2019 an election year/Federal

[Cactusflower]

I am watching an interesting dynamic playing out in the UK, and in particular the very beginnings of new centrist party. As in Canada, the UK has long had 2 dominant parties, Labour and Conservative. What is happening there, spurred by the Brexit disaster, is that MPs are defecting from both the Labour party (8 so far) and the Conservative party and forming a new independent group. Common denominator is Labour members who are more centrist and Conservative members who are more centrist. All tired of "politics as usual".

It is an interesting dynamic because the normal splintering of political parties is away from the center and toward the fringes. From the little I have read and gleaned, this new group of MPs has a lot in common with the old "Red Tories" in Canada. Joe Clark type small c conservatism that has a strong progressive flavor.

There is a fair bit of crossover in Canadian politics. A fair number of my favorite politicians in Canada would fit nicely in that group. A bit too centrist for the Liberals, a bit too centrist for the NDP, a bit too centrist for the Conservatives. I could envision a party with the likes of Tom Mulcair, Jane Philpott, Rona Ambrose, Michael Chong, Chrystia Freeland, James Moore, Bill Morneau, Ralph Goodale, Lisa Raitt, Jody Wilson Raybould and others staking out the center and really shaking up Canadian politics - of course only in my dreams

But it is fun to imagine a party that would actually represent a real vision of the center of Canadian ideas and ideals.

Unfortunately, it seems the political landscape is dominated by the "boys in short pants", the Nigel Wright/Gerald Butts/Hamish Marshall types. Somehow they think the "answer" is moving left away from the center, or moving right away from the center. Even the NDP rejected Tom Mulcair and shifted off into the la-la land of the LEAPers. And so we get the politics of identity, the politics of division, the politics of regionalism and tribalism. "Brand" becomes more important than substance in the world of "points in the game" political maneuvers.

What should be important is what we get to vote FOR, not what we get to vote AGAINST. It seems every one of our political parties is focused on the "points" and the "against".

Perhaps and easy example is the "western alienation" that is being ginned up. I think about it, and I have worked with folks from just about every province and territory, pretty near every ethnic background, and we have more in common than we have that divides us. It seems to me that parties that focus on what divides us do us all a disservice. What we have in common is more important and contains the ways to move the forward, while what divides us has only the seeds of going backwards.

Yes, there are a few Canadians that are "single issue" zealots. Yes, they make a LOT of noise in the political landscape. The more we have parties that pander to them, the worse our political landscape becomes, and the more we as a country get bogged down.

Talk to real people. The real issues are pretty much the same plus or minus 15-20%. Good Jobs. Cost of Living. Health Care. Housing. Education. Pensions/Retirement. Conservationism. A fair shake. Pretty much all the rest is hardly "top of mind" for the vast majority of Canadians.

I too am wishing for a party to replace the Libcons, HG. We almost had one with Layton and Mulcair, but now.........what do we have? Singh, Bernier, and May. None are destined to be the leaders of our nation. I can't even see one on the horizon.

[Merry]

If all the folks HG mentions were to ever abandon their current political affiliation and form a new Party, I would vote for that Party in a heartbeat.

Not only that, I'd volunteer for them and donate to them as well.

Oh, woudn't it be lovely!!!!!!! We can only dream.

[featfan]

Could Bernier pull it together?

[Merry]

Could Bernier pull it together?

He wouldn't qualify for the new Party, because he isn't a centrist.

[Cactusflower]

If all the folks HG mentions were to ever abandon their current political affiliation and form a new Party, I would vote for that Party in a heartbeat.

Not only that, I'd volunteer for them and donate to them as well.

Oh, woudn't it be lovely!!!!!!! We can only dream.

But I'd cross off James Moore and replace him with Nathan Cullen.

[The Green Barbarian]

But I'd cross off James Moore and replace him with Nathan Cullen.

and I'd cross off Nathan Cullen and replace him with Michelle Rempel.

[Catsumi]

If all the folks HG mentions were to ever abandon their current political affiliation and form a new Party, I would vote for that Party in a heartbeat.

Not only that, I'd volunteer for them and donate to them as well.

Oh, woudn't it be lovely!!!!!!! We can only dream.

By all means, dream on. The scenario presented would never EVER happen, but even if it DID come to pass, the next thing we would hear:

1. Oh geewhiz....there's some baggage there from 10 years ago

2. That party is too far left....too far right

3. I don't like the name of the Party

4. I need to be "wowed" and this Party hasn't done that for me

5. The Party originates in the East/West, therefore it will do no good for me, being in the East/West

6. Maybe the liars I voted for before will do better in the future. I can block evidence and pretend the evils never happened.

7. I like graft, corruption and outright liars as this is how politics is done in Canada. I don't want to change that.

8. i am benefitting from the corruption. For heaven's sake, leave well enough alone.

Did I miss anyone's already stated opinion?

As I have pointed out, you will always vote for the same Old, never letting a breathe of fresh air pass over your brains and lungs.

Canada is doomed.

[Cactusflower]

^^I didn't vote for the same old in the last elections, Federal or Provincial. Please hit "like" if you didn't either.

[The Green Barbarian]

I didn't vote for the Green Party in either the Federal or Provincial elections, because they are lunatics. "Like" if you did the same.

[Ka-El]

Could Bernier pull it together?

He wouldn't qualify for the new Party, because he isn't a centrist.

Maxime Bernier is as centrist as it gets

https://torontosun.com/2017/05/08/furey ... 7947b17665

[Cactusflower]

^^I didn't vote for the same old in the last elections, Federal or Provincial. Please hit "like" if you didn't either.

So I guess you're right, Catsumi.

[floppi]

[Cactusflower]

^^And if you continue to vote for the same old party because that's how you and your ancestors have always voted, rather than doing your homework, you are part of the problem with the system.

[Catsumi]

Maxime Bernier is as Centrist as it Gets from Toronto Star (Kael's link)

Almost immediately after Kevin O’Leary announced he was stepping down from the Conservative leadership race and backing Maxime Bernier, the attacks began.

“Conservative leadership candidates target Bernier’s ‘extreme’ views in final debate,” blared a Huffington Post headline that evening.

And that afternoon Erin O’Toole took aim during an editorial board meeting at the Sun: “Maxime Bernier cannot win the next election,” O’Toole told us. “In fact, my thinking is, we will lose seats under Maxime Bernier because he’s pursuing issues that really aren’t topical for most Canadians”.

Meanwhile, this past Sunday rival contender Michael Chong threw out the “extreme” label once again on Bernier in a Canadian Press story.

Yes, at this point it’s mostly inside baseball and it’s hard to fault fellow contenders for trying to take the top guy down a notch. But it’s telling that this is the thrust of their attacks

This narrative plays right into the hands of the Liberals and consensus media. They will pick this up and run with it as a continuation of their endless scheme to show the right-wing politician of the day in the worst possible light.

Where their plot might stall though is that the facts don’t support the argument. Maxime Bernier is as centrist as it gets.

A libertarian from Quebec, the former cabinet minister is very much a fiscal conservative, but also a firm social liberal. This leaves no room for a repeat of the secret agenda fear-mongering that for years dogged Stephen Harper.

But it’s on the economic front where the spin doctors will try to get a foot in the door. Bernier’s got a whole slew of ideas we’re not used to seeing a major politician run with so front and centre, like abolishing boutique tax credits in favour of lower rates for all, ending provincial trade barriers, winding down supply management and ending corporate welfare (Mad Max is looking at you, Bombardier!).

It’s for this medley of policies that Bernier is alleged to be radical. So for some reason ‘real change’ is inspirational when Trudeau does it, but it’s negative when coming from Toryland.

By whose measure are we defining these terms though? Sure, Bernier and his supporters don’t go in for the prevailing wisdom in the Parliament Hill bubble that government should always be doing more things for more people. But the centre shouldn’t be defined by how much an idea deviates from the status quo of the governing class.

Take most of these ideas to the people in polls or referenda and I have no doubt Bernier will get the people’s backing on these common sense measures. Regular Canadians don’t sit around saying they want their money given out to large corporations or that it’s right to fine or charge someone for buying cheaper beer in another province.

If you take an honest, non-partisan look at the federal government and how much its domain has grown over the years, it is undeniable that it’s the establishment that’s drifting ever more to the extreme due to its incremental socialism. Plans like Bernier’s are just about correcting course.

Let’s say we use Justin Trudeau’s budgeting as the goalpost for what’s reasonable and centrist. Given that his budget plan has us on track for deficits until the 2050s, if this is what’s sane then Bernier’s plan to balance the books within two years is radical to the core. But in truth we all know which of these two paths is the dangerous one.

Balancing the books? Turning off the corporate welfare tap? Simplifying the tax code? Sounds pretty middle of the road to me.

[Pete Podoski]

More jobs and investment in a rapid exodus from Trudeau's Canada.

He's ready to break the Criminal Code of Canada to save a handful of jobs in Quebec with a criminal company, but when it comes to the 150,000 and counting jobs lost in our energy sector, he introduces legislation to spiral that number exponentially higher.

Trudeau must go in 2019.

https://business.financialpost.com/comm ... nds-sector

Devon Energy — with up to $9 billion in assets — is getting out of Canada’s oilsands