The Maple Leaf Lounge
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So he handwaved away the expectation that she should be bilingual (French/English)?
It's a shame that Julie Payette didn't have the temperament to be GG. It was refreshing to see her advocate for women and girls to go into the sciences.
Yeah, it was refreshing, that is until she went off the edge.
Meanwhile, 22 Minutes has been on a roll lately. This is another great skit from them:
Some of us can't afford patriotism at the grocery store, or are able to run around to different stores that carry different brands.
I guess that's the reality, that prices for Canadian products are often going to still be higher. That might be different with the tariffs though.
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The thing is, when you're on a disability benefit and have medical issues that preclude some kinds of foods and beverages, you have to go with what works. Some of my stuff is Canadian and some is American. Some of it's hard to tell. The only way to know for sure would be to either buy from the Hutterites or grow it myself - which would be impossible, since I live in an apartment building with a pigeon infestation so the balcony isn't usable (the management has no interest in doing anything about it).
Yeah, you'd definitely go with what works. Although I could see the prices on the American products rise due to the tariffs, where then it would be more convenient to buy Canadian.
So with the Ontario Provincial election coming soon, the Conservatives are sure doing a fine job... NOT!
Ford's decision to not let candidates speak for themselves is rearing its head. Local candidates are rebuffing the media, rejecting interviews, preferring to go door-to-door. It's not a great look, especially when I don't even know who their local candidate is, and the election is at the end of the month! Voice matters, especially for constituents of smaller communities. We like to know who speaks for us, and I expect politicans to get out in front of issues. The fact that they've chosen to stay silent is not a great look and only makes them look more out of touch, their heads in the sand. And it speaks volumes to how they would end up treating their voters and how accessible they would end up being.. Not that I would ever vote for the Conservatives, but I still like to know who the candidates are. And this is just one more notch against them.
Ford's decision to not let candidates speak for themselves is rearing its head. Local candidates are rebuffing the media, rejecting interviews, preferring to go door-to-door. It's not a great look, especially when I don't even know who their local candidate is, and the election is at the end of the month! Voice matters, especially for constituents of smaller communities. We like to know who speaks for us, and I expect politicans to get out in front of issues. The fact that they've chosen to stay silent is not a great look and only makes them look more out of touch, their heads in the sand. And it speaks volumes to how they would end up treating their voters and how accessible they would end up being.. Not that I would ever vote for the Conservatives, but I still like to know who the candidates are. And this is just one more notch against them.
Welcome to Alberta. That's how it was during our last provincial election. I was looking forward to giving my MLA both barrels (verbally, of course, though I wouldn't grieve for the tiniest fraction of a nanosecond if anyone ever did it literally because she's evil) - and she never showed. Just shoved a pamphlet in the mailbox. At least the NDP candidate shoved hers under the door.
They don't want their candidates engaging with the public at forums or town halls, because Ford doesn't know what people would say or ask, so he can't tell the candidates what to say. It's easier to avoid the entire hassle by not allowing them to say anything and risk going off-script.
This is why we had the Potted Plant Election with Harper over a decade ago - he couldn't control the questions during forums, so he told his candidates not to show up.
Dozens of them didn't show up to forums, across the country. So one organizer put a potted houseplant in the place where the Reformacon candidate would have sat, to emphasize that they weren't there, and the idea caught on.
When they did it here, the forum took place at the local seniors' centre, hosted by the Council of Canadians. Everyone was given a piece of paper and pencil and told we could write down a question to be asked, and the moderators would go through the questions and pick a few in addition to the ones they'd already prepared.
I was feeling snarky, so I wrote down, "Will the Conservative side of the House build an arboretum to include all the houseplants that will be representing their constituencies?" (close paraphrase).
Surprise! Even though I hadn't expected it to be chosen (I was just venting my frustration), they found it funny and apt. The room erupted in laughter and applause, so I had my 15 minutes there - in the absence of the Reformacon candidate, the rest of them responded to the question, stressing the importance of candidates making themselves available to be questioned and to listen to the people. That's how our democracy is supposed to work, and when they dodge this, democracy is not served.
They don't want their candidates engaging with the public at forums or town halls, because Ford doesn't know what people would say or ask, so he can't tell the candidates what to say. It's easier to avoid the entire hassle by not allowing them to say anything and risk going off-script.
This is why we had the Potted Plant Election with Harper over a decade ago - he couldn't control the questions during forums, so he told his candidates not to show up.
Dozens of them didn't show up to forums, across the country. So one organizer put a potted houseplant in the place where the Reformacon candidate would have sat, to emphasize that they weren't there, and the idea caught on.
When they did it here, the forum took place at the local seniors' centre, hosted by the Council of Canadians. Everyone was given a piece of paper and pencil and told we could write down a question to be asked, and the moderators would go through the questions and pick a few in addition to the ones they'd already prepared.
I was feeling snarky, so I wrote down, "Will the Conservative side of the House build an arboretum to include all the houseplants that will be representing their constituencies?" (close paraphrase).
Surprise! Even though I hadn't expected it to be chosen (I was just venting my frustration), they found it funny and apt. The room erupted in laughter and applause, so I had my 15 minutes there - in the absence of the Reformacon candidate, the rest of them responded to the question, stressing the importance of candidates making themselves available to be questioned and to listen to the people. That's how our democracy is supposed to work, and when they dodge this, democracy is not served.
Well, I hope the strategy backfires spectacularly. I feel like not engaging in any aspect is a recipe for failure, especially in an area like mine where they're already not popular.
Conservative leaders love to muzzle their members. (And scientists, but that's another matter.) It helps them to control the message, and to prevent the social conservative contingent from spouting off about things the general public would find unpalatable.
Unfortunately, it never seems to hurt them much.
It'll be interesting to see the polling numbers over the next few days to see if Ford's hot mic moment hurts him any.
Unfortunately, it never seems to hurt them much.
It'll be interesting to see the polling numbers over the next few days to see if Ford's hot mic moment hurts him any.
Looking at the numbers from 338Canada and mainstream it doens't seem to have made any difference and other than the toronto star doesn't seem to have gotten much coverage.
And I can understand it to a certain extent, but in this case, there's not even a message, no dialogue, no word about anything, which in the end makes them look like a faceless entity of a party. And this kind of tactic would only really work if there was already momentum in those regions to begin with. In ridings where there isn't, it's a hard sell. And I think they owe it to their constituents of the ridings that they're running for, to at least show up and make themselves personable. They forget about one important aspect of politics, that they're elected to lead people, in this case their constituents. If they are not prepared to even do that, then perhaps they should leave the game.
I'm beginning to think we should borrow the potted plants from Alberta to make a point. That was brilliant btw, Timewalker.
Thank you.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers this. I think it was back in 2008 or 2011 (did they do this the same election as the robocalls? I looked robocalls up awhile ago). It's bad when there have been so many affronts to democracy that I can't even remember offhand when they happened! I just recall that there were something like 60 or so ridings in several provinces where the Conservative candidates didn't show up and the organizers used potted plants instead, either placing them on the chair they would have sat in, or on the floor in front of the chair or on the table in front of where they would have sat.
Oh, and an additional point about that particular forum I attended: the Liberal candidate didn't show up either, but in his case it was due to illness. He sent a very knowledgeable substitute, though, someone from his campaign team, so at least there would be some way to let us know what he stood for.
I think it's a great idea. And I think it sends a message. Don't want to be represented by a potted plant, then show up!
Our local PC Candidate is new. I only have a name on him. Nothing else. And how exactly is that supposed to work in their favour? Door to door campaigning doesn't always work anymore either, as not everybody wants to be bothered at the door, so they often just drop a flyer in the mailbox. Again, avoiding contact.
And anybody notice how the colour for the party is slightly different this time around? Seems they're using a lighter blue. Or is this something they're doing to differentiate between Federal and Provincial PC parties? The other seems to use a darker blue.
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sounds a bit like the liberal candidate in my riding.
constituency offices can't be involved with the campaign so my wife has direct calls to the campaign office but she's also required to provide details to contact otther campaigns.
other than a facebook page they have not be able to find any details for the liberal candidate and his campaign.
It's so frustrating. There should be a bill that prevents no shows if someone is campaigning, unless there's a good reason such as illness. It should inherently part of the job description that they sign up for. It assumes too much of the voting public that the public will vote for for them when there's so little information on candidates. It also assumes too much that they'll end up winning when there are too many factors involved. It's also more than a little insulting to the constituents of their ridings that they make so little effort. These things should be important in the grand scheme of things, as it's the voters that they need to convince that they're the best party for the job in their riding. They really need to do a better job. There needs to be more transparency.
And if the voter turnout is bad and they end up getting fewer votes, then it's entirely on them for not getting the public invested.
And if the voter turnout is bad and they end up getting fewer votes, then it's entirely on them for not getting the public invested.
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This reminds me of some years ago when Olympic kayaker Adam vanKoeverden beat CPC candidate Lisa Raitt (one of Harper's cabinet ministers). She took her win for granted to the point that she didn't even bother doorknocking. She waltzed off to other ridings to campaign for the CPC candidates there.
To her shock and squawking outrage, she lost. That wascally Olympic medalist had the gall to BEAT her - because he never took it for granted for a second that he would have to get out and doorknock and learn about the people of that riding. So the Liberals took that riding and left Harper's whiny ex-cabinet minister fuming.
Wow, serves her right. Yeah, that's the danger in taking things for granted. By not being present, they're giving constituencies reasonable doubt that they'll ever be available for their ridings to speak out on behalf of them, and again, not a great look, especially when it's their job.
Our riding generally tends to flip to either the Liberals or NDP, and rarely the Conservatives. One would naturally assume then, just to use the Conservatives as an example, that they should work harder, not be less visible, but that should also be the case for any other riding where certain parties are not the popular party. By not being presentable, they carry an image of being out of touch, IMHO.
Today would have been Leslie Nielsen's 99th birthday. 
"We're sorry to bother you at a time like this, Mrs. Twice. We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn't dead then."
"We're sorry to bother you at a time like this, Mrs. Twice. We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn't dead then."
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