Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Federal Election - 20 Sept

338Rules;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope the day's looking to be a good one across the big hills and you're all well.

Cynic that I've become, the thought that one of Shiny Pony's minions tossed pebbles at his behest was absolutely the first thought I had.

If the day comes that I get agitated enough to throw rocks at someone, they'll be tennis ball sized with sharp edges. I speak with some experience here in my youth convincing livestock and sometimes stray dogs to heed my instructions and smaller projectiles with smooth edges just don't work.

But for sure, I wouldn't put it past them to stone themselves for the publicity and a chance to portray anyone with remotely libertarian leanings as a dangerous segment of the population.

I will say we don't see any Liberal party signs here either as 673 said, my wife was commenting about that on the weekend in fact.

All the best to you and good luck on your hunts.

Dwayne

My Daddy always said if your stuck in one spot and just spinning your wheels and going nowhere throw some gravel at it to maybe gain some traction.

BC30 : Thank you for your cordial comments ! We are all well here, with clear skies and cooler nights.
I too am hopeful that wildfire season has passed.

I’m looking forward to some hunts, and enjoying nature’s bounty.
Grouse have been scarce here, but I am ever hopeful

Sitting back to watch the debates tonight & tomorrow, I won’t be changing my vote any.

Cheers

Butts ?

673 - I can’t disagree with what you are saying , Time to negotiate a truce with the separatists that allows them to leave home , succeed, fail or something in between. The west can’t afford their indecision.

I haven’t seen a Liberal sign either. Maybe someone threw gravel at them till they blew away. Ha

Just back from 2 weeks camping with our daughter and 1 week alone with my dog (3 days of hunting sharptails - trip pictures to be posted later this week) and it was nice to stay away from the COVID / election news. I do see and smile at the drop in support for the Liberals which was something I had hoped for prior to leaving.

Coming back I have been surprised that there has been no media coverage of corruption in government and the ethics violations that have occurred over the last 6 years. Surely this item should be discussed in the debates but has been left off. The implication is that Canadians are fine with this behaviour and it is a non topic of interest to the average Canadian voter. Have we turned into a banana republic where corruption by a governing party backed up by a 3rd place finisher is now the acceptable standard?

This mornings article by Rex Murphy is a good one and needs to be splashed around.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-its-a-hollow-election-without-national-purpose

Butts....Trudeau's advisor, was secretary until he crawled back under a rock (resigned) over the SNC scam, miraculously resurfaced after the smoke cleared, a complete pos....google him. All he did was fugg the west.

673;
Good almost afternoon to you sir, hope the day's going as it should.

Indeed Gerald Butts is at the top or perhaps bottom of the list of the left leaning advisors which need to go away from all things government related.

He played a much larger roll in jerking Jody Wilson-Raybould around than most mainstream media reported on for sure.

While I'm no fan of Ms. Wilson-Raybould's politics, she and Dr, Jane Philpott were about the only two politicians that had a background in their postings. Well Harjit Sajjan did too, but somehow he turned out to be someone who should have stayed in a military career.

Anyways, I'm with you on Gerry Butts being bad, bad news when attached to anything whatsoever to do with national policy making.

Have a good one my friend.

Dwayne

673, BC30cal : Thx, I had forgotten about that snake, and his antics.
They always seem to have a way of resurfacing to do more damage.

The good ones that their treachery sabotages seem to become very Leary of the political arena though.
Once bit, twice shy.

Justin Trudeau Isn't Real
I wonder if he really wants to be PM, or is simply being used

Justin Trudeau is an artificial construct. That is, he was built by his father, his father's Liberal friends, and later, molded by the Liberal party. There isn't much of his own man inside.

He was one of three sons born to Pierre Trudeau and Maggie Sinclair, in what some called an arranged marriage. A prefab deal similar to how the royals and the very rich do things. It has been suggested that their marriage was partially a Liberal design.

Before looking at Justin, you have to consider where he came from.


Maggie and Pierre

Justin's mother, Maggie, was 29 years younger than her future husband Pierre, and not interested in him when they first met. It's understandable, given their age difference and the divergent lives each led. He was a 52 year old Quebec politician. She was a 22 year old hippie from BC.

The two were worlds apart. Pierre was a well educated, middle aged man who happened to be prime minister of Canada. He was at the top of his game politically in the late 1960s/early 1970s, but the world was changing. Maggie was just having fun and smoking ganja.

We had just come through a period of violent upheaval with the FLQ crisis. The US war in Vietnam was on our television sets every night. The 1970s arrived, not as a hippie lovefest but as a troubled, scrappy time.

Cable television was born. Image became more important than ever. Satellites relayed information to our living rooms from all over the world. The changes to the political landscape were not lost on the Liberal party or Pierre Trudeau. Canada needed stability and their leader had to change to lead the way.

Trudeau rose quickly through the Liberal ranks, portrayed as someone who was "now" and "cool". Almost everybody loved him - despite what people said later. Trudeau made the Liberal party hip! Look at the photo above. Here is a PM with long hair, a flower in his lapel, a funky tie and a good looking young lady on his arm. Everyone thought he was "totally with it".

Prior to 1968, we had several dowdy, older men as prime ministers. Have a look at picture of Trudeau's predecessor, Lester Pearson, and you'll see what I mean. Everyone, not just the youth culture, wanted a fresh start that reflected the changing times. Pierre was the answer.


Lester Pearson - PM from 1963 to 1968

Pierre Trudeau has always been considered a very organized, masterful planner. He knew what voters wanted, and I am sure there were many disputes amongst the Liberal leadership about his style and appearance. He was very adept at reading the public, which showed during his first few years as PM. He wore modern suits, always spoke his mind and was seen from time to time driving a sports car on Parliament Hill.

But politicians must adapt or be voted out. Trudeaumania had made him PM, but a segment of voters wondered why he wasn't married. That was important because it showed him as responsible and grounded.

Here's something to consider. Why did Pierre marry Maggie Sinclair?

1. She was a young, pretty, free spirited person. She was photogenic and would look great on the prime minister's arm. She would capture the youth vote.

2. Maggie was a liberal minded person with a Liberal background. She graduated from SFU in 1969 with an arts degree in sociology. Her father was James Sinclair, born in Scotland, who came to Canada (BC) in 1911 when he was three years old. He was Minister of Fisheries from 1952 to 1957 under Liberal prime minister Louis St. Laurent. She had the right lineage.

3. Pierre had to identify with as many Canadians as possible. Most people were married, or believed in it, so having a married PM was the politically correct thing to do. It was all part of the image. He was swept in on Trudeaumania, but had to keep power by demonstrating responsibility to older voters too.

To me, Pierre Trudeau's life was crafted to serve the Liberal ideal. It would happen later with his son, Justin, too. The difference lay in Pierre's ability to control most of what went on, whereas Justin had to be guided along by Liberal handlers.

Justin was born to a famous Canadian family. A good looking kid who may not have wanted to be a politician, but was wrangled into it after the death of his father in 2000. He showed that he could speak publicly, giving his father's eulogy. He had the name, and, I suspect, could be controlled. In 2006, he made his first political appearance.

It can be argued that Jean Chretien was the last effective leader the party had. After he left, Canadians saw Paul Martin Jr, Michael Ignatieff, Stephane Dion and interim leader Bob Rae put in charge. They were no good. Some back room person must have made the suggestion to fire things up and get Justin Trudeau into the public view. Like his dad, he was good looking and didn't live his entire life trying to get into politics. Some have claimed that because he wasn't politically astute as his father (or perhaps, less intelligent) and could be used by the party to return the Liberals to power.

I'll let you guess what happened.

Justin has two degrees - a bachelor of arts degree in English Literature (McGill - 1994) and a bachelor of education degree (UBC - 1998). Neither of which pushes you in the direction of politics. Most prime ministers had degrees in political science, economics or history at the masters or doctoral level.

Like many educators, he started as a substitute teacher, moving on to a private school where he taught math, French, and later, yes, he taught drama. The students liked him. Justin also worked for some advocacy groups, but had no political aspirations - until 2006 that is. He was approached by the Liberals and asked to get more involved with the party. He was 35.

Having a famous father as PM certainly introduced him to the power brokers. He had the name and was photogenic. Initially however, he wanted to be a teacher and had no desire to be a politician. Something changed. Wouldn't it have been interesting to be a fly on the wall when the Liberals first approached him?

Justin's dad crafted his own image. Justin wasn't as gifted. From 2006 until the present day, he would have to be educated on the fine points of back room politics, policy, and who advises the party. To me, he seems more like his mother than papa Pierre. We see it everyday when we watch the news.

He is not as skilled at public speaking as his father, and I don't believe he's as bright. He suffered the unfortunate circumstance of being dragged into politics by Liberal power brokers, who used him for the good of their party.

Does your average Canadian see this as well? Perhaps not. We don't know what happens behind closed doors at any party headquarters. The decision makers try to keep Justin on the liberal path, guiding a boy who just wanted to be a teacher. He was good at that.

So the question is, do Canadians see his ineptitude? Have they seen the Liberal mistakes? Calling an election wasn't necessary. Parents are sending their kids to school in a pandemic. Is that going to play on their minds too?

The race is so close. It is said that about 10 percent of the population is undecided. If that's true, the debate tonight will make or break things and determine the next governing party.

Watch the polls and listen to the pundits tomorrow!

Going into the debate, here are the nos.

Nanos

CON - 32.6%
LIB - 30.6%
NDP - 20.3%

BQ - 5.5%
PPC - 5.3%
GRN - 4.2%

CBC

Conservatives - 33.5%
Liberal - 31.6%
NDP - 20.0%

Bloc Québécois - 5.8%
PPC - 5.3%
Green - 3.0%

This is a good article for anyone who wants to know what happens if another minority government happens. It explains how and who would form the government. It may answer questions about how the parliamentary system works in plain language.

Nothing is over until it's over, but at this point, we are looking at another minority government.

Another minority government? Potential election outcomes, explained
Rachel Aiello - CTV News

OTTAWA -- As was the case in the 2019 campaign, at this point in the race based on polling, a majority government may be out of reach for both the Liberal and Conservative parties. So what are the potential minority government scenarios Canada could be facing?

There are a few scenarios that could unfold, but first it’s important to establish that there is no hard rule book for how these post-election talks can go, just historical convention and precedent.

Parliament has 338 seats, so in order to win a majority government a party needs to elect 170 or more MPs. This secures their ability to pass all key measures without needing another party’s support and sets up for four years of governing.

Heading into the 2021 campaign the Liberals held 155 seats, the Conservatives had 119, the NDP held 24, the Bloc Quebecois had 32, the Green Party had two seats, there were five Independents and one vacancy.

In the event that no one wins a majority of the seats, things could go a few different ways.

Before getting into the various scenarios, here’s a brief explainer on minority governments and coalitions:

What is a minority government? When the party with the most seats, but not a majority of them, tries to govern and maintain the confidence of the House by relying on cross-party agreements or vote-by-vote support to get the votes needed on key issues and bills in order to be able to advance policy. There have been several examples in the past, including three since 2000.

What is a coalition government? When parties join forces to hold a larger share of seats than any other party. This can include formal agreements where the cabinet includes members from both, or all, parties depending on how many team up. Extremely rare in Canada, a coalition government has not been formed federally in modern political times.

The rest here - https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/fed...al-election-outcomes-explained-1.5580570

The advance polls opened today. I voted early just after it opened and there was a huge line up then. Later in the day was there again with my wife and daughter so they could vote. Larger line up then.

I don't think the organizers were ready for the amount of voters that showed up. I've never seen that many at any poll, early or otherwise.

Wow. My wife and I are voting on Sunday.

Did you ask the staff if they expected the large response?

No, they were too busy trying to keep the line organized and moving. Most of the folks there were retired. I waited in the car while my wife and daughter were in later in the day. It was fun watching them trying to park their cars in a cramped busy parking lot.

I see. I guess my wife and I can expect that on the weekend.

I was wondering why the so called "gun control" didn't enter into the English debate, it was promoted as the big headliner and I was prepared for their arguments, then nothing. Why was there a debate on gun control in French?
Did I miss something?

I suspect none of the parties saw that as a hot button issue. No one has been killed recently. The Liberals might wish to downplay Bill Blair's ineptitude.
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This is just hitting the news. Will it cause a ripple or be forgotten?

Trudeau says he did not want Wilson-Raybould to lie as SNC-Lavalin affair re-emerges
Canadian Press

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is denying that he wanted Jody Wilson-Raybould to lie as he faced new questions about the SNC-Lavalin affair following the publication of an excerpt of the former justice minister's memoir.

Published in the Globe and Mail, the excerpt revolves around two meetings Wilson-Raybould says she had with Trudeau in February 2019 following what she has described as months of inappropriate pressure from senior Liberals.

Wilson-Raybould, whose memoir is set for release on Tuesday, has previously testified that the pressure involved efforts to get her to intervene to stop the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin on bribery charges related to contracts in Libya.

In the excerpt, Wilson-Raybould says there was no question in her mind that Trudeau knew about the attempts to pressure her, and alleges the prime minister wanted her to lie to Canadians about what had happened.

Speaking at a campaign event in Mississauga this morning, Trudeau said the entire affair had been discussed and picked apart prior to the 2019 federal election, and denied wanting Wilson-Raybould to lie.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole alleged during his own campaign event in Whitby, Ont., that Wilson-Raybould's account is proof Trudeau will do anything to win.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/fed...-snc-lavalin-affair-re-emerges-1.5581468

More information about Jody Wilson-Raybould's book and her days in Ottawa. There is enough time for this story to gain traction before election day. A hardcover edition will be available from amazon for $24.75. Kindle edition - $17.99

Wilson-Raybould's book was originally scheduled to be released in mid-October. However, its release was moved up and it hits bookstores as a close-fought election campaign enters its final week.
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Full story of SNC-Lavalin affair still to be told, Wilson-Raybould says in new book
Pressed on campaign trail, Trudeau denies he left former attorney general with impression she had to lie
Elizabeth Thompson · CBC News

In her new book, Indian in the Cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould describes how the early honeymoon days as part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet deteriorated over time as the Prime Minister's Office started to increasingly try to control the actions of her and other cabinet ministers.

The full story of what happened in the SNC-Lavalin affair has yet to be told, says former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould in a scathing new book recounting her time in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

In "Indian in the Cabinet, Speaking Truth to Power," Wilson Raybould suggests that while the Trudeau government has considered the question closed, the SNC-Lavalin affair may not be over.

"At the time my office was dealing with the "pressure" to defer the prosecution of the company, my staff and I were not privy to all that the power brokers in Ottawa were doing around us," wrote Wilson-Raybould, who said some information is still locked behind the walls of cabinet confidences. "We still do not know. I will leave that to others to figure out, if they can or have any desire to do so."

Wilson-Raybould, who served as both justice minister and attorney general, says that as recently as January 2021, the RCMP was still considering whether to investigate Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in the matter.

"At the time of writing this book, the RCMP were continuing to examine this matter carefully with all available information," she wrote, echoing language in a RCMP statement issued in August 2019, the force's only statement on the matter to date.


The rest here - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jody-wilson-raybould-trudeau-1.6172488

It's telling that the CBC has reader comments turned off for this article, like they often do when it's a negative light on Trudeau or the Liberals.

Very much so. I'm surprised they even mentioned the book.