Re: [OT] Our next prime minister's views on Israel

On Wed, 03 Apr 2024 02:26:07 -0700
The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

On Tue, 2 Apr 2024 16:56:55 -0400, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
 

Based on the polls for the past year, there is little doubt that
Pierre Poilievre will be the next Prime Minister of Canada. He
recently gave a speech about Israel to a synagogue in Montreal which
shares his views on Israel and presumably anticipates what
government policy will be when he becomes PM.
>
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pierre-poilievre-middle-east-synagogue-1.7160436
>
A pretty reasonable set of principles in my opinion, with perhaps one
exception. I'm sad to see that he still supports a two-state
solution, an idea that seems completely unrealistic since the
failure of the Oslo Accords, but I suppose the idea of
unconditionally supporting Israel is a little too "out there" to be
politically possible just yet.
>
Poilievre is clearly heading in the right direction, in sharp
contrast to Trudeau who is hewing ever closer to being an outright
supporter of Hamas and the other Iranian proxies. 

 
I am not so quick to declare victory for Poilievre - his party has a
record of pitching "clear victories" at the start of the campaign
season.

I clearly indicated that I was basing his victory on the polling for
the past year or so. Naturally, the polls can change and Poilievre
could fuck up badly or, and this is really improbable, Trudeau could
finally do something right for the first time in 8+ years, and get his
head above water, politically speaking.

It will be interesting to see if the new riding boundaries
will promote Trudeau's cause since the Conservative party have had a
plurality of votes over the Liberals in the last TWO elections but
finished behind them in the seat count. (That's the cost of having
huge victories in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and losing close
ones in southern Ontario. It's ALSO the cost of having 20-30% more
electoral districts in Quebec and the Maritime provinces than their
populations would warrant in comparison to Ontario, BC and Alberta who
are systematically shortchanged in seats - which is doubly egregious
since both BC and Alberta get fewer seats in the Senate than Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick and equal to Newfoundland despite having 4-5
times the number of people.
 
I'd happily accept EQUAL Senate representation in the Senate as per
the US but if the Senate seats are unequal they had BETTER be based on
population and they are NOT. They're based on the population of the
1880s and never updated since. And thanks to Trudeau Pere - the
constitutional amending formula was set so that it could NEVER be
changed since while BC and Alberta each outnumber the entire
Maritimes, when the 4 Maritime provinces act in tandem they have a
constitutional veto whereas BC and Alberta don't. Meaning the present
unjust Senate formula can't ever be changed.
 
(This is something I've said here 3 or 4 times before so you can
reasonably infer I'm annoyed about it)

The current setup is indeed unfair. I always liked the Triple E Senate
proposed by Preston Manning but no one can figure out how to make that
happen against the entrenched interests in this country.

Somehow, Quebec retains a veto over everything even though they've
shown the least interest in being part of this country, at least on the
same terms as the rest of us. Their insistence in the Meech Lake
Accords - or was it the Charlottetown agreement? - in having 25% of the
House seats in perpetuity - REGARDLESS of their population - was the
main deal-breaker for me in the failed referendum.

If the Conservatives ever have an election where they sweep the whole
country, INCLUDING Quebec, and the provincial government in Quebec is
more pro-Canada than pro-Quebec, we'll finally be able to amend the
rules so that all provinces are treated equally. But that is a
confluence of events I have yet to see in my lifetime. I suppose we'll
just have to keep muddling along under the current formulas until that
magic moment happens - IF it ever happens.

--
Rhino