This is the first year of the experiment where an independent commissioner examines whether a party has a chance to win seats based on early polls. Did David Johnston, former Governor General, make the right call on the People's Party of Canada?
The easy answer is no. Likely, the decision was made because of inclusion as opposed to exclusion, a noble trait.
If the People's Party of Canada elects a single member, even Maxime Bernier, who is essentially the party, and fields enough candidates in 2023, the party will be in the commission debates.
One of those ridings that came up was Etobicoke North (Ontario) where Renata Ford, widow of Rob Ford, is running for the People's Party. Renata Ford currently is involved in a lawsuit against Doug Ford (Conservative Premier of Ontario), Randy Ford, and their family businesses, claiming she and her children were deprived out of millions.
The NDP and Conservatives were furious about the decision for very different reasons. NDP because of hate speech from the PPC and Conservatives because a voice from the far right will be on stage. The odd part was that the Conservative talking point was that the Liberals worked out a deal with Johnston to make that happen.
Johnston, whom I was in the same room once, was appointed by Stephen Harper (Conservative) and had his reign as Governor General extended by an extra 2 years to go into Justin Trudeau's time as prime minister.
The one drawback in the system is that the private debates don't have the same criteria. TVA has refused to have Elizabeth May in its debate. We'll have more on this in our debates preview coming this week.
Canada election 2019: MacLean's, Citytv big losers in the first debate
Canada isn't usually about banning people from voting, unlike the United States. Stephen Harper implemented rules and changes that made it difficult or impossible for some Canadians to vote.
Harper got rid of vouching. He also tighten the enforcement of the rule on banning voting for expats who had been gone from Canada for more than 5 years. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in January that the expat law was unconstitutional. The Liberals had already passed legislation allowing expats to vote.
I have seen expat Canadians in my Facebook feed excited to be able to vote again. As for vouching, if you don't have a valid ID, another person has to be able to prove who you are and where you live. The ID requirements aren't as stringent as a number of U.S. states now require due to the gutting of the Voters Right Act.
In 2011, about 120,000 people used vouching, around 0.8% of all voters.
As for the expats, an estimated 1.4 million more Canadians may now cast a ballot.
I've been forcing myself to listen to the Party Lines podcast from CBC Radio. The concept is to have 2 mismatched people covering the election from different vantage points. Podcasts normally have chemistry: this one definitely doesn't have chemistry but that is part of the point. The hosts are Rosemary Barton (The National) and Elamin Abdelmahmoud (BuzzFeed News). They are kind to each other but they talk past each other.
The talk on immigration was helped by the fact that Abdelmahmoud knows the immigrant experience. Barton noted that if she can talk about women, Abdelmahmoud can talk about immigrants.
Daily Show explores why refugees are fleeing U.S. for Canada
Barton pointed out that approximately 45,000 have tried to come into Canada since 2017, the vast majority from illegal points. What is fascinating is that this was the first time we have had a statistic to go along with the hysteria from the far right about how outrageous the influx was into Canada.
The vast majority of those coming in from illegal points will be turned back into the United States. The Safe Third Country Agreement is the primary reason why they came to Canada and why they will go back. The NDP and Green Party both said if they win the election, Canada will suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement because they don't think the United States is a safe country for immigrants.
I expected the number to be significantly higher. Olympic Stadium in Montréal was holding some of the asylum seekers. The stadium holds slightly more than 66,000.
The Party Lines podcast comes out on Thursday during the election cycle.
2019 Canada election preview
Immigration came up even before the writ was dropped when a mysterious third party ran a billboard with the message "Say NO to mass immigration." The billboard ran in a few major cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, Toronto, and Regina.
The billboard ad used the likeness of Maxime Bernier and logo of the People's Party of Canada. The People's Party of Canada said the ads were "authorized by a third party and the PPC has not been in contact with this third party." Most third party ads don't use logos and likeness from a specific party. The party could have sued but didn't.
True North Strong and Free Advertising Corporation was the group behind the billboard. The money behind the ad appears to have been from Bassett and Walker International, a Toronto-based firm involved in global food trade.
There was a lot of backlash against the insensitive negative message in the content.
The issue of "mass migration" is also a concern. The poll that everyone from Front Burner to Patriot Act quoted about 57% of Canadians wanting fewer immigrants is that Canadians don't have a sense of the number of immigrants actually coming into Canada. Wanting fewer is one thing but how many fewer.
Rosemary Barton on the Party Lines podcast noted that there are differences between immigrants and refugees.
Looking back at 2015 before the 2019 Canadian election
The Conservatives love tax credits. They sound like you get reduced tax. However, tax credits only work if you have tax left over to pay.
Tax credits tend to favour households that make a lot of money. The idea of a tax credit (one they have had and want to bring back) is on public transit. The tax credit won't really help the TTC rider in Toronto but will do wonders for those taking the GO train from the deep suburbs.
Turns out the original tax credit did nothing to increase ridership but was used by people already on the suburban trains.
There is nothing wrong with Conservatives targeting middle- and higher-income families, as long as voters understand the distinction.
Just Ask is a way for Canadian content creators to talk to politicians
There are 338 ridings. You might think every riding is covered by every party. The NDP has had trouble recruiting people to run in some ridings. Parties lose candidates mostly due to elements in their social media feed that weren't properly vetted.
Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer came out this week and said candidates with racist and homophobic comments will stay on the ballot as long as they apologize.
The Conservatives have run into this as an issue because the Liberals keep posting videos of Conservative MP candidates espousing controversial views.
All parties run into candidates who have said things in very poor judgment. Parties are judged by what they do about such comments.
Hasan Minhaj gets a second round with Justin Trudeau on Patriot Act
Justin Trudeau in brownface. Pictures surfaced this week from 2001 and the 1990s. I understand the outrage and go along with the concerns over a white person wearing makeup to represent someone of a different colour. I condemn the behaviour without question.
2 factors to consider:
1) We did know this happened. The latest pictures are news; the fact that Trudeau did this is not news. There was the original picture that we knew about some time ago. This doesn't excuse what happened. We knew about this already and made conclusions about Trudeau in a whole context.
2) If we borrow from Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, if a candidate did something and sincerely apologized for what happened, that person can remain a candidate.
The lapse in judgment is why Trudeau thought this was okay in 2001 and even earlier. He had traveled around the world as the son of a prime minister. Trudeau should have known better. His behaviour otherwise wouldn't point to something such as this. For the most part, we already knew and drew conclusions. Leaders are judged based on any and every known element.
This revelation should open up a dialogue with a lot of listening from white people. That would serve all people well.
2019 Canadian politics preview
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage
The Canadian Nationalist Party has met the requirements by Elections Canada to qualify as a registered party during the federal election. The party is anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ in its views.
Party founder and leader Travis Patron is the only candidate. He will run in the Souris-Moose Mountain riding in southeast Saskatchewan in a seat currently held by the Conservatives.
Canadians will feel loss of satirists such as Rick Mercer in the 2019 Canadian election
Dear @AndrewScheer & good folks at @Cpc_hq - Your candidate in Burnaby North Seymour is distributing a Meme on social media with my face and the words "Vote Conservative" indicating it is a quote from me. Not true. All fake. Please Stop. #WhoAreThesePeople? #Cdnpoli #yuck
— Rick Mercer (@rickmercer) September 17, 2019
Rick Mercer showed up in Canada election 2019 but not the way we wanted. We've seen these memes where they take a celebrity and attach a message that they clearly did not say. I recall one meme involving David Letterman and a Quebec election.
The original message is important. Young people: get out and vote.
— Suburban Voyeur™️🇨🇦 (@subvoyeur) September 17, 2019
photo credit: Twitter @CBCAlerts; Party Lines/CBC Radio
video credit: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Twitter captures: @rickmercer; @subvoyeur
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