up

 

Just because you dont agree doesn’t mean you need to be rude.

 

I'll avoid telling you to be a grownup. Just follow your own advice. Otherwise, you don't exactly look much better yourself. No matter how petty you think a comment is, it doesn't mean you should follow with a petty comment.

Edited December 26, 2023 by The Lock

[Boudrias]

18 hours ago, D.B Cooper said:

1.2 Trillion in debt isn’t doing well at all.  
 

Trudy and co has been spending money like he doesn’t know you have to actually pay off credit cards.  

I believe federal debt is $1.4 trillion and add provincial + municipal and the number exceeds $2.4 trillion. This is not all Trudeau's spending but any thinking Canadian should be more than worried about how this debt will be serviced and what social support programs will suffer. Of course these numbers do not include consumer debt which exceeds $2 trillion. Let's put politics aside and deal with the debt crisis we are facing.  

[Alflives]

18 hours ago, D.B Cooper said:

You are grasping at straws homies. 
It’s the same shit. 
Lockdowns did fuck all

Vaccines helped. 

We didn’t have “lockdowns” here. China did. We didn’t. 

[Bob Long]

[Heretic]

14 hours ago, The Lock said:

 

You didn't read any of my post did you. lol

 

I didn't question the link. I said it was done in a propaganda way. Please read the rest of my post because it really shows how you should always question everything you read, even on LinkedIn.

 

Also, could you please provide the link to your graph? It appears incorrect as every other chart I've seen says otherwise. Although the chart you provided just now actually looks better for Trudeau as he was doing better than Harper anyway, so I don't know exactly what you're trying to prove anyway.

I did read it and I had updated the "LinkedIn" post with the link:

https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/canada/national-government-debt

 

 

BTW, I don't think much of any politician, I just find it sad to see people defend Trudeau whilst putting down other politicians.  The whole system needs an overhaul.  

 

[Alflives]

13 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

I believe federal debt is $1.4 trillion and add provincial + municipal and the number exceeds $2.4 trillion. This is not all Trudeau's spending but any thinking Canadian should be more than worried about how this debt will be serviced and what social support programs will suffer. Of course these numbers do not include consumer debt which exceeds $2 trillion. Let's put politics aside and deal with the debt crisis we are facing.  

Do we have a good solid industrial base anymore here? It’s like our economy now is dependent upon the housing industry. And to keep that viable we need to be adding millions of people to our population every year. And the government borrows more to build the infrastructure and provide services to the expanding population. There’s talk of universal dental care! 
Time is now for government spending cuts. No more free rides. Able and healthy adults need to be working or in school and studying. Government should be paying for all education. In school studying to be whatever should be paid for.

[Bob Long]

9 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Do we have a good solid industrial base anymore here? It’s like our economy now is dependent upon the housing industry. And to keep that viable we need to be adding millions of people to our population every year. And the government borrows more to build the infrastructure and provide services to the expanding population. There’s talk of universal dental care! 
Time is now for government spending cuts. No more free rides. Able and healthy adults need to be working or in school and studying. Government should be paying for all education. In school studying to be whatever should be paid for.

 

We do have a solid manufacturing base, but it could be a lot bigger. You are 100% right on the housing party tho, all levels of government took that for a big tax ride.

 

Actual full universal dental won't be a thing, we can't afford that. 

[Boudrias]

34 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Do we have a good solid industrial base anymore here? It’s like our economy now is dependent upon the housing industry. And to keep that viable we need to be adding millions of people to our population every year. And the government borrows more to build the infrastructure and provide services to the expanding population. There’s talk of universal dental care! 
Time is now for government spending cuts. No more free rides. Able and healthy adults need to be working or in school and studying. Government should be paying for all education. In school studying to be whatever should be paid for.

Sorry Alf but as soon as something is paid for the value declines. What education program would receive a free ride? Within a well designed industrial strategy government support for the education infrastructure is warranted IMHO. Supporting students for those programs should come from industry and lending institutions.    

 

When we consider Canada's industrial base I think there is a difference between companies that earn foreign income which in turn supports the value of the Canadian dollar and those industries that consume discretionary spending. Billions of $ have gone to the auto EV industry and that growth has not materialized. How much of Auto Pact income will come from export? The jury is out on that one. My home run pitch is for energy exports. It defends the dollar which makes imports cheaper. It is a big + for balance of payments which allows Ottawa not having to buy USA $'s. Energy is a huge employer, especially if major investments are allowed. The tax income from energy would help Ottawa fund their debt and help fund social welfare programs. 

 

Big on energy but the transition away from hydrocarbons will continue globally. It is a transition strategy. Filling the prairie landscape with solar panels and wind turbines is not the answer. IMO nuclear power is the answer and Canada does have useable technology here. It will help Canada and should make Canada a leading producer of plants and tech that go nuclear. 

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

Sorry Alf but as soon as something is paid for the value declines. What education program would receive a free ride? Within a well designed industrial strategy government support for the education infrastructure is warranted IMHO. Supporting students for those programs should come from industry and lending institutions.    

 

When we consider Canada's industrial base I think there is a difference between companies that earn foreign income which in turn supports the value of the Canadian dollar and those industries that consume discretionary spending. Billions of $ have gone to the auto EV industry and that growth has not materialized. How much of Auto Pact income will come from export? The jury is out on that one. My home run pitch is for energy exports. It defends the dollar which makes imports cheaper. It is a big + for balance of payments which allows Ottawa not having to buy USA $'s. Energy is a huge employer, especially if major investments are allowed. The tax income from energy would help Ottawa fund their debt and help fund social welfare programs. 

 

Big on energy but the transition away from hydrocarbons will continue globally. It is a transition strategy. Filling the prairie landscape with solar panels and wind turbines is not the answer. IMO nuclear power is the answer and Canada does have useable technology here. It will help Canada and should make Canada a leading producer of plants and tech that go nuclear. 

 

why are you expecting instant returns from the EV investments? the patch didn't begin that way, many major projects took years to get profitable.

 

Also not sure why it has to be an either-or situation. We can be leaders across the energy field from the remaining oil and gas and EV tech.