PM Mark Carney's Canada

[PinkLucy]

The crucifix in the National Assembly came down a few years whole but there was just a vote this month about one in Quebec City council offices. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/crucifix-quebec-city-council-chamber-secularism-9.6998770

 

[zang]

I think Poilievre will do everything in his power to stay on - what else would he do with his time?

I’m not sure the man has even so much as a hobby. He’s been snidely telling other MPs he’ll “be prime minister one day” as long as he’s been in parliament. He’s not a man who’s shown he cares about actual governance and legislation; only his end goal of PM at whatever cost.

I literally fear for the man’s mental health if he loses the leadership position. Eventually the realization will come that he traded a fairly cushy seat in the capital for a podunk seat in rural Alberta, and will end up being another backbencher symbol of “how to kick yourself in the goolies so hard you lose political consciousness.”

He will no longer be relevant; and that’s not something he seems ready to reckon with.

 

[adma]

I’m not sure the man has even so much as a hobby. He’s been snidely telling other MPs he’ll “be prime minister one day” as long as he’s been in parliament. He’s not a many who’s shown he cares about actual governance and legislation; only his end goal of PM at whatever cost.

I literally fear for the man’s mental health if he loses the leadership position. Eventually the realization will come that he traded a fairly cushy seat in the capital for a podunk seat in rural Alberta, and will end up being another backbencher symbol of “how to kick yourself in the goolies so hard you lose political consciousness.”

He will no longer be relevant; and that’s not something he seems ready to reckon with.

Yet the trouble is that even under his continuing leadership and MP attrition, his party remains around 40% support and even in the lead in some polls--and it's probably because he represents a vast demographic of Canadians who themselves feel "irrelevant" (and not just rural rednecks, but GTA ethnoburbans as well).

Essentially, the Carney Liberals are a vestigially c20 "literate" party pushing against the broader c21 trend t/w digital-era "post-literacy". (And that includes civic literacy.)

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

^...there are many of us who feel irrelevant with this government but wouldn't vote for Poilievre and his band of ignoramuses even if we're paid to. Most of us are not planning to make our live much worse than it already is, that is.

 

[adma]

^...there are many of us who feel irrelevant with this government but wouldn't vote for Poilievre and his band of ignoramuses even if we're paid to. Most of us are not planning to make our live much worse than it already is, that is.

Thus my "literate" vs "post-literate" (civic literacy included) point.

 

[Admiral Beez]

^...there are many of us who feel irrelevant with this government but wouldn't vote for Poilievre and his band of ignoramuses even if we're paid to. Most of us are not planning to make our live much worse than it already is, that is.

I do miss the days of “normal” centralist-leaning leaders on the Canadian right. I voted for both Mulroney and Chrétien, and felt that neither leader put the country in jeopardy. Nowadays, I feel that I must vote for Carney, with no options.

 

[Richard White]

I do miss the days of “normal” centralist-leaning leaders on the Canadian right. I voted for both Mulroney and Chrétien, and felt that neither leader put the country in jeopardy. Nowadays, I feel that I must vote for Carney, with no options.

That makes two of us.

The CPC is extreme right wing and the NDP is always focusing on grassroots activism. Neither of them are exactly palatable.

The issue is that there are no viable candidates left in politics that are neither beholden to personal interest nor treating it like a popularity contest.

For once, it would be nice for politicians to say "sorry but we are f***** and need to raise taxes, but here's what they will pay for" or to say "We are cutting all non-critical funding, jacking up base income taxes by 50% and increasing GST to 50% so we can pay down the national debt".

Honesty won't get you elected but at least you can come back and say I told you so!

 

[PL1]

The current situation may lead to a re-invigorization of the NDP as we need a party on the left. I have never supported them, but they serve an important role. PP's seemingly imminent removal as CPC leader may change the dynamic

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

I do miss the days of “normal” centralist-leaning leaders on the Canadian right. I voted for both Mulroney and Chrétien, and felt that neither leader put the country in jeopardy. Nowadays, I feel that I must vote for Carney, with no options.

I never did like them, but I slept comfortably at night knowingly that our civil liberties would remain mostly be intact when I wake up in the morning with them at the helm.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

The problem with the NDP is that it lost the blue collar crowd that were their historical supporters.

AoD

 

[zang]

Yet the trouble is that even under his continuing leadership and MP attrition, his party remains around 40% support and even in the lead in some polls--and it's probably because he represents a vast demographic of Canadians who themselves feel "irrelevant" (and not just rural rednecks, but GTA ethnoburbans as well).

The party rage baits and farms grievances rather than put forward policy to help people. There will always be those disaffected who choose attacking perceived enemies over forward progress, especially moreso in a post neo-lib world where the social compact has been trampled in favour of personal financial growth and justified anti-sociality. A lack of compelling leadership from the NDP since Jack hasn't helped. As much as I liked Jagmeet, the country wasn't ready to be led by anyone darker-skinned than almond milk; especially when the last decade the conservatives has been hammering everyone with the idea that brown people are to blame for their woes.

When the predominant vibe amongst voters has been "what's in it for me?/What's it going to cost me?", social programs get made out to be frivolous and become petty fodder that opens the door for othering.

Yes, we need an NDP that can loop blue collar workers back in, but I feel we need the next leader out there to re-explain how social programs benefit both the individual and society as a whole, ie; yes we should get homeless people into paid housing, but framing it as reducing externalized and forced healthcare costs to the "taxpayer" will go further than allowing them think we're just giving them something certain voters don't believe they've "earned". (yes, I know it's provincial, it's just an example)

Essentially, the Carney Liberals are a vestigially c20 "literate" party pushing against the broader c21 trend t/w digital-era "post-literacy". (And that includes civic literacy.)

This current incarnation of the Liberal Party (even including Trudeau and probably going back to Chretien), has been the "sane conservative alternative". It's not a balance of the NDP/Greens and Conservatives, it's conservative by default, and progressive only when opportune.

 

[Richard White]

The problem with the NDP is that it lost the blue collar crowd that were their historical supporters.

AoD

I agree.

When I got started with the NDP in 2006, they were fighting for the everyday Canadian. They had their activism but the focus was on making life better for the average Canadian working man.

Once they got into opposition, their heads began to swell and the focus went from fighting for Canadians to fighting everything that does not align with every special interest group known to man.

That is one reason I started to drift away from the NDP. I wanted hope and optimism, not a soapbox for every Social Justice Warrior and Environmental Activist who wants to get their five cents in.

Sometimes it is great to bring issues to the forefront like indigneous issues but to base your platform primarily on activism is problematic. I don't like the Liberals but at least they put forth a platform with policies I can relate to.

 

[jje1000]

Here's one freakish loophole that awaits reform:

FIRST READING: How claiming to be a refugee became a get-out-of-jail-free card​

For a foreign national facing law enforcement scrutiny, claiming asylum instantly halts the investigation in its tracks

Author of the article:
By Tristin Hopper
Published Dec 15, 2025

An entire accused crime ring claiming refugee status all at once has exposed just how comfortable foreign suspects have become with abusing Canada’s asylum system.

This month, B.C.’s newly minted Extortion Task Force was zeroing in on 14 foreign nationals accused of participating in an extortion crime wave currently terrorizing the Lower Mainland.

Starting in earnest in 2023, organized gangs have been roving through Surrey and Abbotsford demanding large sums of cash from South Asian businesses, and then attacking non-payers with arson or gunfire.

More than 130 such incidents have occurred just in 2025, yielding a weekly tally of shootings and vehicle fires. This rash of violence is one of the main reasons that Ottawa declared India’s Bishnoi Gang a terrorist entity in September, accusing them of generating terror among Canadian diaspora communities “through extortion and intimidation.”

But according to an exclusive report by Stewart Bell at Global News, just as the Canada Border Services Agency began investigating 14 alleged extortionists, all of them claimed to be refugees, instantly stopping the investigation in its tracks.

In a Thursday statement, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke called out how the “international thugs and criminals” abused the asylum system in order to “extend their stay in Canada.”

“Guests in our country who break our laws need to be sent home,” she said.

The case of the Surrey 14 is one of the more brazen abuses of the refugee system to date. But it’s nothing new that a foreign national would claim refugee status to evade deportation. Or that asylum status would be used as a tool of foreign criminal gangs.

Because, as the Surrey case illustrates, it works.

If the accused are indeed extortionists, they’re likely to eventually face some kind of removal order or criminal prosecution. But by merely telling border authorities “I am seeking asylum,” they’ve potentially obtained up to two additional years on Canadian soil.

As of the most recent estimates of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, there is a backlog of at least 24 months until refugee claimants can have their case put before an immigration officer.

As such, any foreign national claiming to be a refugee can be assured of at least two years of living in Canada under the status of an asylum claimant.

The status not only clears the asylum claimant to obtain a work permit, but it also makes them eligible for free health care via the Interim Federal Health Program. The official landing page for the program includes a large green button reading “how to get health care.”

In some cases, asylum claimants are also eligible for free housing. Since 2017, the federal government has spent more than $1.5 billion on the Interim Housing Assistance Program, which places asylum claimants into free hotel rooms.

Asylum claims are currently at record highs, with nearly 300,000 foreigners now in the country as asylum claimants, and hundreds more added daily.

The trend has been driven in part by foreign nationals using asylum claims as a means to evade deportation.

Last year, the Liberal government even called out this tactic after tens of thousands of foreign students claimed asylum just as their student visas were set to expire. In 2024, then immigration minister Marc Miller called it an “alarming trend” that was serving as a “backdoor entry into Canada.”

The asylum system has also become a well-known tool of human smugglers. In September, Postmedia profiled the black market industry of using visas obtained with fraudulent documents in order to move Indian nationals into Canada in order to claim asylum.

“They would just get a plane, land in Canada and after that…. Some of them would claim asylum right away (upon) landing in Canada. Some would connect with the next step (i.e. the smuggler step) and then go to the States,” Amandeep Singh Dhillon, a registered immigration agent, alleged at the time.

FIRST READING: How claiming to be a refugee became a get-out-of-jail-free card

For a foreign national facing law enforcement scrutiny, claiming asylum instantly halts the investigation in its tracks.

nationalpost.com

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

The problem with the NDP is that it lost the blue collar crowd that were their historical supporters.

AoD

I think they more lost the progressive vote for trying to be the Liberals...as they tried to appeal to demographics that would never vote for them.

...it's a classic mistake that both Dem's and Labour have been making for years now. And the only thing it does it makes them more unpalatable to vote for, to put that mildly.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Once they got into opposition, their heads began to swell and the focus went from fighting for Canadians to fighting everything that does not align with every special interest group known to man.

The post-Layton federal NDP reminds me of the United Church. The latter become the United Church of Everything, which (among many reasons) led to parishioners abandoning the organization. When you stand for everything, you stand out for nothing. That's where the Roman Catholics have a firm grip, they have doctrine and clear communication of what they stand for, and take the position that if you like our ways, come join us, but outside of glacial like movements on some topics, don't expect us to change to suit you.

Below is the verbatim opening section of the 1961 New Party Declaration, adopted at the founding convention of the New Democratic Party of Canada in Ottawa (August 1961).

“The New Democratic Party believes that the purpose of society is the fulfillment of the individual, and that this fulfillment can be achieved only in a society based on cooperation, democracy, equality, and social justice. The New Democratic Party is formed to unite farmers, labour, professional people and other Canadians who believe in these principles, and who desire to achieve them by democratic means. The New Democratic Party believes that the political and economic institutions of Canada must be democratized in order to serve the needs of the people. It seeks to replace the concentration of power and privilege with a society in which economic opportunity is available to all, in which individual freedom is combined with social responsibility, and in which the public good takes precedence over private profit.”

So, yes social justice, as it was understood in the early 1960s is mentioned, but it's not the core of the NDP's purpose. If they'd stuck to these goals, heck I might have joined. I proudly voted for Layton's NDP in 2011 (my local candidate lost to Liberal Bob Rae, ironically former NDP premier of ON).