Oh Canada oh Canada

Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, October 20th, 2015 - 84 comments
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canada fkag

At last one of Crosby Textor’s client states is turning left.  In Canada it appears that the conservative Government of Stephen Harper is on the way out and not even Crosby’s advice to wedge the electorate using blatant dog whistle racist tactics has worked.  Justin Trudeau’s party is set to win.

The Guardian has live updates of the election here.

Live video (thanks Joe90):

Some twitter traffic …

84 comments on “Oh Canada oh Canada ”

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  1. Anne 1
    20 October 2015 at 3:57 pm

    Mr Trudeau has said he will repair Canada’s cool relations with the Obama administration, withdraw Canada from the combat mission against Islamic State militants in favour of humanitarian aid, and tackle climate change…

    …The former teacher took charge of the party just two years ago and guided it out of the political wilderness with a pledge of economic stimulus and stirring appeals for a return to social liberalism.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/287485/liberals-projected-to-win-canadian-election

  2. Michael 2
    20 October 2015 at 3:57 pm

    Pretty amazing for the Liberals, as they went from 34 seats to a projected majority with 180 seats. NDP didn’t do so well though.

    Here is the Liberal’s platform, if anyone is wondering what Canada’s new government will do: https://www.liberal.ca/files/2015/10/A-new-plan-for-a-strong-middle-class.pdf

    It seems largely a platform focused on low and middle income earners and social progressivism.

    Also, fully legal cannabis is in the platform, as well as plans to raise the top tax rate to pay for increased family assistance & pension supplement to reduce poverty, and the middle income tax rate.

    Basically I think it’ll bring Canada back to its position as a liberal, humanitarian leader rather than the USA Bush-lite it had been experiencing under Harper..

    • tracey 2.1
      20 October 2015 at 4:02 pm

      Moving a lil left of Right, might just get them back to the Centre

    • tracey 2.2
      20 October 2015 at 4:05 pm

      Does it? You have to scroll down a long way to find poverty… it’s a great website, easy to navigate and the scroll over reveal of more detail is very good. They have set themselves a hell of a lot of goals, so here’s hoping.

      When Labour released this much policy they got derided and mocked and pull down, so it seems it is possible to have policy and get elected afterall

  3. tracey 3
    20 October 2015 at 3:57 pm

    I’m sure the new Opposition wont use any kind of negative strategy or personality attacks before the next election

  4. Bill 4
    20 October 2015 at 4:01 pm

    Anyone know the stance of the Liberals on the TPP? I’m assuming a Liberal majority in asking. anyway, if they were opposed, does that now mean the whole TPP can go down in a screaming heap of shit, or is it too late for the Canadian government to change its mind?

    edit – just read Tracey’s link above. Not entirely promising.

  5. Ovid 5
    20 October 2015 at 4:03 pm

    Dear Labour

    I hope you’re taking notes.

    Warm regards,
    Ovid.

    • Anne 5.1
      20 October 2015 at 4:07 pm

      Second that!

    • tc 5.2
      20 October 2015 at 5:57 pm

      +1

      Questions is firstly do they have it in them to set that course.

      Secondly can they keep it simple and play it on their own terms up against an owned MSM and the expected lashings of Dirty politics nact have honed over the last few terms.

      It’s not going to be easy but this result is encouraging for a start.

      • woodpecker 5.2.1
        20 October 2015 at 6:32 pm

        I would expect a few execs down at the CBC will be already packing a cardboard box.

      • Anne 5.2.2
        20 October 2015 at 6:46 pm

        Secondly can they keep it simple…. oh dear, that’s a hard ask for the NZ Labour Party. 🙁

        • tc 5.2.2.1
          20 October 2015 at 7:37 pm

          Exactly it sticks in the sheeples minds and it’s very hard from the MSM to twist.

          More simple short snappy statements and alot less of the lecturing, preferably none.

  6. Michael 6
    20 October 2015 at 4:04 pm

    It’s also significant that a progressive party won a sweeping majority by planning not to balance budgets & do the opposite and increase deficits, while increasing the top tax rate.

    The NDP pledged to run balanced budgets and not raise income tax rates, then lost its lead in the polls.

    • tracey 6.1
      20 October 2015 at 4:08 pm

      am liking this one

      “We will close political financing loopholes.

      When fixed election date legislation was introduced, it left a loophole that allows unlimited spending in the period before an election is called. That creates an uneven playing field.

      We will review the limits on how much political parties can spend during elections, and ensure that spending between elections is subject to limits as well.”

      • Michael 6.1.1
        20 October 2015 at 4:10 pm

        Yeah, apparently they have also pledged to reform Canada’s electoral system including looking at MMP and compulsory voting.

        Basically I think the message here is that you can win by being the party of ‘change’. The Liberals aren’t a left wing party (nor do they try to claim they are) but they tried to offer an *alternative* to the Conservatives and that handed them a victory. The NDP attempted to woo the centre which led to them collapsing. The Liberals tapped into the public mood – the public wanted investment rather than “fiscal conservatism”, wanted electoral change after all the Tory scandals, and wanted a humanitarian foreign policy.

        • tracey 6.1.1.1
          20 October 2015 at 4:17 pm

          as long as you appeal to the centre. Alot.

          Reminds me of the Pledge Card days and of the Clark Government alot.

        • AmaKiwi 6.1.1.2
          21 October 2015 at 2:00 am

          In this FFP election, the Liberals won 54.4% of the seats in parliament.

          Under MMP, they would only have 39.5%. Horror of horrors, they would have to form a coalition with the New Democratic party (19.7%). On 19.7%, ND would get a lot of portfolios.

          No way this Liberal gang will have a bar of MMP.

          It’s just another vacuous campaign teaser line like “We believe in democracy.”

          That soon becomes, “Unfortunately democracy (letting the people decide) is impractical, so we became elected dictators” (doing what our moneyed masters tell us to do.)

          • ScottGN 6.1.1.2.1
            21 October 2015 at 6:40 am

            It will be interesting to see what happens to PR in Canada now. Efforts to introduce it at provincial level have always failed.
            Trudeau had said that if he won government this would be the last FPP federal election in Canada. The Liberals may well be tempted to try and forget that now they’ve won a stonking great old fashioned FPP landslide.
            At any rate if Trudeau does introduce PR it’s unlikely to be MMP, the Liberal Party of Canada has always been purposefully cagey about which option they preferred.
            http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/16/trudeau-would-end-first-past-the-post-electoral-system.html

  7. tracey 7
    20 October 2015 at 4:27 pm

    Policy on Disability

    “We will offer greater financial security to the families of disabled or deceased public safety officers, and deliver a new plan to address PTSD.”

    Not ALL disabled just those disabled while doing a public duty… can’t find their policy addressing subsistence living for the most vulnerable amongst us, and them. Still compared to the eugenics and “work test em” BS of the right….

    “We will make it easier and more affordable to hire caregivers.

    Canadian families looking for caregivers to help family members with physical or mental disabilities must pay a $1,000 Labour Market Impact Assessment fee. We will eliminate that fee.

    We will also work with the provinces and territories to develop a system of regulated companies to hire caregivers on behalf of families. This will make it simpler for families to hire caregivers, and protect caregivers by allowing them to change employers in the case of bad relations or abuse.”

  8. tracey 8
    20 October 2015 at 4:29 pm

    “We will restore fair and balanced labour laws that acknowledge the important role of unions in Canada.

    Labour unions play an important role in protecting the rights of workers and growing the middle class.

    Under Stephen Harper, many of the fundamental labour rights that unions have worked so hard to secure have been rolled back, making it more difficult for workers to organize freely, bargain collectively in good faith, and work in safe environments.

    We will restore fair and balanced labour laws that acknowledge the important role of unions in Canada, and respect their importance in helping the middle class grow and prosper. This begins with repealing Bills C-377 and C-525, legislation that diminishes and weakens Canada’s labour movement.”

    Good for them. The Right is working on a template form of Government in the western world,right?

    • Michael 8.1
      20 October 2015 at 4:38 pm

      Yeah, the Canadian labour movement is actually quite strong. I’m pretty sure union density is still above 30 percent there, and it’s above 40 percent in Quebec. Good on them.

      • tracey 8.1.1
        20 October 2015 at 4:39 pm

        thumbs up!!!

      • tracey 8.1.2
        20 October 2015 at 4:43 pm

        This guy

        https://twitter.com/HeerJeet?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

        Makes for an interesting read. Interestingly he suggests Harper lost far more than Liberals won.

        • Draco T Bastard 8.1.2.1
          20 October 2015 at 6:08 pm

          It’s often the case that a government gets voted out rather than a party getting voted in to government. As it stands this is what will happen in 2017 here – National will be voted out.

          That said, such a large swing to a single party suggests to me that the Liberals have been decisively voted in. Labour and the rest of the Left here in NZ should take notes and see if they can be voted in rather waiting for National to be voted out.

          • AmaKiwi 8.1.2.1.1
            21 October 2015 at 2:05 am

            Draco

            I think it is ALWAYS the case that governments get voted out.

            Examples: Donald Trump’s anti-establishment popularity. Ditto for Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn.

            Cunliffe’s misfortune was running 3 years too early.

            • Das 8.1.2.1.1.1
              21 October 2015 at 8:04 am

              It will be Grant Robertson within striking distance, come 2017.

            • Draco T Bastard 8.1.2.1.1.2
              21 October 2015 at 10:10 am

              I think it is ALWAYS the case that governments get voted out.

              Think about it like this.

              The populace want the government gone but they’re not particularly keen on the alternatives. In this case the government is voted out.

              In the opposite case where the populace isn’t overly fussed about the government but decide that they really like the alternatives in which case the new government would have been voted in.

  9. Ad 9
    20 October 2015 at 5:19 pm

    Fantastic news!

    • dukeofurl 9.1
      20 October 2015 at 5:45 pm

      The Liberals are the equivalent of “centre labour” without the left wingers.

      What I really like is the decline of the ‘independence party’ BQ who once held sway in Quebec as well as there close cousins PQ. The likely outcome for Scotlands SNP down the track

      • One Two 9.1.1
        20 October 2015 at 7:19 pm

        Why do you “really like it “?

        • Bill 9.1.1.1
          20 October 2015 at 8:21 pm

          I suspect the dear olde duke detests any measure of autonomy. Not an unusual trait on the left by any means.

          • dukeofurl 9.1.1.1.1
            21 October 2015 at 2:30 pm

            Autonomy , of course but not separatism, wrapping a blue and white saltaire flag around everything is just the same sort of branding Key is ‘looking for’
            Phony nationalism

            ‘Susan Boyle: ‘I am a proud, patriotic Scot, passionate about my heritage and my country. But I am not a nationalist”

            Neil Oliver put it best-
            “Circumnavigate these islands as often as I have, and one thing above all becomes clear: the national boundaries within them are invisible and therefore meaningless.”
            and this clincher
            “We Scots have always been disproportionately represented in every field of worthwhile endeavour. The very notion of Great Britain itself was ours!

  10. greywarshark 10
    20 October 2015 at 5:40 pm

    This about Harper’s vandalism against science and salmon fishing. They had to get rid of this dangerous barbarian.
    http://www.academicmatters.ca/2013/05/harpers-attack-on-science-no-science-no-evidence-no-truth-no-democracy/

    Since 2006, the Harper government has made bold moves to control or prevent the free flow of scientific information across Canada, particularly when that information highlights the undesirable consequences of industrial development. The free flow of information is controlled in two ways: through the muzzling of scientists who might communicate scientific information, and through the elimination of research programs that might participate in the creation of scientific information or evidence.
    Hasn’t that been happening here?

    http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-16861468
    Government experts tracked a new ozone hole, but were not allowed to give interviews….
    The Canadian government recently withdrew from the Kyoto protocol to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

    http://www.nature.com/news/canadian-government-accused-of-destroying-environmental-archives-1.14539
    Canadian government accused of destroying environmental archives
    January 2014
    Scientists in Canada are up in arms over the recent closure of more than a dozen federal science libraries run by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Environment Canada.

    The closures were mostly completed by last autumn, but hit the headlines last week when pictures of dumpsters full of scientific journals and books began circulating online (see picture). Some of facilities that have been closed include the library at the century-old St. Andrews Biological Station in New Brunswick, which had just completed a multi-million-dollar refurbishment a year earlier, and the library at the Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The libraries housed hundred of thousands of documents on fisheries and aquatic science, such as historical fish counts and water-quality analyses.

    Scientists fear that valuable archival information is being lost, and that the government, which is seen as hostile to environmental science, has little interest in preserving it.

    • Pasupial 10.1
      20 October 2015 at 6:51 pm

      Greywarshark

      Trudeau is not PM yet. It took early a fortnight in 2006 between the January 23rd election and Harper’s appointment on February 6th. A lot of paper-shredding and tidying-up could happen in that amount of time, especially if there are contingency plans in place.

      It will be good to see the end of; “Harper’s vandalism against science”. Especially reinstituting the free flow of ideas that is so vital to the discipline.

    • Tiro 10.3
      20 October 2015 at 10:11 pm

      “So, when a nation’s preeminent scientists take to the streets, wielding placards that say “No science. No evidence. No truth. No democracy” there is much more than a research institution’s budget at stake. If Canada is to recover from the serious dismantling of scientific institutions and practices across the country, it will require a sustained effort by scientists, citizens, and policymakers. It is much easier, after all, to tear down than to rebuild.”

      http://www.academicmatters.ca/2013/05/harpers-attack-on-science-no-science-no-evidence-no-truth-no-democracy/

      Sounds familiar close to home…

  11. Incognito 11
    20 October 2015 at 6:28 pm

    One consolidating message I take from this is that CT’s clients can be beaten and now look vulnerable. About time.

    • Robert Atack 12.1
      20 October 2015 at 8:18 pm

      Justin Trudeau was definitely out to charm Alberta voters Thursday night. Yup, that was Pierre Trudeau’s son up there, strategically positioning himself as the lone champion of Alberta’s oilsands and of the pipelines needed to get our oil to market.

      While Green Leader Elizabeth May and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair were busy arguing over which one of them was more opposed to pipelines, Trudeau accused Conservative Leader Stephen Harper of bungling negotiations with the American government to get the Keystone XL pipeline built.

      http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Simons+Justin+Trudeau+unlikely+champion+Alberta+oilsands/11274625/story.html

      Climate change? yeah right

      • marty mars 12.1.1
        20 October 2015 at 9:03 pm

        Thank you Robert

        ““You cannot make a choice between what’s good for the environment and what’s good for the economy,” he said at one point. “In the 21st century, they go together.””

        Oilsands – yep as dirty as they sound. I’ll keep an eye out for indigenous comment about this bloke and his ‘ideas’.

        btw Robert – you need quotation marks around your first 2 paragraphs above – otherwise it looks like you wrote it.

  13. Michael 13
    20 October 2015 at 7:30 pm

    First victory for a progressive party in the Anglosphere…

    Now we just need to get the UK, Australia, and NZ out of Tory control.

    • Bill 13.1
      20 October 2015 at 8:16 pm

      I believe it’s reasonably fair to say that hell will be freezing over before the Tories (either red or blue) get near power again in one of the four countries that constitute the UK (eight years or so, so far and counting) 😉

      edit: not convinced Canada’s Liberal Party are at all progressive btw.

      • Michael 13.1.1
        20 October 2015 at 8:31 pm

        Compared to Harper, anyone would be progressive.

        I’d compare the Liberals to the Helen Clark era of Labour: not exactly left-wing, but socially progressive and supporters of social programs, redistribution, collective bargaining etc. Centre-to-centre left.

  14. Kingfisher 14
    20 October 2015 at 8:40 pm

    Great news. Tides starting to turn? I hope so.

  15. the pigman 15
    20 October 2015 at 8:49 pm

    TL;DR – NDP were leading the polls until September 14. I’ve only had 48 hours of reading my way into this electoral race, but there seem to be some salutary lessons herein for Labour and the Left:

    – The NDP got nervous and changed their brand. They became obsessed with balancing the budget and attacking the Liberals by saying that they would tax and spend.
    – As a result, they vaguely promised something about child care but focused on the deficit bogeyman, which was a break from their historical orientation.
    – When Trudeau (Liberals) announced a bunch of stuff that his party had traditionally, as a centrist party, been hesitant to endorse: electoral reform, legalised cannabis, a huge amount of spending and some actual tax hikes, popular support for their campaign SOARED. It was the David Cunliffe NZLP platform that never was.

    Like the NZLP, the NDP thought they would have to pivot right in order to unseat Harper, but when they did, they lost their brand and a lot of non-partisan progressives jumped ship.

    The “missing million” or at least its youngish progressives unfortunately don’t care very much about unions and really don’t see politics as a battle between labour and capital as much as between environmentalists and corporations; multiculturalism and xenophobia, etc. From this perspective, the Liberals were streets ahead.

    NZLP, heed this lesson carefully!

    • Puddleglum 15.1
      20 October 2015 at 10:18 pm

      I’m not sure that the ‘missing million’ turned out to vote in the Canadian election.

      While it was the highest turnout since 1993 it was only 67.7%.

      By contrast, in 2014 in New Zealand voter turnout was 76.77%.

      The table in the last link shows a breakdown of voter turnout by age. Easily the largest number of voters were those over 70 with 362,030 actual voters (out of 422,186 enrolled).

      If you go through electorate by electorate in that table you can see that, generally, poorer electorates have lower turnout across the age range but younger people are almost always less likely to vote – at a glance it seems that the worst group is 25-29 year olds, not 18-24 year olds, interestingly.

  16. savenz 16
    20 October 2015 at 8:57 pm

    Finally some good news! Yay!

  17. millsy 17
    20 October 2015 at 9:02 pm

    Tories are NOT invincible. They can be beaten, and handsomely.

  19. vto 19
    20 October 2015 at 9:18 pm

    Canada could do with a new flag

  20. joe90 20
    20 October 2015 at 9:22 pm

    I reckon Harper’s wedging cleaved off an awful lot of Folk not yet forty who went on to support a party led by a bloke who’s not yet fifty

    Anyhoo, Kelowna Accord –

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelowna_Accord

    https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/a-new-nation-to-nation-process/

    https://www.kelownanow.com/news/news/National_News/15/08/13/Justin_Trudeau_Promises_to_Renew_Kelowna_Accord_if_Elected/

  21. les 21
    20 October 2015 at 9:26 pm

    from the NZH…Grosers favourite word ..’inconcievable’…with ‘astonished ‘ running a close 2nd..”At the broad level of principle,” Mr Groser said, “it would be almost inconceivable that Canada would stay out of TPP.”

    If, hypothetically, Canada had wanted to withdraw, it could have, Mr Groser said.

    “There is only one real indispensable member and that is the United States.”

    But if major economies such as Japan, Canada or Mexico were to fail to get political support for signing the agreement, it would lead to some consequences for the negotiation.

    “I would not wish to speculate on what that would be, but it would not stop it. Only the US would stop i

    • One Two 21.1
      20 October 2015 at 10:32 pm

      The USA has essentially been stopped in the ME by Russian intervention , so perhaps Timmy is overestimating the waning influence of the rotting USA corpse

      TPPs are their final gasps for air

  22. nigel gregory 22
    20 October 2015 at 9:26 pm

    Beaten by an arguably centre party that compared to Pierre Trudeau would be considered centre right in policy.
    The whole playing field is rather right of only a couple of decades ago.

    • mickysavage 22.1
      20 October 2015 at 10:05 pm

      Yep everything that I heard from the NDP made me really like them. But with a FPP system and with two left wing parties the damage was inevitable. The sooner Canada has MMP the better.

      • ScottGN 22.1.1
        21 October 2015 at 6:25 am

        Going in to the election campaign the NDP were leading in almost all polls and were projected to win at least a minority government under the same FPP system that has delivered so well for the Liberals. The fact is the NDP bungled the campaign. And for all his skills as Leader of The Opposition (Question Time in the House between him and Harper was at a level we can only dream about in our lacklustre parliament) Thomas Mulcair never really connected with Canadians in the way his predecessor Jack Layton did.

  23. NickS 23
    20 October 2015 at 9:28 pm

    Today is a good day indeed.

    Harper got the boot and the last part of the game Life Is Strange was released.

  24. Venezia 24
    20 October 2015 at 10:27 pm

    Thanks Joe… we need a NZ version of that Canadian account of Harper’s government.

    http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/08/10/Harper-Abuses-of-Power-Final/

    Can someone do this please?

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