Yes I agree. I think the media/propaganda game of the conservatives was just better on this issue.
The liberals overestimate how much normal people pay attention and feel their policies will speak for themselves. No you need to repeat it on a never ending loop and make it very very simple for people to understand. They started doing this but only after they let the conservatives set the tone and message - by then people weren’t listening. I also blame our absolutely toothless legacy media. The fact that they let Pierre talk about how Carney was “unelected” without IMMEDIATELY fact checking that, preferably TO HIS FACE, is disgraceful. The fact that they let him continue to lie and gaslight us around his security clearance is cowardice.
Similar to how Poilievre’s trying to repaint his relationship with MAGA - people just don’t believe him and I don’t think there’s anything he can do to change that. And they shouldn’t believe him - he’s a twat.
The liberals were just really bad at operationalizing their policies. Too much thinking and talking - not enough doing.
That said, I cannot overstate how misinformed and disengaged our electorate has been. I had to push my friends to go vote in Ontario’s provincial election - they didn’t know it was happening, didn’t know where to vote, didn’t know what they needed to vote, and thought THEY WEREN’T ALLOWED TO VOTE because they hadn’t received their voter card in time.
I do think we as a society need to give people more permission to try things out and get things wrong without absolutely excoriating them, however. Decriminalization in BC comes to mind.
Oh yeah, I mean as an outside observer they’ve seemed pretty ineffective.
But I do wonder how much is exacerbated by, for example: foreign interference/propaganda, sub-par educational levels and engagement of the electorate, 24/7 News entertainment, citizens united, the absolute audacity of the boomer generation to benefit from very generous social policies and then turn around and screw the younger generations on the exact same benefits they themselves received.
The American default (and increasingly, the Western default) seems to be fuck you I got mine (until something bad happens to me).
Now, I’m not American - I just pay attention. My boomer parents in law will sit there and complain about the state of every service - paid or social - like banking, doctors etc. and I have to contain myself when I tell them that capitalism by nature degrades and enshittifies every good thing the middle class had and that Millennials really, truly, do not believe anything will ever be good again. They look at me like I have 5 heads. Truly not a clue.
I know.
I know we can walk and chew gum at the same time and hold the government to account on climate measures.
Big caveat - it seems pretty tone deaf at the moment relative to the threats on our sovereignty.
I don’t see a path for Carney to be elected without getting rid of the tax, at least momentarily.
We do need to realize that not everyone is aligned with Stephen Guilbault on this issue. My big gripe is that there’s always been a lot of analysis and policy and talk but no actual plan to sell to the electorate in a way that will improve their lives without costing them exorbitant amounts of money.
For example, the electric car 2030 push. Seems good on paper. But, I frequently drive 5-6 hours to northern Ontario. No electric car is going to make it there without having to stop to charge for HOURS. So I’m doubling my travel time for what? A good quality EV is 30k+. Who has that kind of money for a product that is going to be less convenient? The solution would be to improve rail service and mass transport but have there been ANY plans to do that? No. This is why people get pissed off about climate policies. Because it’s a huge inconvenience and will massively disrupt their lives. Instead of the government doing things that actually help people in the face of this, we get paltry rebates and almost no supporting infrastructure.
I’m incredibly pro- climate measures but the government has to make things easier for people. The population is fucking tired and not receptive to more inconveniences that make their lives harder. The government needs to solve for that to get people onboard. I’m not talking discounts or rebates I’m talking FREE - free solar panels, free heat pumps. Cheap and affordable public long distance transit. The passenger train goes to my destination ONE time every week. That’s simply not enough. Requiring automakers to standardize charging inputs and somehow speeding up the charging. Charging stations at every gas station, yes, even in rural areas. It has to be better, cheaper, and more convenient than the status quo to get Canadians onboard.
Omg will people never be happy. What feels like 12 million years of Poilievre screeching “AxE tHe TaX”
Carney’s like fine, bet.
Now the journalistic take is we’re mad the tax was axed?
Listen - I don’t really care about this for the moment because if we don’t elect Carney I’m genuinely worried there won’t be a Canada, all of our shit will get privatized, and industrial pollution regulations will get deleted.
What a time for this take. Yeah price to pay to shut up the sloganeering zombies so we can actually have an election. We can double back on climate after - I think Carney’s serious about climate.
The point is: if they don’t figure out how to do something RIGHT NOW, there won’t be any other party. All parties that are not aligned with Trump will be disallowed. Russia, Turkey, Hungary, is the direction the US is headed.
The window is closing right now and if nothing is done the American people will no longer have a choice. Trump might insist there’s still democracy but it will be a sham like everything else he’s put his name on.
I’ve had so many conversations with Americans online where I’ve pointed out that the second amendment is a joke and Americans wouldn’t have the guts to stand up to a tyrannical government. Well….
Distraction.
He’ll often use contradictory actions/statements to distract from things that are true but politically disadvantageous/unpopular.
For example, he said he’d have an easier time dealing with Canada’s new Liberal PM than the Conservative shitstain running for office.
This is false - he lies about this to help the Conservative and project strength when he knows full well our new guy will mop the floor with him.
In this instance his ties to Putin are unpopular and he’s pulling some real terrible shit to help Putin with Ukraine. So he distracts by saying he’s mad at Putin.
It’s really easy to spot when you look at what he does through the lens of bad wrestling or reality tv story writing.
I was listening to CBC cross-country checkup yesterday and there was this military contractor who called in and lamented that Carney wasn’t the right guy because of the stain on the Liberal party with the people still involved.
What the actual fuck is he smoking that he thinks this little do-nothing whiner is the tough guy who’s gonna rebuild Canada’s military.
Legacy media and dem politicians need to stop pulling punches and get to the bottom of WHY Musk needs Wisconsin. I get that the AP is hyperneutral, but the reporting, political, and public response on this issue has been irresponsible and feckless. The outrage is so wholly insufficient. This needs Benghazi and Hunter Biden’s laptop energy.
Could it be because it is a critical swing state and they are gearing up for the mother of all power grabs in the next presidential election?
Grow some fucking balls and attack this properly goddamn before the GOP cements their fascist coup of America.
Isn’t a benefit to these systems still being COBOL is that they’re hard to hack?
IMO this was a distraction for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
I bought this kit from Aliexpress. I’m not very picky about my needles, but I do have have the Chiaogoo red ones. I wanted a set to travel with and these seem good so far, which is kind of surprising.
Price $38.38 Canadian
3-8mm needles
Just in case anyone’s in the market for some needles.
Just finished this. Took about a month. The pattern is free!
Since it’s unisex I used a Caron cotton cake in DK I think and knit the small size. I followed the guidance on the label for needle size. It started as an experiment and ended as a happy accident.
Also, I modified by adding the panel in the hood and icord string.
It’s usually in the context of him as PM when they bring up that he’s unelected but yeah I see your point.
Even my friends post all about Carney on Facebook but I know they don’t know they don’t directly vote for him and their riding has been Conservative with a non-liberal coming in as the second party for the last few federal cycles. Voting liberal in service of Carney won’t get them anywhere and they don’t know this.