Tag Archives: Politics

US Tariffs on Canada

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50% in additional US tariffs are now in effect on numerous things from Canada. I don’t see that there’s any point in having anything further to do with the US. The USMCA/CUSMA trade agreement might as well have never existed. I think Canada should give six months’ notice and withdraw from it, before Donnie Orangeface gets his lazy, lying, mentally-unstable, racist, oligarchic, misogynist, homophobic, pedophile ass around to it. I almost feel like giving back my UCLA Ph.D., because it also might as well have never existed. I hope the entire world boycotts the 2028 LA Olympics.

Privatized Health Care

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Alberta letting people self-diagnose and pay out-of-pocket for MRIs, etc. (instead of making sure its public health care system actually works) just brings it one more major step towards not being a part of Canada. Actually, Ontario, with its increasingly privatized and partial-work-benefits health-coverage options, is not much better. My work benefits covered $180 of my $250 charge for my private, online dietician appointment early last year. I will refuse such referrals in the future and insist on public community health care referrals. Maybe doctor-referred, publicly-paid MRIs, etc. in Ontario could reasonably follow a hybrid, public/private option. However, 100% private dieticians, etc. is going way too far down the path of strictly making more money for the wealthy business buddies of Premier Ford, who then facetiously claims his government is doing a great job in increasing health care provisions.

Don’t Trust Poilievre

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Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has never done a single thing except to complain about Canada being broken and to vote against everything the government has done or proposed to do to make things better for people. His current platform is just a flip-flop containing a few things he never actually wanted in the past, and he would probably change his tune about them in the near future. I don’t trust him.

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Ontario, Canada’s “Sunshine List”

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$100,000 is now much too low of an annual salary threshold for Ontario, Canada’s annual, public sector “Sunshine List.” In 2024, a total of 377,666 public sector employees made at least that much, up from 300,680 in 2023.

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Canadian Politics

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I have traditionally voted for Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), because that is the political party most closely aligned with my progressive beliefs and values. However, I have recently switched to supporting the somewhat more centrist Liberals, because the flip-flopping of the Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre from criticizing Canada as being broken, obsessing about axing the carbon tax, and loving/aping Trump to “Canada First … For A Change” (whatever the f$%k that means) is just ridiculous.

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Politics, US and Canada

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Joe Biden had a bad day last week, but is he generally now less mentally sharp to the point of being unfit for office? I don’t know, but the one who is demonstrably unfit for office is the constantly lying, usually incoherent, insurrection-fomenting, totally fake “Christian,” completely-immoral convicted felon.

Our choices in Canada (in 2025) are not great either, because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (“Liberal”) has been quite disappointing, and Pierre Poilievre (Conservative) is a Donald Trump-lite, misleading, plan-less dufus who will almost immediately try to reverse a bunch of things. I hope the Conservatives are held to a minority government (at best), and Poilievre turns into even more of the whiny baby he already is when the Liberals, NDP, etc. hold them in check and make sure we keep things like the moves towards pharmacare, dental care, climate action, and so on.

Canadian Federal Politics

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Pierre Poilievre wants to subvert democracy by invoking the notwithstanding clause of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms  in order to advance a draconian, unconstitutional, law-and-order agenda. I know that the Liberals aren’t perfect and that the vastly-increased capital gains tax will affect a lot of people, including people who think they’re a lot further away from the top 1% than they are. However, there’s no way this joker’s party is better. Despite protestations of speaking and acting for “the people,” the Conservatives will probably get a majority in 2025 with only around 38% of the popular vote. The people want dental care, pharmacare, affordable housing, and a lower cost of living, but Poilievre has no useful plans whatsoever and won’t be able to deliver anything that most people actually want.