The Maple Leaf Lounge

[Marc]

You’re right, did not see that coming! (On one hand, “Politician has an Affair” is so unsurprising that it would barely warrant a headline. But, no, did genuinely not expect it from Tory…)

I guess the old adage of dropping negative news on Friday evening sort of paid off this time… I haven’t really looked at the news since Friday morning, so your post was the first I’d heard of it!

Good thing he went through the trouble of getting the Ford government to give him those undemocratic “strong mayor” powers…

I’m interested in seeing what happens with those powers. Will the those on the left decrying them now seek to take advantage or will the ford govt revoke them.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I’m interested in seeing what happens with those powers. Will the those on the left decrying them now seek to take advantage or will the ford govt revoke them.

Hadn't the government already announced that they were planning to expand the powers to other cities beyond Toronto and Ottawa later this year? I don't think the powers will be going away.

 

[Marc]

Hadn't the government already announced that they were planning to expand the powers to other cities beyond Toronto and Ottawa later this year? I don't think the powers will be going away.

True though I don't think they expected tory to up an resign cos he couldn't keep his pants zipped.

or as the following from the CBC put it.

The Ford government said the "strong mayor" powers were designed to speed the pace of housing development. If a left-wing candidate were to become mayor, the plan might not work out quite the way the PCs intended.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-mayor-candidates-conservative-ontario-pc-1.6745624

 

[Owain Taggart]

For bigger cities, it might make some sense, but for smaller ones, I don't think it would work so well.

 

[DEWLine]

Oh! Canadians! So… anyone on here into trains?

Some days, I think I was born too late, or came to railfandom too late...

Might you be interested in this group?

https://www.railfans.ca/

 

[Sumire]

Some days, I think I was born too late, or came to railfandom too late...

Might you be interested in this group?

https://www.railfans.ca/

Oh! My people! Thank you for the link! I joined a rail fan group when I returned to the USA and I was still in my twenties. The group was largely compromised of retirees. My interests skew so “old-fashioned” that when I met my husband and called my sister to tell her about said fated meeting, she quipped, “Is he 80?” (I did meet him through his swing dance partner at a big band concert but no, he was in his twenties too. )

 

[DEWLine]

You're welcome.

 

[Marc]

so the commission into the truduea govt's use of the emergencies act has come out with the commission finding the govt was justified.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poec-report-released-friday-1.6750919

Thought the commissioner said that trudeau may have inflamed things with his "fringe minority comments" he points to faliures by the police and the Ontario govt.

 

[Owain Taggart]

When it comes down to it, the reason why it was invoked was due to the fact that the police were ill prepared. It was such a wild and unique situation to be faced with on our own soil, one that we never thought would happen, that it immobilized us. When you deal with a persistent group that won't take no for an answer, that's when you have to start thinking that maybe extreme measures need to be taken. And that was after the protesters were given enough time to back off after being there for more than 2 weeks. In the end, what's a government to do in this situation? Let havok run its course? Something clearly had to be done at this point.

 

[Marc]

When it comes down to it, the reason why it was invoked was due to the fact that the police were ill prepared. It was such a wild and unique situation to be faced with on our own soil, one that we never thought would happen, that it immobilized us. When you deal with a persistent group that won't take no for an answer, that's when you have to start thinking that maybe extreme measures need to be taken. And that was after the protesters were given enough time to back off after being there for more than 2 weeks. In the end, what's a government to do in this situation? Let havok run its course? Something clearly had to be done at this point.

polievre's response was disgusting.

truly an odious man and $deity help us if he ever becomes P.M.

 

[Avro Arrow]

polievre's response was disgusting.

truly an odious man and $deity help us if he ever becomes P.M.

Got a link? My searches aren't turning up anything recent, except for one CBC link that was only 6 hours old, but when I click on it, I get a 404.

 

[Marc]

Got a link? My searches aren't turning up anything recent, except for one CBC link that was only 6 hours old, but when I click on it, I get a 404.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9493106/emergencies-act-inquiry-report-ramifications/

his response was at the end blaming all on trudeau for raising people's cost of living which wasn't that much of a factor at the time.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I vaguely remember him saying something when the events were unfolding. Basically, Trudeau was faced with an impossible task. I think he did well, considering all that happened. And it's to be expected that cost of living would rise given the price of everything else has been rising, which is not strictly a Canadian issue, but a worldwide one. The pandemic has stretched resources and workforces beyond limits.

 

[Marc]

I vaguely remember him saying something when the events were unfolding. Basically, Trudeau was faced with an impossible task. I think he did well, considering all that happened. And it's to be expected that cost of living would rise given the price of everything else has been rising, which is not strictly a Canadian issue, but a worldwide one. The pandemic has stretched resources and workforces beyond limits.

polievre is also ignoring basic facts such as the the provinces impossed the lock downs, masking etc while the feds just dealt with international travellers (hey pierre remember doug ford calling for more testing etc for international travellers flying into Pearson).

secondly the immunisation requirements for the truckers mirrored the U.S policy.

but then I guess the little pissant wants people to forget that he and other conservatives were out there supporting the convoy protesters.

 

[Owain Taggart]

polievre is also ignoring basic facts such as the the provinces impossed the lock downs

A lot of the misinformation was born out of ignoring basic facts, so not a big surprise there, but Polievre seemed to be leaning into that as a way of making him popular with the 'misunderstood'. Much of what was being done by the government were already things mandated by the WHO, many things that were already being done all over the world. But sure, they pick on Trudeau and call him a dictator in the face of adversity. I'd like to see them survive 1918, or even both world wars, where things were much worse, with many more restrictions. They happen for a reason, and if people back then were to rise up to protest against restrictions and orders, they'd likely have been arrested or even shot And if you were to ignore the blackout orders during the war, they'd likely suspect you of treason.

 

[DEWLine]

Poilievre's response was disgusting.
Truly an odious man and $deity help us if he ever becomes P.M.

A thing I fear.

Poilievre was pointedly ignoring, and pointedly encouraging others to ignore, some of those basic facts re: Canadian law and practice...such as the provinces and territories being the level of government responsible for some aspects of health policy, and the right of the US - and other countries - to set their own public health rules re: border crossings in place.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Plus the protests were partly funded by U.S interests (including some politicians), which I find troubling when you consider that the protests were politically motivated with intent on destabilizing the government. And that's really not Ok. In any other scenario elsewhere, that would raise some eyebrows. That was another reason for the act being invoked as it had become an issue of national security.

 

[DEWLine]

The timing as regards Putin's invasion of Ukraine was also not coincidental. Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland is persona non grata in Putinist Russia. Putin may consider her an even greater threat to his plans than he does Trudeau. When you keep the Convoy Crowd's "memorandum of understanding" calling for the Governor-General and the Senate to help them toss out the entire House of Commons in mind in that context...

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, the protesters wanted to install their own government and police force. In any other context, it could simply be brushed off as a whimsical dream, but these people did say they wouldn't move until something changed. They really did believe they were in the right.

 

[Marc]

at least poilievere has condemned it but the claim about not the background of the person his backbenchers were meeting with just doesn't carry water.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...er-tory-mps-meeting-with-known-extremist.html

Then you have comments in response the article where conservative try to equate it with justin the boy blunder meeting with xi of china and shaking hands.