Questions For Our Canadian Friends

[sobaka]

Originally Posted by xyzde69

Does it annoy you, that since several years NHL US teams win the Stanley Cup thanks to excellent Canadian hockey players, only because the best Canadian hockey players who go to the US, play less taxes than they would have to pay if they played for a Canadian team ?

I've lived in both Canada and the US and depending on where you live, i.e NYC with Federal, State and city income tax as well as FICA and health insurance and the differential wasn't much. And right now, Canadian taxes are not climbing, while US taxes are.

[ultimatewarlord]

Are Canadians comfortable that their senior politicians are every bit as gutless and servile as our politicians in the UK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2XwaiPrZ90

[ultimatewarlord]

Do questions get answered here? Do we need a concerted effort to get Canada into porn websites?

[ultimatewarlord]

1. You're here, right?

2. What was the reason Justin Trudeau became your Prime Minister. Was it because of his policy promises? Was it because he appealed to a certain demographic? Was it because of appeal in general?

3. How is he seen now?

4. Your Parliament looks a lot more fun than ours, but how come Trudeau gets away with putting up another Minister to answer questions when he's sat right there?

5. Why does he not seem to make any effort to answer the questions when he does stand?

BTW. This is about the best comeback I've seen from any politician.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJH50hFE80I

I have a few mates who've travelled extensively and they've all agreed Canada is their favourite place. Having lived through the Tony Blair era here, I feel I should say that the, admittedly limited, details I've seen of Justin Trudeau, he will fuck up Canada and walk away thinking he's made the World a better place and he's a great man.

[Next Gen]

1. Well I am. I'll add a disclaimer here - I voted for Justin Trudeau (or that is say to say his party - we don't vote for individual leaders in Canada), but I'm not a blind follower of him or any political party.

2. I'd say a combination of a few factors. One was name recognition. As you may know, his father one of Canada's most popular and well know Prime Ministers. Justin followed in his fathers footsteps and became a well adept, well spoken and camera friendly politician that quickly rose through the ranks of the Liberal Party.

Another factor was timing. In the midst of the "hope and change" Obama administration, I'd say (many) Canadians were excited by the idea of voting in a young charismatic leader of our own. That desire was in part driven by the fact that Trudeau's predessor Stephen Harper was a kind of Nixon-like politician who was never particularly well liked by the public and was often noted for having the personaility of his own cardboard cutout.

Another big factor was that Harper's re-election campaign was just badly handled. There were some minor scandals for the conservatives - none were devestating - but polls were showing Trudeau was popular, so in a panic the Harper campaign turned hard right (by Canadian standards). Harper made some dog-whistle comments against immigrants in debates and put out tv/radio ads that many saw as attacking muslims in particular. Bad move in Canada. Very bad move.

You see in Canada immigration is a big part of our history and diversity is a cornerstone of our culture and identity. Of course not all Canadians think so highly of immigrants, and Harper was betting more like-minded voters would show up to the polls then not. It was a bad bet.

The other problem with that strategy was that it was quickly recognized as negative campaigning - which is an American tatic, but not a very Canadian one. Aside from diversity, Canadians also consider civility to be an key part of our identity - and you won't find that in American campaign ads. Theirs hardy anything that disturbs Canadians more than the idea of Canada being infected by American style politics.

Their was such a huge blow back from those ads that the Harper campaign immediatly pulled them, but the damage was done. His opponents labeled him as a racist (a particularly bad word in Canada) and he never recovered.

3. Trudeau's election was huge success. The Liberal Party's increase of 148 seats from the previous election was the largest-ever numerical increase by a party in a Canadian election. The Liberal party essentially went from being the weakest party to the strongest overnight.

In the honeymoon period, not only was he very well liked by the Canadian public but I remember reading many articles about how he was one of the most admired "celebrity" world leaders at the time. Center-left parties all over Europe were losing ground to far right groups and saw his election as an important lesson.

Since then Trudeau has been hit with the same criticisms and scandals that many world leaders get caught up in. Wasting money, giving/receiving favours from friends in high places, back peddling on election promises. In my opinion that last one has probably tarnished his image the most from "new exciting leader" to run-of-the-mill politician. He's still generally well liked by the public (aside from lifelong conservative voters who seem to view him as incompetent), but not quite the celebrity he used to be when first elected. Its worth noting that his popularity may very well surge back to previous levels when he finally carries though on his promise to legalize marijuana (supposedly by the end of this year).

4. To put it simply, because the PM has the privilege to do so, and all Canadian PMs do it at some point. It never goes unnoticed though and often happens during big political scandals (whoever the PM is). The PMs spokespeople would probably argue that the minister is more qualified to answer the question, but critics always seize on those moments to point out how the PM is ducking questions. Often the opposition members will keep rephrasing the same question over and over again to draw attention to it as much as possible.

5. As I mentioned before - he's a run-of-the-mill politician.

Thanks for your kind words on Canada.

Your entitled to your opinion on Trudeau, but I'll disagree with you for the time being. He's not as an effective leader as I hoped he would be, but I'm not at all concerned he's going to "fuck up Canada and walk away". Perhaps that was hyperbole on your part, perhaps not. I can't say for sure if I'd vote for him again but for myself, I've not seen any evidence that he is particulary incompetent or corrupt. More to the point - Trump has set a VERY high bar for fucking up country through incompetence and corruption. Trudeau's not perfect but he's not Trump or anywhere close. I expect that like all Liberal Prime Ministers he'll implement a few choice progressive policies and then maintain the status quo for the rest of his political career.

[ultimatewarlord]

Thank you. That answers my question admirably and I'm glad to know that there's at least one Canadian on VEF.

My point about comparing Trudeau to Blair is because Blair seemed a young, dynamic leader who was ready to sweep away the old style thinking. What he actually ended up doing was implementing few policies that actually helped the country. Allowed huge unchecked immigration both legal and illegal (we are a very small country) and managed to alienate his own natural support and middle way voters. He promoted cronies to government posts as well as people who were clearly not competent in the name of diversity. Our deputy Prime Minister was, by any standards, a moron.

As far as Trudeau goes, I've read a little about the Aga Khan holiday and it seems much ado about nothing. He looked a complete prat on the India trip and his peoplekind statement was embarrassing. His biggest crime to me was the defense of the outrageous payment to Omar Khadr.

Just to say that I am aware that most of the utoob vids I watch are from one uploader. So I do bear in mind that it is slanted.

Another Canada question. We get very little Canadian tv/radio culture but I have watched Testees and listened to three brilliant radio comedies by Matt Watts. Namely Steve the First, Steve the Second and Canadia 2056. I also watch Amazing Race Canada. What shows traditionally top the Canadian ratings?

[KissArmy]

Any thoughts about Grande Prairie (Alberta)... especially in the late 70s/early 80s.

[Motorboater]

There's a Canadian friends thread already.

Fwiw With the winter Olympics passing. Alpine skiing was the flavour of the month for me. So I'd look at previous Olympic competitions. Imo, Whistler Creekside is the best mountain they've ran on. I'm not an alpine skiing expert. But WC comes across similar to a Spa Francorchamps is for formula 1. It's a heck of a mountain.

[bombermouse]

Originally Posted by KissArmy

Any thoughts about Grande Prairie (Alberta)... especially in the late 70s/early 80s.

I passed through in 2012. Seemed like a nice enough town and we were able to find a good motel and a good meal.

[KissArmy]

Originally Posted by bombermouse

I passed through in 2012. Seemed like a nice enough town and we were able to find a good motel and a good meal.

Thanks. I asked about the late 70s/early 80s because bad things happened to American girls in Grande Prairie at that time (yeah, there are some facts behind that statement).