500channelsurfer

Look at this riding: https://338canada.com/24035e.htm This riding had a bi-election in September and the Bloc won, and it was 2.1% points difference separating the Bloc from the 3rd place NDP, with the Liberals in the middle, a tossup: https://www.elections.ca/res/rep/off/ovr_2024c/59/table12E.html Now the same 338canada riding profile says the Liberals are ahead by 30%. The swing away from the Bloc is not that big overall, and this riding has a stronger than normal NDP/leftist vote, even with the NDP falling sharply nationally. The methodology-results relationship therefore seems to suggest a Liberal overestimation.

Why is Carney Trump's guy? I don't think Trump is interested in a Captain Canada that is going to stand up and get concessions from the Unites States, as Trump perceives past trade deals to have been. Is it not more likely that Carney is Trump's guy because Trump believes that after the election, with a Carney win, Trump will be better able to control and extract from Canada?

I think Liberals are being overestimated in the polls. Look at this riding: https://338canada.com/24035e.htm This riding had a bi-election in September and the Bloc won, and it was 2.1% points difference separating the Bloc from the 3rd place NDP, with the Liberals in the middle, a tossup: https://www.elections.ca/res/rep/off/ovr_2024c/59/table12E.html Now we are to believe the Liberals are ahead by 30%?! People who feel strongly (both ways) about Trump and Carney may be speaking loudly to the pollsters, but those remaining silent and undecided may show up on election day and vote as they always have.

The only thing people don't learn from history is that history repeats. Past failures can be examined in order to better the future. If this Canadian Legacy mindset is engrained in Canadian businesses and causing failures like this, maybe there is a way to change this. Yes. I was not paying attention to the management of The Bay. I only assume the US owner was taking at least some advice from Bay employees in Canada. In cases like this, maybe there should be a debate on foreign ownership. We have incredible protectionism in some sectors and virtually none in others. We may need to re-balance? The Bay was founded in 1670. Canada looks stupid when a company like this fails. Personally I am not for government bailouts. Maybe Michael Hardner has identified another aspect Canadian business culture that needs to change.

But the Bay was operating in Canada, therefore it is a reflection of our economy, and our employees and customers. Even when American-owned, some of the management must be in Canada. Some businesses such as Simons have adapted with the times. I worry Canadian businesses more than others may be less willing to adapt. Donald Trump could use this type of thinking as an argument for taking over our economy. There must be a way Canada can work as a country with our own businesses. Companies like CN, CP, Gildan, Shopify, Magna do very well.

Hudson's Bay is failing. This is not the first time a major Canadian chain has ceased operations. Are Canadians bad at business? I remember shopping at Zellers and Wal-Marts in Canada, and the customer service was always terrible (long lines, lack of customer care). There is a mindset of just following procedure and no one being open to change or even suggestions. When Target briefly entered Canada, store shelves remained half empty for much of its tenure as if in a communist country. Even our national airline, Air Canada, was allowed to takeover rival Canadian Airlines, and then filed for bankruptcy three years later. Regulators continue to allow consolidation in media and telecommunications sectors despite failures like this.

To clarify, I was just making a hypothetical case of what a US takeover of Canada could involve. I support Canadian independence. I support a GG that could be more vocal but also better appointed as SpankyMcFarland explained.

Agree Disagree: The King and Governor General only do not exercise any power by convention. Of course if they did, some mechanism such as a referendum or 2/3 majority of Parliament would remove them and/or modify our constitution almost immediately to remedy that situation. To make Canada like Puerto Rico, the appointment of the Governor General could be switched from a Prime Ministerial appointment to a presidential appointment, just for example.

For the good of our country: Can Carney call the election, and then re-open parliament for limited seatings where the parties can agree to propose and pass legislation dealing only with these tariff issues and related? (no no confidence motions because the election is already called) Is there a parliamentary convention in which the election is called but parliament can still pass laws?

Have you read the list of political parties? Animal Protection Party of Canada, Communist Party of Canada, Marijuana Party, Parti Rhinocéros Party. They should all get the same amount of coverage as the Liberals and the Conservatives? Does Mark Carney favour movement of funds to tax havens more than the other Liberal contenders did? Is there some alternative way parties pick leaders that should be implemented?

Luc Rabouin will replace Valérie Plante as leader of Projet Montréal heading into the next municipal election. He seems very competent. Possibly technocratic. Hopefully other parties do not out-charisma him.

The media tend to gravitate to the most likely winners when deciding who to cover the most. This is how the media operate, this gives them the better ratings. Naturally, this can be a self fulfilling prophecy in the extreme. Democracy is not perfect. If a media firm decided to cover all the registered political parties equally, they would not be in business for long. See list of currently registered political parties, which usually increases close to elections: https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=pol&dir=par&document=index&lang=e A leadership race and an election are two different things. A leadership race requires the additional step of registering with the party before voting, which at least makes for some push toward limiting voters to those who are supposedly vested with the party. Is there some alternative way parties pick leaders that should be implemented?

There is evidence that free trade is in decline. This is not something short-term that is only attributable to Trump. Remember when Brexit occurred? Brexit was not merely a rejection of EU control over left-behind citizens of the UK; it was a an attempt by those who voted to leave the EU as a re-imposition of national control over the economy. The Brexit referendum was done by the UK's Conservative party. And what have conservative parties in western nations campaigned on in that year and since? Who have they expanded their tent to? Workers. Think Doug Ford and Pierre Poilievre, who have been marketing themselves to the working-class. Donald Trump has done the same and been successful in two elections by doing this. Of course immediately after Brexit, the UK government quickly went to work promoting and engaging in trade and trade negotiations. This was to save its economy. The fact that the Brexit referendum happened and the people voted to leave shows there is popular support for more local and nationalistic economics rather than internationalism, and that mainstream political parties can lean in this direction when their constituents continually request so. Ford and Poilievre also would very likely prefer to keep the free-trade status quo, but as Ford has shown, they are entirely willing to put up barriers when they encounter resistance.

These leadership races are not like a general election, they are only open to party members. I would hope the Liberal members were aware of the candidates, as they should be following what is going on with the party they are a member of. Nevertheless, these are often won by which candidate can sell the most party memberships leading up to the vote.

Canada has been controlled by Great Britain for the majority of our history. We are a Westminster Parliamentary Democracy, not a republic. On paper, we still are theoretically under Great Britain. Our head of state is still the King of England. All America would have to do is make some deal to replace the King or the Governor General with the President, and then the President could exert power over anything passed in our parliament (veto, call election, choose coalition, etc.).

The purpose of this project is not to replace existing car trips, or to add more cars to already congested highways. This project is for improving efficiency along this route. First, there are many who regularly fly this corridor. It will help alleviate airport congestion. It is also for those that would like to travel more often for business or leisure, which will improve and help tie the economies along its route. It is also for those who, with an aging population, will soon prefer train to driving due to becoming elderly. Only if the costs and politics are gotten right. No, part of getting the politics right is to also invest in similar projects in Western Canada. I am sure, just as examples, a high speed Calgary-Edmonton rail link would get used, or a Downtown-Vancouver - to - Downtown Victoria improved BC Ferry service would. And the rail link should indeed of course go well past Toronto, if not to Windsor then at least to Hamilton for sure.

The political systems of the major societies/empires had become antiquated (most were autocracies/kingdoms). The major powers had also entered into too many international, competing, and overlapping alliances. At the same time, seeing each other increase military buildup, an arms race was triggered (in what turned out to be arms and military strategies that were largely only effective in defensive warfare, which led to a long and costly war). All these factors required only a spark to trigger off a very large series of significant events.

Ford's intention in calling this election was to win an increased majority. Why? He said in order to appear strong to Donald Trump. But in reality, he more likely called the election because incumbents have better chances of winning when threats such as tariffs are covered heavily in the media. However, just like Trudeau in 2021 and Marois in 2014, betting on increasing a governing party's seat count due to polling often tends to fail. That should be the lesson of this election.

Good points. Ridings from Hamilton to Windsor can easily go Con or NDP if the Liberals are not serving them. And PP is set-up here. Yes, many people will still drive between these cities. But many people also fly between them. A high speed rail system should be able to provide the same transit at less cost and an equal or less amount of time, taking into consideration waiting times at airports and transport times to and from airports. Being optimistic, the cost of this project implies the new rail system would have its own dedicated track, so the Via delays due to track sharing should also be eliminated.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn04551n6wpo The European leaders are still fixated on US involvement as a requirement to be involved in solving the Ukraine crisis. They are not ready to stand on their own. Trump is right that we all need to exceed 2% GDP in military spending immediately. The US has a strong history of isolationism and it was not logical for Western Europe to assume it would be pre-eminent forever. Instead of NATO expanding eastward, a different security agreement should have been set up when countries east of Poland began joining. Hopefully they will realize this and follow-through with action.

The surprise is that Trudeau pushes an extremely expensive project that benefits only Eastern Canada as one of his last moves as PM. He could have won many more votes in Ontario and Quebec had he made this an election issue in one of his previous campaigns for PM. Perhaps he did not do that because he knows it will further alienate the West.

Merz seems to believe Europe can stand as a power on its own. Perhaps this is why Zelensky is not hurrying into any agreement yet.

https://apnews.com/article/canada-trudeau-highspeed-rail-network-4c50007bc8e9bf5bbec9a4add9ac88fe Trudeau is trying to push forward a high speed rail link connecting Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. It is an odd time, at the very end of his tenure, to do so. This might be Trudeau trying to leave a legacy to Canadians. But what kind of legacy will this be seen as in 20 or 50 years? This is clearly going to be extremely expensive if it goes through. There is also no equivalent spending in public transit or similar for Western Canada. This proposal will increase western alienation for the Liberal party. It may also quickly be axed following the appointment of the next Liberal leader and/or upcoming general election. Perhaps Trudeau is thinking better links between Ontario and Quebec is worth the political gamble of western alienation, in order to attempt to reduce Quebec separatism?

When I was younger and more idealistic, I hoped Canada would change to proportional representation. Since then I have become better acquainted with PR's drawbacks vs FPTP: more frequent elections with less predictable election dates, increased control of parties from party top brass, increased disconnect of parties from local riding associations, splintered governments beholden to multiple parties and interests in order to remain in confidence, etc. myata, what are you advocating for in your original post?

EU is very fractured and does not have a good record of efficiency. Its governments are often coalitions due to their electoral systems, and prone to collapses and crises. Its members are many and of widely varying political ideologies. The US is continuing the trend of ending the previous global order, which began with Putin annexing pieces of Ukraine, by diverging from recent Western foreign policies. When the US becomes more isolationist and more and more intricate and overlapping alliances develop, the world becomes more unstable. Should Europe manage to get itself together into a formidable force, this would result in a tri-axis world, among the most dangerous of international situations.