Activation of the Emergencies Act in Canada (For the First Time) Agains the Blockades: My Thoughts

It took disrupting the flow of the ECONOMY for several weeks for the Trudeau Liberals to activate the Emergencies Act for the first time in this country's history. This may set a bad precedent for the future. We've been mired in this pandemic for about two years now, and tens of thousands of Canadians have died. Many more yet have had their lives, and livelihoods just as often, ruined throughout the entire ordeal so far (I hope that it's over sooner than later, but how often does hope turn out...). Think about it...

 

The economy was affected by these blockades (which appear to be ongoing, as of this writing), with the RCMP (an institution that answers to the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, namely the Governor in Council), municipal and provincial governments all refusing to take actual measures against these disruptions (especially in Conservative-run areas) and the RCMP practically coddling the individuals involved. While there are divisions of the RCMP at federal, provincial, and municipal levels (keep in mind that Ontario has two; one [national] for Ottawa and one for the province [O Division]), these all answer, ultimately, to the federal government as previously mentioned. The Governor in Council is the one who determines who is the Commissioner, and the latter is the one who handles all RCMP delegations and regulations & such. 

 

In other words: the PRIME MINISTER does not have say on RCMP matters, but...

The RCMP is a federal institution. So the federal government has ultimate say on anything to do with the RCMP.

 

So the federally-regulated RCMP, at its various levels (from the Governor in Council and downward) FAILED to properly address an ongoing, three-week disruption of the economy and the lives of those affected, whether directly or indirectly. This disruption has been co-opted from the very beginnings of the movement by all sorts of unsavory and opportunistic fiends with self-interested agendas of power and even oppression (in at least some cases). It has received funding from abroad, which will have further ramifications down the road. Let's not forget the overwhelming messaging of hatred and division, particularly of the WHITE SUPREMACIST variety (or should I say, varieties, because while similar, there are multiple camps of white supremacy). Even fascism has played a part in the overall messaging of this movement. 

 

And the RCMP have treated them with kid gloves. Look at this latest development to see an example of how nice this institution has been to the 'protestors':

 

https://twitter.com/RadioGenova/status/1493587546550542338

 

  

And the Trudeau Liberals have, as mentioned at the outset, activated the Emergencies Act for the first time ever, over this thing. There are a number of things wrong with this approach. While I don't hold any allegiance to, or love for, the Liberals (or any party for that matter, in spite of voting Liberal in the most recent election for strategic reasons since I absolutely ABHOR the Conservatives), this will likely destroy the chance of the country avoiding another CPC reign of terror come the next election.

 

Also consider that this act being activated may encourage anyone in office to utilize it again in, say, a different situation? Like, I dunno, Indigenous Rights/Environmentalist/Social Justice activists protesting against grievances caused by the government and all of its regulated institutions & partner corporations? Such examples that are ongoing include:

 

- The Fairy Creek protests

- Wet'suwet'en First Nation protesting against Coastal GasLink Pipeline activity on THEIR SOVEREIGN LAND

 

Let's also consider that FIPA (the Foreign Investment Protection Act, which overwhelmingly benefits Chinese-owned assets here, over Canadian-owned assets in China) remains in place for another 25 approximate years. FIPA gives China effective right to litigate (read: sue) against the Canadian government should it deem its investments within our country threatened or impacted in any way that is detrimental to economic standing. Since the Chinese government has a close-knit business relationship with multiple corporations, this is an issue that will continue to have ramifications for all of us for decades into the future. Do not underestimate this bill as it is very likely the reason why the Wet'suwet'en FN gets harassed and mistreated by the RCMP to this day.

 

Honestly I could go on much, much further but this is not the right platform for that. This is already very long and I doubt most will read this in its entirety, but this act being activated for the first time ever is far more reckless than you might realize. It indicates greater problems within the various institutions of power in this country and a tilted balance of perspectives into who gets controlled/quelled, and who doesn't.

 

...and it isn't far-right nutjobs with mostly white-supremacist agendas that appear to be considered liable for controlling/quelling.

(Originally Off-Site) My Breakdown of the Federal Parties of Canada

Here's my honest breakdown of the parties in this country (Federal), ordered by the results of the 2019 election. I ramble a lot so be aware of that. Won't have the best grammar ever but that's not what was important here. The views represented below are entirely my own, represented only by my experiences and what I've heard/read about these parties.

 

Without further ado...

 

Liberals = Inconsistent

 

Want to please everyone but spreads themselves too thin doing so; leader lives for attention; neoliberal economics but fine elsewhere; spend like crazy under Trudeau (though they were forced to spend a lot during this pandemic, let's be honest here); poor optics (WE Scandal [just plain poor optics on this one], SNC-Lavalin Affair, Aga Khan Scandal, Blackface Scandal [don't really care personally as it was about 20 years ago and the people in the incriminating photo have come out and said it was all in the name of fun]). Received FIVE YEARS worth of illegal donations from SNC-Lavalin. A bit of cronyism. Inception levels of inconsistency; for example, they claim to be for fighting climate change but then they support O&G expansion projects but on THAT front they decline some pipelines but approve others so they're at least two-levels of inconsistent on this very topic alone...*takes a breath* The alternatives though are either awful (see the next party below) or just not viable enough at this time to consider voting for (pretty much anyone else)

 

On the other hand...

 

They handled the pandemic fairly well all things considered (should have shut down incoming air travel, if only for a short period); Trudeau is compared too much to his father even though they're kind of different, and they can never please everyone (so they should STOP TRYING!). Justin is a bit stingy with criticism (to be fair, a lot of what he gets is straight bullshit so how can you blame him?). Justin gets attacked so often in such crazy ways that I'm often left bewildered and (trust me this really sucks) I'm often forced to defend him from the bullshit people constantly fling in his direction. They're not Conservative and thus that's a huge benefit in their favour, no questions fucking asked.

 

Conservatives = Treacherous & Criminal

 

Talks about "reigning in spending" and lowering the deficit all the time, but do the exact opposite every fucking time they hold office ANYWHERE; terrible leadership that makes me cringe; would be more likely to leave us all to the lurch instead of helping us; spreads conspiracy theories and shitposts; all bark and no bite; cronyism galore; Candice Bergen, Pierre Poill–PP!; they like TRUMP STYLE POLITICS! Leading into Harper's reign of terror, the more reasonable Conservatives merged with the batshit crazy Reform party and became a horrific hybrid mutant ever since. Could have prevented or at least changed (to whatever extent I do not know) the bullshit in the equalization payments system but nope, and here we are with a divisive system; SHAMELESS neoliberalism and completely bonkers everywhere else (sometimes they accept LGBTQ+, sometimes they don't...); Stephen Harper still kind of runs the party from the shadows (to what extent I don't think we'll ever really know); will never recover from Harper IMO. Wanted to spend $60 billion on outdated fighter jets; inconsequential "Canadian Action Plan"; lives on division between the West and the East. This party gave us two completely imbecilic and criminal scumbags running, right at the moment of this writing, two separate provinces: the egg salad sammich-loving dingus known as Doug Ford (dubiously running Ontario), and the horrendously criminal and borderline-fascistic Jason Kenney (hard at work in running Alberta into the ground). Thinking of this party irks me to an extent that you wouldn't believe...

But wait, there's more!

 

Enjoys an alliance with "Canada Proud" hate groups that DIRECTLY BENEFITS THEM! Loves cutting social programs we all pay into but makes us more beholden to private industry when the party guts these same services or sells them out. Hates taxes (for themselves and their rich buddies) but otherwise loves them (for the rest of us). They've shown in every province they run (into the ground) that they have no earthly clue what the hell they're doing in response to COVID-19 and would rather put the economy ahead of your fucking health; if they hadn't privatized our former world-renowned vaccine production facilities (Connaught Labs) we'd likely be far better off than we are now so FUCK THIS PARTY! Oh and don't forget actually enacting the long-debated FIPA, which gives China a trade advantage on Canada and a means to sue us more easily when their investments are threatened.

 

They uh...had a transit tax rebate that actually managed to encourage people to use public transit to some degree? That was killed under Trudeau for some frustrating reason. Mulroney, who still sucked overall, declared a number of national parks to be protected land (Haida Gwaii is one of them). I really don't know what else to say that is positive about this party because they're a bunch of criminal, disgusting scumbags.

 

Bloc Quebecois = Single-Minded

 

Only really cares about Quebec and her interests, and how the fuck did they get in third place. What do they really DO for the country as a whole? They straight embarrassed the NDP by attaining third-party status. Dafuq?

 

Uh...what good do they do? They perpetuate the divide between East and West so I don't care for this party.

 

NDP = Hopeless

 

Have terrible messaging; engages in attack politics not unlike the CPC; can't provide solid solutions; leader squanders his position most of the time; leader votes 'yes' on many Liberal causes/proposals, but virtue signals with 'criticisms' elsewhere, and this sends mixed signals to everyone else; no unity with provincial chapters; might never achieve what Jack Layton did in 2011 at this rate; finally, is Singh actually a socially-liberal Conservative plant?!

 

Jack Layton was a pretty cool guy in the end (R.I.P.); they came up with our healthcare system thanks to Tommy Douglas (voted "Greatest Canadian" in the mid-2000's); can actually be PROGRESSIVE (if they unified better and actually had the solutions to back it up), and they are currently in a position to hold Trudeau's cabinet to a higher standard although they don't often do this much to the chagrin of many.

 

Green = Neutered

 

They have no chance, we never get to hear their platform unless the stars are aligned right, and are hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned with just two seats in Parliament. Elizabeth May can't seem to think straight for more than five seconds. Canada's Texas thinks these people are just hippies so you can't count on a reliable handful of votes from them. Has only a couple of good (and necessary) ideas but very few practical ones. A crippling degree of instability within their ranks, coupled with what few political players they actually have in the game, will hurt this party in the long term.

 

They stand for the environment. Actually showed solidarity with protestors standing up for indigenous rights. Wants to push for better renewable energy production. Was for the legalization of dope before pretty much anyone else.

 

Independent = Pointless

 

Nothing will ever happen here but I guess I personally fall here because I personally cast a protest vote in the 2019 election. Not next time, though.

 

If enough people vote independently (or do what I did in 2019 and cast protest votes) then maybe, in some alternate universe, it might shake up our elections enough that some people take notice? Won't hold my breath on this approach, though. After all, who is going to notice? This won't get the ones in power quaking in their boots any time soon.

 

People's Party = Idiotic

 

Haha, Maxime Bernier started this because he was rejected by the CPC in his leadership bid, his results were pitiful; a more fringe CPC overall. Really just a redundant party, if only a bit more honest somehow than the CPC is in terms of their economic positions. Appears to be staffed by active racists or 'former' racists and I'm not fucking kidding on this one.

 

I don't know what good they did, honestly. Just a slightly-altered copy of the CPC.

The Federal Liberals and Their (Spineless, Milquetoast) 2021 Budget

An overwhelming majority of MPs and other political cretins happened to vote for Universal Basic Income. 491-85 in favour. They even talked about it in their recent conferences. People are clamoring for a chance at a higher standard of living. A safety net that can keep people from going into abject poverty. A chance to do what they REALLY want to do rather than work dead-end fucking shit jobs, or keep afloat while various job markets fluctuate as they always do under (mostly) unfettered capitalism.

So frustrated, but here goes... 

 

The budget is being doled out today  and UBI is nowhere to be found. Yeah, a no-strings-attached basic income would cost somewhere around $85 billion annually. That's a lot. But think of all the people spending money in this country. Think of all the people lifted out of homelessness. Think of people being able to leverage their employment situations to their benefit by holding out for a better opportunity instead of going for whatever happens to be available because of desperation. Based on a 2013 study (it has definitely gone up since then but I can't find more recent information), poverty costs the country up to 89$ billion a year. With the pandemic and several provinces hurting economically (particularly Alberta, regardless of the pandemic), that figure would have to be considerably higher). Just going by the 2013 number (found here: https://evidencenetwork.ca/poverty-costs-canada-billions-of-dollars-every-year/), implementing an annual UBI would cost less than not doing it at all. 

 

Look at the findings found here (https://cwp-csp.ca/poverty/the-cost-of-poverty/): - "For example, a recent report from Ontario states that poverty costs the government (in collaboration with the federal government) between $10.4 billion and $13.1 billion a year." - "Nova Scotia recently declared that poverty costs the province (including governmental, societal, and individual costs) $2.4 billion per year." - "Saskatchewan pays up to $3.8 billion per year on poverty as a whole, including $2.6 billion in absent taxes and contributions to the GDP." - "In British Columbia, the government spends between $8.1 and $9.2 billion on poverty." UBI can dramatically decrease ALL OF THIS! WHY IS THIS SUCH A FUCKING ISSUE!? 

 

 Oh and no increase to the GST is on the horizon. Oh no, Garrett is advocating for a tax increase! Well, those are for Goods & Services; you know, sales taxes and the like. You buy something, and a tax is added. Buy a cup of coffee at (god forbid) Timmy's, and GST goes back to our public offices. Even a 1-3% increase would produce much more money that would go toward the programs that money is meant to fund. Or at the very least, they should, right? Oh and a slightly increased GST cheque for low-income Canadians would occur, too. It would offset a bit more of the losses from funding UBI. But it would also pay for itself over time (not the same fiscal year as implementation, mind). 

 

To quote:

 

"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously signalled his lack of enthusiasm for UBI, stating that the costly program is not at the top of his list amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

“Obviously COVID has exposed weaknesses in our country where vulnerable people are continuing to slip through the cracks,” he told reporters when pressed about the program in recent weeks. 

 

“We will have conversations about next steps as well but our focus is very much on what we need to do to control COVID-19.” 

 

Trudeau’s sentiment transferred into the budget document, which makes no mention of the program."

For more of that, read the following: https://globalnews.ca/news/7770067/canada-budget-2021-whats-missing-liberal-federal/

 

Yeah, yeah, I know it's Global, but they're the only ones RIGHT NOW that have an article about this half-rate budget that's being released TODAY. 

 

Nothing on pharmacare, either. Yes, the NDP tried to push a federal solution rather than a provincial one, and that one crashed and burned. They still harp on that loss, but they're just being obtuse as to why it failed to pass. No wealth tax. Yeah, the fucking rich have gotten OBSCENELY RICHER through this damned pandemic, and the Liberals won't take advantage of that goldmine? Holy shit man, and people probably wonder why I don't really like the Liberals, either. They're just a less ruthless flavour of Neoliberal as far as I am concerned. 

 

Back to the subject, the only thing the Liberals are willing to do is implement a tax on the sales of superfluous goodies like yachts, personal jets, and other crazy shit the rich sometimes buy (and then sell or default on when they lose their precious bounty). Oh boy, that's not going to be exploitable at all...

 

I'll give it to them this, and only this: even though there's no mention of any of these things in the budget, particularly UBI, doesn't mean it won't see further discussion or even consideration. It has such overwhelming support that the Liberals would be committing political suicide to not even consider implementing it at all. Another instance of the Liberals reneging on a promise. The Conservatives are even worse than that, but that's a given because that's always the case. With the Liberals, it's far more frustrating.

 

I won't vote for a fucking party that seems to have their heads up their asses. They think they're invincible. THIS IS WHY I DON'T LIKE MAJORITY GOVERNMENTS! 

 

Feckless...milquetoast...inconsistent...smug... Now does anyone understand why I don't like BOTH the Liberals AND the treacherous CON(job)servatives? Such a missed opportunity. Such a bold-faced example of "playing it safe." Shitty priorities! To think that neither of the alternatives are viable (or in the case of the pathetic "People's Party of Canada", not even worth a vote). So frustrating and disappointing. Fucking DOLTS!!!