2025 Canadian Political Thread

[masterblaster]

I checked over my natural gas bill today for home heating Dec 17 to Jan 20th. Total cost for actual gas consumed during the period was $28.46 the useless carbon tax was $57.20 doesn’t seem right it’s twice as much as the actual gas I used.to heat my home.

At a loss to see how the carbon tax will save the planet at least as far heating my home goes. I rarely turn the thermostat over 20 c as it is now plus I never received any carbon tax rebate that Trudeau was crowing about in January. This fucking carbon tax is bullshit and needs to go.

 

[Crookedmember]

I checked over my natural gas bill today for home heating Dec 17 to Jan 20th. Total cost for actual gas consumed during the period was $28.46 the useless carbon tax was $57.20 doesn’t seem right it’s twice as much as the actual gas I used.to heat my home.

At a loss to see how the carbon tax will save the planet at least as far heating my home goes. I rarely turn the thermostat over 20 c as it is now plus I never received any carbon tax rebate that Trudeau was crowing about in January. This fucking carbon tax is bullshit and needs to go.

That's because the carbon tax is based on the energy content of the fuel, not the price of the fuel

The price of natural gas is severely depressed at around $3.5 per GJ. In 2005, it was around $25 per GJ.

To give you an idea how depressed that price is, 1 GJ is the amount of energy in 26 litres of gasoline.

So if the price of natural gas recovers, the cost gas consumed could be 10 times as much, but the carbon tax will remain ~ $57.20.

If you live in BC, of course you don't receive the federal CT rebate, because BC has had its own carbon pricing plan since [de facto conservative] Gordon Campbell introduced it in 2008.

See, the Conservatives, including Harper and Poilievre, used to be 'for' the carbon tax.

 

[masterblaster]

That's because the carbon tax is based on the energy content of the fuel, not the price of the fuel

The price of natural gas is severely depressed at around $3.5 per GJ. In 2005, it was around $25 per GJ.

To give you an idea how depressed that price is, 1 GJ is the amount of energy in 26 litres of gasoline.

So if the price of natural gas recovers, the cost gas consumed could be 10 times as much, but the carbon tax will remain ~ $57.20.

If you live in BC, of course you don't receive the federal CT rebate, because BC has had its own carbon pricing plan since [de facto conservative] Gordon Campbell introduced it in 2008.

See, the Conservatives, including Harper and Poilievre, used to be 'for' the carbon tax.

The gj price for my natural gas was $2.12, however my point is how is my paying $57 a month carbon tax going to reverse climate change? Answer is it’s not going to do fuck all, this was a relatively warm period if it had been -30 c for an extended stretch the carbon tax could have easily been $150 for the month. The sooner this tax is gone the better oif everyone will be. Even the liberal clowns can’t give a definitive answer as to how it is doing anything to fight climate change. Like everyone in our cold climate I have to heat my home yet I’m being penalized for doing so, absolute bullshit.

 

[Crookedmember]

The gj price for my natural gas was $2.12, however my point is how is my paying $57 a month carbon tax going to reverse climate change? Answer is it’s not going to do fuck all, this was a relatively warm period if it had been -30 c for an extended stretch the carbon tax could have easily been $150 for the month. The sooner this tax is gone the better oif everyone will be. Even the liberal clowns can’t give a definitive answer as to how it is doing anything to fight climate change. Like everyone in our cold climate I have to heat my home yet I’m being penalized for doing so, absolute bullshit.

Because if the price of natural gas recovers, the cost of gas may be closer to $300. At that price, many people will take measures to reduce consumption or perhaps buy a heat pump.

Gas isn't going to be $2.12/GJ forever. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[masterblaster]

Because if the price of natural gas recovers, the cost of gas may be closer to $300. At that price, many people will take measures to reduce consumption or perhaps buy a heat pump.

Gas isn't going to be $2.12/GJ forever. Enjoy it while you can.

I’d like to know how to reduce consumption. Maybe turn my thermostat down to 15 c? Heat pumps don’t work in the climate I live in.

 

[oldshark]

Well, as much a tale of opposition failure as government failure.
Literally anyone could win if they just stuck to things like fighting crime, dealing with climate change realistically, and making Canadian industry strong instead of betting all our chips on trading just raw materials to the unbtrustworthy superpower next door.
I definitely blame this federal government for a number of broken promises (like electoral reform) or bungling good ideas with confusing or undisciplined applications (carbon tax), and then there are the scandals which come out of the blue simply caused by their own lack of judgement (SNC-Lavalin/JWR firing), or just the arrogance to fly off on some tangential cause-du-jour without checking if the public even agrees first (hard drug decrim never had popular support).

However, when the alternative to these guys are too busy acting like psychotic clowns flipping out over conspiracies/problems which do not actually exist while deliberately denying/ignoring real problems which do actual harm, and along the way think that acting like the most deceitful, creepy, dog-whistling militant assholes that they possibly can, how is that going to make Canada better? They seem to only want to attack Canada, declare it broken, then decay its identity and break it up, so it can be flushed down into the US sewer.

They public never asked them to follow the absolutely psychotic politics of our neighbour like some sort of unholy gospel - they chose to. Then time and time again, they get rejected and get absurdly pissed off that Canadian voters refuse to go along with it. Instead of changing what sort of opposition they are, making their values and policies genuinely Canadian, they just double down on being bitter dickwads and pushing crazy conspiracy theories that are ghost-written for them by the US right.

The CPC might have turned it around under O'Toole, but the rest of them are so deep into the stars-and-stripes gospel of craziness that they ousted him as leader just for suggesting it was time to stop acting like assholes in the name of political tactics. That just got him accused of not being a "real" conseravtive, because why keep a guy with military experience and principles when you can elevate a creepy professional troll instead? They failed to notice that what crippled them in 2019 and 2021 was the party's reputation as being just a collection of demented America-wannabes. All the Cons actually had to do to rise higher was stand back and watch the Trudeau PMO manage to finally shoot the last of its own toes off. Instead they unleashed a huge onslaught of foreign-funded network of bots, fake news, and phony protest convoys.

So are the Cons leading in the polls because they and their leader are actually popular? Nope, more like they are the Default Opposition Party, currently un-losing a competition to see who is actually the most unpopular.

It's like watching a horse race between a red horse that goes lame in one more leg every time it rounds a corner, an orange horse that whinnies and prances around but has no idea how to win the race, and then a blue horse that has lost its mind due to rabies and needs to be put down no matter how fast it can run. Well, maybe they all need to go to the glue factory, but this is what the political party system stuck us with. Canada is not alone; the whole world is seeing democratic principles get corroded away by dirty political tactics.




As for BC separatism, it's a tdeeply stupid idea. 40 million is more powerful than 5 million, and by ourselves there is nothing to stop us being subjugated or impoverished, and all our wealth stolen away for someone else's benefit. Already bad enough that Ottawa never considers BC when it asks what "the west" wants, only Alberta; any "western Canada" concept seems to be an invention of Albertans who think BC should be taking orders from them instead. (And only in that context should BC be standing alone.) BC was never less than Alberta, nor colonized from it - we were a stand-alone colony from the outset, then built our economy on trade and skill in dealing with the wider world; our main port outstrips the next 5 ports in Canada combined, probably the top strategic asset Canada has. We need the rest of Canada to actually put in some effort in defending BC, not entertain foolish notions that all end with BC giving its power away to the greedy and ungrateful power next door.

How is Panama doing in terms of leverage right now Under attack for no reason except one asshole's greedy eye falling upon it? It has none; indeed it already hosts a military base of its unexpected enemy. That warning also goes for Quebec separatism actually, because if they did separate from Canada, a "canal zone" to be controlled is all Washington would consider them; US bases would be on Quebec soil, US policies ruling Quebec governments, and there would be zero protection for their language or culture. The only people who ever respected Quebec and its culture were other Canadians. (Obviously excluding that segment of eternally prejudiced & resentful WASP cranks like Don Cherry who see francophone Canada as some kind of devilish impurity.)

First of all the horse thing actually made me laugh out loud. Good one.

Second, I was thinking. Sure the Panama Canal is important to the US but the St Lawrence Seaway is even more important. So maybe Trump is after our 'canals'!

 

[PuntMeister]

I’d like to know how to reduce consumption. Maybe turn my thermostat down to 15 c? Heat pumps don’t work in the climate I live in.

Caulking

Secondary entrance/exit doors, like an air lock to our frigid, but apparently warming climate

More Caulking—declare war on drafts (ironic—lol)

Weatherstripping, and insulate the fuck out of attic and crawl spaces.

If South/West facing, invest long term in solar panels on roof and migrate to heat pump (even in -30 if you get the right ones), grid tie is easy now—bank $$ in the summer, spend in winter. Get the home energy audit and all the incentives to go green. 10-14 yr payback plus increase in resale value. Easy peasy with 10 year federal zero interest loan. Don’t do it if you live in a tear-down or have an old shitty roof.

Get flannel sheets—they really fucking work!

invite SP’s over and fuck a lot—it really does raise the ambient!
Just please wipe down the island and the sofa when you’re done.

 

[Harmony-bc]

Caulking

Secondary entrance/exit doors, like an air lock to our frigid, but apparently warming climate

More Caulking—declare war on drafts (ironic—lol)

Weatherstripping, and insulate the fuck out of attic and crawl spaces.

If South/West facing, invest long term in solar panels on roof and migrate to heat pump (even in -30 if you get the right ones), grid tie is easy now—bank $$ in the summer, spend in winter. Get the home energy audit and all the incentives to go green. 10-14 yr payback plus increase in resale value. Easy peasy with 10 year federal zero interest loan. Don’t do it if you live in a tear-down or have an old shitty roof.

Get flannel sheets—they really fucking work!

invite SP’s over and fuck a lot—it really does raise the ambient!
Just please wipe down the island and the sofa when you’re done.

when I moved into my place, my first winter was freezing. I bought weather strip tape from Canadian tire and taped up all my windows. I’m way more comfortable now. It really works. I cannot handle the cold.

if anybody invites me into their freezing abodes, can you please raise your heat to a comfortable 20’s before I get naked? Please 😝

 

[Mrmotorscooter]

80% of Gazan population are the descendants of refugees displaced when Israel was created in 1948. They will be happy to return to their home towns located in what is nowaday Israel, Why Israel won't allow them? The neighbouring muslim countries already accepted millions of those displaced by Israel and don't want to take more. They aren't liable of fixing problems caused by Israel.
It's ironic that far right folk like who support Israel because they hate muslims end up having muslims neighbours next door sent by Israel.

If you look at all those wars over the years they were all started by Arabs against the Israelis and every time Israel has won and it cost the Palestinians more territory. You would think they would learn a lesson from that but they won’t, their goal is to wipe Israel off the map. They have a prime oceanfront property that could be a beautiful home but they would rather spend the billions they get from Iran and their supporters to build underground bunkers and tunnels to keep lobbing rockets into Israel. It’s obvious the two state option will never work for them as their Hamas leaders will never stop, their headquarters are based in Iran. This last attack unfortunately resulted in turning the place into a parking lot and it looks like they just may lose that place permanently this time.
Canada should bow out from accepting anymore as they will bring their issues with them and fight it out on our streets going forth, we need that as much as the Orange Idiot threatening our Sovereignty from our southern border border. If we get lucky perhaps he can focus his negative energy over there and leave us alone!

 

[westwoody]

I’d like to know how to reduce consumption. Maybe turn my thermostat down to 15 c? Heat pumps don’t work in the climate I live in.

Just off the top of my head

1: may vary by province: MB has a program to make your house more energy efficient. Your house is sealed up and they find where heat is escaping. They advise on prioritizing your spending. Do this BEFORE dealing with any contractors.
2: I got grant for attic insulation. Bought the pink blown stuff from Home Depot and got a rebate. Only paid for rental of the machine. Easy to do yourself if you have a person to help. Wear a mask and disposable overalls.
3: Solid wood core fiberglass door installed by experts. I say fibreglass because steel and aluminum conduct heat out of your house. This is NOT a do it yourself job! Govt grants may be available. Proper dual pane windows also properly done.
4: if renovating, closed cell foam in outside wall cavities. Eliminates needs for vapour barriers and reduces a lot of outdoor sounds. You need to remove and replace your drywall so this is a big job.
5: closed cell on basement walls especially in cavity where house meets foundation. Get it done by a pro, not anyone sketchy. A pro will have a truck with the two tanks and safety gear. Do in summer when you can air out the basement. Makes HUGE difference in energy savings and livability in basement.
If your basement is unfinished get the DAP 500 kit from Home Depot and fill all the crevices between foundation and baseplate to at least an inch thickness. There is an excellent youtube vid on this.

These are all serious investments but worthwhile. We did them on a down-to-the-studs reno last fall and are very happy.

 

[masterpoonhunter]

Just off the top of my head

1: may vary by province: MB has a program to make your house more energy efficient. Your house is sealed up and they find where heat is escaping. They advise on prioritizing your spending. Do this BEFORE dealing with any contractors.
2: I got grant for attic insulation. Bought the pink blown stuff from Home Depot and got a rebate. Only paid for rental of the machine. Easy to do yourself if you have a person to help. Wear a mask and disposable overalls.
3: Solid wood core fiberglass door installed by experts. I say fibreglass because steel and aluminum conduct heat out of your house. This is NOT a do it yourself job! Govt grants may be available. Proper dual pane windows also properly done.
4: if renovating, closed cell foam in outside wall cavities. Eliminates needs for vapour barriers and reduces a lot of outdoor sounds. You need to remove and replace your drywall so this is a big job.
5: closed cell on basement walls especially in cavity where house meets foundation. Get it done by a pro, not anyone sketchy. A pro will have a truck with the two tanks and safety gear. Do in summer when you can air out the basement. Makes HUGE difference in energy savings and livability in basement.
If your basement is unfinished get the DAP 500 kit from Home Depot and fill all the crevices between foundation and baseplate to at least an inch thickness. There is an excellent youtube vid on this.

These are all serious investments but worthwhile. We did them on a down-to-the-studs reno last fall and are very happy.

I have just completed a down to the studs reno as well, in Vancouver, and did almost the same work, plus new electrical and plumbing. The full cost of the reno took more than a few years out of my pooning budget ... but breaking it down, the abatement of removing all drywall, old insulation, old vapour barrier and doing a smoke seal (why not since the whole house was down to its bones), then redoing all that was about $380K so YEAH, this is not an inexpensive endeavour. My contractor was big on flashing detail, all corners, windows, skylights and every edge along the rooflines, foundation to structural plates, added to the cost but this place is it so I say do it right. Also due to a fuck up at the insulation supplier where they gave away my order, he got R28 for the walls and R31 for the ceilings!! same price.

Anyway, the corollary, as Vancouver sits at -8C this morning, is that the furnace/heatpump comes on maybe once every 20 minutes and the house is held at a comfortable 20C. And literally, not kidding here, no sound from anything outside. Well maybe if a siren is in the neighbourhood but that is about it. I could not get a rebate due to income. Fine with that, the comfort of this place is wonderful!

If you are renovating and have the budget, I agree with westwoody, take care of the basics of the place, if not for anything other than the comfort and the peace of mind.

 

[westwoody]

Mine was ~150 but had laminate floors done too.

Smaller house but will be happy here til I croak!

 

[jgg]

Caulking

Secondary entrance/exit doors, like an air lock to our frigid, but apparently warming climate

More Caulking—declare war on drafts (ironic—lol)

Weatherstripping, and insulate the fuck out of attic and crawl spaces.

If South/West facing, invest long term in solar panels on roof and migrate to heat pump (even in -30 if you get the right ones), grid tie is easy now—bank $$ in the summer, spend in winter. Get the home energy audit and all the incentives to go green. 10-14 yr payback plus increase in resale value. Easy peasy with 10 year federal zero interest loan. Don’t do it if you live in a tear-down or have an old shitty roof.

Get flannel sheets—they really fucking work!

invite SP’s over and fuck a lot—it really does raise the ambient!
Just please wipe down the island and the sofa when you’re done.

Some helpful advice.

 

[rlock]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-gaza-trump-1.7451944

Israel's defence minister orders army to prepare for Gaza residents' departure
Israel Katz cites Canada as one of many countries that could take Palestinians

Defence Minister Israel Katz hailed Trump's announcement that the United States would aim to take control of Gaza, resettle the more than two million Palestinians living there and transform the territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

There are countries like Canada, which has a structured immigration program, that have previously expressed a willingness to accept Gaza residents."

What a stupid idea. Now the actual of number they take in is actually limited (for years), but this is not the first time the Israeli-American regime has just "decided" that Palestinians should be forced out, and somehow move to Canada because... Canada.
There's many more Palestinians and arbs in Michigan, but you do not hear the Americans clamouring to resettle them there.

If Canada allows more, we become a convenient outlet for what amounts to ethnic cleaning / genocide. Fuck that. The Palestinians have a home already: Palestine.

If Canada tacitly accepts that the Israelis can just arbitrarily deprive Palestine of existence and remove its people (to here), then we are going to be totally fucked when it comes to defending Canada's existence from the USA.

This time we have to seem cruel to be kind. Do not allow this resettlement-to-Canada idea at all.

80% of Gazan population are the descendants of refugees displaced when Israel was created in 1948. They will be happy to return to their home towns located in what is nowaday Israel, Why Israel won't allow them? The neighbouring muslim countries already accepted millions of those displaced by Israel and don't want to take more. They aren't liable of fixing problems caused by Israel.
It's ironic that far right folk like who support Israel because they hate muslims end up having muslims neighbours next door sent by Israel.

The Israelis (hardliners anyway, the ones who are in full control) do not want to allow Palestinians / Arabs to live in the same state as them. They want to incorporate the land the Palestinians have, but not its people. They tout the "Israeli Arabs" they have got to fend off criticism, but they also have been rolling back their right to participate as full citizens in Israeli society, like it's Jim Crow or something. The idea that the whole area is a home for Jews but only Jews has hardened into an entrenched official policy.

The "two state solution" idea is only so the world can pretend one day the Israelis will allow Palestinians to live a normal life - which they won't. West Bank or Gaza, it does not matter. Muslim Palestinian or Christian Palestinian, does not matter.
The settler zealots view the whole thing as theirs alone, and they even assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Rabin because they viewed his making peace with Palestinians and accepting two states as a betrayal of their expansionist goals.

If you look at all those wars over the years they were all started by Arabs against the Israelis and every time Israel has won and it cost the Palestinians more territory. You would think they would learn a lesson from that but they won’t, their goal is to wipe Israel off the map. They have a prime oceanfront property that could be a beautiful home but they would rather spend the billions they get from Iran and their supporters to build underground bunkers and tunnels to keep lobbing rockets into Israel. It’s obvious the two state option will never work for them as their Hamas leaders will never stop, their headquarters are based in Iran. This last attack unfortunately resulted in turning the place into a parking lot and it looks like they just may lose that place permanently this time.
Canada should bow out from accepting anymore as they will bring their issues with them and fight it out on our streets going forth, we need that as much as the Orange Idiot threatening our Sovereignty from our southern border border. If we get lucky perhaps he can focus his negative energy over there and leave us alone!

Equally so the other way around. Never forget that. The Israelis blockade them of food, of medicine, of anything that would allow them to actually have more than a beggar economy. In the West Bank, they destroy their olive and fruit groves and kill their livestock, and sometimes poison their wells and attack their children. There are checkpoints everywhere, demanding ID just to go between their own towns, and sometimes people get turned back and lose work for being no-shows. Poverty is universal. If some kid yells at an Israeli cop, they get arrested. If they throw a rock at one, they get shot dead. Then you seem surprised that they are pissed off at being ground down day after day to die in the gutter and decide to fight back. Not that they ever win. Not that they ever could win against an army like that, but they fight anyways, and get killed at a 100-to-1 ratio.

But go on talking about how all of Iran's help compares to Israel's constant flow of free high-tech US military aid, or how they would be back on their feet if they just stopped fighting for the right to live in their own homeland.

Honestly, they will never live that normal life until the one with all the power takes the boot off their neck and decides to let them. And since that is never happening, let's not get upset when the overlord gets blood on his shoelaces.

 

[Crookedmember]

Putting lipstick on a pig.

Poilievre's poll numbers are dropping like a turd in a roadside outhouse,
so the party brass has decided to rebrand and co-opt Trump's 'America First' slogan.

Insanity. May I suggest they start this rebrand by snagging a leader who isn't an off-putting asshole?

 

[Bridge]

Obviously the next election will be about MAGA craziness. This is something Poilievre will not be happy to run on, especially since his top advisor Jenni Byrne wears a MAGA hat.

Polls be fleeting. Pierre's shit is about to hit the fan.

View attachment 114332

If they had any political sense they’d try and right the wrong by wearing the “MAKE US GRATE AGAIN” hat!

 

[masterblaster]

Things have changed’: Minister Champagne says Canada may need West-East pipelines.

All of a sudden the dummy liberals have woken up to reality.

 

[westwoody]

FYI since the invasion of Ukraine we have had about a dozen Ukrainians come to our office looking for work. My buddy has hired maybe ten for his building company and all are extremely skilled craftsmen. They also have good work ethics.
We have never had a gaza refugee come looking for work.
We did hire three Morrocans and it was a disaster.

 

[Crookedmember]

Things have changed’: Minister Champagne says Canada may need West-East pipelines.

All of a sudden the dummy liberals have woken up to reality.

Actually, it was conservatives in Quebec standing in the way.

Then Trans Canada dropped it altogether when they thought they were getting Keystone.

The Liberals built a tidewater pipeline. The Harper cons had 10 years in power and didn't.

 

[Thedirtygentleman]

FYI since the invasion of Ukraine we have had about a dozen Ukrainians come to our office looking for work. My buddy has hired maybe ten for his building company and all are extremely skilled craftsmen. They also have good work ethics.
We have never had a gaza refugee come looking for work.
We did hire three Morrocans and it was a disaster.

Usually Palestinians hire each other. But most of them rather stay in Gaza and die there. They don’t want to leave their land. So I bet there’s not a lot of them asking for refugee status anyway.