Canadian Politics: The Surreality of Life under King Corona

[Fragile Bird]

As predicted, Bill Morneau has resigned as Finance Minister. Apparently he’ll try to head the OECD.

[JGP]

2 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

As predicted, Bill Moreau has resigned as Finance Minister. Apparently he’ll try to head the OECD.

Just reading a bit about it now. Hard to say whether they were waiting for the polls to improve a little [they have] to pull the trigger, or... I honestly don't know. Smart move would've been to ride it out a ways longer or indefinitely, I wonder what's going on behind the scenes. Wonder if we ever will lol

[Fragile Bird]

Just now, JEORDHl said:

Just reading a bit about it now. Hard to say whether they were waiting for the polls to improve a little [they have] to pull the trigger, or... I honestly don't know. Smart move would've been to ride it out a ways longer or indefinitely, I wonder what's going on behind the scenes. Wonder if we ever will lol

I understand that backbenchers said it's you or him. We can forgive you if he goes.

[JGP]

There's lots of chatter. Differing views with Trudeau on how to proceed [that one at least has made news recently, though could have been manufactured]; something else about to drop; fall guy for SNC and WE snafus... [spreads hands]

Mind sharing where you got that and your confidence level in it, Bird?  

[Fragile Bird]

8 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

There's lots of chatter. Differing views with Trudeau on how to proceed [that one at least has made news recently, though could have been manufactured]; something else about to drop; fall guy for SNC and WE snafus... [spreads hands]

Mind sharing where you got that and your confidence level in it, Bird?  

Back a couple of weeks ago when they both appeared before the parliamentary committee, reporters on the CBC were talking about what MPs were telling them. The date - when I posted my initial comment that Morneau would be asked to resign.

[JGP]

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

Back a couple of weeks ago when they both appeared before the parliamentary committee, reporters on the CBC were talking about what MPs were telling them. The date - when I posted my initial comment that Morneau would be asked to resign.

So... scuttlebutt. Sorry, not trying to be dismissive. I just don't know where umpteen degrees of certainty would slide in there. At this point anyway.

These are some of the things I despise about politics-- the need to handle the narrative, focus the optics, weight the spin. Like, just tell the fucking truth and it's more than possible you'll take less harm. Equivocation, prevarication, they've got the unmistakable whiff of guilt. They alienate the public, and give ammo to the opposition. 

It's just so goddamned witless to become a coauthor in your own demise [damage]     

 

[Fragile Bird]

I think what really pissed people off was the fact that Morneau didn't even check to see if he re-imbursed WE for the trip to Africa. I said, isn't it nice to be so rich you don't even notice little details like that.

[Fragile Bird]

15 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

So... scuttlebutt. Sorry, not trying to be dismissive. I just don't know where umpteen degrees of certainty would slide in there. At this point anyway.

These are some of the things I despise about politics-- the need to handle the narrative, focus the optics, weight the spin. Like, just tell the fucking truth and it's more than possible you'll take less harm. Equivocation, prevarication, they've got the unmistakable whiff of guilt. They alienate the public, and give ammo to the opposition. 

It's just so goddamned witless to become a coauthor in your own demise [damage]     

 

Btw, apparently Mark Carney is going to replace him.

[JGP]

CBC [? one of them anyway] said they have confirmation that's not the case though. 

Look at what a mess we've let everything become. Don't even know who or what to believe [sad  laugh]

[Fragile Bird]

6 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

CBC [? one of them anyway] said they have confirmation that's not the case though. 

Look at what a mess we've let everything become. Don't even know who or what to believe [sad  laugh]

Hmmmm, I hope they're wrong, Mark Carney would make an excellent Finance Minister.

[JGP]

57 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Hmmmm, I hope they're wrong, Mark Carney would make an excellent Finance Minister.

I wasn't so sure about that but my brother convinced me. He would be. What might be, is the Liberals don't want to announce quite yet, so some staffer called off the record. Carney is back in Canada, after all. Related? Maybe.  

[Fragile Bird]

4 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

I wasn't so sure about that but my brother convinced me. He would be. What might be, is the Liberals don't want to announce quite yet, so some staffer called off the record. Carney is back in Canada, after all. Related? Maybe.  

Well, if Morneau is going to go after the OECD job, he's going to resign from his seat, so would Carney run there? The alternative is to appoint Carney to the Senate, which would mean asking someone to step down. Or maybe a retirement is coming up. 

eta these graduates from Goldman Sachs are everywhere...

[JGP]

58 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Well, if Morneau is going to go after the OECD job, he's going to resign from his seat, so would Carney run there? The alternative is to appoint Carney to the Senate, which would mean asking someone to step down. Or maybe a retirement is coming up. 

He's already resigned his seat apparently.

edit: I don't know if you need a seat to be appointed Finance Minister.

[Fragile Bird]

5 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

He's already resigned his seat apparently.

edit: I don't know if you need a seat to be appointed Finance Minister.

I think to be a cabinet minister you have to either have a seat or be a senator. A Conservative PM took that route while waiting for a by-election, I can't remember if it was Harper or Mulroney.

You have to think to yourself, Finance Minister when the country has gone to hell in a handbasket during a pandemic, who would want that dog's breakfast? Between his stint as Governor of the Bank of Canada and then the Bank of England Carney has to know every finance person in the fucking world. Hope he takes it. 

[JGP]

Yeah, I knew it was a mistake. Singh, Angus and many of their ideological opposites in the Conservatives are making so much hay out it they're already good for winter. Just gravy now. 

He's helming a minority government here. Trudeau needs to pull his head out of his ass.

[Fragile Bird]

Update

Aug        10      11      12      13     14      15      16      17      

BC         131     46      85      76      84       -         -    236 

AB         257     85     121     78      84       -         -    359

SK             5     29         5     27      30      25      15       1

MB         16        4       16     25      40      20      36     38

ON        115     33      95      78      92    106      81     99

PQ         156     91      95    104      87      80      67     55

M-4           1       0        5        2       1        6        2        1       

Total      681    289    423    390   418    237    201    785

I think I'm in such a bad mood because I looked at the numbers out of BC and AB. After seeing what's been going on in Europe, they really worry me. I started isolating in February, I guess I need to continue doing so until I can get vaccinated. Bloody hell.

[JGP]

I haven't stopped isolating, excepting necessity. Plenty of Albertans have. 

[JGP]

 

news feed: Freeland to take over as Finance Minister, and the Liberals [allegedly] to prorogue government until October. 

me: 

 

[Fragile Bird]

1 hour ago, JEORDHl said:

 

news feed: Freeland to take over as Finance Minister, and the Liberals [allegedly] to prorogue government until October. 

me: 

 

Ok, I had also heard rumours that Freeland would be chosen as Finance minister. As for proroguing parliament, there's a new Finance minister. She'll get, what, 6 or 7 weeks to learn the job and create a plan of action that everyone is demanding, one that will lay out how we get out of the pandemic crisis? 

Don't forget what happened in 2008, at the start of the GFC, the Global Financial Crisis. While the entire world was making plans to support their countries with fiscal stimulus, massive fiscal stimulus, on Nov. 27 Jim Flaherty presented not a budget, but a "fiscal update", cutting government spending by billions, suspending the right of civil servants to strike until 2011, suspending the right of women to seek recourse from the courts for pay equity, selling off Crown assets and a whole bunch of other things. This was just 6 weeks after an election. No budget, the Cons said, because they were still using their last budget, with 'updates'. This triggered the constitutional crisis where the Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition said they would go to the GG and ask to form a coalition government. Harper prorogued parliament on Dec. 4, what, 7 weeks after an election? The earliest in Canadian history? They resumed on January 27, almost 8 weeks later.

I was coming home from work and turned on the radio in the car to listen to the Fiscal Update, since I was working in the financial services industry and everyone was wondering how the government would help Canada through the crisis. I almost drove off the bloody road when I heard what Flaherty was saying. After they came back, the Conservatives did basically everything the opposition had demanded, setting them up for free-handed spending that led to their majority. Analysis of the spending, iirc, showed 80% of the money went to Conservative ridings.

The Federal election was Oct. 21 last year. Parliament usually prorogues once a year, so between a pandemic and a new Finance minister, I would not be bothered by this.

[Paxter]

On 8/14/2020 at 1:15 PM, Fragile Bird said:

eta: I went downtown yesterday for the first time in forever, going with my brother to the dentist so we could then drive out to Oakville to pick up the used car he just bought. His dentist is in one of the big towers, and I stepped outside to Adelaide St. to take pictures of the nearly deserted street. Normally at 2:00 pm the street would be bumper-to-bumper in traffic and the halls on the PATH system underground would be teeming with people. We only saw a handful of folks walking from our City Hall parking spot, the food courts are still closed and most of the shops were closed as well. Going to Oakville he foolishly chose University Ave. to get on the Gardiner expressway, and that was a horrible traffic jam. I would have headed west to get on. Rush hour was almost normal, but I think that was more about construction bottlenecks.

Yeah it is a little sad to be honest. My work was on York and King - a real hive of activity usually. Now it's likely I will depart Canada before people return to work there!