Andrew Scheer has a funny way of saying “I lied about being an insurance broker”#cdnpoli #elxn43 pic.twitter.com/njwpW9No4G
— Canadian Poli 🇨🇦 (@cdnpoli_memes) October 2, 2019
Andrew Scheer self-identified as a former "insurance broker." Saskatchewan doesn't legally allow people to say they are a broker if they aren't licensed. If you need a licence to be a broker, and you leave before you get the licence, you aren't a broker.
Scheer worked in an insurance office for 6-7 months and definitely not as a broker. The Globe and Mail published the original story.
The Toronto Star reported Scheer only completed one of four courses to become a broker, according to the Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan.
We also found out that Scheer is a dual citizen with the United States and Canada. Scheer said he started the process in August to renounce his citizenship.
In 2005, Scheer sent out a questionnaire to his constituents about whether they would be concerned that Michaëlle Jean had Canada-France citizenship. The follow-up question was whether they would feel better if her other citizenship was in the United States. Jean was a candidate for Governor General, which she later became.
His party attacked Stephane Dion (Liberal leader in 2008) and Tom Mulcair (NDP leader in 2015) for having dual citizenship with France. The party also attacked Michael Ignatieff (Liberal leader in 2011) for working in the United States.
Being a dual citizen isn't the issue; hiding that information and waiting too late to rescind the U.S. citizenship are significant concerns.
We don't know if Paul Wells, MacLean's, or Rogers/Citytv were watching Wednesday night. If not, they missed how a debate should run.
TVA did a great job of running a debate with good lively chats, working to get everyone involved, no commercials and lame cutaways.
The debate covered 3 different topics: immigration and social policies; economy and the environment; and gouvernance and Quebec within Canada.
We heard a lot of class moyenne (middle class) in the debate.
There was talk of a "Netflix tax" on web giants. There seemed to be a consensus between all the leaders on the stage. Yves-Francois Blanchet (Bloc Quebecois) talked about a penalty as opposed to a tax, according to the translation.
I learned that Quebec fills in 2 tax returns while other provinces only 1 return. Andrew Scheer and Blanchet were in favour of 1 return; Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh were not, but not sure why either way.
Scheer said the Conservatives, who have been ranting against how Trudeau negotiated NAFTA 2.0, would ratify the deal.
We learned that Scheer was the only one who didn't purchase carbon offsets for his campaign plane.
Marijuana came up as a question. The highlight ended up being Scheer once again accusing the Liberals of wanting to decrminialise harder drugs. “Not right away,” Trudeau responded (translated) focusing on expanded safe injection sites and harm reduction.
As we noted last week, Canada still doesn't have legal edibles.
Blanchet was the best French speaker in the bunch. Could not tell from the translation whether Blanchet was struggling or whether the translator couldn't figure out what he was saying.
Scheer made a lot of faces in reaction shots. Wasn't sure if he didn't know there would be reaction shots or he did know and that is why he made faces. Trudeau, Blanchet, and Singh had good reaction shots.
Trudeau is stronger speaking in French than English. His pauses in English weren't there in the French debate.
Scheer's French was easier to follow. Credit to him for being as good as he is. Forced him to speak more plainly, which works well for his speaking style.
I did see Tom Mulcair on the TVA panel before the debate. Mulcair was the NDP leader in 2015.
I watched the debate live on TVA Nouvelles and later on tape delay on CPAC.
Canada election 2019 is underway and food policy should be discussed
New Canada Food Guide offers true steps to better nutrition and eating
BalanceofFood.com Canada food policy coverage
Our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com, helped us out with a look at food policy and how that applies to the Canadian election. Food policy almost never comes up in debates.
Canada doesn’t have a national school lunch program. Is that good or bad? What about Nutrition North? What about obesity levels and health care costs to the provinces?
The story talks about opportunities to ask MP candidates about these and other food-related questions.
Canada election 2019 debates preview
The Leaders Debates Commission debates are on tap with the English debate on Monday and the French debate on Thursday. The format will be slightly different with 5 different moderators (all female) in the English version and moderator and 4 questioners in the French debate.
You can stream the English language debate over a CBC property. As for the French version, CBC News Network should have an English translation as well as CPAC.
Even if you can't follow along, I do enjoy listening to the party leaders en Francaise. If you know a little French, you might understand some of what they are saying.
CBC tried something different in getting to know the major party leaders. Each of the party leaders talks with 5 undecided voters for 5 minutes. Host Rosemary Barton then asks follow-up questions based on what the voter has brought up.
Debates have their place but you really get a sense of the leader when no one is trying to take a shot or talk over someone.
Maxime Bernier aka People's Party of Canada was invited but declined due to scheduling issues. Seems like a difficult opportunity to pass up for Bernier.
Each segment takes about 45 minutes. CBC ran highlights on The National but ran the the full-length version after the local news. We linked to the YouTube versions.
Scheer and May got undecided voters that were thisclose to voting for the party. Neither was particularly challenged by the voters but Barton made up for that lack of uncertainty.
Trudeau got challenged pretty well but that is the legacy of running on a record.
Scheer got voters who didn't seem all that undecided or challenged the Conservative leader. A softball characterization undersells how easy the questions were for Scheer.
Trudeau has a voter who wondered if governments cared about single voters. We would agree with that question. Trudeau mentioned the Canada Workers Benefit. He also got an intriguing questioner on supply management. That was tougher than any person who addressed Scheer or May.
The pattern kept questioners to areas that weren't in their wheelhouse. Trudeau got no questioner east of Toronto. Scheer didn't get any from the prairie provinces. 3 of the 5 for May came from Ontario. Singh got 3 from Toronto as well as Abbotsford B.C. and Montréal.
As part of our running series, we are posting ads from the major parties. This is a Conservative ad.
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Jagmeet Singh was at the Atwater Market in Montréal before the TVA debate. Singh was talking to a older man who told Singh to "cut off his turban." Singh deals well with the disturbed individual in the exchange.
This man should have known he will be caught on camera with such deplorable behaviour. Asking Singh to remove the turban would have been bad enough, but the act of cutting the turban added a violent element.
This sample shows us why we need a larger conversation. The leadership commission debates are also in Quebec in Gatineau, across the river from Ottawa. Bill 21 was a shadow over the TVA debate in Montréal.
2019 Canada election preview
Looking back at 2015 before the 2019 Canadian election
We didn't have a foreign policy debate on Tuesday. The USMCA | CUSMA topic deserves some debate. The Liberals are defending an awful agreement for Canada. The Conservatives would have done worse. The NDP and Green Party would want changes made to the document.
Given the U.S. House push toward impeachment, the Dem-led House won't be focused on passing the trade agreement. U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says they are going forward. A number of Dems in the House want changes to the trade deal.
The urgency is lessened because NAFTA still exists.
Andrew Scheer announced on Tuesday that a Conservative government would cut foreign aid by 25%. Scheer promised to redirect $700 million to countries that he said would need it most. Canada currently has a $6.1-billion foreign aid budget.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants foreign aid set at 0.7% of gross national income. Currently, Canada stands at 0.28% of gross national income.
This analysis refutes Scheer's charge that the Trudeau Government sends $2.2 billion of foreign aid to middle- and upper-income countries.
Daily Show explores why refugees are fleeing U.S. for Canada
We talked earlier in the campaign about the numbers of refugees crossing at illegal border crossing points. This article focuses mostly on the Roxham Road crossing (the one highlighted on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah).
There are overall statistics of note.
"Of the more than 50,000 who've come into Canada at irregular crossings since 2017, about one-third have been processed under the national refugee system. About half — 55 per cent — who have had their cases heard have been accepted as refugees. The other 45 per cent have been rejected. But two thirds of the applicants' cases are still pending."
This has resulted in about 8,000-9,000 new refugees in Canada since 2017 and 7,000-8,000 applicants turned away. Whatever you might think of the numbers, we should have the information to make more viable arguments.
Canadians will feel loss of satirists such as Rick Mercer in the 2019 Canadian election
Laura Lynch to take over The Current through the federal election on CBC Radio One
Tom Power on Q pointed out that the 2019 election was the first time in 26 years and 8 federal elections that Rick Mercer wasn't on television. Mercer was on Q talking about how the voting age should be lowered to 16.
"You can join the Canadian military at 16 … you can drive farm equipment, we expect you to follow the laws of the land and to understand them, so 16-year-olds have responsibility."
Mercer was part of Two Shows, One Stage, Your Vote where Q combined with The Current for an election town hall in front of a live studio audience in the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
"Voting is a learned behaviour and it's addictive," Mercer said.
Just Ask is a way for Canadian content creators to talk to politicians
Justin Trudeau (Liberal) and Andrew Scheer (Conservative) have tax proposals to save money on the bottom portion of what Canadians make.
Trudeau says Liberals would raise the personal income tax deduction from $12,069 to $15,000 for people earning less than $147,000.
Scheer says Conservatives would cut the rate on the lowest income tax bracket from 15% to 13.75%. However, the 13.75% wouldn't kick in until 2023.
CBC business reporter Peter Armstrong pointed out that 66% of Canadians make less than $46,000/year and that 91% are in the lowest 2 tax brackets.
Factoring in that $46,000 goes farther in Red Deer than Edmonton or Calgary, those numbers sound depressing. No wonder Canadians think and feel that they are financially struggling. A 2-income household would be a requirement in most urban settings.
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage
Vote Compass got a couple of CBC promos on last night's Hockey Night in Canada game with the Montréal Canadiens in Toronto. The game was available on CBC, NHL Center Ice free preview, and the NHL Network. Vote Compass is a CBC News service where you could log on to see how your views compared to party leaders at votecompass.cbc.ca.
Twitter capture: @cdnpoli_memes
photos credit: Andrew Scheer; TVA, TVA, CBC News
video credit: YouTube/Conservative Party of Canada
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