Canada also has history of troops in the streets and violent provocateurs
https://rabble.ca/news/2020/06/canada-also-has-history-troops-streets-and-violent-provocateurs
Canada's federal election: Monday, September 20, 2021
Thu, 2020-06-04 13:41
#52
Thu, 2020-06-04 13:42
#53
Canadian politicians have their say on George Floyd and racism
https://rabble.ca/news/2020/06/canadian-politicians-have-their-say-george-floyd-and-racism
Thu, 2020-06-04 19:54
#54
Tue, 2020-06-09 15:54
#55
Trudeau says he learned about MP Marwan Tabbara's months-old arrest on Friday
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/marwan-tabbara-trudeau-arrest-1.5604757
Fri, 2020-06-12 13:15
#56
Trudeau talks the talk, eh!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/diversity-public-service-trudeau-1.5607977
Fri, 2020-06-12 13:38
#57
Misfit
We are in the midst of a global recession. I highly doubt that the Liberal party would call an election during a pandemic and within his first year. He has no real opposition right now and can comfortably run the next four years the way he is without incident.
Sat, 2020-06-13 09:05
#58
Sat, 2020-06-13 10:35
#59
Police in Norway have not killed anyone in nearly 10 years
https://www.newsweek.com/police-norway-havent-killed-anyone-nearly-10-ye...
Sun, 2020-06-14 04:27
#60
All very interesting. But none of this explains why anyone would think there'd be a general election during a pandemic. sti
Given that there's no indication that an election held while this pandemic is still out of control would benefit ANY of the parties in the House, why would anyone believe either the government or the opposition would try to cause one?
Sun, 2020-06-14 17:15
#61
Most Canadians believe systemic racism exists — but could it affect how they vote?
Polls suggest most Canadians see systemic racism as a serious issue in law enforcement
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-systemic-racism-election-issue-1.5610244
Mon, 2020-06-15 17:24
#62
NDP forces Liberals to extend some CERB Benefits
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-emergency-relief-benefit-1.5612445
Mon, 2020-06-15 20:04
#63
She Called ‘Men With Guns Because Of Chalk Art’; Pacific Heights Man On Black Lives Matter Sign Confrontation With San Francisco CEO
Tue, 2020-06-16 18:14
#64
Here is where the working poor in particular, but all Canadians at the lower end of the economic ladder, are going to get screwed over big time by the Liberals.
If you think the struggle against COVID-19 has been hard thus far, wait until we get to the post-pandemic recovery stage.
That's when the real battle will get under way.
On one side we will have those who, echoing the Canadian Liberal government of the 1990s, argue that public debt is the main challenge, adding that any increase in taxes on corporations or the wealthy would stifle economic growth.
That is, not surprisingly, U.S. President Donald Trump's view. He manages to get (white) working class men to support him, nonetheless, by wrapping his elitist economic policies in nationalist, xenophobic and racist rhetoric.
It is also the view of the Canadian conservative movement.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper has already put it out there, and right-of-centre think tanks, from the Fraser Institute to the C.D. Howe Institute to the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, are all weighing in on the side of what they characterize as fiscal probity.
There are also many in the Liberal party who subscribe to this view, although they are, publicly, keeping their powder dry for the moment.
To pay for recovery, boost corporate taxes and end tax havens, say progressive economists
Tue, 2020-06-16 18:53
#65
Law and Virus Expert Amir Attaran on Canada’s Pandemic Fail
The professor says politics and ineptitude have upped the death toll.
Dr. Amir Attaran is no fan of how Canada has handled the threat of COVID-19. “Dismal,” is a word he uses. Another is “shocking.” The doctor of law and epidemiology at the University of Ottawa says, “I never thought I would be in a country that did as poorly as it’s just done. It has to do with the way our governments have responded.”
In this latest instalment of the Salt Spring Forum series of video interviews with experts on various aspects of the pandemic, Attaran speaks with elementary school teacher Katharine Byers.
Attaran criticizes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for failing to develop a competent federally administered response towards the pandemic that would include a national reporting and testing standard. That could have lowered the current tally in Canada nearing 8,100 deaths from COVID-19.
Attaran cites as a better example Australia, which has seen a total of 102 deaths. That country had a national plan to deal with COVID-19 in February, which the states and the federal government collaboratively implemented in March.
Now in Canada, in the middle of June, “there still is no federal national plan for COVID,” says Attaran. Instead, every province has been left to formulate its own response and standards for testing and data collection.
Ontario and Quebec are hardest hit. Across Canada, Quebec accounts for 64 per cent of the death toll with more than 5,200 and Ontario accounts for 30 per cent of the death toll with more than 2,500.
On the other hand, B.C. has fared well in comparison to its eastern counterparts. The province has seen a little over 2,700 confirmed cases with 168 deaths as of June 15. Attaran credits the province’s approach placing science above politics.
In B.C., the provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has led the COVID-19 response, while in Ontario, Quebec and federally, Attaran says, politicians have held more sway and taken centre stage.
“Doug Ford often gives presentation on COVID in Ontario. François Legault in Quebec. Federally, [it is] Justin Trudeau [who] comes out from behind the closed doors of his cottage, walks to the podium and speaks,” said Attaran. “I think this is foolish.”
Except for those well-versed in the medical and scientific language, like the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, politicians should leave life and death measures to the experts, says Attaran. “We have unskilled, unqualified people applying the wrong frame of reference, a political one to what is fundamentally a scientific problem.”
The process of solving scientific problems rests on solid data that can be easily and clearly interpreted. But “this country is the master of garbage in, garbage out for epidemiological data,” says Attaran. The Public Health Agency of Canada possesses under 50 per cent of the data on cases of COVID-19 in Canada. Reporting from the provinces is hampered by the reliance on using fax machines to communicate health data, leading to delays, says Attaran.
“The health field has maintained this fiction that only fax is secure,” said Attaran. But remaining beholden to that technology makes it difficult to do science and make policy in a timely fashion because “we’re waiting for the fax machine to spit out another page and for someone to type it in. This is our single greatest failure at the operational level and public health right now.”
Attaran also criticizes Canada for failing to gather race-based data to see which communities are being disappointingly affected by the virus.
Such data amassed in the U.S. shows Black and other racialized communities have been disproportionately affected by the virus. “In Canada, we’re backwards about how we regard racism. And we do have an attitude of ‘see no evil, therefore it doesn’t exist,’ which is frankly, rubbish!” says Attaran, who grew up and went to university in California before moving to Canada.
“We do this quite habitually when as a society we do not collect data about race, and we have even manufactured in this completely perverse manner of thinking that to ask about race somehow reflects racism. We are sitting in the middle of an epidemic right now in Canada, that is certainly disproportionately hitting minority communities, but we choose not to see it.”
As a lawyer and a public health professional, Attaran also weighs in on the surge of opioid deaths within the month of May as B.C. celebrated its success with COVID-19. He believes that decriminalizing possession of personal quantities of drugs is the only solution. “This is much more of a public health problem than a legal problem.” An effective approach must address the underlying psychological and social determinants to addiction. The criminal justice system can’t and won’t do that.
Attaran warns that the virus is here to stay, and we need to begin imagining different futures. His advice for parents worried about the incoming school year, for example, is this: “Temporize, temporize, temporize. Don’t take the decision now about school in September if you can.” Instead, weigh your own comfort zone with personal risk and ethical considerations, and ask yourself, “At what point would you accept that the threat is so minimal, that it doesn’t engage a difficult moral question.”
https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/06/16/Attaran-Canada-Pandemic-Failures/
Tue, 2020-06-16 18:58
#66
COVID-19 Gets the Wheels Turning on a National Cycling Strategy
More Canadians are seeking new active transport options. An NDP MP is seizing the moment, and he has a key Liberal ally.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/06/15/COVID-National-Cycling-Strategy/
Tue, 2020-06-16 19:03
#67
The BC Senator Who Landed Himself and Others a Bonus Faces a Big ‘No’
Sen. Pierre Dalphond is trying to reverse Sen. Yen Pau Woo’s move that netted him $12,500 for chairing a committee that rarely meets.
The motion allowing the chair of the selection committee to collect an extra $12,500 annually was moved by British Columbia Sen. Yuen Pau Woo, appointed to the Senate in 2016 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/06/16/BC-Senator-Lands-Bonus-Faces-Big-No/
Wed, 2020-06-17 01:24
#68
Is this another situation where the federal government is not doing its part by keeping the border closed to USA travellers to Canada until a mutually agreed upon date? We know that physical distancing is the number preventative measure - what's not to understand about that!
https://www.straight.com/covid-19-pandemic/june-15-coronavirus-update-bc...
Wed, 2020-06-17 14:06
#69
All very interesting. But none of this explains why anyone would think there'd be a general election during a pandemic. sti
Given that there's no indication that an election held while this pandemic is still out of control would benefit ANY of the parties in the House, why would anyone believe either the government or the opposition would try to cause one?
Political parties have been known to misjudge the risks and rewards of decisions in the past.
Wed, 2020-06-17 18:28
#70
Singh stands by calling Bloc MP a racist after being removed from House
Wed, 2020-06-17 18:42
#71
Liberals and their sycophant Canadian media have been making international fools of themselves over the UN Security Council seat. Harper cut back on foreign aid, and then was followed by Trudeau. What in the world were the Liberals thinking? Just more Liberals talking the talk!
Election 2019: Foreign aid cuts would be even deeper than first thought
Robert Greenhill lays out 10 facts to better understand what’s at stake this election and beyond.
Wed, 2020-06-17 18:59
#72
The UN Security Council rout: Canada's (at the) back!
Believing a win at the UN would fall from the heavens on Trudeau because he wasn't Harper was an expression of the narcissism and shallowness that have characterized this government during much of its time in office
https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-un-security-council-rout-canadas-at-the-back/
Wed, 2020-06-17 19:16
#73
U.N. vote deals Trudeau embarrassing defeat on world stage
It was not even close as Norway and Ireland beat out Canada for nonpermanent seats at the Security Council table.
Thu, 2020-06-18 07:56
#74
Why Canada fails time after time on the world stage
https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/why-canada-fails-on-the-world-stage/
Thu, 2020-06-18 08:39
#75
Thu, 2020-06-18 08:52
#76
Thu, 2020-06-18 14:27
#77
Racism allegation: Blanchet wants Singh to apologize or face 'severe' consequence
Thu, 2020-06-18 14:41
#78
So, the Bloc "bloc'ed"(sorry) the motion because they say they want the issue to be studied by a committee first. Is this basically the BQ playing to the "pure laine" crowd by wanting to prevent a motion like this from being adopted until things cool down and forget about it?
At this stage, what could there possibly be to "study" on this?
Thu, 2020-06-18 15:56
#79
Thu, 2020-06-18 20:42
#80
This is not rocket science.
Burnaby's Jagmeet Singh isn’t the one who needs to apologize
It’s a sad day for Canada when our only racialized national party leader is being told to apologize for calling out racism.
Blanchet and Therrien are the ones who owe Singh an apology. Even better would be a commitment to deal with systemic racism in our country. They need to put aside their hurt feelings and recognize that they are microscopic when compared to the pain felt by Canadians who are subjected to racism every day.
Singh had asked the Commons to recognize there is systemic racism in the RCMP and to call on the Liberal government to review the police force's budget, ensure the Mounties are truly accountable, examine the Mounties' use of force, and boost non-police spending on mental health and addiction support.
Blanchet said his party voted against the motion because the Bloc is already supporting a Commons public safety committee study of RCMP racism, which it considers a major issue.
It’s just more bureaucratic garbage designed to avoid having the truth told about our country.
Sat, 2020-06-20 01:04
#81
She is correct of course. It's the racism in the Liberal and Conservative parties which have been governing Canada since Confederation which is mainly causing the problem.
'It's not our problem to solve'
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly-coronavirus-specia...
Sat, 2020-06-20 18:43
#82
Greta is correct of course, and she is pointing her finger right at Canada
‘Grown-ups Have Failed Us’
Conversation: Greta Thunberg
Sat, 2020-06-20 21:22
#83
Nothing like the thought of losing power in a minority government situation makes politicians focus
Prime minister opens door to citizenship for migrant workers
For many years, activists and NDP MPs have been pushing Canadian governments to institute more humane and just treatment for temporary foreign workers.
https://rabble.ca/news/2020/06/prime-minister-opens-door-citizenship-migrant-workers
Sat, 2020-06-20 21:53
#84
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh ‘not worried’ about possible legal action; won’t apologize after accusing a Bloc MP of being racist
Sat, 2020-06-20 22:33
#85
What stage is Jagmeet Singh in now?
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”
Sat, 2020-06-20 23:17
#86
Sun, 2020-06-21 01:28
#87
The opposition parties won't try to bring Trudeau down while the pandemic is still underway. They know full well the voters would punish them for forcing an early election.Nothing like the thought of losing power in a minority government situation makes politicians focus
Prime minister opens door to citizenship for migrant workers
For many years, activists and NDP MPs have been pushing Canadian governments to institute more humane and just treatment for temporary foreign workers.
https://rabble.ca/news/2020/06/prime-minister-opens-door-citizenship-migrant-workers
Sun, 2020-06-21 15:27
#88
Excellent question
Why is being called 'racist' more offensive than racism itself?
White fragility silences voices, says advocate
'White feelings don't matter more than Black and Indigenous lives,' says human rights advocate
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pov-racism-white-fragility-1.561...
Sun, 2020-06-21 15:35
#89
Another excellent article.
The hard work of curing systemic racism in media organizations and journalism schools needs to begin
Sun, 2020-06-21 21:48
#90
Jagmeet Singh, the 'racist' label and what Parliament won't abide
Jen Gerson: Has the social-media age overtaken the rules of the House?
In this woebegotten year of 2020, blessed is the politician who can stumble into a scandal perfectly tailored to the tyranny of Twitter.
As protests, riots, and rage make their mark across the world in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh got himself ejected from the House of Commons for calling Bloc MP Alain Therrien a “racist.”
It was an act of civil disobedience, well suited to the passions of the moment, that generated overwhelming support for Singh.
“Only in a racist country does a brown man get ejected from parliament for insisting that the denial of systemic racism is racist,” was a fairly typical, and popular, example on Twitter.
--------------------
In the meantime, through his act of well-timed civil disobedience, Singh won the day’s news cycle. I even see #IStandWithJagmeet is trending. For a leader who has struggled to advance his agenda amid the din around Covid, an economic collapse and continent-wide unrest, I cannot help but applaud.
https://www.macleans.ca/politics/jagmeet-singh-the-racist-label-and-what-parliament-wont-abide/
Sun, 2020-06-21 21:54
#91
Bloc Québecois MP Who Killed Anti-Racism Motion Promoted Blog Claiming Muslims Invented ‘Islamophobia’
Blog opposed Québec Solidaire’s 2015 anti-Islamophobia motion
Sun, 2020-06-21 22:03
#92
Jagmeet just might be the most appropriate leader, at the right time, for the NDP to do quite well in the upcoming BlackLivesMatter/pandemic election.
Sun, 2020-06-21 22:11
#93
Sun, 2020-06-21 22:21
#94
It is obvious that white Canada is not ready to address racism.
Sun, 2020-06-21 22:25
#95
Jagmeet just might be the most appropriate leader, at the right time, for the NDP to do quite well in the upcoming BlackLivesMatter/pandemic election.
He is a good leader for the times, but there isn't going to be an election DURING the pandemic, and not only during the pandemic but three years early.
Where did you ever get the idea that such a thing could possibly happen?
Mon, 2020-06-22 00:19
#96
Trudeau has to do more than say the right words or show up at a protest: Jagmeet Singh
Mon, 2020-06-22 00:19
#97
UBCIC calls on Canada to turn rhetoric into action on National Indigenous Peoples Day
Mon, 2020-06-22 10:20
#98
Mon, 2020-06-22 10:55
#99
Mon, 2020-06-22 16:08
#100
Jagmeet Singh apologizing would be 'whitewashing' racist system
Mon, 2020-06-22 16:13
#101
What useless commentary which does absolutely nothing to address the actual issue of racism, but typical of the usual disappointing Ottawa bubblezone media.