Canadians need to keep the boycott on all things American going until the USA becomes normal again.
The threat is not only Trump, it is the religious right and the organizations that lurk in the shadows and enable the crazy.
Trump will likely go in a few years, to be replaced with some other toady who will double down on the whole shit show.
We may get a trade deal with the Orange Mussolini, but the USA will never be trustworty again.
We recently returned from a trip to Europe and a chance to relax from the usual day to day. I had a chance to read a couple of books I had started but never finished and was challenged to think again by a topic I thought was settled in my mind.
Michael Coren is writer, radio personality and public figure. I have read his work in Canadian newspapers and seen him on television for many years. I had regarded him as a conservative, someone whose opinions were shaped by the right wing thoughts of the comfortable and judgmental members of the western middle class.
He has changed and is now a priest of the Anglican Church and has wirtten a new book called “The Rebel Christ” which challenges the teachings of evangelical and conservative Christianity in the US and Canada.
I am not a religious person, I was baptized into the Presbyterian church as a child but have not attended a church in over sixty years. Despite my negative views of organized religion and it’s role in the world today I was drawn to read “The Rebel Christ” after stumbling across Rev. Coren’s Twitter account. The views he was expressing seemed so at odds with those I recalled and he was attacked constantly for them.
I won’t try to tell his story here, but if you are interested in a thoughtful exploration of Christian thought and the bible in a way that makes Jesus’ philosophy relevant and accessible please read “The Rebel Christ”.
Trumpism and the rise of right-wing extremism was widely rejected on Tuesday, where does that leave the progressive movement in the US and here in Canada?
An important factor in the US election that is under reported is candidate quality. Voters looked to candidate quality far more than the exit polling reflects since the polls tend to ask about issues and don’t ask the question about the candidates. This factor was starkly illustrated in Pennsylvania where the republican candidate in the governors race was shown to embrace racist and anti-Semitic views in addition to radical positions on election law, and crime. Mehmet Oz was hand picked by Trump to run for senate despite being a resident of New Jersey. Celebrity failed to overcome the solid experience and progressive views of John Fetterman despite Fetterman’s mid campaign health issues.
The record and a progressive, centre-left platform. People voted on issues that affect them and the exit polls reflect that. Women’s right to choose, guns and crime, local issues and the economy, the economy, the economy. It is critical going forward from the US elections of 2022 that the Progressives pay greater attention to the pain that rising interest rates, food prices, gas and heating prices are causing for the middle class in addition to the working poor and poor. This includes down ballot in state legislatures and municipal politics as well. Clear messaging and action on economic issues are critical to success in the 2024 US election cycle.
The Democrats are being called the winners in the 2022 election cycle because they were not decimated. While many races remain unsettled, they could still lose control of the senate and the house of representatives, crippling the Biden administration for the next two years. The Maga Republicans fell short of the huge victory they predicted but they have not gone away. Trump’s influence is blunted and he may destroy the Republican party before he relinquishes the stage, but he will not just go away.
Democrats need to take stock and come together on progressive policy that focuses on the economy and does not frighten the independent and swing voters. Find new and credible voices to speak to the voters where they are, Fox News and not play only on the home field. Recruit quality candidates and that means looking seriously at whether Biden should offer again in 2024.
What are the lessons for Canada?
We have a growing extremist right wing in Canada, some of the most prominent voices in the US right have Canadian origins. As long as they don’t break the law, they are free to spread their message and it resonates with people who feel shut out and ignored by the political elites in Canada. The rejection of Jean Charest by the Conservative Party in favour of Pierre Poilievre reflects that. Charest is a Progressive Conservative of the old school now no longer welcome in the party that Stephen Harper fashioned.
The Conservatives are attacking the Liberal Government focusing on Justin Trudeau and using his name in memes etc. The frontal attack is on the economy while they flank the Liberals in the culture wars. As the son of a former PM, Justin Trudeau is portrayed as the archetype of an elitist liberal. Born wealthy, privileged and out of touch with Canadians. Cancel culture is the nemesis of the broad coalition that made up the Liberal majority of 2015.
Now is the time for the Progressive movement in Canada to choose a range of policies that focuses on the economy for the middle class and those that aspire to join it. That is the route forward, failure to claim that ground now spells disaster. End the focus on the tiny micro-aggressions of the culture warriors and speak to the broader audience on the issues most important to their lives.
Our current government has a good record of providing support for business and people through the pandemic, own it but move on. The cornerstones that will decide upcoming federal, provincial and municipal elections are:
1. Quality candidates including new articulate voices.
2. The economy, inflation and carbon pricing.
3. A woman’s right to choose, we need to codify the status quo.
4. Healthcare writ large, the system is broken.
5. Taxation is a sleeper but Canadians in many parts of the country cannot afford more taxes at any level. Politicians need to recognize that while we have three levels of taxation there is only one taxpayer.
The sailing season for 2022 ended with a glorious day of sun and fair breezes at Sullivan’s Pond. I can think of few better ways to spend time than messing around with boats.
Using the laser to make some custom Cork coasters.
Justin Trudeau wore a costume twenty years ago that saw him wearing makeup. Lets remember he was involved in theatre at the time, where costumes and makeup are part of the program.
Blackface has become widely acknowledged as offside in our ever more sensitive social landscape. Mr. Trudeau stepped forward, accepted responsibility for an action now not acceptable and apologized.
That is far different from Mr. Scheer’s statements now held in perpetuity in the Hansard record of the proceedings of the House of Commons. He said he does not believe in same sex marriage since it does not allow for procreation which he thinks is the reason his god put people on earth.
His campaign manager is associated with white supremacists and Rebel Media but he is still there. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/hamish-marshall-andrew-scheer-conservative-campaign-1.4358811
The CPC is stocked with zealots eager to roll back reproductive rights for women, to create in Canada the ascendancy of the Christian right that permeates American politics.
The CPC tax cuts go mostly to those who have substantial means already, while being sold as a middle class tax cut.
They meet secretly with oil industry executives to get their instructions on opposing the carbon tax and reducing government efforts to battle climate change.
They not only oppose efforts to battle climate change, the issue of a generation but they deny it is real. Officially they soft pedal their denial, but the CPC caucus and candidates are no better than the Doug Ford administration in Ontario.
They oppose gun control, despite the vast majority of Canadians support for efforts to curb gun violence in Canada’s large cities.
These are all current CPC thinking, policy or positions and there more disturbing things to come.
Is this equivalent to an error made 20 years ago?
There are people in Halifax that dream of a day when the Halifax Regional Municipality becomes the City of Halifax and they can do away with the communities like Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville and all the annoying details like public participation that go with them.
To them, business would be easier and power and control would reside with the Halifax elite where they believe it belongs. You may think me alarmist but I am not the only one who can see the forest growing among the trees.
Check out the latest post from David Harrison, a respected commentator on local and planning issues. David talks about the proposal for a new Community Council within the Centre Plan and what that may lead to.
Those of us that love our community will need to be vigilant, as our current representatives act as shills for staff rather than our advocates.
Today should be a celebration across Canada as Cannabis becomes legal and relief from criminal records for simple possession are in the works.
Instead here in Dartmouth the parsimonious tut-tutters of Halifax Council are working to ruin the joy. By passing a non-smoking bylaw of draconian breadth they have armed the police with a sure-fire method of harassing anyone they please.
The guise of public health is used to justify a bad law. If the council was really interested in our health they would have moved years ago to convert the cities vehicles and buses to electricity. Instead, their real purpose is to make illegal what Parliament has just made legal. Tobacco smokers are just the victims here of overzealous councillors who came to realize they had to ban tobacco or their flimsy legal foundation was doomed.
I don’t smoke tobacco and have no intention of smoking cannabis, but this law is wrong. Today saw long lines of people waiting to buy Cannabis, and I hope someone sues to have this law struck down.
Those of us that have lobbied for years to make Cannabis legal should neither support nor vote for any member of this City Council.
A Nova Scotia Liberal MLA used a Facebook post to highlight the problem of healthcare expenditure on preventable disease and was roundly criticized.
What he said was largely true, Nova Scotia has higher rates of obesity, smoking, overuse of alcohol and poor eating habits. Due to this we can expect to be sicker and consume more health care resources, particularly as our population ages.
Why is it so wrong to say so?
The truth is a powerful thing, but few people want to hear it.
Yesterday was WordCamp in Halifax.
I could not stay the whole day but really enjoyed all the morning sessions I attended and the great people I met. It helps so much to spend time with people who are like-minded and so willing to share their experience knowledge with others.
Thanks to all the volunteers and organizers that made the event happen and run so smoothly and of course the sponsors
My highlight of the day was the energetic and fun presentation by Heather Deveaux who made the time fly by. Find Heather and her business online at http://heatherdeveaux.com/
Jim Goddard 