My Grandma Fody died this past December. She was 94 and for her entire life she was a devout, dedicated true-blue card-carrying Tory.
She was so blinded by her politics that it wouldn’t matter in the least what happened, or who did it – she would find a way to blame the Liberals. She never questioned anything. Everything the Conservatives did was right.
Oh, and those NDP or Green Party tree-huggers. They know nothing.
She travelled all across Canada going to Tory conventions, she worked polls and always followed the news for any political story.
Visits with her often contained a political conversation. Well, I wouldn’t so much call it a conversation. It was more of what you might call a one-sided affirmation of her opinions.
As for that old-fashioned saying “respect your elders”, well, I had to do a lot of that.
Justin Trudeau really got under her skin: his hair, he didn’t shave one day (Shoppers Drug Mart must have run out of razors, she said). it wouldn’t matter if he saved one of her great grandchildren from drowning. He had no chance of being in her good books.
COVID would have given her so much material to blast the Liberals for. I can literally hear the criticisms in my head as I am typing.
I didn’t inherit her political-devotedness gene.
Politics, for me, is similar to watching a bunch of children on a playground.
There are usually a few leaders.
There are usually groups that form.
Most tend to play soccer or baseball, some of the most common games, while others lean to the not so common task of collecting things and building something.
There are the dreamers who draw in a few floaters.
Sometimes they get along.
Sometimes they play really well together and achieve much.
Sometimes there is a bully in the group who makes fun of others for not doing things the same way as they do.
Sometimes there is a traitor in the group who decides they want to play soccer instead of baseball.
Sometimes that traitor tells the soccer group things the baseball players said about them or things they were slyly doing behind their backs.
Sometimes they fight.
When they fight, all hell can break loose and no one achieves anything.
Grudges are formed.
I’m the type who sometimes wants to play soccer, sometimes I want to build things, I like to get along with others and I’m interested in learning.
A few years ago, as part of lobbying the government for research funding for ovarian cancer, I attended a lobby day on Parliament Hill.
All of the pageantry made me chuckle! As we raced from office to office, we needed to get a Page to tell the Member of Parliament we were meeting with that we had arrived. The photo ops were so structured. There were so many ‘handlers’. There were certain chairs you weren’t allowed to sit in.
As part of the experience, we were able to attend Question Period. We filed into the upper viewing area and were given a list of instructions.
On that particular day it was particularly dramatic. If I recall correctly, Trudeau was being accused by the NDPs of pushing an MP and maybe even something to do with crossing the floor.
Thomas Mulcair, in an effort to mock the Prime Minister, put his hands up behind his head and stretched his legs out. When the Prime Minister would speak, he shouted, “Blah, blah, blah, blah.”
It was pure and utter craziness! I tried to imagine if myself and my colleagues acted this way in a meeting. What a complete waste of time!
I’m not a huge consumer of news media. The stories are all about pointing fingers, accusations, agenda setting and ego. Trump! Covid! Trudeau! One scandal after another! The sky is falling!
A few years ago, I made a decision to not watch the news before I go to sleep. This decision was made after I had a dream in which I was pregnant and in labour. I was in an operating room. Jian Ghomeshi and Rob Ford were the nurse and doctor. I didn’t want Jian to touch me and I wasn’t convinced that Rob Ford knew how to deliver a baby.
I really don’t know what heads or tails is anymore when it comes to politics.
What is real? What is true? What is right? Who is actually being honest? What is being done? Who is paying who?
You know what, maybe Grandma was onto something. It is easier to be one sided, to not question things and just unequivocally believe that one party is right.
With an insatiable love for human behaviour and circumstance, Emilie Chiasson absorbs the world around her, and turns her experiences into relatable stories. From her home town of Antigonish, N.S., to her travels around the world, she never fails to connect with the characters and perspectives that make life a bit more colourful. Read more.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
