The other day I went out for a bike ride, and at the end of my street came across Justin Trudeau.
He was attending an event to announce a new loan program for black owned businesses.
But all any of the ratty members of the Con media wanted to know, was whether he was planning an early election.
And this is what Trudeau had to say about that.
“We have no interest in an election,” said @JustinTrudeau. “It will be up to opposition parties to decide whether or not they have confidence in the plan this government is going to put forward to help Canadians.” pic.twitter.com/137Zme5BwN
— Power & Politics (@PnPCBC) September 9, 2020
Now the Con media is in a tizzy about the possibility of a fall election, no doubt fearing that their beloved Cons could take a bath.
And Chantal Hébert is warning that if Trudeau believes that Canadians are ready for an activist agenda, he may be misreading the public mood.
Come Sept. 23, the Liberals will gamble the life of their minority government on a throne speech that, if the advance billing is to be believed, will include a so-called green economic recovery plan and an ambitious overhaul of the country’s social safety net.
Trudeau maintains he does not want an election any time soon but increasingly sounds more eager to hit the hustings than his opposition rivals.
Hébert claims that what Canadians are looking for is "pre-pandemic normalcy," not a brave new world.
And she may be right. This country is full of old ghastly old Cons who want our country to go back to the "good old days."
The ones who long for past when women, gay people, and racialized minorities knew their place.
The ones who are supporting Erin O'Toole's campaign to "take Canada back."
But there are also a lot of Canadians, especially younger ones, who want to go forward not backwards, especially when it comes to saving the planet.
They are now the biggest voting bloc, and they want real change. Now.
Which is why I think that now is the perfect time to strike.
Before O'Toole is able to fool more Canadians into believing he's a nice guy, instead of a bigot enabler.
But the main reason I want an early election is because the time is right. We can't go back to the world we knew before. We have to go bravely forward, or the new world will consume us.
So Trudeau can legitimately use this crisis to chart a new course forward, and as David Olive writes, that's exciting.
The Liberals seem intent on asking Canadians to consent to a sweeping economic renewal that tackles income inequality, climate crisis, immigration, economic sovereignty, industrial self-sufficiency, the gender-pay gap, Canada’s undernourished R&D sector and considerably more.
The Grits, in other words, are giving themselves an open-ended mandate for change, the ambition of which the country has seldom seen.
In the drab pandemic world in which we all live, that is an exciting promise.
As far as I'm concerned at a time like this one, you either go big or you go home, for we'll never get a better chance to make our country truly greater, and greener.
I'm prepared to be disappointed. This big country can sometimes seem so small. And the Cons and their NDP stooges are sure to talk tough but try to avoid an election.
But right now my hopes for that election are running high, and riding with this leader...
The one the Cons, their hapless NDP stooges, and bought Con media, failed to destroy.
The one who led us through the worst days of this nightmare pandemic.
And now has a chance to lead us out of the darkness, and into the light of a better tomorrow...
18 comments:
There is a risk that electioneering will distract us from fighting Covid and result in unnecessary suffering and deaths but at the same time the opportunity for moving forward is now, not in a years time after Canadians have endured another full year of Con inspired propaganda designed to propel Canada back into the biblical age. How Jagmeet or actually any of the Conservatives MP's can read whats written on the campaignlifecoalition website and still claim they support a modern progressive Canada is beyond belief. Its time to move forward before the Tool has the opportunity and resources to fog the political landscape with a thick layer of divisive smoke, as he surely will because he cannot simply state their true objectives. The only other option is for the Liberals to lace the throne speech with sufficient progressive bait/bills that will cause their oily biblical heads to explode.
RT
The beauty in all this is that if they vote down the throne speech, it will be the opposition who triggered the election, not JT. They'll try to say they had no choice but the facts are the facts. Errand the tool will do as Steven tells him to do, Blanchet will ponder his choices over a snort of Seagrams and coke, or is that coke and a Seagrams? He is a wild card. Jaggy may be the one who votes with the Libs and puts it off for another day. Who knows?
I have to disagree and say I don't want an election right now, Simon. Not as virus cases are rising across the country and not as America prepares to do a massive sewage pump out and fumigation of the white house. We don't need the upheaval right now and the thought of the Cons stealing a victory during these difficult times is actually quite horrifying. Let's bide our time and do our homework on the tools retooled, tool box because there is always one constant with these assholes and that is Cons are like manure piles, the more you dig, the stinkier it gets.
JD
The Trudeau government is not planning the Throne Speech and the budget that will come after it in a political vacuum. They are collecting data constantly on Canadians' attitudes regarding what the post-pandemic recovery will look like. They would not be making the statements they have been making if there was no appetite for the changes they are hinting at.
I take Mr. Trudeau at his word when he says he does not want an election but I also believe the idea of having one based on what will be presented in a couple weeks does not scare him. I cannot say the same about the Conservatives or the NDP. And there will probably be a nice bauble for Quebec in the coming weeks that will give the Bloc pause. Opposition Parties want to vote down a government on their terms not on the government's terms.
The simple fact is the only political party that is ready for an election is the Liberals. They have the funds and the organization to run a campaign and they will have a coherent and well thought out election platform. We will be seeing parts of it on September 23. The Conservatives have a new leader who is largely unknown to Canadians and he has not had any time to put his stamp on the party and to come up with an election platform. He is going to want more time. As well, unless there is a massive desire for a change in government, which there is not, Canadians will not hand power over to a guy they do not know. The NDP is broke regardless of what Mr. Singh stated a couple of weeks ago. They were broke on 2019 and they racked up even more debt for that election. The NDP may bluster but they do not want to have to run a campaign this year. The Bloc is the Bloc. There really is not many more seats they can win in Quebec but they can potentially lose a large number. In short, they have more to lose than to win in an election campaign so they are probably quite happy with the current make up of the House, regardless of the bluster coming from them.
Things can change between now and October but I would be very surprised if we go into an election this Fall. It is possible but not probable.
I wanted one too, and even Quito Maggi penned that article saying he foresaw one in the making, but I don't think it will, Simon. At least not now. The damage from the fake scandal has knocked the Liberals back in the polls, and there is some indication that the throne speech may be more moderate than the floated trial balloons speculated.
But you have to remember that the Liberals are a data-driven party and would not make decisions if their internals showed it would be detrimental to them. Anything could happen, of course, but the replies to this Reddit thread explain the logic behind what may come, and why. Short answer: The 905 wins elections. The Liberals can afford to go "demibold" pulling NDP support with this throne speech, but they can't alienate the fiscally concerned suburbs either. Both a strength and consequence of being a big-tent party.
That being said, even if there isn't an election now, the upshot may be that the Liberals can bide some time delivering goodies and recover a bit, while the crowded calendar of the U.S. election, the second wave and then the holiday season might allow the fake investigations to be drowned out somewhat. Trudeau gave a very good response when asked by some dumb reporter whether he faults himself for WE's downfall. Nobody cares about the language committee, Skippy is broadly detestable, and Chantal also said that the Tool risks looking aggressive and disconnected from more pressing concerns if he follows Scheer's path of obsessively prosecuting Trudeau.
I am not saying this to be complacent, far from it, but also to not be too discouraged either. The Liberals have been shaken but they are using this time to gather ammo while keeping their powder dry. The following article from a "branding" expert lays this out more and also concurs that overplaying their hand on Charitygate is a bad idea. It reminds readers that Scheer was actually pretty well liked upon becoming leader, more so than O'Toole actually, because he was seen as an immediate improvement upon Harper. What it doesn't mention is that the media polished his knob for two and a half years. Over time, though, the honeymoon numbers really corroded until he revealed himself as the objectionable crank he's known as now.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-erin-otoole-conservative-party-brand-1.5346655
O'Toole won't have that kind of time and he's already given the Liberals plenty of material to work with in an actual campaign. Including, for that matter, his inexplicable decision to reward Scheer for his abysmal performance with a seat at the front bench. Putting him opposite McKenna is a hell of a "rebranding" strategy after Canadians told him to go away.
The media craves a horse race for ratings and drama, which is why they worked so hard at knocking the Liberals' numbers back, and why they are again polishing O'Toole's knob and his shiny bald head that makes them feel less insecure compared to Justin's luxuriant locks. But the Liberals are in perpetual campaign mode and have one objective above all: winning. That article highlights their strategic ruthlessness after having been battered to the point where all the usual suspects had counted them out.
The Tool's honeymoon period is irrelevant for the time being, and so I would ignore polls right now as all new leaders get a bump, the Liberals will still be recovering from the fake-scandal hit, and campaigns matter. Wait for the response to the throne speech and the actual writ drop whenever it comes. I had hoped it would be sooner rather than later too, but there is also a case to be made for letting/helping Elmer FUD hang himself with the albatross around his own neck. That part is where us regular folks doing yeoman's work come in.
Wrong
Make minority Parliament work - esp in a pandemic.
If Trudeau goes to the polls (or Horgan, another GOOD minority govt)
they should be punished by the people.
A electric 400 series highway from coast to coast
hydrogen rail and trucks
Singapore style public housing
No more subsidy for fossil fuels
@Northern PoV -- that's a nice idea in theory, except the other parties are not making this parliament work, as evidenced by Singh's bandwagoning with the Cons and soft-pedaling the Tool's debts to the so-cons. They keep beating this tired Charitygate horse to death, instead of working together on policies to benefit Canadians during a once in a century pandemic. Their obsession with prosecuting Trudeau for political points is going to leave people dead by distracting the government and wreck the country. It needs to stop.
No money was delivered to a program that no longer exists to be administered by an organization that no longer exists, so what more is worth "investigating" in this phantom boondoggle? What specific allegations are being made, and what exactly is satisfactory enough for the rigged jury to deliver a "verdict"?
For months the NDP said WE Charity was bad, now it's all poor WE Charity and shame on Trudeau for driving them out. I thought he gave a damn good answer to that dumb reporter as to whether WE folding is his "fault," but of course nothing he says is good enough for them. How can the government work with outright liars who pursue fishing expeditions until they get the "answers" they want to hear? How can the prime minister work with people who've vilified his elderly mother? You know as well as I do this is all political gaslighting and that they won't accept any result but Trudeau out of a job.
Simon -- Another reason for no election right now is that the Liberals still have their policy convention in mid-November. This will provide them yet another opportunity to gather more data and study the interests of members both old and new (and persuadables), rather than rush into a hasty campaign without something concrete in hand. Some interesting proposals are already being floated, and I suspect the information gathered for the throne speech is also helping them put together something winnable for next go-around in spite of all the smearing from the opposition pile-on.
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/09/12/guaranteed-basic-income-tops-policy-priorities-for-liberal-caucus/
As an aside, have you also seen Chantal's latest this morning about the Tool's attempt at inroads in Quebec. It dovetails nicely with a different article about his pandering to Wexit. He cannot serve two masters. If the Liberals are smart they would make hay of his coziness to Kenney both there and in Ontario, as is evident by the fact that the Tool is going to be the keynote speaker at the UCP AGM in October. If Tool is foolish or hubristic enough to have Kenney campaign on Doug's turf, he'll face the same fate as Scheer last year being connected to Doug.
Chantal seems to know la belle province well, so I would hope she's right about the Bloc being Trudeau's inadvertent ally as regards attacking the Tool over his pipeline obsession and splitting enough Francophone ridings for the Liberals to walk right through.
https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2020/09/11/erin-otoole-is-looking-for-support-in-quebec-heres-why-the-liberals-hope-he-finds-it.html
TL;DR I'm predicting an election in the spring of 2021 and the government to fall on the budget. If Trump is out of office, that gives the Liberals some breathing room to cast the Tool as a wannabe Trump without risking the actual Trump's ire.
Hi RT....I admit I am being a bit provocative, and normally would be more cautious. But I find the idea of this ghastly minority government continuing to try to sabotage the war on Covid-19 for crass political reasons hard to bear. The polls are not great, what Hebert says could be true, but I still think this could be the time for a big move to take this country to a higher level. I feel that after the covid crisis Canadians could more easily understand that we need to fix a lot of things if we want to become an even better country. However, it would not be the first time I have led with my heart rather than my head, so if it all goes wrong, I’ll have to deny I ever suggested such a thing....😉
Hi JD....I completely understand why you would not want an election at this time. As I told RT I am being a bit provocative. And the good news is that the opposition would have to approve a lot of good legislation if they want to avoid an election, and seeing Jagmeet claiming it was all his idea would be worth the price of admission. So I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens, and keep on trying to expose the Cons as the right-wing conspiracy they have become. Will all the SoCon and fascist freaks in that party it shouldn’t be too hard...
Hi Ottlib....I think you’re right. Trudeau probably doesn’t want an election, but he is not afraid of one. And that tells me that what he will have in the Throne Speech should be pretty popular. You’re also right that neither the Cons nor the NDP are ready for an election, so an election is possible but not probable. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that this is a once in a lifetime chance for real change. I’ll try to be as calm and as rational as you always are, but it won’t be easy....
Hi Jackie...I read the Maggi article you recommended and it made me even more enthusiastic about the idea of an election. So I blame you 😉 Seriously though, after reading what all you brilliant commenters ( and you are all brilliant) have to say, now I’m not so sure. As I’ve told the others something tells me the time is right, but the history of the Scottish highlands is full of stories of hotheads who also thought the time had come to revolt, and came to a sorry end. So maybe you are right, maybe the best thing is to give O’Toole and his bigot gang enough rope to hang themselves. After Covid I suppose I can endure anything...
Hi Northern POV....It’s easy to say that, but while Horgan’s minority seems to be working well, Trudeau’s minority is under constantly under attack from those that would put their cheap grubby politics before the interests of Canadians caught in a deadly pandemic. So seeing the opposition unable to do that any longer would be a big bonus in my book...
Ha
Simon check this out. Some videos for you to share. Liberal campaign strategy appears to be letting the Tool open his big fat mouth and spew out a bunch o'blarney.
After praising Trump and bashing Obama, now he wants to bend it like Boris. No seriously, he looks to Boris fucking Johnson, who is about to be ousted by his own party for breaking international law with his borked Brexit boondoggle, as a role model for the Cons. Wonder if he was for Wexit before it was cool.
https://twitter.com/gtlem/status/1304824731133267978
Steve Paikin is a lot better than Evan Solomon at maintaining a poker face in response to the populist shit this guy says. The facial expressions are golden. Don't be fooled Canada, we Yanks know exactly what he means by "economic anxiety".
https://twitter.com/CTV_PowerPlay/status/1303442114332819462
The Nationalist Compost wrote the Liberals a free campaign ad. No, really. They agree he's Trump lite minus the spray tan and scarecrow mop hair, but with all the protectionism and populist bluster -- and they say that like it's a good thing.
https://financialpost.com/opinion/terence-corcoran-is-erin-otoole-trump-north/wcm/30227029-68a0-46a9-9038-499524a13817/
Food for thought to spread the word between now and campaign season.
Simon. Make no mistake that from a purely political standpoint I would welcome a Fall election.
Elections focus the minds of voters and the Liberals would be able to focus them on how they handled the pandemic when it is still very fresh in the minds of Canadians. That issue alone would probably shake out the necessary seats to win a majority government for the Liberals, before considering anything else, like the measures in the Throne Speech and subsequent budget. I imagine that there are a fair number of Canadians who have roofs over their heads and food in their bellies because of the COVID relief programs delivered by this government. An election campaign that would remind them of that would only be to the advantage of the Liberals.
A Fall election would really wrong foot the Conservatives. They have been so busy with their leadership election that I would imagine election readiness has taken a back seat for awhile. As well, an early election would bring out all of the more extreme elements of the Conservative Party as Mr. O'Toole has not had time to temper their expectations yet. The number of bozo eruptions that we could expect from Conservative candidates would be fun to watch. Even the media would have a hard time ignoring them.
Mr. Singh and Mr. Blanchet are now known entities. They had the advantage of being new in 2019 but I would imagine that the novelty has worn off and they probably will not surprise anybody this time. Further, funding problems prevented Mr. Singh from pursuing a true national campaign until after the debates in 2019 to I would imagine the same would happen this time. Finally, the Quebec apparatus that the Liberals built for 2019 is still largely intact. The longer it goes unused the more it will degrade with time.
I believe that all of these factors would put the Liberals within striking distance of a majority government this Fall. However, I do not believe that Mr. Trudeau wants to call an election during a global pandemic. If there is an election I believe he wants to Opposition Parties to wear the blame for it.
O/T -- La Presse is reporting that the Rock of Gibraltar has fallen. Mrs. Aline Chrétien has died at age 84 😥
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/2020-09-13/aline-chretien-epouse-de-jean-chretien-est-decedee.php
Donald Trump beware: St. Pierre has given her the task of wielding a sculpture to ward off intruders into the pearly gates.
Simon, we really need to get the word out about QAnon infiltration of the CPC. I am not being paranoid. Skippy is giving subtle signals to this movement that can be denied or deflected with plausible deniability. Just like the J.K. Rowling billboard, the OK symbol and the phrase "it's OK to be white". Skippy is motioning to QAnon.
Credit to a tweep for their eagle eye at pointing this out. I saved screenshots in case you want to do a writeup. Something very bad is going on.
Here's the tweet, it's a video clip of him talking about subsidies, the deficit, "Liberal spending" etc. on Evan's blab show
https://twitter.com/gtlem/status/1305199626870554625
Here's a screenshot of a tweep's reply
https://i.postimg.cc/yYfNwPhb/skippy-qanon-bookshelf-tweet.jpg
Here's a screenshot close-up of his bookshelf.
https://i.postimg.cc/5yTRCDdr/skippy-qanon-bookshelf-closeup.jpg
O'Toole using the word "Patriot" which is a signal to QAnon
https://twitter.com/gtlem/status/1305201168788971521
#cdnpoli twitter resident Cassandra @sunnshiiny highlighting another story (about an anti-masker's business establishment in SK) as proof QAnon has taken root in Canada.
https://twitter.com/sunnshiiny/status/1304424824840699905
Now here's Mark Bourrie saying WTF as regards the CPC troll farm turning WeGhazi into a QAnon thing about Trudeau.
https://twitter.com/MarkBourrie/status/1305132522314006529
I had identified this pattern way back in July when Scheer made reference to Trudeau having "access to youth". Scheer who had floated the conspiracy theory about Trudeau's teaching career. Andrew Lawton asked him a question after the English debate about that bullshit. Now O'Toole is tweeting about some controversial Netflix movie (that Ted Cruz is up in arms about) and linking to Andrew Lawton. Who joined up with Scheer in trying to paint Trudeau as a pederast.
Scheer, let's not forget, told people to seek out "alternative media" like Postmillennial and True North for their news. Ballingall at Postmillennial is O'Toole's PR guy. True North is staffed by Sun writers like Lawton, working in tandem. Remember "you are with us or you are with the child pornographers". They're doing it again.
There is something afoot within the CPC, the so-cons who Scheer brought on board en masse and who gave O'Toole the leadership, to use WeGhazi to push QAnon signalling to the base while keeping the message "palatable" to MSM that it's all about "Liberal corruption". Which is how they gaslight those of us sounding the alarm.
This QAnonification of the CPC is real and nobody in media is willing to call it out. It needs to be stopped. And, since everything with the right-wing is projection, I am now very curious and worried about exactly what kind of rot the CPC are trying to deflect onto Trudeau the LPC. After what Mike Gibbs said about John Baird and Jaime Watt, I would not be surprised if there are a lot more skeletons in this party than just yelling at civil servants. I feel sick.
Hi Ottlib @ 7:48 PM... Thanks for all the excellent reasons a fall election would be a good idea. But you're right Trudeau would not want to be seen calling an election while the pandemic still rages. And unfortunately that's exactly what is happening. I'm now thinking that it might suit us better to soldier on through the winter, allow O'Toole and the hapless Jagmeet Singh to make even greater fools out of themselves, and go for an election in the Spring. However if we do get a fall election, I will be claiming some credit... ;)
Hi Jackie @2:26 PM...Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, and thank you for that list of Q Anon references. I must admit I never thought those deranged conspiracy theorists would get very far, but you're right their influence is spreading. I'm sure part of it is due to the explosion of mental illness caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but it is a deeply disturbing phenomenon, and I hope to write something about it soon, once I do a little more research. Unless the Deep State gets me first... ;)
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