Just a brief take on a couple of issues.
First, Canada finally signed a trade deal with the United States. It was described as a 'last minute rush' though I wonder why it had to be in the first place.
Canada comes out looking rather irrelevant in all this.
For a couple of reasons. When the U.S. and Mexico went off to hammer a deal over a 5-week period, Canada was basically frozen out because it was sticking to their demands that were unacceptable or pointless to either or both Mexico and Canada. The U.S. merely gave Canada a time-out while Canadian officials tried to spin this scolding as two countries merely entering a bi-lateral deal.
On one hand, the Canadians claim 'hey it's all good. They're negotiating between them a whole new deal and we'll be next!' and on the other, they were chatting the Americans for thinking they can end NAFTA. They had to have known at that point they were done for and that NAFTA was a foregone conclusion.
So we waited until it was our turn and when the Americans were ready to re-enter talks.
We then proceeded to, I'm not sure. I suppose the auto industry (which always recall is AMERICAN to begin with) wasn't subject to tariffs and that can be seen as a 'win' but it's more like a 'draw'. There's no improvement in terms of concussions. The U.S. got what it wanted - even if modest - with opening the dairy markets in Canada. Personally, supply-side management has basically made millionaires of farmers on tax dollars and for me the time has come to end the practice.
These were the principal issues which makes me wonder why didn't Canada just take the lead and get it done? Just like the mishandling of the pipelines, the Liberals failed to really find a way to get something of significance from the Americans. Now, if the status-quo was their aim all along, bravo. You got it. But don't do a jiggly dance over it.
The Canadian government is claiming their deal 'strengthens the middle-class' though I fail to see how since they essentially achieved the status quo. The bottom line is Canada continues to have great access to America than the other way around and slowly the Americans are going to ask for more a reciprocal relationship on that front. Can banks be on the horizon? Telecom?
It's hard to understand why Canada made a stink.
Instead, we look laggards picking up scraps.
Just incredibly poorly handled.
***
The CAQ won 71 seats to the Liberals 32 in Quebec last night. It was a stunner alright particularly the Parti Quebecois who lost official party status having won only nine seats three short of needing to be official.
The PQ have been a thorn in Quebec/Canadian politics since 1976 but their message had become hopelessly dated and they couldn't figure out a way to rebrand themselves. They're essence was to be an independence party but with little appetite among Quebecers for wanting to leave Canada, the PQ hit eleventy on the existential crisis decibel.
Good riddance I say. In my view, nationalist politics is what turned Montreal into a beta-male city losing its power to Toronto for good never to return. The uncertainty and the constant language concerns eventually weighed in on everything.
The PQ and QS are left-wing 'free stuff' socialist entities that need to be kept at bay.
The Liberals deserve credit for their handing of the economy which was strong under their watch. They avoided the $15 minimum wage and for the first time in Canadian history, Quebec had a higher bond rating than Ontario.
Ok. The CAQ. I've never seen a more incoherent party who barely conveyed their identity win in such a landslide. It's surreal.
The so-called party of 'business' is anything but and they're not above punitive language legislation (mandating three-years to learn French for immigrants is a sure way to keep quality immigrants from coming. Never mind it's plain anti-liberty). Moreover, they're keeping in place the stupid carbon tax scheme that hurts the middle-class, does jack shit for the environment except to line the pockets of cronies as well as playing the politicized racket in subsidized daycare.
One of the main issues during the campaign was immigration. Where the Liberals took the familiar 'we're for immigration and diversity' shtick (increasingly unpopular among people), the CAQ were more on the 'Yeh, we're not so sure about that.'
They seem to be more apprehensive about it and if they do keep a 'populist' track, that puts Quebec in line with counties like Hungary, Poland, Austria, Slovenia and Italy and increasingly Sweden where a push back against what's perceived to be runaway immigration. People realize these aren't 'refugees' but plain old run of the mill 'economic migrants' who seem unwilling to integrate while relying on welfare.
Ultimately, this result has to make the Federal Liberals nervous. They can't be happy about it and it's probably a sign Trudeau may get wiped out in Quebec. And that day can't come fast enough. The quicker these Liberals are out, the quicker they can fade into memory. The damage with their gender and anti-Islamophobia bills can be limited and hopefully (wishful I know) be erased from our governance.
On the flip side, this can probably be seen as a good thing for Maxime Bernier's People's Party as it signals people are ready and willing to vote for a true different option.
Interesting times ahead.
First, Canada finally signed a trade deal with the United States. It was described as a 'last minute rush' though I wonder why it had to be in the first place.
Canada comes out looking rather irrelevant in all this.
For a couple of reasons. When the U.S. and Mexico went off to hammer a deal over a 5-week period, Canada was basically frozen out because it was sticking to their demands that were unacceptable or pointless to either or both Mexico and Canada. The U.S. merely gave Canada a time-out while Canadian officials tried to spin this scolding as two countries merely entering a bi-lateral deal.
On one hand, the Canadians claim 'hey it's all good. They're negotiating between them a whole new deal and we'll be next!' and on the other, they were chatting the Americans for thinking they can end NAFTA. They had to have known at that point they were done for and that NAFTA was a foregone conclusion.
So we waited until it was our turn and when the Americans were ready to re-enter talks.
We then proceeded to, I'm not sure. I suppose the auto industry (which always recall is AMERICAN to begin with) wasn't subject to tariffs and that can be seen as a 'win' but it's more like a 'draw'. There's no improvement in terms of concussions. The U.S. got what it wanted - even if modest - with opening the dairy markets in Canada. Personally, supply-side management has basically made millionaires of farmers on tax dollars and for me the time has come to end the practice.
These were the principal issues which makes me wonder why didn't Canada just take the lead and get it done? Just like the mishandling of the pipelines, the Liberals failed to really find a way to get something of significance from the Americans. Now, if the status-quo was their aim all along, bravo. You got it. But don't do a jiggly dance over it.
The Canadian government is claiming their deal 'strengthens the middle-class' though I fail to see how since they essentially achieved the status quo. The bottom line is Canada continues to have great access to America than the other way around and slowly the Americans are going to ask for more a reciprocal relationship on that front. Can banks be on the horizon? Telecom?
It's hard to understand why Canada made a stink.
Instead, we look laggards picking up scraps.
Just incredibly poorly handled.
***
The CAQ won 71 seats to the Liberals 32 in Quebec last night. It was a stunner alright particularly the Parti Quebecois who lost official party status having won only nine seats three short of needing to be official.
The PQ have been a thorn in Quebec/Canadian politics since 1976 but their message had become hopelessly dated and they couldn't figure out a way to rebrand themselves. They're essence was to be an independence party but with little appetite among Quebecers for wanting to leave Canada, the PQ hit eleventy on the existential crisis decibel.
Good riddance I say. In my view, nationalist politics is what turned Montreal into a beta-male city losing its power to Toronto for good never to return. The uncertainty and the constant language concerns eventually weighed in on everything.
The PQ and QS are left-wing 'free stuff' socialist entities that need to be kept at bay.
The Liberals deserve credit for their handing of the economy which was strong under their watch. They avoided the $15 minimum wage and for the first time in Canadian history, Quebec had a higher bond rating than Ontario.
Ok. The CAQ. I've never seen a more incoherent party who barely conveyed their identity win in such a landslide. It's surreal.
The so-called party of 'business' is anything but and they're not above punitive language legislation (mandating three-years to learn French for immigrants is a sure way to keep quality immigrants from coming. Never mind it's plain anti-liberty). Moreover, they're keeping in place the stupid carbon tax scheme that hurts the middle-class, does jack shit for the environment except to line the pockets of cronies as well as playing the politicized racket in subsidized daycare.
One of the main issues during the campaign was immigration. Where the Liberals took the familiar 'we're for immigration and diversity' shtick (increasingly unpopular among people), the CAQ were more on the 'Yeh, we're not so sure about that.'
They seem to be more apprehensive about it and if they do keep a 'populist' track, that puts Quebec in line with counties like Hungary, Poland, Austria, Slovenia and Italy and increasingly Sweden where a push back against what's perceived to be runaway immigration. People realize these aren't 'refugees' but plain old run of the mill 'economic migrants' who seem unwilling to integrate while relying on welfare.
Ultimately, this result has to make the Federal Liberals nervous. They can't be happy about it and it's probably a sign Trudeau may get wiped out in Quebec. And that day can't come fast enough. The quicker these Liberals are out, the quicker they can fade into memory. The damage with their gender and anti-Islamophobia bills can be limited and hopefully (wishful I know) be erased from our governance.
On the flip side, this can probably be seen as a good thing for Maxime Bernier's People's Party as it signals people are ready and willing to vote for a true different option.
Interesting times ahead.
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