SpankyMcFarland

So far, McPherson is the only one who looks like a leader.

The basic point that people need to get into their heads; measles is spreading rapidly because the vaccination rate is too low.

But the remark he made about himself was funny. Harper was tall, good-looking and more charming than he claimed to be. Anybody who can tell a self-mocking joke and play the piano has some charm. Pierre Trudeau made modern Canada (with some help from Lester Pearson). He also made mistakes but, for good or ill, we live in his country. No prime minister since has been remotely as consequential.

Did he win or did he lose against a tired government too long in the tooth? And did he lose in his own riding? Am I correct about that much or did I imagine the whole thing? You should be coming up with the critiques, not me.

Poilievre still behaves as if he’s running against Trudeau. He doesn’t get it and clearly some of his supporters don’t either. The nasty, adversarial tone across the board works better here than in a national election of a country under siege. He is tone deaf on which battles to fight because he lacks that type of subtlety and nobody can seem to get it into his skull. The election, his in particular, and its ongoing aftermath reflect that. He should have won and he screwed up mightily. Time to ask why.

Looking the part impresses both male and female voters. Small, ‘homely-looking’ candidates don’t tend to make it to the finish line in any democracy’s most important race. Poilievre is good-looking and appears younger than his age.

Has went? B’y, you’re going to have to brush up on the grammatical lingo before launching into the scientific stuff.

This time ‘sanctions’ will work, yes, because Ukraine is in charge and means business with its drones and missiles, increasingly made at home and subject to no restrictions. New trade sanctions on India and China will help but Ukraine’s army does not depend on them. The world’s foremost experts in drone warfare now have the means to destroy Russia’s capacity to fuel its army. Sit back and enjoy the show.

This should have been recognized as a developing crisis in March but the government didn’t respond with sufficient urgency. https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/braid-danielle-smith-ucp-government-vaccine-skepticism-measles-epidemic

Our current crisis is not of our own making. We are still under unprecedented pressure from a country we considered our best friend. No amount of criticism of Carney changes that existential reality and Canadians understand it for the most part. Unfortunately, Poilievre remains in anti-Trudeau mode as if Trump never became president. He looks out of touch.

Even if Putin were winning this war he would have faced a serious challenge when it ended and huge numbers of embittered young soldiers returned to Russia. As it is he can’t afford a compromise peace deal that highlights his criminal waste of blood and treasure. Militarily, Ukraine has extended the drone war right across the country; economically, his ability to sell oil is declining; politically, he faces public discontent, partisans and feuding clans in a hellishly corrupt government. He’s stuck on all three fronts and is being dragged slowly down.

What should Trudeau have done?

What an embarrassment.

We are already seeing that when America retreats China advances. On climate change, green energy, even global trade for crying out loud, China is taking the lead and portraying itself as a force for stability and progress.

The evidence that he should modify his style is considerable but he continues to resist it. Trump has transformed what we expect from the leader of the opposition. In a time of unprecedented national crisis, Poilievre has to be more careful about partisan attacks on the government

Ukraine has achieved parity on the battlefield and turned a three day special military operation into an endless litany of desertions, dysentery and death for the invader. Meanwhile, Russia is running out of fuel as Ukraine destroys refineries and power plants across the country, drone sanctions having given the half-hearted efforts of the West much needed teeth. Inflation is out of control and workers are not being paid. This is more like 1917 than 1941. A foreign war has become a catastrophe for the tsars’ wretched successor and a coup is ever more likely. May it be soon.

In your previous post you complained about ‘red Tories’ in your party. To me that sounds like you don’t want PCs and value ideological purity over winning elections. The Reform end of the party just doesn't play well with the other kids. It sounds too like the right-wingers here and that puts off a lot of fiscally conservative potential customers east of Manitoba.

Up to a point. At a time when we are all losing our privacy, I expect more transparency from MPs than the rest of us. If he hasn’t done so, he should at least confirm that this is a personal matter.

So PCs aren’t welcome in the party now? Do you want to win?

We don’t have the type of king that No Kings refers to, something closer to this guy: https://www.icij.org/investigations/swazi-secrets/in-eswatini-africas-last-absolute-monarchy-bucolic-landscapes-belie-a-darker-underbelly/ We have a constitutional monarchy in which the King has a ceremonial role. Also note that we didn’t make the elementary and potentially dangerous mistake of combining head of state with head of government.

Smallwood got us into Canada, a great achievement after the grim realities of British rule that we remain grateful for. Sadly, it was downhill from there. He was unsuited to high office.

I think you take the Old Testament too literally.

Many Māoris manage to reconcile the traditional tattoos of their people with Christianity. I’m not going to tell them any different.

I fear he promised too much. Moving in a European direction on some policies, eg child care, might be a good idea.

Bring it on. I’m sure a lot of people would love to move into all those empty homes. Not everything Mamdani says is completely crazy by European standards. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/06/europe-zohran-mamdani-policies-normal