Canadian Election Catch-All

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jowner wrote:

Not trying to say that Canada is more/less xenophobic then the United States or that we react more intensely in our politics when its brought up.

Eh you have the usual outliers, but as far as the "average" person goes xenophobia is pretty low. Nothing near what they apparently have in the states.

I think Harper really shot his campaign in the foot over the whole niqab issue. The kind of fire he was spouting came off like a Churchill war speech. WE WILL FIGHT THEM ON THE BEACHES, WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER, DOWN WITH THE NIQAB, etc. Who was this supposed to appeal to?

And this wasn't about wearing masks in passport photos or anything, it's the swearing in ceremony after all the paperwork is said and done. You have already proven your identity to the official, so what does it matter what you are wearing when you say the oath? You can wear a clown nose for all I care, welcome to Canada.

kuddles wrote:

On the other, there was a lot of pushback on the negativity, dog whistle words, and attack ads as coming off as close to the American style of campaigning. But it's uncertain how much of that is genuine dislike of the negativity.

I can't speak for everyone but I'm pretty damn tired of it. A lot of the attack ads were just plain stupid. Some of the ones targeting Trudeau went something like:

"You couldn't possibly be dumb enough to vote for this young inexperienced whippersnapper right? Everything he touches goes to sh*t! Please think about Canada's future, and the chilluns!"

"THISMESSAGEPAIDFORBYTHECONSERVATIVEPARTYOFCANADA".

I mean, Trudeau is 43. Calling him a dumb prettyboy is a pretty flat argument.

Harper's just jealous of that hair. Look how hair torpedoed the NDP too: if a mustache is good, thought Mulcair, a beard must be better. I think hair decided this election.

In Iceland, each district was broken into (usually) four farthings, each of which had 3 trithungr (or thirds) assemblies. This usage was adopted in Northern England when the Vikings ruled there, it survived when they left, and so an administrative subdivision of a county became, eventually, a "riding" (drop the initial "t" and change the thorn to a d).

Ta-daaa!

Stocks for both construction companies and medical marijuana providers made major gains yesterday. Wish I had enough business sense to think about these things beforehand.

Tamren wrote:

Eh you have the usual outliers, but as far as the "average" person goes xenophobia is pretty low. Nothing near what they apparently have in the states.

I feel like it's a little higher than you're making it out to be, unfortunately. I've encountered some pretty blatant racism even here in Ottawa, including a complete change in treatment and service at some major bars and restaurants I've been to many times when I'm with a friend who has non-white skin. And the attitude towards our Aboriginal communities are downright shameful.

And that niqab thing might not have had the staying power that was hoped for, but it clearly resonated with a lot of Canadians based on those polls. Whatever you think of the NDP's chances in general, it's undeniable that Mulcair's stance against this Islamophobic attitude is what caused his biggest dip in support.

Don't forget that Conservative candidates who were involved in the worst stuff around this, including the one who told Muslims to "go back where you came from" and the one who was caught posting a lot of disgusting racist stuff on her social media sites, were voted back in. (Another dangerous sign of American-style politics creeping into our system, as evidenced by Ford Nation - a growing conservative base who literally do not care how morally bankrupt their leaders are so long as they are cutting taxes.)

We may be more tolerant than some countries, but we clearly still have a lot of work to do.

I mean, Trudeau is 43. Calling him a dumb prettyboy is a pretty flat argument.

That angle was probably the biggest problem with the Conservative's campaign. They were clearly hoping it would be something that stuck as well as the "He didn't come back for you" shtick did for Ignatieff last time.

But it backfired, because by focusing so much of their message on suggesting Trudeau was a complete idiot, they actually created an environment where people became impressed any time he had a debate or interview and didn't fail completely.

The Conservatives under Harper have actually done a lot of disgusting mean-spirited advertising in the past, including suggesting opponents are pedophile enablers, making fun of our previous' PM's speech impediment, and that last ditch effort suggesting Trudeau was going to open brothels up everywhere. They always seemed to do more harm than good, but they kept doing it.

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SpacePPoliceman wrote:

My Cuban brother-in-law is disconcerted by the Trudeau family's apparent chumminess with the Castros. Thoughts? I kinda settled on "Canada doesn't really meddle much on the international stage."

Your wiseness and not-scream are much great.

After a great deal of thought, I think I might have said, "Wellll, Pierre Trudeau wasn't old enough to remember how much better off Cuba was when it was run by the Mafia and the American fruit companies." I might've added a suggestion to pray the rosary for Canada tonight.

I kind of want to go in the US elections thread, post a picture of Mr. Lloyd catching Basil Fawlty in his underwear straddling an unconscious pants-less Manuel, and say "We've wrapped up our election."