General Election: Oct 21, 2019

[dapaterson]

Interesting... you vest in the CAF pension plan with only two years of service; MPs require three times that.

 

[Good2Golf]

An "MP's employees" are not in PS or exempt positions.  Their pay comes from the Member's office budget and the individuals are considered as "employees of the MP".

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/MAS/mas-e.pdf
The maximum annual salary for an MP's employee is currently $88,300.

Blackadder, you are indeed correct.  I cross-linked a Minister’s staff members with a non-cabinet MP.  I stand corrected, re: Exempt PS positions.

Interesting... you vest in the CAF pension plan with only two years of service; MPs require three times that.

For RoC, but not a reduced annuity, no?

Regards
G2G

 

[dapaterson]

After 2 years, you're vested in the CFSA. Prior to age 50, you can take a transfer value, annual allowance at age 59+, or deferred annuity if you are not yet eligible for an immediate annuity.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Aaaaaand here's why people lose faith in media ...

• "The government has to step up its fight against online disinformation in the wake of the federal election, says Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould.  "Going forward, there is still a sense that more needs to be done to address the spread of disinformation on social media platforms," Gould said in a statement to CBC News.  The amount of misinformation and disinformation that circulated during the election will factor into the government's deliberations about what worked and what needs to be improved before the next election, she added.  "We will review, reflect and assess those measures in the coming months. At this stage, it is too early to speak publicly about what those could be."  Gould's comments come as officials tell CBC News that the federal government did detect attempted misinformation or disinformation during the election campaign — just not at a high enough level to compromise the election and for a panel of top bureaucrats to alert the public.  "Yes, there have been some activities observed, none of which met the threshold as identified by the panel," said Stéphane Shank, manager of media relations for the Privy Council Office. "Therefore, no public communications."  However, Shank refused to provide any detail of what people monitoring the election saw, saying only that they were monitoring for both domestic and foreign interference .." (CBC.ca)
• "Despite dire warnings in the run-up to the Oct. 21 federal election of possible foreign meddling in Canada’s democratic process, officials tasked with monitoring and preventing foreign interference did not “observe” any activity that merited sounding the alarm, according to the Privy Council Office ...  Before and throughout the election, the SITE Task Force also provided security briefings to Elections Canada and Canadian political parties, to promote situational awareness and help them strengthen their security practices, Bujold said.  “Throughout the election, the Protocol Panel held regular meetings and their discussions were informed by intelligence and analysis provided by the SITE Task Force and from other sources,” (PCO spokesperson Pierre-Alain) Bujold told Radio Canada International in an email.  “The Panel did not observe any activities that met the threshold for public announcement or affected Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election.” ..." (Radio Canada International, a branch of CBC)

 

[RangerRay]

I was pretty disappointed with the options. I am getting pissed off at all parties appealing to their bases, leaving true centrists isolated. I voted Tory like I usually do, but I didn’t feel proud of it. Where is the party of the Radical Centre?

 

[McG]

I was pretty disappointed with the options. I am getting pissed off at all parties appealing to their bases, leaving true centrists isolated. I voted Tory like I usually do, but I didn’t feel proud of it. Where is the party of the Radical Centre?

What is the incentive to do otherwise when you do not need broad appeal to win under FPTP?

 

[ModlrMike]

I was pretty disappointed with the options. I am getting pissed off at all parties appealing to their bases, leaving true centrists isolated. I voted Tory like I usually do, but I didn’t feel proud of it. Where is the party of the Radical Centre?

It's hard to find the center when it's the fringes that are holding onto the marking sticks, and defining what center means.

 

[RangerRay]

What is the incentive to do otherwise when you do not need broad appeal to win under FPTP?

I think that’s why the main parties only got ~33% of the vote. They appealed to their base and centrists said “a pox on all your houses”. Can’t say I blame them. Pisses me off though because that’s how you get Trumps and Trudeaus.

 

[dapaterson]

My main concern is the collapse of the Conservative vote.  67% in AB and SK masks under 29% everywhere else in Canada.  That's not a government in waiting...

 

[ballz]

And sadly their move toward the centre wasn't on social issues, it was on fiscal policy....

 

[Cloud Cover]

My main concern is the collapse of the Conservative vote.  67% in AB and SK masks under 29% everywhere else in Canada.  That's not a government in waiting...

I thought they took the popular vote? No?   

 

[dapaterson]

Overall, yes, but so heavily weighted in two provinces that it masked their extreme weakness outside the Kenny/ Moe area.  If you get under 30% of the vote in 80% of the provinces, you'll have extreme difficulty in forming a government.

If they don't fix this in the '21 election, it may be much worse than Campbell's post-Mulroney collapse.

 

[Spencer100]

What center?  The Tories are about as center as you get.  Their platform was very in the middle.  The choice in Canada, is soft socialism, Green socialism, French socialism, international socialism.  and the Tory party. 

 

[Brad Sallows]

Conservatives need to bend the knee a bit more on social issues to get to that magic 38-40%.

That said, there is no prospect of a backwards step regardless what people wish to imagine or use to scare themselves or others away from voting for conservative candidates.  For social conservatives (so-cons) to pursue their aims requires a government with a majority of so-con MPs.  For that to happen requires a polity of so-cons in Canada, distributed broadly and efficiently so as to be powerful enough to nominate and elect said majority.  If such a polity existed, common sense suggests it would have expressed itself in the recent election if not at some time in the preceding two or three decades.  Therefore, no such threat exists.

And a coalition of so-cons and moderate conservatives (mod-cons) will not do it either.  A mod-con candidate will by definition be someone who has either (passively) refused to endorse the contentious items of the so-con platform or (actively) committed to opposing them (ie. would vote against a private member's bill).  The latter is a declared opponent; the former has political cover (no commitment to support) and very likely an implied bargain with constituents and will want to be re-elected.

To propose that there might exist a coalition of so-cons and Trojan Horse mod-cons is tinfoil-hat territory.  Regardless, the mod-cons would be extinguished in a subsequent election and status quo ante asserted by the next government.

 

[Altair]

Conservatives need to bend the knee a bit more on social issues to get to that magic 38-40%.

That said, there is no prospect of a backwards step regardless what people wish to imagine or use to scare themselves or others away from voting for conservative candidates.  For social conservatives (so-cons) to pursue their aims requires a government with a majority of so-con MPs.  For that to happen requires a polity of so-cons in Canada, distributed broadly and efficiently so as to be powerful enough to nominate and elect said majority.  If such a polity existed, common sense suggests it would have expressed itself in the recent election if not at some time in the preceding two or three decades.  Therefore, no such threat exists.

And a coalition of so-cons and moderate conservatives (mod-cons) will not do it either.  A mod-con candidate will by definition be someone who has either (passively) refused to endorse the contentious items of the so-con platform or (actively) committed to opposing them (ie. would vote against a private member's bill).  The latter is a declared opponent; the former has political cover (no commitment to support) and very likely an implied bargain with constituents and will want to be re-elected.

To propose that there might exist a coalition of so-cons and Trojan Horse mod-cons is tinfoil-hat territory.  Regardless, the mod-cons would be extinguished in a subsequent election and status quo ante asserted by the next government.

I agree that Mod-cons do not want this dug up again. But the so-cons are not shy about where they stand. When they are out touting the amount of anti abortion candidates they have running, mostly for the CPC and have a party leader that come hell or high water wont march in a pride parade anywhere in the country, and has a video of himself in the house of commons comparing gay marriage to dogs, and wont apologize for it, ya, that's going to make a lot of people uncomfortable, especially in urban Canada. Toss in what is going on the in the USA, and how some states are putting in place restrictive rules around abortion and some people will definitely decide to park their vote elsewhere simply to avoid any chance of that can of worms opening up in Canada.

 

[Brad Sallows]

My appeal is to rational people, not instinctive worriers.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

My appeal is to rational people, not instinctive worriers.

Where are you planning on finding the former in BC?

 

[Altair]

My appeal is to rational people, not instinctive worriers.

Forget rational people and insinctive worriers.

Focus on that urban vote.

Among the 60 electoral districts with the highest population density in Canada, the Conservative won a grand total of zero of them 

 

[mariomike]

come hell or high water wont march in a pride parade anywhere in the country,

I'm satisfied if a politician tells the truth, obeys the law and keeps the peace. They don't have to march in parades.

But, if they want to, might be wise to start with one of the tamer ones out of town. 

Or, maybe a flag raising.

See how they like it before trying the big parade - which is 22 city blocks long.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Where are you planning on finding the former in BC?

Have faith; there are a couple of 'Pale settlements' here abouts, populated by the politically agnostic silent majority.