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Will nostalgia define the next four years in American politics? – Maclean's

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Adnan R. Khan: President-elect Joe Biden’s emerging cabinet suggests he is more interested in reset than reform. Is that what America really needs?

As president-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet takes shape, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: we shouldn’t expect any major surprises. That, in itself, is no surprise. In his 48-year career in politics, Biden hasn’t developed a particularly risk-taker reputation, despite those edgy aviators. He is the steady ship, predictable and palatable. It’s why the Democratic establishment chose him as their candidate in the first place.

The question though is if a steady ship is what America needs in this moment of disorder and upheaval. Maybe it is. Maybe it’s what the world is expecting at a time of pandemic and a rupturing international order. A reset feels right: a return to something more familiar, to a centre of gravity from which to observe the devastation at a distance, and then decide what to do next.

First, of course, will come the pandemic fight, but that looks promising. With two vaccines lined up for approval in the coming days and weeks, there is an end in sight to this nightmare, even if “normalcy” is still up to a year away. What comes next, though, evokes a persistent feeling of unease. Perhaps it’s the trauma talking: After four years of a Trump White House, that lurking sense of impending doom will not go away quickly.

That’s maybe why Biden’s cabinet choices feel so comforting: they hark back to a time when things made more sense, and if there is one thing Trump has demolished, it is the feeling that our world makes sense.

But this may be simply pining for a mythical past. Was the Time Before ever so warm and fuzzy? We had Barack Obama, but we also had rising right wing extremism around the world; we had birtherism (led by Donald Trump); and we had a global economic collapse precipitated by American financial greed and hubris. Before that, we had Sarah Palin and the proto-Trumpian Tea Party; we had George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the War on Terror.

So yeah, in the spirit of John Oliver, it’s not 2017 to 2020 that need to be blown up, it’s the entire 21st century.

When you think of it that way, looking back is rather a cautionary tale than a place of refuge. American democracy is in crisis, and has been for many years. The fact that Trump and the Republican Party have tried—are still trying—to overthrow the results of the November election should come as no surprise. As Zeynep Tufekci, a sociologist and cultural commentator, recently pointed out, mistrust in the American election system has existed since 2008. It was only a matter of time before someone tried to weaponize it.

And yet, the contours of Biden’s emerging team feel all-too familiar. Antony Blinken, the choice for Secretary of State, has all the credentials and the experience for the job. He is clearly qualified, which is of course a refreshing change from the coterie of hacks who made up Trump’s cabinet.

But Blinken was also one of the key architects behind the Obama administration’s failed strategy in the Middle East and, in 2001, argued in favour of NATO enlargement into the Baltics, a move some Russia experts at the time warned would undermine Vladimir Putin’s tentative steps toward normalization with the West.

These may only be missteps. The world is complicated, and even the smartest people sometimes get things wrong, or are proven wrong by history. But the pattern of Blinken’s mistakes suggest something more than mere miscalculation. He, like others appointed to Biden’s cabinet, subscribes to a strategic worldview operating on the foundation of American exceptionalism, where America not only leads the world into the light, but is the light.

What the last three decades since the Cold War have demonstrated is that American exceptionalism has always been a myth, at best aspirational, at worst delusional. What America needs more than anything now is some self-reflection, to stop pretending it is the shining beacon that it really never was.

That’s a tall order, particularly in a nation where the political gears are greased by establishment elites who have rarely demonstrated self-awareness. Indeed, American popular culture celebrates those who demonstrate a wanton disregard for self-awareness and humility.

Many of those elites were sidelined during the Trump presidency. Now, they’re angling for a return to the good old days of influence peddling and favouritism, the kind of insider access that got the U.S. into this mess in the first place. In 2016, and again in 2020, tens of millions of Americans, feeling disconnected from democracy, voted for an outsider, a disruptor who would shake up the establishment.

As horrifying as the Trump presidency has been, it is not an anomaly. There is no way to separate it from the fact that politics in America is fundamentally broken. Rolling back Trump’s damage will only be a first step. From there, Democrats will have to lead their country in a new direction; they will need to embrace new ideas and dismantle some of the old structures that have turned American democracy into a plaything for a tiny sliver of the population.

Are Biden and his team of establishment figures up to the task?

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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