In the absence of these important policy proposals, there is evidently some apprehension among Canadians. Half (46%) say they are “fearful” of the CPC forming government, while fewer (35%) anticipate it with hope. A majority (54%) suspect Poilievre and the CPC have a “hidden agenda” that won’t be revealed until after the party wins the elections.
There is also some doubt that a Poilievre-led government can balance the budget and lower income taxes as promised, even if most view them to be “good things”. More than two-in-five (45%) say neither will happen.
Ah, yes. “Balance the budget” - the one thing any politician can say to instantly generate voter favour. It’s like a magic money printing button but for votes.
If you think about it for more than three seconds you realise it doesn’t even mean anything or make any sense. It’s an empty fluff promise that people think will somehow make their lives better.
People need to stop seeing a “balanced budget” as the top measure of a responsible government.
A country is not a household. They are not going to repo Manitoba if we have too much debt. The vast, VAST majority of countries carry debt, and carrying debt is preferable to austerity measures that gut social programs and supports in service of a balanced budget.
The Canadian govt is the primary creator of Canadian dollars.
When the federal govt runs a deficit of say $1B, that’s a surplus of $1B in the private sector. $1B more spent into industry than collected in taxes. Good times for the private sector.
When the federal govt runs a surplus of $1B, that is a deficit of $1B in the private sector. $1B more collected in taxes than spent. This is an absolute disaster for the economy.
When you consider the above, you can see how ridiculous it is for the federal govt to run a balanced budget or surplus. A balanced budget is a strongly recessionary position, choking off economic growth in the private sector.
Someone has been reading MMT. Nice. 👍
What is MMT?
Modern Monetary Theory. It’s a combination of Keynsian economics with some modern observations. Here’s an intro by Randall Wray.
And won’t somebody think of the private sector! It just doesn’t have enough control over the public good!
I would rather see improved tax brackets to get money back into the economy by forcing the rich to either pay more in taxes, or steal less from the employees thus paying them a fair share (which in turn will actually be spent and fed back into the economy)
Don’t eat the rich, bleed them. Make greed unprofitable in Canada.
It seems like Canadians have a pretty fair assessment of Polinever’a agenda.
And yet he’s on course for a landslide election victory. I don’t understand people.
Short version: longer sentences don’t mean more justice.
I never understand why people don’t want criminals reformed, just locked up.
There are very good arguments for rehabilitation of those who commit crimes.
And before anybody sounds off there are certain people who just need to be removed from society due to an inability to behave. It’s just a very small portion of those who break the law.
I never understand why people don’t want criminals reformed, just locked up.
It is pretty easy to understand. People are interested in their personal safety above all else, way more than they care about inefficient use of public resources and human tragedies brought by a carceral system. Many favor systems that error to the side of unjustly punishing over a system that accepts the inherent trade-offs of pursuing common good.
In other words, to some folks, criminals aren’t people so we shouldn’t worry about what’s good for them - all worry is dedicated to making the lives of white flighters as stress-free as possible. TLDR: snowflake conservatives.
These are the same people who say they would prefer a dangerous freedom of a peaceful slavery. As if you can’t have a peaceful freedom…
They are more concerned about their feelings than actually moving towards a real freedom.
Yep. It’s cognitive dissonance. Presumed innocence & welfare for me, discipline and punishment & rugged individualism for thee.
I’d like the justice system funded enough that criminals aren’t getting released due to long court dates or things like that.
I also want the police at a local level to take more action on petty crimes, right now criminals know the consequences are nil and it’s contributing to a more expensive/lower quality society.
This is regrettably true, and driving a lot of the red meat for “tough on crime” talk from right-wing politicians.
Our saving grace is that being tough on crime takes effort and money, and the CPC is just as cheap and lazy as the LPC. They’ll just talk tougher and do nothing, as compared to the Liberals smiling and waving flags…and doing nothing.
Yeah, I should add, I’m not against reforming the justice system, really I’m frustrated by the lack of enforcement and lack of resources given to our courts.
It’s because there is no nuance anymore. With every issue you have to either be 100% on my side or 100% on the other side. So many times people argue for and against things that aren’t mutually exclusive. It doesn’t mean we should “both sides” everything, but sometimes both sides each have half of a good idea.
I never understand why people don’t want criminals reformed, just locked up.
Because “lock them up” is a simple answer that is quick, easy to understand and relativity easy to do.
Rehabilitation takes time, takes effort, and doesn’t have a “one size fits all” method.
It’s not a simple, easy to understand (and easy to slogan) approach, even if it does actually have proven better long-term outcomes for society.
Sadly, longer jail time is purely placebo. Plenty of studies show jail time has no incidence on crime rate. Sure, locking people for longer would delay recidivism, but we could do better than that.
It’s not about logic though. Longer jail time proponents do lean on the emotional argument of a few anecdotal cases or recidivism. This tend to make flashy headlines and stick with the population.
And increase social spending. Of those who can be reformed, they’ll only do so if there’s a support network.
I really do not see the Conservative Parties agenda as “secret”.
If you want to know what Canada looks like under Poilievre, take a look at how Canada was under Harper. It will be exactly like that, but worse.
Squinty McProudBoy would enact trump’s project 2025 in Canada.
No need to tie him to Trump’s nonsense.
Poilievre is much more dangerous than Trump is because Poilievre is a seasoned Politician and not a complete idiot.
If we want people to understand who this guy is we need to explain who he is. Not try and scare people by pointing south of the border. Poilievre has more than enough history to attack without importing other countries politics.
I believe that his own words and actions are what is tying him to trump. He supports all the same causes and spouts all the same rhetoric, shakes all the same hands… He has created a “base” comprised of racists, white supremacists, fascists, misogynists and assholes. He is supported by rebel media an alt-right organization… I mean you could search for all of this…
I believe that his own words and actions are what is tying him to trump. He supports all the same causes and spouts all the same rhetoric, shakes all the same hands… He has created a “base” comprised of racists, white supremacists, fascists, misogynists and assholes. He is supported by rebel media an alt-right organization…
You can keep calling names and trying to draw parallels, but the fact of the matter is Trump is not special. Trump is not doing anything different than Conservatives have been doing for years, and if anything, Trump is stealing from a play book that has been around for longer than either him or Poilievre has been alive.
Poilievre also didn’t “create a base” of racists, fascists, misogynists, and assholes. He merely tapped the base, which wasn’t hard considering that is what the Conservative party is comprised of, and ran simple platitudes that they would understand as a “platform”.
I mean you could search for all of this…
You can as well.
If you stop being so pretentious, and “search” for a real point to make, that would be great too.
The majority of people want a balanced budget, more spending on NATO defence, more spending on prisons, no less spending on public jobs or publicly funded institutions, but also want to pay less taxes.
This is why the majority of people will never be happy.
One cannot balance a budget with increased spending, lower taxes, and no reductions in spending. But one will tell you they can in order to grab power and that one shouldn’t be listened to because that one is likely attempting to create a dictatorship.
When was the last time a federal government managed to balance a budget? Trudeau-the-elder landed a smallish surplus once, back in the late 1970s, I think. I’m not aware of anyone having pulled it off since.
enjoy the recessions that come with balanced budgets and surpluses… everyone will be sending in extra taxes to balance that budget.
It’s funny how the party of “taxes bad” somehow also like a balanced budget.
How the fuck are you gonna balance it when you choke out cash flows and things cost more annually? 🤔
Sell of public utilities? Lose the following election and everything is now the party in powers problem
Cuts. Most of the provinces are blue right now. Look around to how well that’s going for your day to day services.
