Manitoba is one province where the (provincial) NDP has been historically strong, isn’t it? I remember reading a while ago that the provinces west of Ontario are all NDP vs Tory, with local Liberals often almost non-existent.
Ranting about quebec: newspark edition!
- Thread starter wonko the sane?
- Start date
I know the NDP originated out west (somewhere...) but details other than that are sketchy to me. The NDP hasn't really been popular since jack layton died (he was federal, but a role model is a role model.) and the double speaking douche nugget that took over soured the country on it. The prairies of late have been tory territory largely because of the money in the oil sands and related industries.
I think you may have stumbled onto the answer to my earlier question of how Canada is able to have more than two parties.
And I said this back during the big special-election marathon of 2017-2018, but it bears repeating since it's been so long: Staggering downticket elections is a good way to keep them from fighting for attention in the news cycle, so I approve of that as well.
Let's talk about a feel good story!
A couple from ferguson ontario decided during the pandemic that they were going to do what they wanted, and move to france. They had been there before, loved the country, and wanted to be "surrounded by art and music". So they sold their 4 bedroom, suburban home in ferguson and bought a plot in france.
A 37 acre plot, with an 11 bedroom CHATEAU! on it.
Bought the castle outright, and even had profit left over from the transaction... And you can't tell me that the canadian property market isn't ******* broken when a suburban home in ontario is MORE EXPENSIVE than a ******* castle in france!
A couple from ferguson ontario decided during the pandemic that they were going to do what they wanted, and move to france. They had been there before, loved the country, and wanted to be "surrounded by art and music". So they sold their 4 bedroom, suburban home in ferguson and bought a plot in france.
A 37 acre plot, with an 11 bedroom CHATEAU! on it.
Bought the castle outright, and even had profit left over from the transaction... And you can't tell me that the canadian property market isn't ******* broken when a suburban home in ontario is MORE EXPENSIVE than a ******* castle in france!
So, the quebec government decided to add ANOTHER layer of bureacracy to health care, and appointed a guy whose mandate is to increase access and efficiency in the healthcare system. Now, don't get me wrong here: I don't disagree with this in principle. Streamlining the system will not only make it cost less, but also serve more, which are both good things. I doubt this fuckwit will achieve anything meaningful in his time, however long that might be. He's going to immediately hit the wall of "we need more doctors, but can't get more doctors because we treated the doctors so ******* badly they don't want to work for us." and realize that's the problem with all the classes of employees basically all the way down to the bedrock.
I'm going to liken this to montreal's folly from a few years back. See, traffic had gotten so bad in the city that the city government appointed a "traffic czar" whose sole purpose was to communicate between the buroughs, the population, and coordinate the road work so as to prevent as much traffic as possible, find alternative paths for then there is traffic and generally make the process much smoother and faster for the many, many commuters in the city every day. He worked less than a year, achieved nothing and quit in disgrace. Now we're back to "laissez faire" for traffic because that's what happens when you don't have a ******* plan.
I'm going to liken this to montreal's folly from a few years back. See, traffic had gotten so bad in the city that the city government appointed a "traffic czar" whose sole purpose was to communicate between the buroughs, the population, and coordinate the road work so as to prevent as much traffic as possible, find alternative paths for then there is traffic and generally make the process much smoother and faster for the many, many commuters in the city every day. He worked less than a year, achieved nothing and quit in disgrace. Now we're back to "laissez faire" for traffic because that's what happens when you don't have a ******* plan.
So, almost 9 hundred THOUSAND quebecers needed to use food banks in the last quarter. 900K.
There's only 8 million quebecers. So what's the CAQ doing about that? Oh, they're punishing the english institutions of higher education for daring to bring english speakers into the province. Yup, that's where we ******* are.
There's only 8 million quebecers. So what's the CAQ doing about that? Oh, they're punishing the english institutions of higher education for daring to bring english speakers into the province. Yup, that's where we ******* are.
Alright, so in the last month, the province of alberta has been pushing towards removing themselves... from the canada pension plan. The stated intent is to form their OWN pension plan!... With hookers! And Blackjack!
Right now, they're at the point where they're tabling plans and such, and are talking about going forward with a referendum to find out what the actual people of the province want. But they've also stated that they don't know how much they'll value the opinion of the citizens of the province.
So largely, this is part of the ongoing anti-federal movement in prairie politics, and will probably result in nothing other than wasting time and money... oh and distracting from the real ******* issues that albertans are dealing with on the daily. Again.
Edit:
As an update to the whole "punishing english universities" in quebec. The french universities are calling for legault to drop it. The students are rallying to protest it, and are drawing out people from literally all over the province in support, and third party groups are telling legault that this will cost the province hundreds of millions in the short term, and billions in economic growth in the long term. It will also outright kill a university in sherbrooke, bishops, and sentence both concordia and McGill (historic institutions in the province.) to slow, meandering deaths. McGill has already done the math, and legault just talking about it will force them to lay off almost 700 employees. Never mind what they would have to do if the legislation passed. Side note: the defunding of quebec universities is what lead to me not finding permanent employment in the administration level of McGill.
But there's too much english being spoken on the streets of montreal. So we know what he's going to do.
Right now, they're at the point where they're tabling plans and such, and are talking about going forward with a referendum to find out what the actual people of the province want. But they've also stated that they don't know how much they'll value the opinion of the citizens of the province.
So largely, this is part of the ongoing anti-federal movement in prairie politics, and will probably result in nothing other than wasting time and money... oh and distracting from the real ******* issues that albertans are dealing with on the daily. Again.
Edit:
As an update to the whole "punishing english universities" in quebec. The french universities are calling for legault to drop it. The students are rallying to protest it, and are drawing out people from literally all over the province in support, and third party groups are telling legault that this will cost the province hundreds of millions in the short term, and billions in economic growth in the long term. It will also outright kill a university in sherbrooke, bishops, and sentence both concordia and McGill (historic institutions in the province.) to slow, meandering deaths. McGill has already done the math, and legault just talking about it will force them to lay off almost 700 employees. Never mind what they would have to do if the legislation passed. Side note: the defunding of quebec universities is what lead to me not finding permanent employment in the administration level of McGill.
But there's too much english being spoken on the streets of montreal. So we know what he's going to do.
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So, the english schools got together, and came up with an offer to the quebec government. More french classes! Yup, adding EVEN MORE french language classes on top of the already mandatory french language classes the government demands at all levels of education.
But this isn't about language, this about ideology and an agenda: so the CAQ said NO. Tuition hikes are going to happen, and they will not only hobble the economy, they will kill some of the oldest educational institutions in the country.
Except bishops. They carved out an exception for bishops. At least. Not that it'll make a huge difference, the blatantly anti-education stance, and open xenophobia will do more than enough to scare away the students.
Edit: Tangentially related; quebec is dropping an economic update today. Hints from the government and experts is that it's going to be bad. Very bad.
But this isn't about language, this about ideology and an agenda: so the CAQ said NO. Tuition hikes are going to happen, and they will not only hobble the economy, they will kill some of the oldest educational institutions in the country.
Except bishops. They carved out an exception for bishops. At least. Not that it'll make a huge difference, the blatantly anti-education stance, and open xenophobia will do more than enough to scare away the students.
Edit: Tangentially related; quebec is dropping an economic update today. Hints from the government and experts is that it's going to be bad. Very bad.
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I honestly don't understand how Quebec can get away with just arbitrarily doubling tuition for out-of-province Canadian citizens. Although equally baffling to me is why any self-respecting English-speaking Canadian would even choose to exist in the space space as that cesspool. I haven't set foot across the border in more than 15 years, and I never will again as long as their disgusting practices persist.
Their parents (not to mention the rest of us non-breeders) pay taxes our entire working lives for, among other things, those subsidized tuition rates. To just take that way is to spit in the face of the rest of the country. The Feds should withhold an equivalent amount of money from Quebec and redirect to to every public English-language post-secondary institution in the rest of the country.
It's no different than a Quebec hospital denying care to an Ontario resident visiting the province. That health care is a provincial matter is entirely immaterial; as a Canadian every citizen is guaranteed access to affordable health care regardless of what part of the country they happen to be in.
If any other province tried to pull the jive that Quebec does, the Feds would (rightly) jump right down our throats. Hell, if we did something even a tenth as racist or xenophobic, we'd be slapped back. The silence from Justin and his assortment of cowardly hypocrites and toadies in Ottawa is absolutely deafening.
Their parents (not to mention the rest of us non-breeders) pay taxes our entire working lives for, among other things, those subsidized tuition rates. To just take that way is to spit in the face of the rest of the country. The Feds should withhold an equivalent amount of money from Quebec and redirect to to every public English-language post-secondary institution in the rest of the country.
It's no different than a Quebec hospital denying care to an Ontario resident visiting the province. That health care is a provincial matter is entirely immaterial; as a Canadian every citizen is guaranteed access to affordable health care regardless of what part of the country they happen to be in.
If any other province tried to pull the jive that Quebec does, the Feds would (rightly) jump right down our throats. Hell, if we did something even a tenth as racist or xenophobic, we'd be slapped back. The silence from Justin and his assortment of cowardly hypocrites and toadies in Ottawa is absolutely deafening.
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Probably the same reason there are still minorities in red states; moving isn't as easy as just thinking about it, and the internet hasn't yet completely replaced in-person relationships with people you might still care about.
I've been glaring at trudeau in historic anglophone since he dragged ontario for the back to work legislation during their teaching support staff strikes all those months ago. Quebec will always get away with it because the politician that sours "les quebecois" on voting federally is handing the country to a tory minority government, and subsequently an endless loop of no confidence votes.
My existence as a citizen; with stuff like "rights and privileges under the law", and that state of every other anglophone or allophone in quebec is inconsequential in the face of the status quo. So long as there is the persistent belief that quebec is it's own country (and don't be mistaken: they already think they have their own country, and the goal of the separation movement is to make canada acknowledge it.), this is the way politics will be.
If I could get the hug out of here, I would. But I can't afford it. Quebec is financially in the same kind of state as the rest of the country: failing middle class and overt poverty, but it's also the province with the lowest standard of living to begin with. If you were going to make the move from montreal to ottawa, you need to save up longer just to end up in a worse economic and housing situation. And that's just shooting two hours down the road, never mind going to toronto, winnipeg, calgary, or (god forbid.) anywhere in BC.
Alright, let's recap some CAQ history!
They passed bill 40: which reformed the school systems, removing... democracy, and instituting functionally all control of policy and curiculum from the department of education in quebec city. It Immediately devolved into lawsuits and screams of "unconstitutional!", specifically in regards to the english schools boards and minority rights in regards to controlling their own education. To be clear: the french school boards hated it too, but couldn't actually do anything about it.
So they wrote bill 23; which attempted to restore all the stuff in bill 40 that was cut because it was unconstitutional, and immediately devolved into lawsuits, because all the jive they were trying to do was still unconstitutional! *shocked pikachu face*.
Now, I have no doubt before they get ousted (and all signs generally indicate that the CAQ will not have another super majority, and the longer it goes, might not even get another mandate.) in a few more years, they will try again. But every time they try, AND FAIL! (tis but a small consolation.) they also do something to punish the english of the province for not doing as we were told by our "betters".
The first time was literally placing a cap on enrollment in english educational institutions. NOW they want to destroy english vocational training.
Some of you might be wondering "Hey didn't they want to raise tuitions on english universities for out of province students at some point?" And yeah! That's still a thing. That's not punishments for anything other than daring to exist in french quebec. Even if their "not withstanding" bullshit had worked, they would have raised tuitions on the english universities anyway, because how dare we speak the majority language of the human being.
They passed bill 40: which reformed the school systems, removing... democracy, and instituting functionally all control of policy and curiculum from the department of education in quebec city. It Immediately devolved into lawsuits and screams of "unconstitutional!", specifically in regards to the english schools boards and minority rights in regards to controlling their own education. To be clear: the french school boards hated it too, but couldn't actually do anything about it.
So they wrote bill 23; which attempted to restore all the stuff in bill 40 that was cut because it was unconstitutional, and immediately devolved into lawsuits, because all the jive they were trying to do was still unconstitutional! *shocked pikachu face*.
Now, I have no doubt before they get ousted (and all signs generally indicate that the CAQ will not have another super majority, and the longer it goes, might not even get another mandate.) in a few more years, they will try again. But every time they try, AND FAIL! (tis but a small consolation.) they also do something to punish the english of the province for not doing as we were told by our "betters".
The first time was literally placing a cap on enrollment in english educational institutions. NOW they want to destroy english vocational training.
Some of you might be wondering "Hey didn't they want to raise tuitions on english universities for out of province students at some point?" And yeah! That's still a thing. That's not punishments for anything other than daring to exist in french quebec. Even if their "not withstanding" bullshit had worked, they would have raised tuitions on the english universities anyway, because how dare we speak the majority language of the human being.
An aside, since I'm already talking about education.
Currently; functionally every teacher in the province is on strike. Support staff too. My brother is actually part of the common front union. The CAQ has been pitching literal jokes of offers to teachers and nurses: pay hikes that don't even beat inflation. Literally making them all poorer every year. This is common knowledge and easy to acquire.
Here's something new to learn: my brothers unions last contract expired in 2019. Generally these union contracts are four years long. They aren't negotiating for the NEXT one, they're negotiating the one that 6 months from expiring. It's also part of the reason why the CAQ was shooting out the "over five years" thing, instead of 3 or 4, so they would have at least a year before having to do all this over again. Since there isn't a provincial election until 2026.
They also aren't getting away with it. Public support is NOT on the politicians side, especially since they summarily voted themselves a 30K pay raise, and ******* INDEXED their salaries. They're trying to back track the indexing bit, but aren't trying very hard and it does not look very good for them right now. No politician is popular at the moment, and the CAQ are in unilateral control, so it's mostly them in the publics mind.
Currently; functionally every teacher in the province is on strike. Support staff too. My brother is actually part of the common front union. The CAQ has been pitching literal jokes of offers to teachers and nurses: pay hikes that don't even beat inflation. Literally making them all poorer every year. This is common knowledge and easy to acquire.
Here's something new to learn: my brothers unions last contract expired in 2019. Generally these union contracts are four years long. They aren't negotiating for the NEXT one, they're negotiating the one that 6 months from expiring. It's also part of the reason why the CAQ was shooting out the "over five years" thing, instead of 3 or 4, so they would have at least a year before having to do all this over again. Since there isn't a provincial election until 2026.
They also aren't getting away with it. Public support is NOT on the politicians side, especially since they summarily voted themselves a 30K pay raise, and ******* INDEXED their salaries. They're trying to back track the indexing bit, but aren't trying very hard and it does not look very good for them right now. No politician is popular at the moment, and the CAQ are in unilateral control, so it's mostly them in the publics mind.
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Alberta is going to use the "sovereignty within canada" act to flex on the clean energy bill... that's not even a bill yet, it's still a proposition. Because even TALKING about potentially threatening the oil industry (and the clean energy infrastructure bill ******* won't. It won't be nearly as strong as it should be, never mind as it has to be.) is enough to set off the rabid tory guard dogs.
I had a bit of an epiphany this morning.
Up until recently, the seperatists have been trying to prove that quebec can be it's own nation. Now; it feels more like it's trying to prove it already is.
In related news, the caq threw an amendment onto bill 15 which will allow the newly created sante quebec office (the over arching health care office for the province once the bill is implemented, and I say "once" because it will happen. They plan on passing it before they break for christmas: so forcing closure, and probably even not withstanding.) to unilaterally decide if a region has to offer service in any other language. But the medical system does not take metrics on which language service is taken in: the OQLF does that.
So guess which services will no longer be offered in english? That's RIGHT! All of them, everywhere.
Up until recently, the seperatists have been trying to prove that quebec can be it's own nation. Now; it feels more like it's trying to prove it already is.
In related news, the caq threw an amendment onto bill 15 which will allow the newly created sante quebec office (the over arching health care office for the province once the bill is implemented, and I say "once" because it will happen. They plan on passing it before they break for christmas: so forcing closure, and probably even not withstanding.) to unilaterally decide if a region has to offer service in any other language. But the medical system does not take metrics on which language service is taken in: the OQLF does that.
So guess which services will no longer be offered in english? That's RIGHT! All of them, everywhere.
So hey, the CAQ decided to offer an olive branch to the english universities. ON TOP OF the higher tuition fees, they are now going to require SEVERELY stricter french requirements of the students.
Because the goal is to kill english education in the province. Historic institutions, economic work horses, PSSSHHH, nope: french is not being spoken on montreals streets.
The seperatist movement has always hobbled the economy, and caused strife in the population, and this will just ******* kill any and all economic and cultural progress. There's not even an end point to that statement, because even if the next government overturns this stupid jive: universities and businesses will look at the province and go "yeah, till the seperatists get in again, and it happens all over again. No thank you.". This is it, this is the perpetually trapped population.
Because the goal is to kill english education in the province. Historic institutions, economic work horses, PSSSHHH, nope: french is not being spoken on montreals streets.
The seperatist movement has always hobbled the economy, and caused strife in the population, and this will just ******* kill any and all economic and cultural progress. There's not even an end point to that statement, because even if the next government overturns this stupid jive: universities and businesses will look at the province and go "yeah, till the seperatists get in again, and it happens all over again. No thank you.". This is it, this is the perpetually trapped population.
Alright, so, I rag on this shithole province and its systems. Like a lot. And rightly so, it ******* sucks here.
But let's make some distinctions: the design and intent behind the systems and institutions is deliberately backwards, intentionally obtuse, and at best exploitable by those with malicious intent.
The people operating those systems though: they are ******* heroes for dealing with this jive, and the maliciously poor treatment by the both the politicians and the bureaucrats. Never mind that almost all of them are going to be on strike soon, they are still working hard.
Now, y'all might be wondering what I'm ******* blathering about, let me tell you.
Yesterday; I used the system (that replaced the system, that replaced the list, that replaced the doctors.) to request an appointment with a medical professional. How it works (and it's called "GAP" by the way.) is you put in a request, then a nurse actually calls you, you have a conversation and then they get you an actual doctors appointment at an actual clinic. I got my conversation today, along with an appointment at a local clinic for friday morning.
Let's put that into perspective: This is my first doctors appointment since my last trip to my pediatrician. I think I also get registered to this clinic, so I might not have a family doctor going forward, but I should have a place to access non-emergency medical help from here. And given where the clinic is: There will be english services. It's a christmas ******* miracle; getting the things I'm due because I paid for them.
But let's make some distinctions: the design and intent behind the systems and institutions is deliberately backwards, intentionally obtuse, and at best exploitable by those with malicious intent.
The people operating those systems though: they are ******* heroes for dealing with this jive, and the maliciously poor treatment by the both the politicians and the bureaucrats. Never mind that almost all of them are going to be on strike soon, they are still working hard.
Now, y'all might be wondering what I'm ******* blathering about, let me tell you.
Yesterday; I used the system (that replaced the system, that replaced the list, that replaced the doctors.) to request an appointment with a medical professional. How it works (and it's called "GAP" by the way.) is you put in a request, then a nurse actually calls you, you have a conversation and then they get you an actual doctors appointment at an actual clinic. I got my conversation today, along with an appointment at a local clinic for friday morning.
Let's put that into perspective: This is my first doctors appointment since my last trip to my pediatrician. I think I also get registered to this clinic, so I might not have a family doctor going forward, but I should have a place to access non-emergency medical help from here. And given where the clinic is: There will be english services. It's a christmas ******* miracle; getting the things I'm due because I paid for them.
Turns out it was a one shot appointment, I'm still at square one for access to medical care BUT!
It's not my ******* heart, bitches! It's not my ******* heart!
It's not my ******* heart, bitches! It's not my ******* heart!
LEgault: too many youth think using english is cool
He's a ******* child who despite having near absolute power is still not getting what he wants.
He's a ******* child who despite having near absolute power is still not getting what he wants.