dbd33

But wait, she's a dangerous pinko. She wants universal healthcare tp apply to everyone. She wants to pay her staff! She thinks that people who shut down the government shouldn't be paid while the government's shut down. She calls a racist a racist. She's so far left she'd barely fit into Mulroney's Progressive Conservative party.

spouse of scouse

I know, shocking isn't it. Just as well she can dance, otherwise she wouldn't have a thing going for her. A politician for the people? Who ever heard of such a thing.

Tumbling_Dice

Trudeau is your typical modern, low quality politician for whom presentation is key and policy is a side issue at best, and an inconvenience in truth. If politicians of all stripes put half the effort into governing as they do to spin then their countries would be better places.

The one thing that has worked for Trudeau is Trump and this is the reason he will get re-elected. The Canadians I have observed, or had to listen to, are sanctimoniously up themselves about Trump. I would wager that had Obama been in power Trudeau would have been the usual Canadian footnote. Instead, he has the ground perfectly laid out to signal his virtue, and the world's press are so desperate for this sort of character, that is why you are hearing about him.

Does he impose extreme lefty laws? I am not sure: it seems Canadians are desperate to be seen as progressive and accepting, indeed this is how they define their national character and identity. Scratch the surface, and they are potentially as good or nasty as any other human. I think Trudeau is following the national mood to be seen, again, as super progressive (whatever that means) compared to the US.

dbd33

If you can't think of one then surely the answer is "no". I suggest that nationalising things, like pipes, might be considered a leftist position though it's not an extreme one.

When Mr. Trudeau came around and realigned my gender he said it wasn't due to a law but was part of an executive order during a state of emergency and so didn't count. It was a bother though, I was up half the night moving shirt buttons and button holes.

Hurlabrick

I have no idea what the OP is going on about - I do not spare a moment fretting about PC laws that may or may not be real and are passed by provinces in a federal system. I do not worry about 'pinko / commie / fags' in the Liberals or NDP - politics does not define my life any more than BREXIT should define the life of a UK citizen (although if the papers are to be believed it does!).

What I love about Canada (as someone who has returned after a 50 year absence) was perfectly outlined today. At the local 'Real Canadian Superstore' (big, low cost supermarket) there was a pile up of three karts (trolleys to Brits), two of which were owned by, shall we say, 'obvious' first generation Canadians of middle eastern origin. I could not get my kart through and I am limping quite a bit from sciatica as a result of a recent slipped disc. Now in the UK, I would be ready for a barrage of abuse as I tried to nudge one kart aside followed by snarls and dirty looks. But instead, a harassed lady with a lot of children demanding her attention apologised profusely and quick moved their kart - a smile from me and a grin from her and apologies all around. That sir, is what I call community and it is what I call Canada and I am proud to be here!

Oh, and GO LEAFS GO!

Snowy560

Good post Hurlabrick!

YoshiPal2010

Oh, dear! Just another bleedin' troll!

scilly

I agree ...... a great post by Hurlabrick

Dorothy

All except the Leafs reference.

Atlantic Xpat

Generally, aside from the observation that Brexit may not define the life of a UK citizen but it will surely make it worse.
As for the OP. Don't feed the trolls.

dbd33

I think that was sensible when trolls seemed to be lone frothing loons. Now that we' know they're only posing as lone frothing loons it's not so simple. I think the intent of this sort of thread is to push concepts into the mainstream so as to shift the bar of subsequent discussions. For example, there's no military wing of the Democratic party; repeatedly claiming that it exists is to develop a false equivalency so that, when organized gangs of Trumpist thugs beat someone up, Fox news can present a balanced view with Trumpist thugs on the one side and the Democratic party on the other. Nancy Pelosi and Gavin McInnes can be presented as equals. For a developed example of this strategy consider climate change; the climate is changing, people are causing it to change. Discussions of what to do get bogged down because, in the name of "balance", some ostrich always has to be dug up to explain that the Bible says it isn't happening. Rational discussions require that both sides of the discussion are within reasonable bounds and, in that case, one side in is in la-la-land.

I think there might be merit in taking the time to deride posters who advance outlandish ideas, as in the OP or Brexit supporters. Always accepting that engaging with their discussion points is as pointless as engaging with the ideas of the Jehovah's Witnesses on the doorstep.

Tangram

Clearly not had a brush with Acadians.

Engineer_abroad

apart from leafs bit

CanadaJimmy

My concern is that Trudeau isn't left-wing enough, the Liberals made many political promises design to attract left-leaning people but then they dissolve into platitudes when they're in government. A good example is Pharmacare, the Liberals are holding an advisory panel on whether to do a national Pharmacare program. No doubt this will go just like the Electoral Reform advisory panel - nothing will come of it but it looks like they're doing something...

However, Trudeau is seen as the "anti-conservative" by many online right wing groups. He's sort of seen by these people like how Hillary Clinton is seen in the US deep south. These people will shape and distort media to portray their version of reality. Do your homework on this.

This is a gross simplification. Grasping with gender-identity is an issue currently going around in Canada at the moment, and needs to be taken seriously. These issues are not black-and-white and every case has to be handled differently. This has likely come up because the child will now be protected under the charter for their gender-identity based on a recent law change, and if the parents are violating their child's rights, there could be issues, however I don't think this is very likely something to happen.

Yes because there are not "tiers" of citizenship. Once you are a Canadian citizen, you remain a citizen. More scary would be if the government could take away your citizenship for an arbitrary reason. Canada has rights and rule of law, no exceptions. This is how it should be, and is an example to the world on how to have an objective humanitarian rule of law, not political "feel-good" laws. From what I understand returning ISIS fighters are still prosecuted for their crimes and detained, they are not allowed to simply return and roam free.

Yes because the US government detained him, a Canadian Citizen, and the previous Canadian government allowed his human rights to be violated at Guantanamo. The Canadian government should have extradited him and jailed him in Canada or demanded he be kept in a regular US prison. Instead they allowed him to be barbarically tortured in the USA. Terrorist or not, he is still a human being. We don't get to pick and choose who gets rights and who doesn't.

As stated above, ISIS fighters are prosecuted under the criminal code, you may want to research this further.

Depends on the intention, if you deliberately call someone by the wrong pronoun as part of a hateful campaign, then why shouldn't you be prosecuted, the same way someone who attacks gay people or a particular race? Imagine being a transgender person, trying to live a normal life, and someone verbally attacks you, you think that's acceptable?

I find the UK's obsession with internet data monitoring and CCTV cameras everywhere much, much worse.

Has never once effected my daily life in Canada.

Engineer_abroad

I was mostly with you right up to here. The issue here is similar to the response you provided about we do not get to choose who has human right and who doesn't. In the same way we do not get to pick and choose who has a right to freedom of speech and who doesn't, even when that freedom is used to say some despicable and nasty things. To be clear I find such people deplorable and would never engage in such behavior myself, but people do not have a right to be protected against being insulted or made to feel bad. You cannot directly compare the impact from nasty comments against acts of physical violence, to me this is just a plain absurdity. I feel for trans-gender people who have to live in a society, that generally, does not accept them. But a persons freedom to speech is a basic human right which should be protected regardless of the person or what they say.