this ^report is from 2020. However- much news has since been reported about the staggering increase of wealth 'at the top' since COVID began.

"...Canadian capitalism is exposed in the study as an oligarchic social order.

According to the PBO, the share of wealth held by the top one percent of Canadians is 25.6 percent. This is almost double the estimate of 13.7 percent given by Statistics Canada."

@allthecanadianpolitics good resource article here.

the numbers here are abysmal but the visuals? monkey brain go ‘oug big orange’

full of rage & despair. literally never voted for a winning candidate in a single election in my entire life. what happened to strategic voting huh liberals ??????

i hate quebec politics like do i want to vote legault out of office? 100% yes. but the plq is barely different from the caq, the pq is insanely islamophobic and has a concerning nationalist strain within it, and qs has pretty much zero chance of winning bc they only ever get votes in like. metro mtl and that’s it

Fewer Canadians than at almost any point since the party was elected with Justin Trudeau as leader are considering voting for the federal Liberals, according to the latest tracking by Nanos Research.

The polling firm has tracked "accessible voters," that is, how many Canadians would consider voting Liberal, each week since before the party was elected with Trudeau as leader in 2015.

While between 50 and 60 per cent of respondents said they would consider voting for the Liberals when surveyed in the months leading up to the 2015 federal election — when former prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservative party was still in power — only 36.2 per cent would consider casting their ballot for Trudeau's Liberals right now. [...]

In other words, Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives would capture 43 per cent of the vote if an election were held today, while the Liberals would get 23 per cent, the NDP 21 per cent, the Bloc six per cent and the Green Party about four per cent. [...]

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This evening, the House of Commons voted to pass a shameful motion on the Israel-Hamas war, brought forward by Jagmeet Singh’s NDP and supported in an amended version by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Government.

While the motion doesn’t change Canada’s formal foreign policy, elements of its text are disturbing and unacceptable. Some provisions ultimately reward Palestinian extremists and undermine the security of the people of Israel—a democratic Canadian ally—including:

A call for an arms embargo on Israel, precisely when Israelis are fighting a defensive war launched by a recognized terrorist group; and

Reaffirmation of Canadian funding for UNRWA, despite evidence that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7th atrocities.

Tonight’s vote needs to be condemned for what it was: a slap in the face not only to our allies in Israel, but also to Jewish Canadians—just five months after the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

But our community can draw strength from our strong, united response in this moment of truth for Canada’s leaders.

In recent days, Jews and allies across Canada mobilized against the motion, including through the efforts of UJA, our advocacy agent the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), partner Federations, and other Jewish organizations. As just one example of our community’s strength, in a matter of days we collectively sent more than 900,000 emails to MPs through CIJA’s action alert system.

This strong, vocal stand was instrumental in ensuring a key clause—unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state—was cut from the motion in a last-minute amendment. This removed a critical demand of the anti-Israel movement, one that would have contradicted Canada’s longstanding policy that Palestinian statehood can only be reached through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Importantly, the motion was also amended to call for the release of all hostages and demand that Hamas lay down its arms.

Despite these changes, tonight’s vote reflects something we’ve seen far too often since October 7th: the shameful accommodation of radical voices. But our community will never stop fighting for the truth, for our values as Jews, and for the principles that have been core to Canadian democracy. Because to be Jewish has always meant to fight for what’s right, even when the odds are against us.

We will do so with profound appreciation for those MPs who opposed tonight’s motion—particularly Pierre Poilievre's Official Opposition Conservatives, as well as several members of the Liberal caucus.

Adam Minsky President & CEO

Mar 19, 2024

Shout out to the NDP getting bill C-223 into the second reading in the house of commons. Bill C-223 is trying to get a framework for universal basic income in canada built. This is why every canadian should be voting NDP in every local and federal election.

By not showcasing wins when and where they’re happening, labour is missing a chance to inspire workers to fight for what they deserve. [...] At present, 4,700 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) are on strike across 30 port terminals in British Columbia. These workers voted 99.24 per cent in favour of strike action and hit the picket line July 1. ILWU has a strong tradition of labour militancy, up and down the Western ports of North America. Should the union win its current demands around wages and protections against automation, job loss and outsourcing, it’s no stretch to say this will shape the direction of work in the industry heretofore.   At the time of writing, the federal labour minister, Seamus O’Regan, has asked a federal mediator for a recommended settlement to give a “forceful nudge” to push the union and the employers’ association over the finish line. While not the heavy-handed approach seen from this government in past labour disputes, the spectre of back-to-work legislation nevertheless looms. The supply and confidence agreement with the federal NDP renders the legislative hammer more politically sensitive than would be the case under a Trudeau majority government, but, with Liberals in power, it’s never out of reach. In Ontario, more than 3,700 workers at Metro Inc. across the Greater Toronto Area recently delivered 100 per cent support for a strike. These Unifor members could soon be on the picket line if their wage demands aren’t met. Then, of course, there were the historic strikes by more than 155,00 Public Service Alliance of Canada members and 55,000 CUPE Ontario education workers. Although neither strike resulted in awe-inspiring wage gains, in both cases the unions nevertheless won above-average pay raises. More importantly, they inspired workers across the country to ask for more, just as employers feared they would. And asking for more appears to be exactly what many union members are doing. Recent data from both Ontario and B.C. suggest that a number of unions are pushing for major wage gains at the bargaining table and, surprisingly, pulling it off.

Listen, sometimes it simply comes down to the worst of the evils. It's been that way here federally for YEARS. We have the Progressive Conservatives and they are racist pieces of shit that only care about wealthy white folk. It's just the truth. And then we got the Liberals (your democrats) who are slightly less evil but at least they're not stripping special needs kids of all their funding and getting rid of their one to one aides and erasing ALL special needs classes and forcing inclusion (don't get me started, inclusion does not work for everyone and my son is proof of it). The PCs have it made it abundantly clear that special needs kids and their families are below trash. Right, Doug Ford?

The only half decent party is the NDP but they don't stand a damn chance, so...

For years we've been voting to just keep the PCs out of power.

And sometimes, that has to be good enough.

I don't know exactly how elections work in Canada so I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but would you vote for Trudeau after all his genocide support? I'm asking because I can't bribg myself to vote for Biden and Trump is out of the question. A third party will never win here. ☹️ In good conscience, I can't vote for a man who allowed thousands of kids to be murdered.

When there is a federal election in Canada (in order to elect a Prime Minister), we vote for the political party running in our 'riding.' To compare a riding to the American Electoral College system, it's similar to how you vote for candidates to represent you depending on the system (since I know it varies across states) -in Canada, those in 'ridings' represent the people in their specific area. If they win, they have a 'seat' in Parliament (which is located in Ottawa on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin territory).

Canada functions under a first past the post system [FFTP] (as this is the most common method in the US, if I'm not mistaken?), which means that even it's a 48% to 50% vote between Conservatives and Liberals then the later would 'win' (I believe in Australia, due to their system, citizens would have to re-vote again if it's that close). I digress, but that's how it 'works' here.

Also, due to the parliamentary system, whether a voted-in party has a majority or minority of votes, will determine their position (and degree of power) in the House of Commons (which is like your Congress). Right now we are yes, currently run by a Liberal minority government -back in 2019 Trudeau was I believe shy of a dozen votes from being a majority government. The next federal election date in in 2025, usually it's in the fall.

So, complex parliamentary system aside -who you vote for in Canada is a Member of Parliament (an MP) from the 'riding'/area you are in, who represents you in the House of Commons, and they function under the leadership of 'X' party that is elected.

I have voted Liberal in the past because I loved the MP in my riding. She's done a lot of amazing work in the community. Over time, however, I have voted NDP (New Democratic Party), which is led by Jagmeet Singh right now. Of the over 300 seats in Parliament, they have 25 seats. I align with them on a lot of their ideologies, namely because they are more left-leaning than Liberals, but due to what happened recently - I can't look at them the same way, in the same respect I can't for Liberals either.

What they did to MPP Sara Jama (a disability and housing activist), by expelling her from the Caucus (which is just a collective term for those sitting in Parliament), because she openly supported Palestine. The 'Progressive' Conservatives voted to censure her and they successfully did. And over what, you might ask? She said she wanted an "end to all occupation of Palestinian land" and called for a ceasefire. You can follow her on X here, for folks interested in learning more about her work; she also has the video (that I believe went viral on tiktok about her demanding a ceasefire)- @/ SarahJama_)

So, for me, there will be some time to think about what I would like to do, but I will most definitely not be voting for a Liberal MP, that's for sure. As for the US, I have spoke about the socialist party running right now -Claudia De La Cruz and Karina Garcia (for President and VP, respectively) -they have supported Palestine and do a TON of advocacy work. If I could, I would vote for them.

You can probably guess that if an Albertan candidate can say transphobic shit and still get elected, the federal Conservatives are gonna make that a core plank in their platform in the next election. Which is depressing as shit but at least we can anticipate it.

Also, according to one count, fewer than 1,500 votes across Calgary would have flipped the election for the NDP so this UCP win is the slimmest of majorities. Doesn’t change how they’ll govern but it should put to rest the stereotype that the whole province is far right.

yknow what i find really depressing right now as a canadian?

im genuinely leaning towards voting specifically for trudeau/libs for the first time ever. im a hard leftist and used to be very much like. fuck the people who vote lib just as a safe bet and refuse to vote with their actual alignment. and i still believe that. but like.... im hella dissapointed in the ndp and singh. When he came onto the political scene in alberta he was aggressively socialist and outspoken and it was the first time i was like fucking hype for a politician to any degree. But since hes gone federal hes absolutrly lost all of his edge and become so... photogenic? if that makes sense. in his behavipur and policy like. i still was willing to vote for him but this year? he doesnt even feel worth it. like why bother taking a risk on a new leader who seems like he has lost all spine when we could just... keep trudeau.

and like. i dont even particularly like trudeau. but u cant deny he's done a decent job keeping canada afloat during the pandemic and in the face of a near dictator with our closest relation and a war. like u kinda have to respect that even if hes not revolutionary he's kept a pretty steady hand on it. and given the signs of turmoil to the future like... thats not a bad option. id rather someone whose willing to maltov cocktail the whole shebang and try making strides through the chaos but id take an experienced moderate over a new one yknow.

In good political news today, Toronto elected Olivia Chow as mayor and I'm super stoked to have her back in City Hall.

From this CBC Article:

Olivia Chow was elected Toronto's next mayor in an unexpectedly close race Monday, promising to bring a more progressive approach after more than a decade of conservative leadership at city hall. The former downtown Toronto NDP MP and city councillor bested a record field of 102 candidates that included about a half dozen established contenders. Among those rivals was second-place finisher Ana Bailão — a past deputy to former mayor John Tory, whose shock resignation in February triggered the byelection. Chow, who was born in Hong Kong and came to Toronto at age 13, will become the third woman and first racialized person to serve as mayor in the city's history. She steps into the top spot as it grapples with a massive budget shortfall, an affordability crisis and public safety concerns. "If you ever doubted what's possible together, if you ever questioned your faith in a better future and what we can do with each other, for each other, tonight is your answer," Chow said in her speech to a crowd of cheering supporters. "Thank you to the people of Toronto for the trust you've placed in me and the mandate for change as your new mayor." [...] Among her headline commitments is a pledge to get the city back into social housing development and an annual $100 million investment in a program to purchase affordable homes and transfer them to non-profits and land trusts. [...]

Chow campaigned from the left, promising to boost rent supplements by introducing a "luxury home tax," an expanded land transfer tax on homes sold for $3 million and over. She also said she'll triple the city's existing vacant homes tax to three per cent. Chow will inherit largely untested strong mayor powers, however she has repeatedly said she wouldn't use them to override "majority rule" in council. In theory they would allow Chow to pass budgets with just one-third council support, veto bylaws and unilaterally shape the city's top-level administration. She did not release a fully-costed platform, and repeatedly declined to say by how much she would need to raise property taxes to pay for her suite of commitments — a focal point of criticism from her main rivals throughout the campaign.

The last week of the campaign saw Ontario Premier Doug Ford all but formally endorsed Saunders, warning at an unrelated news conference that a Chow mayoralty would be an "unmitigated disaster" and that she would raise taxes at an "unprecedented rate." Saunders finished third with 8.4 per cent of the total vote share.   Ford's pointed attack raises questions about Chow's relationship with Queen's Park as the city faces a $1.5-billion budget hole that will almost certainly require provincial help to fill. In a statement Monday night, Ford struck a conciliatory tone, saying he will "work with anyone ready to work with our government to better our city and province.  "Throughout Olivia's life, she has proven her desire and dedication to serving the city that many of us call home. While we're not always going to agree on everything, what we can agree on is our shared commitment to making Toronto a place where businesses, families, and workers can thrive."

Chow has long been a fixture of Toronto politics. She became a school board trustee in 1985, served 12 years on city council representing Trinity-Spadina and eventually became a New Democrat parliamentarian alongside her late husband and former federal NDP leader Jack Layton. Some of her notable policy stances include supporting an anti-homophobia curriculum in the 1980s, helping bring nutrition programs to Toronto schools in the 1990s and fighting against exploitative immigration consultants in the 2000s. For much of the last decade, she has run the Institute for Change Leaders at Toronto Metropolitan University where she trained community organizers.

The city being in basic bankruptcy position that will require provincial bail-out support is going to be contentious because Doug Ford is a nasty piece of work and vindictive as fuck - especially against Toronto Mayors - so we will see what she'll be able to get out of him (if anything). The Federal level will be able to help some, but it's really a municipal-provincial issue.

Is there any real danger of backsliding in Canada like the US has?

Very low on a federal level.

See in Canada because we have 2.5 federal parties, there's two types of government.

Majority Government - One party has more seats than all other parties combined.

Minority Government - One party has more seats than any other party, but not the others combined.

In this situation, backsliding ONLY happens in a Conservative Majority government. Which are rare. Conservative minorities get outvoted by a Liberal/NDP coalition, Liberal Majorities have slow progress, and Liberal minorities have faster progress.

NDP government has so far never happened and likely never will until Boomers and Gen X'ers die out. And Conservative majorities are becoming less and less likely as Boomers die out as a whole.

We don't really have a "democrat" party in Canada where socialists have to share space with social liberals and neoliberals. They all have their own party (NDP, Liberals and Tories respectively) because Canada doesn't have a far right party like the US does. And elections aren't rigged in the Tories favor over here. The dominance of the Liberal and Conservative parties over all others is the result of political apathy (30% of voters always vote Conservative without thinking about it, and another 30% always vote Liberal without thinking about it).

So backsliding only happens in a kind of government that is getting increasingly unlikely to take power. Despite Trudeau having a new "HE MUST GO" hastag every week, he's won three elections in a row and manages to form a coalition with the NDP despite the NDP's near constant Debate Bro schtick every election.

saw a canadian on youtube go "i'm a leftist! i've only ever voted for the liberal party of canada" which is just so laughable to me like i've had people call me naive & a liberal centrist for voting in federal elections at all and i've only ever voted ndp so "leftist" feels like a stretch for someone who voted for trudeau multiple times lol

On November 9, the federal government finally tabled its promised anti-scab legislation. When passed, this new law will ban the use of replacement workers in federally regulated workplaces, fulfilling a key promise made to the federal NDP in the supply and confidence agreement.  The Liberals originally floated a limited ban on scabs in their last election platform. After opposing such a ban in previous years, 2021 saw the Trudeau government concede to the idea of outlawing replacement workers but only during employer-initiated lockouts. It took the supply and confidence agreement with the NDP — as well as concerted pressure from labour — for a full replacement work ban to come to fruition.  The NDP has long supported a federal ban on scabs and has introduced several bills of its own over the years, all of which were voted down and largely opposed by Liberals and Conservatives. 

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