I voted today

Tags

Canada., Election, Federal, hate, nonsense, scheer

Well today I did my duty as a Citizen and voted in our National Federal Election. It is the first day of voting by anticipation, this Thanksgiving weekend people can vote from 9am to 9 pm at polling stations. It’s easy and very well organized, it took all of 2 minutes. I had my voting card and one piece of ID, got my ballot, marked it and in the box it goes. No fancy machines, just a pencil and a piece of paper. Like most Canadians I have heard enough and my mind was made up.

I did not want to wait until 21 October which is the actual voting day, I’ve had enough of having to listen to lies and more lies from Conservative politicians and their leader Andrew Scheer. Whose father was a draft dodger during the Vietnam War, making Andrew an American Citizen, registered for the US Army reservist and travelling on a US passport. Something he hid from Canadians until just a few days ago. He also lied on his resume, he does not have a university diploma from Regina, and he was a gofer in an insurance company not a broker. He also hired Trump strategists to work on his campaign and receives funds from the GOP. So Andrew Scheer who wants to be Prime Minister of Canada is the Manchurian Candidate.

This election has 6 party leaders, though in reality only 2 really matter since only a liberal or a Conservative can actually get enough seats to form a government. The other parties will not get many seats. The Greens need 12 seats to be an official party, the NDP will likely be devastated in this election and may loose official party status, the Bloc only has candidates in Quebec and only represent that Province and the extreme right wing party of Maxime Bernier, the so called People’s Party will probably not have more than 1 seat in our House of Commons at 338 members.

We have had 4 so called debates, the ones in English a shouting match looking more like a food fight at a high school cafeteria with 5 moderators who did nothing but let the slug fest go on. The debate in French was far better and the moderator effective in controlling the leaders, the Media preferred the French version and its format and questions.

The big issues during the campaign were not discussed and the more offensive Conservative Premiers like Doug Ford of Ontario disappeared. While Jason Kenney of Alberta is on the one hand campaigning for the Conservative but at the same time challenging their leader Andrew Scheer.

The owners of Conservative papers, Postmedia, Sun, Globe and Mail and television Global and CTV were openly hostile to the Prime Minister promoting the Alt-right agenda, anti-immigration sentiment, bigotry, racism and violence against anyone who is not a conservative.

In other words our election process and the campaign have become like those South of the border. It is unfortunate but it also shows that Civic Illiteracy is well and alive and people do not know nor understand important issues. Are quick to blame to Government for what does not work in their personal lives. These negative feelings are difficult to explain given that the Economy is growing rapidly, unemployment is the lowest in 40 yrs, child poverty is the lowest it has ever been, etc..

The Alt-right and other hate groups have congregated around Andrew Scheer and his party, lawn signs for Conservative candidate stand next to signs advocating killing opponents. This was bound to happen here when you look at the Trumpian politics south of us. Conservatives in Canada admire Trump and wish we had the same white Evangelical politics. Andrew Scheer is their answer in this election. No it is not the genteel Canada we once knew.

What we do know for certain, it will be a minority government and this can give us some hope to avoid extreme politics.

This Month in Canada

Tags

CPC, hate, JWR, Oil, Parliament, pipelines, Prime Minister, Speech, Yellow vests

For the last few weeks we have been bombarded on the news with an alleged scandal based on an unverified account of interference based on anonymous allegations of undue pressure on the Attorney General of Canada by a senior member of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Globe and Mail published the story and it has been a circus ever since. As of today, 15 days after the story broke the allegations are still un-verified and we have no idea who spoke with the G&M. The newspaper has made no effort to verify the story.

The CBC and other papers owned by Post Media (a right wing media organization akin Fox News) all have repeated the allegations endlessly and with much speculations and innuendoes, we are now analyzing body language and every sentence for hidden meaning, it is very tiresome.

The story surrounds the Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould who in a recent Cabinet shuffle was moved to the Veterans Affairs Portfolio. The undue pressure allegedly by the PMO was over the trial of the engineering firm SNC-Lavalin which has 9000 employees and operates around the world. It is headquartered in Montreal. Apparently this important company wanted to avoid prosecution over charges of corruption in Libya prior to the overthrow of Muhamar Ghaddafi. After the story broke Jody Wilson-Raybould resigned her Cabinet position. She also claimed that she could not speak about the matter at all, citing Client-Solicitor privilege, in Canada the Attorney General is the lawyer of the Government and there is also the matter of Cabinet Secret. So this gave an opening to all those who wish to see PM Trudeau out of Office to suddenly attack. In the House of Commons the Conservative leader Andrew Scheer spoke of criminal behaviour, of issues that would destroy the country if not cleared, etc.. much theatre. The media loves it and speculate over every pronouncement. However Mr Scheer suddenly realized that what he was saying outside the House of Commons on Twitter could lead to criminal charges of defamation against him, so he stopped speaking outside the House and only made statements in the House where he enjoys immunity.

Then a caravan of 60 trucks appeared on Parliament Hill, the Canadian yellow vest movement which is a largely white supremacist and nativist organization promoting a hate agenda against immigrants and anyone who disagrees with their view point. Senator David Tkachuk Conservative from Saskatchewan, spoke with them and advocated murdering all those Liberals. Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer also spoke to the group surrounded by hate message calling for the Prime Minister to be killed. Today the CBC was comparing Donald Trump to PM Trudeau, it is that gross of a media manipulation of a non-story.

So this is the circus provided by Western Canada. For 3 years now we have had pipeline politics in Alberta, by far the richest province in Canada with a population of 2.5 million producing oil in the dirty Tar Sand variety. The price of oil are not what they use to be, World markets and other economic factors all played a role in keeping prices down for crude. Companies are no longer interested in building pipelines the economic case cannot be made. So Conservative politicians allied to the Alt-Right demand that the Government of Canada build them. This year 2019 is an election year so anything goes.

Very sad but it looks like the Conservatives have taken a page or two from the GOP and people like US Senator Mitch McConnell.

As you can see the truckers from Western Canada were a very small group about 150, not the mass demonstration the media was claiming.

What is going on here

Tags

dictators, Election, hate, President, Trump, USA

Because of my age I can remember US Politics back to the 1960’s, though my knowledge was more an impression than deep understanding. I remember JFK and LBJ, that awful Nixon fellow, the quiet Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. I also remember some of the other actors on the political scene of the time. It was another era and politics were no cleaner but it had not sunk to the level we see today. For me it all started to go wrong when Ronald Reagan declared he was a born again Christian, this in the hope of attracting a more conservative vote. I could not understand why the President of all the Americans, many of whom are not Christians needed to say that publicly and what did it say to Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, all non born again Christians. He was staking his claim to represent only that one little group in the entire nation, the others well they were not part of the club. Then we got G.W.Bush, in the words of the Saudi King of the time, a nice man but he knows nothing. A disastrous war with Iraq and for what exactly.

Now we have the Donald and his hate speeches. I have to say that I do not follow nor watch closely what is going on with this election, but the other day I saw a clip made by Rachel Maddow for her show on speeches inciting hate by Trump. Now we see his rallies cancelled because the authorities cannot guarantee safety. People who oppose Trump vocally are beaten by his supporters. Trump offers to pay the legal fees of the attackers.  What Trump was saying clearly, anyone who opposes me must be dealt with, in the good old days these people would get a good beating, anyone who opposes me is the enemy of America and they are dragging our country down. Then he chants USA USA and promises to make America great again. My question is when did America stop being great?

It appears that politicians now divide Americans in categories, it use to be that a US Citizen was equal to all other US Citizens. Now the Brown or Black ones are not considered full citizens and are presented as second class. I know that prior to the Equal Rights Movement blacks and non whites were not equal. Though the USA went through it all and progress was achieved, Trump is proposing to turn back the clock with friends like David Duke of the KKK.  If you are not Evangelical Christian then you too are second class, if you disagree with the Donald then you are a dangerous enemy of the USA. Muslims are all terrorists, not real US Citizens. Jews well Trump and company cannot talk about them, because that is a political bomb, so they pretend they like them because it is politically convenient.

In other words millions of Americans are not real US Citizens because they fit into that category of people who are disliked by Trump. So if Trump should become President you will have a Nation divided maybe splintered is a better word. Then what about Congress and the Senate, there is no guarantee they would play ball with him. Elections at both levels of Houses may change the composition completely. Would President Trump then resort to attacks on the Congress and hate speech against both Houses to get his way, inciting violence against elected Officials? I could see that happen if he remains true to form.

You see I work as a guide at the Canadian War Museum here in Ottawa. In Gallery 4 we have the history of the world from 1930-1945, the rise of the dictators in Europe, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany. You can listen to the speeches of the dictators to the faithful, hate is the main message, making the country great again is the other message. Those who oppose the program of the dictator must be done away with because they drag the country down. It all sounds very familiar to me and one could accuse candidate Trump of plagiarizing the speeches of the European dictators and not be wrong.

Many Americans say they will move to Canada if Trump is elected, that is a false assumption. Moving means immigration, the door is not open, many would not qualify, only a few could actually get in and it can take up to 24 months to see an application through if all goes well, you have no health problems, no prior convictions of any kind and are under 45 years of age with a job that is in demand in Canada.

I do believe that the American people will make the right choice and see through the politics of division and hate which would destroy the USA not make it great again. Trump is one big wind storm, all talk, simplistic approach to complex problems, the art of the quick fix, this is what is so dangerous.

Like the snake oil salesman at the Carny Show, Trump may become the candidate of the Republican party but gain the Presidency not likely. The GOP has also shown itself to be now the party of the fanatical fringe, the trailer park trash, the uneducated, of those who have been overtaken by events in a changing world and who want to bring us back to a mythical time in history that never existed.

Trump’s election to the White House would have dire consequences for political relations with Mexico and Canada and for the balance of power with Russia, China and other countries who are important trade partners. This is why he cannot be elected, the greater good is at stake.