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[Azih]

Fair enough. I think a difference now is that some of these scandals, unlike the 'fake lake' and jet disasters are starting to hit their base. Social conservatives are getting antsy, veteran affairs are very close to conservative hearts, and the Harper govt is starting to get tarnished with the 'central out of touch Ottawa' type of problems that every long serving governing party is vulnerable to. Their base won't vote for anybody else, but they might stay home and not vote instead, which is what the opposition wants.

Of course the opposition is still divided right down the middle right now.

 

[matthewwhatever]

It's more to do with the bases for each party. The CPC has a base of 25-30% of the country that has no other voting option close to their core beliefs. So while the remaining 70% generally lean to the centre or left (and maybe 10-20% in the centre can be persuaded to vote CPC or Liberal, depending on the situation), the CPC has the strongest base by far. All they need is 10% of the remaining electorate to vote for them to clinch victories, whereas the Liberals and NDP need larger swings.

Slightly tangential, but don't forget that Conservative support is also kept artificially higher by Alberta. I remember playing around with that Hill & Knowlton Election Predictor thing at several points in the last two or three elections, and their threshold for forming government was actually a couple of points higher than the Liberals. Since Liberal support is so widespread, they get in government territory as soon as they hit 30% (and majority territory at 37%), whereas the Conservatives need to hit at least 32-33% (or almost 40% for a majority).

Also, even though the CPC probably has a much larger base to draw from, their ceiling is significantly lower. Paul Wells' first ode to Stephen Harper (Right Side Up) had a detailed look at their strategy, and one of its key points was that the pool of people who wouldn't ever vote for them was significantly larger than the pool that would, which meant they needed to maximize the votes from their base. (If I remember correctly, the split is something like 57-43 against.)

To Azih's point, that means that if they start driving away that core base, their road to victory gets narrower and narrower.

 

[CitizenVectron]

Correct. They are generally guaranteed more votes, but also guaranteed to never be as popular overall. But the first is better than the last in terms of forming government.

The separatist/nationalist vote in Quebec since the early 90s has thrown things for a loop for the Liberals since they no longer have their Quebec base they relied on for 100 years. So even though their numbers may look okay today (somewhere in the 30s), those are weaker numbers than the CPC since it's more spread out. It will all depend on the NDP in Quebec. If they can hold a large number of their gains then the chances of the Liberals forming a majority are very small. A minority is still possible, depending on the CPC's fortune in southern Ontario. And of course everything could change between now and the election.

But right now I'd give about even odds between a CPC or Liberal minority in the next election.

 

[gutter_trash]

any step at reducing partisan hackery is good a step.

is Trudeau's idea perfect? hell no but the role of the Senate is not to mirror the House and not to kneel to whatever the PMO wants

*as for 2015 goes, it's whatever Ontario way goes that decides the election. Yeah the West is Conservative, yeah the Maritimes is Liberal, yeah Quebec is split between urban Liberal vs rural nationalistic. In the end it's Ontarian suburbanites that decide elections.

 

[Mr.Mike]

*as for 2015 goes, it's whatever Ontario way goes that decides the election. Yeah the West is Conservative, yeah the Maritimes is Liberal, yeah Quebec is split between urban Liberal vs rural nationalistic. In the end it's Ontarian suburbanites that decide elections.

Allow me to post the latest ekos stats, which contain a bunch of data by region and a variety of other interesting variables. http://www.ekospolitics.com/index.php/2014/01/closer-race-as-parliament-begins-january-30-2014/

What surprises me is the low NDP support among those with only High School educations (presumably those that wold most benefit from a more generous welfare state, also this group would include young people yet to complete post secondary, young people who other graphs tell me are mostly NDP supporters, unless those in the process of receiving college and university degrees are included in the college/university groups)

 

[Azih]

Higher education tending to skew left is a pretty consistent story

 

[gabbo]

What surprises me is the low NDP support among those with only High School educations (presumably those that wold most benefit from a more generous welfare state, also this group would include young people yet to complete post secondary, young people who other graphs tell me are mostly NDP supporters, unless those in the process of receiving college and university degrees are included in the college/university groups)

Didn't that swing happen in the 1980's with Mulroney/Reagan/Thatcher turning the blue collar against each other/their own self interest. Make them hate people who take advantage of/use government programs as some kind of leech on the system, despite the fact they themselves would benefit from many of those same programs?

 

[Mr.Mike]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp...rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

In these days of majority Parliament, it's rare to find oneself impatiently waiting for the Speaker to read out the results of a vote.

But that's exactly what happened on Wednesday night, when the fate of New Democrat MP Kennedy Stewart's bid to bring electronic petitions to the House of Commons was ultimately decided by the eight Conservative backbenchers who broke ranks with their caucus colleagues.

Well, the opposition has managed to win a vote against a majority government. Looks like we might (hopefully) be getting a site similar to the American "We the People" site, so that's exciting. If it does happen I know I'll be making a petition asking Parliament to investigate the issue of self-driving cars.

Didn't that swing happen in the 1980's with Mulroney/Reagan/Thatcher turning the blue collar against each other/their own self interest. Make them hate people who take advantage of/use government programs as some kind of leech on the system, despite the fact they themselves would benefit from many of those same programs?

I suppose, although it seems weird to me that people would vote against their self-interest. My riding is really blue-collar and is held pretty strongly by the NDP, although I suspect Windsor West might just vote for the incumbent above all else (our current MP did win after the only other guy who ever held the riding retired.)

 

[firehawk12]

Canada is getting its own change.org then?

 

[maharg]

It was just first reading, I think (can't find it on parl.gc.ca for some reason). Not really that unusual. Still has to go through committee and two more readings.

[edit] Oh I see, it's not even a bill, just a motion to change the standing orders:

Pursuant to Standing Order 93(1), the House proceeded to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion of Mr. Stewart (Burnaby—Douglas), seconded by Ms. Liu (Rivière-des-Mille-Îles), — That the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be instructed to recommend changes to the Standing Orders and other conventions governing petitions so as to establish an electronic petitioning system that would enhance the current paper-based petitions system by allowing Canadians to sign petitions electronically, and to consider, among other things, (i) the possibility to trigger a debate in the House of Commons outside of current sitting hours when a certain threshold of signatures is reached, (ii) the necessity for no fewer than five Members of Parliament to sponsor the e-petition and to table it in the House once a time limit to collect signatures is reached, (iii) the study made in the 38th Parliament regarding e-petitions, and that the Committee report its findings to the House, with proposed changes to the Standing Orders and other conventions governing petitions, within 12 months of the adoption of this order. (Private Members' Business M-428)

So basically I think it goes to the Procedure and House Affairs committee, who may or may not vote to bring it to the house again, with or without modification. Seems like long odds to me if the government doesn't support it.

As proposed it'd be pretty different from change.org. It would require parliamentary debate on petitions meeting some threshold. There is already a process for filing petitions, btw, it's just not online.

 

[Sibylus]

Would be a needed upgrade, hope it happens.

 

[MarkusRJR]

This is probably going to sound really dumb but...

What are the Canadian equivalents for the US Republicans and Democrats? All of my friends moved to the US so I tend to know more about US government than Canadian government. I wanna change that but I need to learn the basics first.

 

[Zombie James]

This is probably going to sound really dumb but...

What are the Canadian equivalents for the US Republicans and Democrats? All of my friends moved to the US so I tend to know more about US government than Canadian government. I wanna change that but I need to learn the basics first.

Republicans:

Democrats:

 

[killer rin]

This is probably going to sound really dumb but...

What are the Canadian equivalents for the US Republicans and Democrats? All of my friends moved to the US so I tend to know more about US government than Canadian government. I wanna change that but I need to learn the basics first.

The closest you have to them is the Conservatives, which are still far more left than the most left Democrats. Pretty much our main parties are the Liberals, NDP, Green, and the Conservatives. The Conservatives being the only 'Right' party there is. If you want, you can check out this wikipedia page for a greater overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Canada

 

[Mr.Mike]

This is probably going to sound really dumb but...

What are the Canadian equivalents for the US Republicans and Democrats? All of my friends moved to the US so I tend to know more about US government than Canadian government. I wanna change that but I need to learn the basics first.

I like this site as a good summary and overview of the major political parties. http://www.thecanadaguide.com/political-parties

 

[maharg]

Conservatives, which are still far more left than the most left Democrats.

This meme's got to die. Especially when it's being parroted to people who are just learning about our politics. It's not even remotely the case anymore, if it ever was. On what issue is the CPC to the left of the Democrats? Hell, even the Liberals are currently pretty close.

 

[MarkusRJR]

I like this site as a good summary and overview of the major political parties. http://www.thecanadaguide.com/political-parties

Just off reading the little blurbs one each party, it seems that I agree with the NDP stance on policies and the Liberal's stance on social issues.

Would it be safe to say that the Liberals/NDP are more like the Democrats and the Conservatives are comparable to the Republicans?

 

[Ether_Snake]

Just off reading the little blurbs one each party, it seems that I agree with the NDP stance on policies and the Liberal's stance on social issues.

Would it be safe to say that the Liberals/NDP are more like the Democrats and the Conservatives are comparable to the Republicans?

Yes, but your Democrats are not very left-leaning.

 

[gutter_trash]

Democrats are closer to Mulroney era Progressive Conservatives and Chretien-Martin era Liberals.

Present day Harper Conservatives are closer to the old guard Republicans of the 60s-70s-80s

Present day Republicans are way out far right.
-----------
The Liberals under Chretien-Martin were more center-right on economics and balancing budgets (Clinton style) than Pierre Trudeau ever was. Pierre Trudeau spent more on social programs. Chretien and Martin created surpluses but they slashed programs to get it done.
------------
The CENTER in the United States has been moving towards the Right more and more. Today's Democrats are Center-Right while today's Republicans are extreme-Right. There is NO LEFT in the USA today.

 

[Azih]

Dennis Kucinich sheds a tear

 

[matthewwhatever]

Didn't that swing happen in the 1980's with Mulroney/Reagan/Thatcher turning the blue collar against each other/their own self interest. Make them hate people who take advantage of/use government programs as some kind of leech on the system, despite the fact they themselves would benefit from many of those same programs?

Mulroney doesn't belong alongside Thatcher and Reagan in that respect. One of the big reasons that Chretien cut so much from the social safety net was because Mulroney refused to touch the Health and Social Transfers. That whole neo-con, anti-social safety net/poor people have it coming movement entered the mainstream of Canadian politics thanks to Mike Harris/Ralph Klein/the rise of the Reform Party. Mulroney may have had a lot of flaws, but that wasn't one of them.

 

[gutter_trash]

out of the Thatcher-Reagan-Mulroney coalition, Mulroney was the most socially liberal out of the gang.

Mulroney was publicly against Apartheid in South Africa and advocated that the West should do something about it while Thatcher wanted to keep the status-quo as is during this period. Reagan's cronies were playing identity politics in the US and did not bat an eye on the issue.

Yes we Liberals give the Mulroney era lots of flack for the way they handled the economy and the recession but we must recognize that they were also socially liberal almost on the same level as Liberals on many issues.

Personally my biggest beef against the PC was that they cozyed up too much with Quebec nationalists to make them happy to the point that it backfired on them when it failed then those same Quebec nationalists inside the PC created the Bloc Quebcois.
On Canadian Unity, this is where Pierre Trudeau was right.

 

[Sibylus]

CSEC used airport Wi-Fi to track Canadian travellers: Edward Snowden documents - Electronic snooping was part of a trial run for U.S. NSA and other foreign services (Greg Weston, Glenn Greenwald, Ryan Gallagher, CBC)

A top secret document retrieved by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden and obtained by CBC News shows that Canada's electronic spy agency used information from the free internet service at a major Canadian airport to track the wireless devices of thousands of ordinary airline passengers for days after they left the terminal.

After reviewing the document, one of Canada's foremost authorities on cyber-security says the clandestine operation by the Communications Security Establishment Canada ( CSEC) was almost certainly illegal.

Ronald Deibert told CBC News: "I can't see any circumstance in which this would not be unlawful, under current Canadian law, under our Charter, under CSEC's mandates."

In the case of the airport tracking operation, the metadata apparently identified travelers' wireless devices, but not the content of calls made or emails sent from them.

Diebert is author of the book Black Code: Inside the Battle for Cyberspace, which is about internet surveillance, and he heads the world-renowned Citizen Lab cyber research program at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs.

He says that whatever CSEC calls it, the tracking of those passengers was nothing less than an "indiscriminate collection and analysis of Canadians' communications data," and he could not imagine any circumstances that would have convinced a judge to authorize it.

The latest Snowden document indicates the spy service was provided with information captured from unsuspecting travellers' wireless devices by the airport's free Wi-Fi system over a two-week period.

Experts say that probably included many Canadians whose smartphone and laptop signals were intercepted without their knowledge as they passed through the terminal.

The document shows the federal intelligence agency was then able to track the travellers for a week or more as they — and their wireless devices — showed up in other Wi-Fi "hot spots" in cities across Canada and even at U.S. airports.

That included people visiting other airports, hotels, coffee shops and restaurants, libraries, ground transportation hubs, and any number of places among the literally thousands with public wireless internet access.

The document shows CSEC had so much data it could even track the travellers back in time through the days leading up to their arrival at the airport, these experts say.

While the documents make no mention of specific individuals, Deibert and other cyber experts say it would be simple for the spy agency to have put names to all the Canadians swept up in the operation.

All Canadians with a smartphone, tablet or laptop are "essentially carrying around digital dog tags as we go about our daily lives," Deibert says.

Anyone able to access the data that those devices leave behind on wireless hotspots, he says, can obtain "extraordinarily precise information about our movements and social relationships."

In the document, CSEC called the new technologies "game-changing," and said they could be used for tracking "any target that makes occasional forays into other cities/regions."

Sources tell CBC News the technologies tested on Canadians in 2012 have since become fully operational.

CSEC claims "no Canadian or foreign travellers' movements were 'tracked,'" although it does not explain why it put the word "tracked" in quotation marks.

Deibert says metadata is "way more powerful that the content of communications. You can tell a lot more about people, their habits, their relationships, their friendships, even their political preferences, based on that type of metadata."

The document does not say exactly how the Canadian spy service managed to get its hands on two weeks' of travellers' wireless data from the airport Wi-Fi system, although there are indications it was provided voluntarily by a "special source."

Deibert and other experts say the federal intelligence agency must have gained direct access to at least some of the country's main telephone and internet pipelines, allowing the mass-surveillance of Canadian emails and phone calls.

Experts say the document makes clear CSEC intended to share both the technologies and future information generated by it with Canada's official spying partners — the U.S., Britain, New Zealand and Australia, the so-called Five Eyes intelligence network.

Wesley Wark, a renowned authority on international security and intelligence, agrees with Deibert.

Wark says if CSEC's use of "very powerful and intrusive technological tools" puts it outside its mandate and even the law, "then you are in a situation for democracy where you simply don't want to be."

Like Wark and other experts interviewed for this story, Deibert says there's no question Canada needs CSEC to be gathering foreign intelligence, "but they must do it within a framework of proper checks and balances so their formidable powers can never be abused. And that's the missing ingredient right now in Canada."

Paul Calandra tries to tear down the messenger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUOXOc68nKY&feature=youtu.be

Maybe a good example of why lobbyists shouldn't be entrusted with oversight responsibilities. Didn't get in the way of his doing (what little) his job afforded him, he swears!

 

[gabbo]

Mulroney doesn't belong alongside Thatcher and Reagan in that respect. One of the big reasons that Chretien cut so much from the social safety net was because Mulroney refused to touch the Health and Social Transfers. That whole neo-con, anti-social safety net/poor people have it coming movement entered the mainstream of Canadian politics thanks to Mike Harris/Ralph Klein/the rise of the Reform Party. Mulroney may have had a lot of flaws, but that wasn't one of them.

True enough. What I was trying to get at, albeit with a bad example, was that those groups of citizens that may seem to have the most to gain from a center-left government don't always, and for a long while now, haven't voted for the party whose policies they stand to gain from.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp...rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Well, the opposition has managed to win a vote against a majority government. Looks like we might (hopefully) be getting a site similar to the American "We the People" site, so that's exciting. If it does happen I know I'll be making a petition asking Parliament to investigate the issue of self-driving cars.

I suppose, although it seems weird to me that people would vote against their self-interest. My riding is really blue-collar and is held pretty strongly by the NDP, although I suspect Windsor West might just vote for the incumbent above all else (our current MP did win after the only other guy who ever held the riding retired.)

Windsor would have a long history of strong union backing, like Hamilton, I'd imagine, so that's probably why it would be nearly impossible for anyone more right than the Libs to get in there. Anecdotally, my home town riding, which had/has an agriculture-based economy, has their MP selected as the Federal Agriculture Minister, and proceeds to vote him out in the next election. The MP best suited to bring help to the area (Diane Finley sure as shit hasn't), to diversify away from just tobacco farming, which is on the decline, and he's out the door.

 

[maharg]

Democrats are closer to Mulroney era Progressive Conservatives and Chretien-Martin era Liberals.

Present day Harper Conservatives are closer to the old guard Republicans of the 60s-70s-80s

Present day Republicans are way out far right.
-----------
The Liberals under Chretien-Martin were more center-right on economics and balancing budgets (Clinton style) than Pierre Trudeau ever was. Pierre Trudeau spent more on social programs. Chretien and Martin created surpluses but they slashed programs to get it done.
------------
The CENTER in the United States has been moving towards the Right more and more. Today's Democrats are Center-Right while today's Republicans are extreme-Right. There is NO LEFT in the USA today.

The center has moved massively to the right in Canada as well. I wish people would wake up and realize this. It's nice to pat yourself on the back and say "Well at least we don't have the republicans!" but the american political system produces that extreme polarization regardless of policy. Here we just have everyone agreeing that the taxes need to come down and public funding of infrastructure needs to be dismantled. The only area where Canada remains 'left' is in social policy, but even abortion rights seem poised to come back into the center of the field again.

Support for labour has pretty much crumbled, we've fully embraced neoliberal trade and economic policy, environmental policy is being gutted, education gets more and more expensive and less and less a matter of government policy every year, etc. etc. That we're lagging the US on some of these things should be cause to worry, not celebrate.

 

[diaspora]

Democrats are closer to Mulroney era Progressive Conservatives and Chretien-Martin era Liberals.

Present day Harper Conservatives are closer to the old guard Republicans of the 60s-70s-80s

Present day Republicans are way out far right.
-----------
The Liberals under Chretien-Martin were more center-right on economics and balancing budgets (Clinton style) than Pierre Trudeau ever was. Pierre Trudeau spent more on social programs. Chretien and Martin created surpluses but they slashed programs to get it done.
------------
The CENTER in the United States has been moving towards the Right more and more. Today's Democrats are Center-Right while today's Republicans are extreme-Right. There is NO LEFT in the USA today.

This I think, is probably the best explanation for comparing US and Canadian political alignments.

 

[Ether_Snake]

out of the Thatcher-Reagan-Mulroney coalition, Mulroney was the most socially liberal out of the gang.

Mulroney was publicly against Apartheid in South Africa and advocated that the West should do something about it while Thatcher wanted to keep the status-quo as is during this period. Reagan's cronies were playing identity politics in the US and did not bat an eye on the issue.

Yes we Liberals give the Mulroney era lots of flack for the way they handled the economy and the recession but we must recognize that they were also socially liberal almost on the same level as Liberals on many issues.

Personally my biggest beef against the PC was that they cozyed up too much with Quebec nationalists to make them happy to the point that it backfired on them when it failed then those same Quebec nationalists inside the PC created the Bloc Quebcois.
On Canadian Unity, this is where Pierre Trudeau was right.

It didn't backfire on them, the Bloc was created to stop the Liberal party specifically, and the Conservatives were in on it all the way and after its creation too. Heck the Bloc's existence strengthens the Conservative rhetoric in the ROC. It only backfired later, more recently, mainly as people stopped voting Block to vote NDP.

 

[CitizenVectron]

It didn't backfire on them, the Bloc was created to stop the Liberal party specifically, and the Conservatives were in on it all the way and after its creation too. Heck the Bloc's existence strengthens the Conservative rhetoric in the ROC. It only backfired later, more recently, mainly as people stopped voting Block to vote NDP.

While there are some extreme hyper-partisans who would have wished the Bloc to do well in order to have the PCs/Reform do better in ROC, I think you are generalizing too much. The vast majority of PC voters (and politicians) didn't want Quebec to leave Canada, or have it become hyper-nationalized to the detriment of a stable Parliament.

 

[Ether_Snake]

While there are some extreme hyper-partisans who would have wished the Bloc to do well in order to have the PCs/Reform do better in ROC, I think you are generalizing too much. The vast majority of PC voters (and politicians) didn't want Quebec to leave Canada, or have it become hyper-nationalized to the detriment of a stable Parliament.

I'm not talking about the voters.

 

[BladeWorker]

Maybe a good example of why lobbyists shouldn't be entrusted with oversight responsibilities. Didn't get in the way of his doing (what little) his job afforded him, he swears!

Lobbyist or not if the oversight office doesn't have the mandate to access files of on-going investigations or the teeth to enforce the laws as parliament passes them, or, hell, the resources to properly investigate, no head of an oversight branch no matter how invested in just outcomes can do his job.

This is as much the fault of parliament as it is the fault of an unsuitable overseer.

But then, perhaps that's what you were getting at.

 

[Sibylus]

Lobbyist or not if the oversight office doesn't have the mandate to access files of on-going investigations or the teeth to enforce the laws as parliament passes them, or, hell, the resources to properly investigate, no head of an oversight branch no matter how invested in just outcomes can do his job.

This is as much the fault of parliament as it is the fault of an unsuitable overseer.

But then, perhaps that's what you were getting at.

Ayop. It would just be nice if the oversight sock puppet weren't literally a corporate stooge at the same time. There's still a lot broken with the systems that are (nominally) supposed to hold the keys and lead in terms of intelligence... but it'd be a marginal improvement.

 

[CitizenVectron]

I'm not talking about the voters.

Right, and I also included the politicians in my post. There will always be some extreme people, but the majority care about the country, and aren't just in it for the "game." There are also some people in each party who would be happy if the other party leaders died in a plane crash. But most people (including politicians) are good people, even if they get caught up in the game and system sometimes.

 

[gutter_trash]

It didn't backfire on them, the Bloc was created to stop the Liberal party specifically, and the Conservatives were in on it all the way and after its creation too. Heck the Bloc's existence strengthens the Conservative rhetoric in the ROC. It only backfired later, more recently, mainly as people stopped voting Block to vote NDP.

How Old are you!??? The Bloc was created during a Mulroney PC majority reign in June of 1991.
Bouchard abandoned the government in May 1990
How can the Liberals have anything to do with it when they were relegated to the opposition bench for an entire decade?
Mulroney majority reign: (1984-1993)


So from 1984 to 1993 when the Liberals were in the opposition, how in the BLUEest hell can the creation of the Bloc have anything to do with the Liberals?
Trudeau retired in 1984,
John Turner was LPC and opposition leader from 1984 to 1990,
Jean Chretien took over in summer of 1990.
You are telling me that the Creation of the Bloc was at former Conservative MPs being MAD that Jean Chretien is the new Liberal opposition Leader? Are you joking man?

The creation of the Bloc was because many ''natioanlistic'' MPs in the Conservative party and few in the Liberals were pissed that the Meech Lake Accord failed and created it to help transition Quebec secession in the next Referendum.

Mulroney has stated that Lucien Bouchard purposefully sabotaged the Meech Lake Accord because Bouchard was in cahoots with Jacques Parizeau in Quebec about purposely making it fail to make the soil fertile for increased support for separation.
Yes Clyde Wells of Newfoundland voted against it, yes Elijah Harper from Manitoba voted against. But Bouchard was behind the negotiations have ''strengthening'' the Accord to give increasingly more powers to Quebec which then became impossible for a poorer province like Newfoundland at the time to support it.

Then when Meech Failed, that was when the Bloc was created.

Where were the Liberals? In the opposition bench

the majority of Bloc Quebecois members in its creation and first election were former Progressive Conservatives! In 1993, many old PC candidates who had nationalistic views became Bloc Quebecois candidates.

I was living in St-Hubert at the time, Pierrette Venne was a PC MP, then she was billed a Bloc Quebecois candidate and re-elected MP again. That's how it was all over dark-blue Quebec. Ex-Mulroney MPs who were nationalists went Bloc candidates

= why it backfired on Mulroney to have dealt with nationalists. My point proven

 

[Sibylus]

Interestingly, CSIS' interim director just claimed that SIRC (the oversight committee which Chuck Strahl once chaired) has access to... everything: http://t.co/2lBeiDN8zF http://t.co/2lBeiDN8zF

 

[Boogie]

Attn: firehawk: Charges laid by RCMP against Harb and Brazeau.

Now you may proceed to get all giddy about the consequences of the RCMP investigation. ;P

 

[Zombie James]

Hey, guys, how about these cool new campaign reforms! Less oversight, less poor people voting, more money!

 

[Sibylus]

Barf. Baaaaaaaarf.

 

[firehawk12]

Attn: firehawk: Charges laid by RCMP against Harb and Brazeau.

Now you may proceed to get all giddy about the consequences of the RCMP investigation. ;P

Well there ya go. lol

I guess that's why the Harb "resigned" anyway!

 

[Boogie]

Hey, guys, how about these cool new campaign reforms! Less oversight, less poor people voting, more money!

Well, Stump will hail the end to the ban on reporting early election results, at least.

 

[Mr.Mike]

Budget 2014 time.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/budget-2014-highlights-1.2531438

No major tax cuts, spending falls for 3rd year in a row.
$2.9 billion deficit this year, $6.4 billion surplus next year (2015-16).
New Canada Job Grant starts April 1, with or without agreement of the provinces and territories.
Retired public sector workers will pay twice as much for voluntary medical benefits.
$500 million over 2 years to an Automotive Innovation Fund for research and development.
$1.5 billion over 10 years for a Canada First Research Excellence Fund to fund research at post-secondary institutions.
$391.5 million over 5 years for highways, bridges, dams in National Parks.
Interest-free loans for apprentices and funding for new internships where skilled workers are needed.
Money for bridges in Windsor and Montreal but details for Building Canada infrastructure fund still to come.
$10 million more over 2 years for snowmobile and recreational trails.
Legislation to cap wholesale domestic wireless roaming costs.
$305 million over 5 years to expand rural high-speed internet.
Legislation promised to tackle cross-border price gaps - but no details.
Tax on cigarettes rises $4 to $21 a carton — a jump of about 50 cents per pack.
Government will bring regulation to Bitcoin, the virtual currency, to ensure it isn't used for money laundering.
Online casinos, charities and amateur sport groups will be scrutinized to prevent links to organized crime and foreign terrorists.
Legislation promised to stop suspended senators from accruing pension.
Creation of a DNA-based missing persons index.

 

[gabbo]

Budget 2014 time.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/budget-2014-highlights-1.2531438

Legislation to cap wholesale domestic wireless roaming costs. - Bull shit. The Big Three will make it up elsewhere with new fees or increased existing fees.

$305 million over 5 years to expand rural high-speed internet. - I expected too much money wasted on satellite internet and line-of-sight wireless. No way in hell they upgrade rural phone or cable capability of their own accord. Unless they dump the money on Bell and Rogers and say 'go.'.

Legislation promised to tackle cross-border price gaps - but no details. - They've been promising this since 2008 and it's always 'we're working on it/Ask retailers, we don't know'.

Tax on cigarettes rises $4 to $21 a carton — a jump of about 50 cents per pack. - This one I'm actually in favour of.

Government will bring regulation to Bitcoin, the virtual currency, to ensure it isn't used for money laundering. - Is there more on this? I'd like to read how they plan to do this.

Online casinos, charities and amateur sport groups will be scrutinized to prevent links to organized crime and foreign terrorists. - One of these things is not like the others...

Legislation promised to stop suspended senators from accruing pension. - Promised? 2019 election platform it is then.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Legislation to cap wholesale domestic wireless roaming costs.

$305 million over 5 years to expand rural high-speed internet.

That's funny. Who cares about roaming costs. But it sounds good on paper, and then they hand out $305 million to the same companies to "expand high-speed in areas where no one will really analyze how the money is spent". Basically a $305 million check.

 

[krae_man]

Income tax done. Studio Tax is free and works like a charm. Granted my return is very easy. Just enter my T4 info and add the Public Transit credit and I'm done. When you're single, you get no other credits. You have to pay tax on every penny over $10k. Bullocks I tell you!

 

[matthewwhatever]

So, uh...Patrick Brazeau, guys.

Somehow the strip club day manager thing seems like the natural conclusion for him.

 

[killer rin]

Does anyone here know the details of the proposed new Elections Act that the conservatives are trying to rush through parliment? I've just received a bunch of emails about it, and upon searching I still can't find out much other than what I already read.

So the Conservatives are trying to:
Introduce a Voter ID system
Table any attempt of implementing an Electronic Voting system
Make already illegal things more (or less) illegal?
Disallow people from voting in regions they aren't registered in
Increase Party Fundraising Limits
Increase Party Spending Limits

Am I missing or wrong about anything? I still feel like I'm out of the loop

 

[Zombie James]

https://twitter.com/stevenchase/status/436264391399718912/photo/1

 

[gabbo]

https://twitter.com/stevenchase/status/436264391399718912/photo/1

Somehow I don't feel the owner of Sun Media gaining this foothold is a good thing for anyone but Quebecor
edit: Anyone have any experience with Videotron as an ISP/phone provider?

 

[Mr.Mike]

Do we have a Canada GAF thread? I've somehow only found CanadaPoliGAF and the Gaming Deals thread, and a bunch of city threads.

Regardless, good that we'll have a 4th competitor covering most of the country. $60 for 6Gb is a great deal compared to what the other 3 are offering nowadays.

 

[BigJonsson]

I don't have high hopes for videotron changing things up in Southern Ontario


Hmm, 60 bucks for 6 gigs isn't as bad as the big 3 and their flanker brands but who knows what they'll do here


Will they increase prices now that they can deploy LTE?

 

[zedge]

Videotron coming out west? Interesting.