Justin Trudeau is gone … or at least he WILL be politically in a matter of weeks.
Liberal strategists and supporters have already begun spinning that a new leader, with a new team and new policies could actually win the upcoming election … with another minority government.
Not!
On Saturday, the price of a litre of gas in Vancouver hit $1,80, the price of a dozen eggs was $4.55 and a four litres of milk cost $5.55 … high prices reflected right across the country.
The Liberals … not just Trudeau …will soon be gone.
In Canada, 2025 will be the Year of Poilievre.
So what can we expect?
Yes, not long after Canadians give Polievre and a Conservative government a mandate, we will almost certainly see him “Axe the Tax” and eliminate the carbon tax … at least, for private consumers.
What’s not clear (maybe the election campaign will reveal all) is whether the Conservatives will also “axe the tax” on carbon produced/paid by commercial and industrial entities?
If they don’t, the tax, of course, will still be passed on to consumers in product pricing … so maybe not end up as fully “axed” as many expect!
Remember, the Parliamentary Budget Office has estimated carbon taxes will add $5 billion to federal coffers over the next seven years.
So, how will that revenue loss be replaced? Or added to the deficit/debt? Or made up for by program cuts?
The slogan “Axe the Tax” is great … but Poilievre needs to be more specific and transparent.
And while he’s at it, the Prime-Minister-in-waiting should also be pressed on his SPECIFIC plans to stimulate housing development*, increase oil production and exports, cut regulations, reduce income taxes, “restore” Canada’s military, stop rising crime, empower the Courts to deal with recidivist criminals.
Not to mention, deal with those other pressing problems as well, like the border, trade, Trump, illegal immigration, fentanyl etc.
(* Re housing: Poilievre did promise to abolish the federal sales tax on homes under $1 million … no doubt a useful move in many communities, but not Vancouver or Toronto.) …
At the same time, Polievre has also vowed to “cut government spending” and balance the federal budget “as soon as possible”.
That’s some promise!
The current federal deficit estimate for 2024-2025 is almost $62 Billion and the total federal debt is $1.24 trillion!
“We will cap government spending with a dollar-for-dollar law that requires we find one dollar of savings for every new dollar of spending. We will cut bureaucracy, waste and consulting contracts, so that we can get the budget close or, hopefully, on balance as soon as possible to bring down interest rates, inflation and debt,” Polievre has explained.
It would take a LOT more than that to balance the budget!!
Unless Polievre has other “cost-saving” measures he won’t tell us about.
It’s all aimed, he says, to “unleash greater prosperity”.
Well, he’ll soon get that chance.
Canadians want Trudeau … and the Liberals … gone!
But we also deserve to know details of what/how Poilievre/Conservatives will do … BEFORE we mark our ballots.
Harv Oberfeld
(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to new postings on this Blog.)
It’s to bad Polliviere isn’t really giving us a more detailed political policy plan except for mostly hot air speeches and platforms so far. Like maybe a more readable blueprint would help. But it’s more likely he doesn’t think he needs to because of the Trudeau crash. Trudeau may be gone but the Liberal Party is still there. So, Pierre better wise up to that because all it could take is some crackerjack to come into leading the Liberals and eat him up.
(Response: Poilievre probably thinks it would be better for him to say as little as possible on any controversial issue from now on until the election. But he should make it very clear what his exact plans are for the CBC! H.o)
I figured the Liberals were cooked, now I’m wondering if there are signs of life. PP breaking from the “Team Canada” tariff plan is a bad look and Carney has an impressive record of navigating economic instability. PP needs hard words—and a plan for Trump immediately.
The way I see it, one of the major screw ups that Trudeau made over the years was that he played to the crazed activists heart, while Poilievre seems to be playing to mainstream working Canadians heart. He’s in
Canadian kitchens, where as Trudeau was not at all.
(Response: I hope Poilievre plays to middle class and seniors’ wallets, not just our hearts! H.o)
woke up at 11 a.m. noted the time and the CTV headline CC is not running after all for the leadership of the federal Liberals. so things are looking up.
Last evening watch the Rachel Maddox show who reported the confirmation hearings for the first 3 cabinet picks won’t go ahead today. they haven’t been able to get the paper work done or some such thing. I do believe Trump won’t be doing too much when it comes to Greenland, Canada, Mexico, etc. If they can’t even get their act together to prepare for these committee meetings. Could also be the Republicans have discovered some paper work which will not help them have those 3 ‘certified”.
Things are looking up.
(Response: Trump WILL impose tariffs as soon as he takes office, but most will be only temporary: a move designed to intimidate and soften up Canada and Mexico for concessions. I hope Canada respondis right away with equal tariffs on American goods …and then negotiations can begin very soon for a new agreement. So we had NAFTA, then USMCA … maybe the new one should be called NASTY …New Agreement to Satisfy Trump the Yahoo! h.o)
The Prime Minister was on CNN and explained that Canadians are not Americans. The man who once said that Canada is the first post-national state and has no core identity is in no position to defend the country. Rather than saying who we are not, he should have said that we are a country known for peacekeeping, a country with challenging geography that built a national railway, a country that was created through negotiation and not revolution, a country that has public health care and affordable education. The interview was truly an embarrassment.
Justin Trudeau has done a lot of damage to Canada, and it will take a long time to fix. Canadians understand that Pierre Poilievre faces a monumental challenge. It’s important to improve relations with the US and strengthen the Canadian economy. It’s obvious that budgets don’t balance themselves.
Do not let your hate of Trudeau, cloud your judgement!
I see a dark era shadowing Canada, darker than the smoke from L.A. fires and that is a generated hate for Trudeau, clouding our better judgement.
This started with F*** Trudeau flags which appeared during the truckers insurrection (and indeed it was an insurrection) funded by American money.
I never voted for Trudeau and the Liberals but I understand why he was leader, he could beat the autocratic and evangelical Harper Conservatives. The problem with Trudeau is that he was just as autocratic and also somewhat unhinged with is daft post national Canada routine.
We moan about immigration, but the real reason was to let in Canada a flood of cheap labour, because we have priced ourselves almost our of business with high wages and compensations. Weak politcans and utterly dysfunctional, yet highly paid bureaucracy have allowed the political system to be gamed by the elites for their benefit. We all want our annual winters in Mexico or Maui; we all want our weekend get-a-ways to where ever; we all want our cruises, yet our productivity is poor and our treatment of those less fortunate almost non existent. One only has to see the tent cities and the forgotten camped out on Vancouver streets to understand that.
Even the holier than thou NDP have done little and offer even less , except for word salads.
Trudeau’s method of dealing with problems is “Dane Geld” with billions and billions of dollars shelled out to keep loud voices quiet.
The problem with Canada is not Trudeau or the Liberals, it is US because we have let this happen.
We are now going to have an election this spring, so why all this angst about Trudeau proroguing the House; he is stepping down; the Liberals will choose a new leader (a sitting duck) and there will be an election.
Those who think the “Wee P” will change things over night, he can’t and his current “Axe the tax” routine only means other taxes will rise to compensate for the lost revenue. Under the “Wee P”, the poor will get poorer; tent cities will expand; the rich will grow richer; and Canada will continue to grow less democratic, especially with the “Maple MAGAS” (I call them Quislings) in the Conservative Party, using the new Trump USA as a shining example of what they want Canada to be.
We can stop this, by demanding more from our elected officials and if they don’t, hold your nose and vote someone else or spoil your ballot with the word UNFIT, as I did in the last provincial election because I deeply felt that both Rustad and Eby were unfit to be premier and I still believe this. with only two candidates running in my riding, i had no other options.
Now the blind left and equally blind right will continue promoting both their causes I urge everyone no to let your hate of Trudeau and the Liberals blind you to the realities facing us and not to be swayed by the glib politcal promises that cannot be delivered.
I am praying for an independent to vote for this election as I see we need truly independent voices in Ottawa and not the bleating sheep of the NDP, Liberals and or the Conservatives.
(Response: I believe when the history of Trudeau‘s time in power will be written, two things will stand out: first, he was elected by Canadians who believed in a dream of a better world of equality and fairness and a world where combatting climate change would become almost universal.
But what he delivered were policies of hurt, where the middle class was squeezed for more and more to serve Trudeau’s search for global appreciation and approval, enduring exorbitant housing pricing, grocery costs, taxation etc and millions suffered economically, while he pandered billions of dollars on his favored causes and groups.
Let me give you just one example: as I write this, I am setting in Florida with its population of 21 million people, where they still don’t require deposits or returns of plastic pop bottles or cans; where millions upon millions of plastic bags are still handed out each day in stores and restaurants; where gasoline is still sold for $2.93 a GALLON, without a huge ever-escalating carbon tax; and, in my huge condo development, where there are 200 buildings snd 8,000 units, they stopped recycling … because too many residents couldn’t care less or were too stupid to grasp the concept of separating recyclable items from trash.
That’s the real world… multiplied thousands of times across the globe…and, although it does concern me personally, I believe most Canadians will elect Poilievre to bring Canada closer to the norm, rather than force them to continue to suffer, while others do not… something Trudeau and the Liberals could never figure out. H.o)
It is NOT us D.M. Johnston. The Liberals turned into such a mess and got worse and worse as time got on. I never voted for them and WE collectively did not deserve what they did to us. It’s going to be a hard road for the Conservatives because they have to deal with deficits and all the problems caused by Trudeau. It is not going to be easy but I would sooner give them a chance than give the Libs another shot at destroying us.
As for cheap labor, we have labor laws but a lot of individuals do not follow them. They like to bring in the TFFs and not give local kids a chance at a start up job. They house them in below adequate buildings (My husband is a contractor and once had to deal with taking down a GREENHOUSE for goodness sake that was housing migrant workers!), pay them next to nothing and our kids get screwed. If laws were followed, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
As for the carbon tax, guess what? Most of our “recycling” gets shipped to the US where it gets put in landfalls. Very little gets reused but they like to make you feel good about it! If Trudeau had called the tax something else and used it to benefit our health care system, our senior care, our military – anything but the craziest of ideas he could have helped our country. Instead he destroyed it with being too woke for his own good. I wish he had stayed on, I would have loved to see him destroyed in the election to come. It would have looked good at it.
Next look at our housing and health crisis. WE did not cause it, Mr. Johnston….. too many people with too little infrastructure did.
Please stop blaming the common people for the mistakes of an idiot. Mr. Johnston. You will do yourself and the rest of us a lot of good.
I beg to differ.
We vote for these people at all levels of government, civically, provincially, and federally. Ultimately we are responsible. We have allowed this to happen. We went on holidays instead of holding our politcans feet to the fire.
Don’t, just do not blame Trudeau for this mess we are in because we have been asleep at the switch. The “Wee P” will not be much better because his supporters, blinded by hate for Trudeau, will not do what is needed.
I think you should take a course in civics, to understand what is the problem and how we can solve it.
Sorry your hate has blinded you to the realities of government and this is the problem with politics today, it is not driven by reasonable debate, rather it is driven by hate. It is how a funny little man in Germany gained power in 1933 – unabashed hate and scapegoats. What worked in 1933 worked in the USA in 2024 and will work in Canada in 2025.
Justin Trudeau needs to go immediately. The useless Governor-General should have demanded a spring election. Maybe in the future Canada will make it easier to remove prime ministers. I blame the media, the Liberal party and the elites who supported them for keeping an incompetent radical leftist in power for so long.
(Response: it is not likely that a governor general, who was appointed by the Prime Minister,and who lives in luxury on a huge closed estate near the center of Ottawa, complete with a fawning staff and lots of perks, including a private country estate in the Gatineau hills as well for her own use and is also paid very handsomely… is going to disagree or overturn anything that Prime Minister wants! H.o)
Read it and weep. Another lying Liberal and this one none other than our very own Christie Clark who wants to be PM. Today she said she was never a member of the Conservative party yet in 2022 there she was – a member of the Conservative party. LOL at her. I think her chances just sunk (good as she was a disaster for BC – remember the toll on the Port Mann to punish Surrey and our being the last province still paying MSM premiums!)
This once more says a lot about the Liberal party….. who picks these clowns. Even my dog would make a more honest candidate. Maybe I should sign her up?
(Response: Can your dog speak French? If not, she would have no chance of being elected … but she may be able to vote in the leadership race! H.o)
Memo to Maggie. Even though one Christy Clark was elected as a BC Liberal, but the BC Liberal party was a Gordon Campbell created off-shoot of a (dare I say a Trumpian) Conservative party after he took over the party. Most real Liberals detest the woman.
Ms. Clark is an opportunist and probably sees the current weak state of the present national Liberal party as easy pickens to grift. Sorry to say, she shows all the conceit and contempt of the “Wee P” Conservatives and most likely a Conservative plant (that from a relative with deep roors in the national Liberal Party).
If she somehow was elected leader of the national Liberal party, it would collapse completely.
I guess that you don’t have a clue about Ms. Clark’s ex husband who pulls the puppet strings do you?
You are no different that one Ms. Clark who swore that she was a lifelong liberal and now you swear that she is a lifelong Conservative…. both with weird assertions by the way….
Read it and weep:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Marissen
An apology asap please!!!
I have forgotten more about the Liberal Party both federally and provincially, that I care to remember.
Clark is an opportunist and worse and now she is out of the race. I can tell you this, there were a lot of old time Liberals working the phones to deny her cash to run for leadership; a lot of ‘markers’ were called in.
Sadly our media no longer investigates, or bothers – now if the likes of Wasserman, Webster, Mair or Hoberfeld were around, the public may have gotten a glimpse of real cesspit of Canadian politics.
I viewed Trudeau as dictator … his way or you’re out. And that had happened a couple of times during his leadership .. “do as your told, or you’re out”…
The Conservatives should take it all, probably almost wiping out the NDP. But the Conservatives have to lay out their plans and how they will achieve them. Not saying anything is bad … many I know feel he is going the wrong way by not letting us all know.
Hopefully he will tell us … hopefully !
Happy New Year all .. and wait until Trump is President … should be hell …
(Response: I can’t recall a Prime Minister or Premier who allowed open criticism of their regime or government agenda, Even during committee hearings on legislation, almost all of them are merely cheerleaders ..at least in public. Maybe Poilievre will be different … but I wouldn’t bet more than a Twoonie on it. h.o)
It will be interesting to see if the Conservatives ‘Axe the (Carbon) Tax’ (and maybe even more interesting to see if the Government in BC keeps our Provincial Carbon Tax if the Federal scheme is abolished). I don’t know what will happen but I think a country that might provide an example for Canada is Australia.
Canada actually has a lot in common with Australia (both of us are very large countries in terms of geography, though we both have relatively small populations that are heavily concentrated in small number of fairly dense cities/regions. Another similarity is that we are both very dependant on resource extraction and export for our economic futures).
Australia was actually one of the first countries to implement a national Carbon Tax in 2010 when the Labor Party was elected (the equivalent of the NDP in Canada). The policy was popular with academics, the green lobby, and pressure groups but very unpopular with the majority of the population (an interesting early example of a ‘Populist’ backlash against the ‘elites’ that we see nowadays). The then opposition leader of Australia was Tony Abbott (a free market, right wing Conservative, similar to Pierre Poilievre in some ways). Just like Poilievre, Abbott made abolishing the Carbon Tax his signature campaign promise (and it was abolished when Abbott was elected in 2014). But, under pressure from the ‘Green’ lobby, Abbott set up a government program called the ‘Emissions Reduction Fund’ (its a type of ‘Cap and Trade’ program funded directly by the Federal Government). The program still exists in Australia (it has a different name) but it’s been expanded since the Labor Party took power again in 2022. Big resource firms, the gas and electricity utilities, and road haulage companies, railways, and airlines are all under pressure to reduce their emissions by purchasing carbon offsets and adopting new ‘Green’ technologies but the complaint is that the costs are passed on to consumers.
I suspect Pierre Poilievre might try what Tony Abbott did in Australia: abolish the Tax, get the early political credit for it, and then implement a version of Carbon pricing by other means (though it might prove a hard sell with some Conservative MPs, particularly those from Alberta and the West generally).
(Response: I believe most Canadians do want to do something to assist the environment and combat climate change. However, the carbon tax took too heavy a toll on ordinary families and citizens. And there is also a widespread belief that other countries, such as China, Russia, Middle Eastern states, India and Indonesia are not doing enough. The challenge for Poilievre will be to find alternative ways for Canada to contribute to the fight against, climate change, without inflicting so much pain on our own citizens. H.o)
Have we gotten all wrong about Trudeau and the Liberals and why Canada is tired of them? I am no fan of Trudeau or the Liberal Party of Canada as I view them as both corrupt (by power) and inept. But, will the “Wee P” be any better?
Let’s “axe the tax”, is fine politcal slogan, but the Carbon Tax is a revenue generator and axing it means new taxes must happen to replace the lost revenue. The Carbon Tax was never about Global Warming and Climate Change, rather is was a placebo, for government pretending it was doing something about the Global Warming and climate change, when in reality they were not.
So, what new taxes will the “Wee P” create?
As for housing, we are doing it all wrong and by design. The present nonsense of densification is all about inflating land values and making quick profits for land speculators and land developers and nothing to do with our current housing crisis.
We are building high rise “crypts in the sky” with minimal living space that are beyond the reach of the average family, thus the current housing/density game being played is more of a ponzi scheme than real action.
What is needed is scalable social housing with 2 to 4 bedroom maisonette, low rise accommodation, which has proven to be the best sort of social housing and far better than towers and the associated social ills that comes from towers.
So, is the “Wee P” going to invest in social housing or continue the current “robber baron” approach with towers and high rise condos , which price is far above the average family’s income?
Balance the budget, HA! Do not make me laugh. This is nothing more than a code word for higher taxes and user fess for the middle class and more tax breaks for the wealthy.
I can go on but to deal with the “Wee P’s” ongoing well crafted adverts, photo-ops and 10 second sound bytes, would take volumes.
Canada is sailing in dangerous waters, with a deranged 34, count felon, president of the USA, who is under the influence of an equally deranged billionaire, who happens to be the richest man in the world, is more than worrisome.
Trudeau and his ilk have had far too close ties with China and his immigration policy is bankrupting the country for his daft “Post National Canada”, to be trusted with anything. The Liberals have effectively gutted the Canadian Military, something that most world leaders know and due to international corruption centred on the likes of SNC Lavalin, the liberals deserve to be sent packing.
But …………. the question I have is how will the flag-wrapping Wee P” will treat with the USA, pay fealty to the emperor Trump or steer Canada on a more independent course.
If he chooses the former, he will be a one term wonder.
And the NDP, dump Singh as fast as they can and make Charlie Angus the leader, but the NDP has always been “the gang who could not shoot straight”.
(Response: I would not be surprised to see whoever replaces Trudeau for the Liberals DROP the Carbon tax before the election. That will make the battle with Poilievre even more interesting… although at this point, I still believe the Conservatives will win. H.o)
Don’t get me wrong, the “Wee P” and his Conservative mob will win, the question is how many seats?
Ignored and belittled by many, Trump in a tweet, has declared war against Canada. He said he will use economic force to make Canada a 51st State.
Where have we heard this before?
A funny little man with an even funnier mustache did the same with Austria and the same not so funny man with the now not so funny mustache did it again with Czechoslovakia. He tried again in Poland and six years later, Europe was left in a pile of rubble.
Like all despots, Trump needs military victories to feed his and the nation’s egos. Canada, a country that has been living “comfortably numb” in a generational ennui, lead by equally, comfortably numb politcans living in their own hubris have now to face a demented 24 count felon and grifter, elected as president of the United States.
Yes, we are at war and Canadians and the idiots we elect had better wake up out of their “Post national Stupor”stupor and smell the coffee because I doubt NATO will come to our aide, when the Mango Mussolini crosses the line!
The question for Canadian politcans is that are they going to be Churchill’s or Quisling’s?
(Response: A big concern Canadians should have, assuming the Conservatives win the next election, is which party will form the Official Opposition. Many would like to see the liberals wiped out, but I am not so sure most would rather see the Bloc Québécois or the NDP as official opposition either. H.o)
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/liberal-mps-carbon-tax-leadership-race
Anything to win the election. So supportive of it before, now it’s wrong. 1984 is alive and well in the Liberal party.
After 60 some odd years of dormancy, an ulcer has come back with a vengeance, poked and fed by Christy Clark.
Her big business ventriloquists will be busy, their arms in her back deftly manipulating her mouth. God help us.
She will not be well known to the ON and QC folks who will choose the next government and that is both good and bad news.
The good news is, they don’t know her.
The bad news is they don’t know her.
If she manages to become liberal leader, she will hustle the unsuspecting voters, just as Trudeau did and suck people into believing she is some kind of seasoned, experienced, pretty face, who can save the country. A steady, sane alternative to Poilievre.
I just hope she has no wheels.
(Response: Trust me … she won’t! There , that should soothe your ulcer. H.o)
Christy Clark as a contender?
Give your head a shake.
The Eastern Mandarins wouldn’t give her the time of day let alone a seat at the table in a leadership debate.
Step 1: Trudeau gone.
Step 2 : New Liberal Leader.
Step 3 : A long overdue election.
Step 4 : Get this country back on track.
(Response: remember, the election will give us a new Prime Minister and government… Not the Messiah! I am sure whoever takes power, we will all feel some negative impact within six months and the degree of unhappiness will then start to rise shortly after that. However, the hope is that by doing at least a few things to help the middle-class, the pain so many have been suffering for so many years under Trudeau will abate. H.o)
The prime minister obviously does not hold the confidence of the house so why was this granted? Can we appeal to the King who the Governor General is his representative?
“The governor general exercises the powers and responsibilities of the Head of State, His Majesty The King. “
Prorogation is a routine action, including in “situations where governments need to stop and refocus.” At the same time, arbitrary use of the power of prorogation can “[unbalance] the very fragile balance of power that exists between the different parts of government.” What is paramount is that the legislature be recalled so the opposition can hold the cabinet to account for its actions,[1] a task central to the functioning of responsible government.[2]
Like all such actions of the sovereign and governors, this is exclusively done on the advice of the relevant prime minister who holds the confidence of the House of Commons.
(Response: Yes, prorogation usually signals an incumbent government’s new start, new focus and often a new direction. However, I believe the coming election will focus almost entirely on the Liberal government’s PAST … it’s record in office, its impact on Canadians, on the economy and Canada’s place among its foreign allies, competitors and foes. Sure seems like a losing proposition! h..o)
He didn’t hold the confidence of the house and this should never have been granted. Hope it is appealed / legally challenged along with petition to the King to direct the governor general to reverse her decision.
We need an election now not 4 months from now with rudderless ship facing so many urgent challenges from south of the border to others like what Marge had to endure.
(Response: Perhaps you didn’t notice, the title of this blog is Keeping it Real. I get your point, but you’re dreaming if you think King Charles will “direct the Governor General to reverse her decision”. H.o.)
Democracy watch is considering a court challenge. Will be interesting to see if this moves forward.
January 6, 2025
Democracy Watch also announced that it will challenge in court any request by the Prime Minister that the Governor General prorogue (shut down) Parliament if the prorogation is clearly in the Liberal Party’s self-interest, and happens at a time when the opposition parties are clearly going to vote non-confidence in the government. The challenge will be based on rulings won by DWatch in its past court cases challenging snap election calls, and the UK Supreme Court’s unanimous 2019 ruling that it was illegal for then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson to prorogue Parliament for no justifiable reason when a majority of MPs wanted Parliament to stay open and operating.
Found at Democracy Watch – news
(Response: A court challenge could be more interesting and more plausible than appealing to the King. However, I would also envision it taking at least several weeks going through the various possible legal machinations/appeals … ending up with the same result: an election being called in late March or later. h.o)
Trudeau has destroyed this country with his arrogance, narcissism, divisiveness, incompetence and most important, his corruption. He has enabled so much immigration that your kids and my grandkids don’t have a chance at an entry level job thanks to the foreign workers. He has allowed the spread of antisemitism to woo Muslim voters and has subtly allowed all sorts of evil to be perpetrated on Jewish people here in Canada. He has avowed feminism while destroying all of the strong females around him (possibly even his wife). He has made a mockery out of Canada and will exit the door, never accepting blame for a single solitary wrong he did to us. Basically, he was slowing turning Canada into a Third World country!
No where this is abundantly clear is our medical system which is in total shambles. I personally experienced how bad it is over the weekend.
All weekend my husband had been really sick. We tried to get him into our family clinic but the earliest appointment we could get was a week later. Sunday afternoon, he was very sick and weak. I called the ambulance and they arrived about two hours later, which I find out is actually very good for an ambulance these days. They took his temperature and blood pressure and said that he should go to the hospital. Unfortunately, they could only take him to Surrey Memorial (why I don’t know) even though we are closer to Langley. I ended up driving him to the Langley hospital. Once we got there, it took hours before the nurse assessed him. Then hours before blood tests. Then they forgot to tell us to go to Zone 2 where we supposed to wait to be seen by the doctor. There were literally over a hundred people there waiting to be seen by someone. One woman was screaming in pain and nothing was being done for her – they didn’t have the people for it. (And I hope I don’t sound racist when I say that a good 2/3 of the people who were waiting were not Canadian citizens, judging by their absence of medical cards. And we who have put tons of tax dollars into the system get screwed!!)
Finally, we were told that we would have an EIGHT hour wait to be seen by a doctor. My husband was so ill he couldn’t wait and just wanted to go home and bed. We didn’t arrive home until almost 11 P.M.
A bit later the hospital phoned and the doctor told us that my husband had a bad infection as shown by the blood work and we needed to be seen by a doctor asap. He apologized for the health care system. Again, we asked him if we went back to the hospital, would we be taken right away and again the answer was NO. I am sure we were now up to twelve hours waiting. What kind of crazy hospital system do we have here? How did it get so bad and so out of control? I know the answer lies with Trudeau’s crazy immigration policy – too many people let in and no infrastructure to support them. We are now hoping to be seen tomorrow morning at a clinic. I am incredibly angry so pardon my rant!
After going through the above, I would NEVER vote NDP/Liberal in my lifetime! We need change and we only have one party that can do it for us I believe. And that is the Conservatives.
So to make a long story short, I do hope Poilievre defunds the CBC (maybe that six billion dollar allowance can go to health care), removes a whole bunch of bureaucrats, eliminates the carbon tax, and works to making this country strong with its natural resources, instead of making us feel guilty about them as Trudeau did. He is going to have a very tough time because people are used to pork bellying and it will take a long time to improve this country. I wish him luck and hope that we finally get some common sense government. It’s been a long time coming.
(Response: I suspect almost every Canadian can tell a horror story about the impact on them of one or more of the Trudeau government’s time in office. What we need to know, however, is exactly WHAT/HOW Poilievre and a Conservative government would do to change things … ALL their plans… not just glib phrases/slogans to get them elected, and then hammer most of us with painful cuts/new taxes, rewarding a precious few, but making shortfalls for the most of us even worse! h.o)
I think it’s always the same old, same old. Liberals get elected and give everything away. The debt multiplies exponentially and they are turfed out. Conservatives get elected and have to say no to a lot of things in order to get the debt down. People like you and I are so used to the Liberal welfare that we go: “Wait! We miss the old ways of being looked after!” and back in come the Liberals and the vicious circle starts anew. Canadians are too used to the welfare state that they have forgotten that in the end you pay for what you get. I suspect the Conservatives are going to do a lot of cutting and a lot of people won’t be happy!
The Liberals and the NDP keep bragging about “National Pharma Care! National Dental Care!
National Daycare!
Just get the damn “National Healthcare” back on bloody track!
Its an absolute disgrace ALL across Canada.
Quebec ER’s at 200% capacity?
What a DISGRACE!!!!!!
Does ANYONE think that Trudeau or Singh or Poilievre ( or ANY of their families) have to wait in an ER?
For HOURS!
Or Eby ?
A national disgrace!
(Response: One of the serious problems Canada has had for years is that we educate our medical students to become doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers and then, sometimes as soon as they graduate, United States private hospitals hire them away, offering huge salaries and even signing bonuses. That must stop… And one way to do it (which Ontario and Quebec have now started to do] is to require medical students to pay back their public funded education costs if they leave before, say, four or five years of working in our own communities. Hopefully, during that time, they will establish roots and will not be so easily lured away. H.o)
The Conservatives aren’t that good at money management either. They just look like they are because they cut a lot of things which benefit voters. When Paul Martin left office and Harper was elected, Martin left the country’s bank account in good shape, might have even been a surplus. Along comes Harper and when he leaves, he leaves a very large deficeit. Harper didn’t do much for Canadians. He gave a tax deduction to parents whose kids played organized sports such as hockey–but if you can’t afford to put up the money and wait for a tax return, then what does it matter for your kid? One of the first things Harper did was defund women’s groups, ah yes, they were so dangerous.
As to the lack of health care, well its a problem all across the country. Great Britan’s system is failing as is the american system. Its not all due to COVID but it didn’t help. During COVID many health care workers left. It was simply too difficult.
Governments have known since the 1980s there would be a shortage of doctors. I do believe Alberta added 10 seats to their medical school. B.C. simply kept accepting money from Saudi Arabia and giving their medical students residencies while Canadians couldn’t get them or people who immigrated to Canada who were doctors couldn’t find a space.
In the early 90s I asked my G.P. if he had any plans to retire soon–NO he didn’t . He did say though that when the current crop of doctors retired the government would have a problem The new younger doctors would not be willing to put in the hours his generation had. They wanted to have a life. Not too many doctors today go into family practice.
We have a shortage of all sorts of health care workers. More retired, an increase in populations and governments did nothing to address the issues. Of course the voters didn’t help either because voters are always clear no increase in taxes. If you are going to require more medical staff, you open more seats to educate them. That didn’t really happen. Build more hospitals, Not so much and not so fast. Governments did not sit down and look if they could do things differently.
Over crowded E.R.s you get those when people don’t have G.P.s and E.R.s haven’t expanded or more urgent care clinics established.
Governments didn’t take into consideration baby boomers would age and require more health care or they simply ignored it. In the 1970s a group of us got together regularly. We were all young, healthy, etc. Today there are 3 of us left. All three of us require more health care services then we did in our 20,30s, 40, 50s Our friends who have passed away required the services of the health care system for complicated expensive treatments. The wait times increased.
Our hospitals now simply are over whelmed. When you go to the E.R. yes there are long waits and its painful. E.R.s have to see those who are in worst condition first. Although we maybe in pain, some times it is not something which will cause us to die, so we wait.
People have the right to make choices. If medical staff do not want to work in a particular area, that is their right. People who find their ER is closed, if that is an issue for you, you may have to move. Some times you have to face reality.
We might want to look at how we educate doctors. Before going to medical school, they complete 3 or 4 years of univeristy. Why, its a waste of time. In Germany you go straight to medical school. Last time I checked, the two countries with the best doctors in the world: Switzerland and Germany.
It would be so much more efficient if there were more urgent care clinics and doctor’s offices where a group of doctors practiced. If your doctor worked specific days, fine, you can schedule your appointments for then. If you need to see a doctor immediately, well you have an appointment with some one lese within the clinic. It would also be much more efficient if clinics had labs there, instead of having to go to a Life Lab which is usually over crowded, with unhappy staff, and not particularly clean. Having a lab in a clinic would make so much more sense and easier for parents and seniors. Might want to add an x rap machine also. Sort of a one stop shop. Some may want to add a dietician to help those with weight issues. From there you could be sent to specialists or E.R.s More Nurse Practioners would also benefit the system.
Most of all governments need to put more money into the health care system for health care workers, not more supervisors and pencil pushers, but real life people who actually work with patients.
People want Trudeau and the federal Liberals gone. Many want PP and his Conservatives in office. You may get what you wish for, but my advise is, be careful what you wish for, you might get it.
If PP is going to cut taxes and reduce the deficeit how does he plan to do it? He makes promises but doesn’t tell us how he is going to accomplish that.
My guess is, if he is elected with a clear majority he will defund a lot of federal programs. He could easily make it more difficult to collect E.I. and CPP disability. That cheque which many people, who have chidren, receive every month, may find it disappears or is reduced.
He could reduce transfer payments one way or another. Expect to have him reduce taxes for corporations or at least give them tax deductions they currently don’t have.
The country wasn’t in great shape when Harper and his cabinet were finished with us. Don’t expect it to be any better with PP. At least Harper had worked in the mail room of an oil company before jumping into politics. PP graduated from university, he ran when Harper ran and was elected. No real work experience.
Do we even know how he will deal with the leaders of other countries or will he simply be out of his league?
PP has many within his party who are not keen on Choice. PP has said he will not bring legislation to the follow to change our current game rules in Canada. He has not said he won’t let some one in his caucus bring it to the floor as a private member’s bill. We saw what happened in the U.S.A. Don’t think it couldn’t happen here.
The Conservative party PP leads is not the Conservative Party of yesteryear.
(Response: I think it comes back to what I wrote months: people want change. This desire goes well beyond Trudeau: the Liberal brand federally is in very bad shape … and I believe whoever replaces Trudeau had better be ready for at least four years in Opposition …and maybe not even as the Official Opposition! h.o)
could even be the Greens as opposition. Watched the press conference Ms. May held in response to trump’s carry on about Canada. A friend sent it to me and it certainly made me laugh. She hit all the nails and then some.
If we look at history around the world, there have been all sorts of groups who wanted change, but not being too clear on what they wanted, they did get the change, but they certainly didn’t like it or benefit from it.
We will have to wait for the federal election to see what type of change the voters of Canada want. Of course temper tantrum to the south of us, may tell us what the change is going to, i.e. the 51st state. I’m still laughing…
(Response: The Greens will …and should …go nowhere. They’re too radical, have even less sensitivity than the Liberals for how their proposals affect ordinary people … and I believe the party seethes with anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism just below its surface. h.o.)
The anti-Semitism is in their “charter” if I recall. I’m not keen on the Greens but do like Elizabeth May. Wouldn’t vote for the Greens, but there isn’t much left to vote for. One could move to Quebec, but they have snow and a “requirement” to speak French.
How Canada survives and carries on will be impacted what the orange maggot does on 20 Jan. It maybe nothing or it could be time to update the passport. Its interesting Zukerberg is removing the staff who “monitor” posts. I recall when Durtante was Pres. in the Philipines, social media was used to target “undeseriables” and they would be mobbed and murdered. Wonder if that will make an appearance in North America. Activists murdered during Durtente’s reign range from 500 and change to a thousand and change. Alleged drug dealers murdered range from 3K and change to 7K and change.
Some may say this wouldn’t happen in North america but perhaps they don’t remember the tiki torch parade in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us”, police officers killing African Americans. We have seen shootings of Jewish and Muslim schools, places of worship, demonstrations in Jewish neighbourhoods in Toronto. I’m old enough to remember Jews could not join golf clubs, men’s clubs, etc. in Vancouver. People of colour weren’t permitted to live in not only British Properties, unless they were servants, but in any number of subdivisions built on the Lower Mainland. An area in White Rock has it still on the books in the New Westminster land office. Those houses were built in the 1970s.
When I look on Face Book it always shocks me when I see the type of anti immigrant, anti people of colour posts with pictures. People want change. O.K. but do becareful because the change you get may not be the change you were thinking about.
You never know any one until you have to settle an estate or when political/criminal behaviour becomes the norm.
Have you watched this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dck8eZCpglc
(Response: Not the whole thing. Once again, lots of great clips …but we’ll see what his legislation/Budget etc actually does. h.o)