TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Canadian Politics

Go To

Because, hey, Canada needs some love as well.

Now, then, as a Yank to the Canadians, what has Stephen Harper done as Prime Minister, what were the top parties and how did the general election turn out this year?

FireCrawler2002 Since: Apr, 2017
#3626: May 8th 2017 at 11:57:02 AM

So, I'm gonna be heading to Montreal later this month. Anything I should know?

edited 8th May '17 1:26:44 PM by FireCrawler2002

nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#3628: May 8th 2017 at 1:24:59 PM

In Russia, Great Poutine has YOU.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
PhiSat Planeswalker from Everywhere and Nowhere Since: Jan, 2011
Planeswalker
#3630: May 8th 2017 at 1:28:15 PM

[up][up][up][up]You're not allowed to turn right on a red light, so don't do that or risk getting quite literally wrecked.

Oissu!
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#3631: May 8th 2017 at 1:32:06 PM

[up]That's a good reminder to have.

Also, while the initial expense and outlay are too much for a country of Canada's size or lack thereof, geographically and population-wise respectively, a bullet train could be a huge benefit if and when the technology gets there and the costs come down.

edited 8th May '17 1:34:19 PM by Unsung

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#3632: May 8th 2017 at 1:46:08 PM

I'm not saying that a single bullet train route would be a viable, but a few smaller ones would be nice. The obvious one is one along the St.Lawrence coordinator, so from about Toronto to Quebec City, maybe with a small feeder route going to Moncton. Another good route would be across the Prairies, hitting all the major cities in the southern half of those provinces. An interior one in BC could also be worth considering.

With regards to Montreal: English will get you along just fine if you stick to the city core/obvious tourist spots but if you can't speak at least passable French make sure you initiate conversations in English.

Also, in addition to the traffic oddities mentioned above, the city in general is not pleasant to drive in period.

edited 8th May '17 1:48:25 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Galadriel Since: Feb, 2015
#3633: May 8th 2017 at 1:50:42 PM

I'd love it if we had bullet trains. Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City would be a great route because it has the highest population density, and a fast train from Calgary or Edmonton to Toronto could cut down on a lot of flights. The trains aren't used much because they're old and slow.

But even in their old and slow state, the trains cost as much as flying, so I don't see how we could make new bullet trains affordable.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#3634: May 8th 2017 at 2:00:40 PM

Yeah, there would be need to serious demand, and the upfront costs and the upkeep would require a huge government subsidy initially even if the venture was successful.

A Crown Corporation might be your best bet.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#3635: May 8th 2017 at 2:02:20 PM

It's certainly not affordable now. It's one of those things where there'd need to be some revolutionary steps forward with the technology. I don't think we're anywhere near the point where it would be practical or even possible at the moment, but it's a cool thing to imagine, regardless.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#3636: May 8th 2017 at 2:27:50 PM

How the hell are guzzoline-intensive flights cheaper than the rail?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#3637: May 8th 2017 at 2:41:00 PM

Higher demand I think would play a part. And a lot of the support network is in place and ready for use.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#3638: May 8th 2017 at 2:44:09 PM

Trains would be cheaper and better-maintained if they had the passenger volume to support themselves, and they'd have a bigger volume of passengers if they had more trains and cheaper tickets. So it goes.

PhiSat Planeswalker from Everywhere and Nowhere Since: Jan, 2011
Planeswalker
#3639: May 8th 2017 at 2:52:54 PM

[up][up][up]Mountains. Just getting a normal railway across the Rockies was a hellish ordeal (in the 19th century, but still) and just barely completed.

Also, lack of demand.

edited 8th May '17 2:54:31 PM by PhiSat

Oissu!
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#3640: May 8th 2017 at 2:57:59 PM

That could be kuckstarted with subsidies, if Canadians want it.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Pseudopartition Screaming Into The Void from The Cretaeceous Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
Screaming Into The Void
#3641: May 8th 2017 at 6:20:11 PM

Note that this doesn't apply over short distances. For me to catch the train home (so, about two hours driving) it costs about 40 bucks, depending on the time of day, how long the trip is, etc. A plane ticket is at least 250 bucks. A bus would be 30, and in a small car the gas would cost maybe 20 dollars.

Canada's very different from Europe though, in that there's these great big distances between everything, even with most of the population concentrated near the border.

(That combined with the cold, and the fact that we're not the greatest when it comes to energy consciousness means that we use more energy per capita than even the US does. But there's still 6 other countries that use more, and we produce a lot of hydropower, so we can still feel smug, I guess.)

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#3642: May 8th 2017 at 6:38:14 PM

The local trains kind of suck too, unless it's GO doing it. And even GO tends to half-ass it a lot of the time. VIA, the big company, does run a train from Niagara to Toronto twice a day, except that the morning one leaves here at like 9 a.m. and the evening one arrives at like 11 p.m. No one wants to commute on that because they'll be late to work every single day and they'll have to hang around in downtown Toronto for hours every single day.

GO, on the other hand, does have a train...but it only runs to Burlington on a regular basis. You have to take the bus the rest of the way, and the bus and train schedules aren't synced up at all.

There is an initiative for a new train system...completely separate from both GO and VIA, and it's supposed to supplement the TTC in Toronto, while again being separate. We're going to end up with like 5 competing and overlapping transit systems in the GTA.

I have heard of a train that does leave from Niagara Falls on a regular basis, but it's an express train to Windsor, for some reason. There can't possibly be more of a demand for consistent train travel from Niagara to Windsor than there is for Niagara to Toronto.

edited 8th May '17 6:40:14 PM by Zendervai

Galadriel Since: Feb, 2015
#3643: May 8th 2017 at 7:40:43 PM

Round-trip, it's over $200 for a 5-hour train ride between Ottawa and Toronto, versus $250 for a 1-hour flight. Factor in travel points (which I can't use on Via Rail), and the latter was cheaper.

Flying is far, far cheaper than the train if you want to travel a longer distance, like from Ontario to the Atlantic provinces.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#3644: May 9th 2017 at 4:43:05 PM

Don Meredith has resigned from the Senate over having a relationship with a teenager.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/don-meredith-resigns-senate-1.4106901

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, prick.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#3645: May 9th 2017 at 5:49:38 PM

And that didn't make him the Governor-General, or at least Speaker of the Senate? Hn, Canadians are weird. tongue

Also:

Independent Senator Anne Cools said she spoke to Meredith this morning. "He sounded very resigned to me," she said. "He has come to his own peaceful decision. A resignation is voluntary whereas a removal is compulsory and it would become an historic event that will forever yield pain and suffering."

Cools said, even if it had come to a vote, she would have never endorsed his expulsion. "I will never vote to put any senator out of the Senate."

Is that just senate decorum, a sort of "we look after our own over all?"

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#3646: May 9th 2017 at 6:04:14 PM

Probably a bit of that, and a bit of not wanting to create a precedent for expelling Senators for speaking out and saying something unpopular. Because the ability for them to speak the truth, even when its unpopular or hard to hear, is one of the most useful abilities of the Senate.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#3647: May 9th 2017 at 6:44:59 PM

I didn't know how much it might go off topic, so repeating here, but what did this refer to?

Coming from a country that experienced a politically motivated gutting of the census, my sympathies.
And I'm almost afraid to ask...

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
#3648: May 9th 2017 at 6:49:46 PM

[up]Our previous federal government decided to get rid of the "long form" census coz no stats = no analysis you don't like. The Trudeau government reinstated it and there was much rejoicing.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#3649: May 9th 2017 at 7:00:56 PM

But we'll never recover from the info gap of even one cycle.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#3650: May 9th 2017 at 10:40:13 PM

Was there any information in particular they were trying to avoid collecting?


Total posts: 6,341
Top