Political Musings

I hate what’s been happening to the CBC!

Posted by

0

Charlie Angus’ Substack piece this morning is about how he feels he’s being “gaslit” all the time – by the CBC, by the US Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, by several political writers. (Read the piece – it’s another strong bit of writing worth thinking about.)

Half way through I knew I had to respond because I’ve been feeling the same way, about the CBC, The Globe and Mail, my local news sources. The CBC is where I go for news, but for quite a while now what passes for “news” just makes me angry.

What you’re seeing with the CBC is very real! A friend of mine has for many years been a political commentator on our local community oriented programs and she describes several recent meetings with CBC personnel where she and the other panelists have been told to “tone down the political stuff!” She’s furious – the point of those panel discussions is to make the political explicit. Her take – the CBC is terrified of pp (at their convention last week the Conservatives just reaffirmed their plans to close down the CBC). She, and the other panelists keep sneaking in their political views, yes watered down some (she enjoys the gig and wants to keep doing it but I’m guessing there’s a line she will refuse to cross and will find other outlets to tell it like she sees it).

As a dedicated CBC listener, I’m just angry all the time with the banal, often subtle anti-government/anti-Carney position constantly being passed off as “news”. I read The Globe and Mail opinion columnists some of whom still dare to push back against the escalating economic warfare being waged against us by trump and his cronies, but the “news” pieces are often wishy-washy – afraid to call out what’s really happening.

One topic that has me screaming is the blaming our federal government for the rising food (and other commodity) prices as if Carney can wave a magic wand to fix what is a global issue! The Canadian press keeps harping on pp’s claim that he can fix it – I say B**LSH**T to that! The cost of living is definitely higher, it definitely is a challenge for more and more people, but really folks? There isn’t a whole lot any government can do to change that directly. And our government, right now is doing what it can to make it a bit easier for those most seriously impacted. If pp thinks he can do any better, he’s plain out of his mind. But it makes good talking points on the CBC, doesn’t it!

We’ve got to stop holding our breath…

Posted by

0

From The Globe and Mail, Jan 26 2026 (read the whole article):

“Trump wants to make an example out of Canada. How will we prepare?”

There is no deal to be made! That’s been obvious from the get go. Yes, go through the motions, but know, in the end, we have to walk away and bear the brunt of the illegal costs that asshole will attempt to levy on us! For cost us it will, whether we accept trump’s terms or walk away!

Those, prominent on social media, who urge us to “be vewy vewy quiet” in response – to say or do nothing that might irritate His Orange Majesty, lest we put the USMCA talks at risk – are therefore not only craven: They are deluding themselves. The prize on which they urge us to keep our eyes is not self-evidently a prize at all. Of course, other things being equal, we would prefer USMCA to no USMCA. But other things may not be equal: It will depend on the terms. And if we want an agreement on terms that are remotely acceptable, we have to be ready to walk away from the negotiating table – to walk away from the USMCA, if it comes to that.

Their final note:

Can we, in a crisis, rapidly mobilize the materials and manpower needed to bring it under control? Can we, in so doing, reduce the societal cost of externally imposed shocks of this kind, signal to others our ability to endure them, and so make it less likely they will be tried? And if not, what do we need to do to make this possible?

We are in a lot of trouble, and we need to move fast. We have little ability to predict Mr. Trump’s actions, and no reason to confine our imagination to what is reasonable or even practical. It is not enough to hope for the best. We have to plan for the worst.

Deal or no deal – the costs will be the same – punishing, unless we as Canadians stand with one another, elbows up, defiant!

The folks of Minneapolis have shown us a path – their organizing has been stellar, teams collecting goods and food to share, teams delivering what’s been needed, teams of whistleblowers, teams of video recorders, people behind the scenes organizing all sorts of activities public and not so visible.

There’s been talk of a 400,000 strong Canadian civilian resistance force – more people than you can imagine are ready to step up and begin the organizing – the idea has been floated, but I have no idea where I sign up!

If the government is intending to take the lead on this it better act soon. However, we don’t have to wait, in fact lots of people have already started coming together to connect – Charlie Angus’ “Resistance” movement is growing steadily.

The playbook of organizations like Indivisible and 50501 are readily available – suggestions for the formation of diffuse, grassroots collectives with clear, active agendas – are already at hand. We don’t need to reinvent this wheel; we just need to start calling on neighbours, finding friends and allies also ready to act.

The slow peeling off from trump of Republican Representatives and Senators is entirely due to the massive call/email efforts of the many opposition organizations actively applying pressure. Just another aspect of the work of a vibrant defiant population.

In Canada it’s hard right now because we’re all busy holding our breath; we’ve been holding our breath for over a year (actually a lot longer than that) waiting for our Minneapolis moment. It’s going to come, sooner than later, and rather being caught on our back foot we should be able to stand defiant already knowing neighbours are standing with us, each helping the other in whatever way we can, in whatever way is needed.

During WWII Canadian women picked up the slack when the men went overseas. We can do it again! Our men won’t be going overseas, they will certainly be on the ramparts with us.

Time for all of us to get moving!

I’ve been quiet…

Posted by

3

I’ve been quiet for quite a while – I mean, what can anyone say about the insanity and chaos each new day brings?

Well this week I’ve seen a couple of items I want to share.

First, a video “The Hungry Giant” from the Greenland Defense Fund. You may have to watch it a couple of times because the Greenlander singing has a strong accent in English, but the subtitles help. It sums up how Greenlanders are feeling about trump’s threatened takeover of their island!

Second is a post by William A. Finnegan following Carney’s speech at Davos, yesterday.

For those waiting for the moment in history when someone finally shouts “The British are coming!” — when the signal is unmistakable and the decision obvious — this is as close as it gets.

Not because anyone raised their voice.

But because someone who understands how the system actually works stopped pretending.

Mark Carney’s address at Davos was not a speech in the conventional sense. It was a declaration delivered calmly, to an audience that did not need it explained.

“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.“

I thought the critical comment came near the end of his speech:

“If we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.“

[If you prefer to read Carney’s speech, you can get to it here.]

Today, trump called us (Canadians) ingrates for not accepting US dominance as generosity. What he doesn’t understand is Canadians, for the most part, are prepared to call out bullies and stand up to them. We’re going to be called upon to do that more and more in the coming weeks and months.

That gets me to CUSMA. I haven’t seen a way forward with CUSMA since trump was inaugurated a year ago! There is no way trump will negotiate any deal that is anything other than a total shakedown of our economy!

Call me a pessimist, but it’s economic warfare! It’s blatantly obvious! The cost to each of us in Canada is going to be real, and we’re going to have to support our federal government however this plays out.

At some point, in the not too distant future, we’re going to have to stand and fight! It’ll be costly but what price our identity and our democracy? Eh?

We’re On The List

Posted by

1

Here’s Charlie Angus’ take on what the invasion of Venezuela by the US portends for Canada. I think Canadians need to heed his “heads-up” warning!

https://charlieangus.substack.com/p/venezuela-the-lesson-for-canada

And then came Trump.

He has issued sanctions against a Canadian jurist working to investigate the war crimes. He has aligned the United States with the crimes of both Putin and Netanyahu. And he has deliberately targeted the Western alliances with threats of invasion in Greenland or arbitrarily moving the Canadian border.

With the attack on Venezuela, he has upped the ante through invasion and kidnapping. Venezuela puts the world on notice, and Canada must be ready.

We played a key role in establishing the International Criminal Court. We helped establish the Statute of Rome, which laid out key protections against state violence.

Canada has a long history of defending the international rule of law. We are now dealing with a regime that will kill people in the water, seize ships on the high seas, invade other countries, and kidnap their leaders. All bets are off.

This is the age of gangsters. And Canada must be ready to rise to the threat.

Heads-up Canada! Pay attention! We may not be next on the list – BUT WE’RE ON THE LIST!

Jan 4, 2026

Posted by

1

My 83rd birthday was on Friday. For several reasons I chose to hold the party on Saturday, yesterday. So I was busy the whole day picking up food, setting up the room, welcoming and enjoying my guests, cleaning up afterward. I had a lovely day. I had no time to see what was happening in the world.

It wasn’t until evening that I looked at the news and discovered the US moves on Venezuela. I didn’t see the trump “victory” press event (I wouldn’t have watched it, anyway). This morning I have read two reactions that offer a sense of what will now transpire.

Michael Cohen explains what will happen in court on Monday when Maduro and his wife are brought before the judge there. https://substack.com/home/post/p-183424483

This case will not be decided by press conferences at Mar-a-Lago or chest-thumping rhetoric about “illegitimate rulers.” It will be decided motion by motion, evidentiary hearing by evidentiary hearing, under the watchful eye of a judge who has already demonstrated he will not allow the executive branch to trample constitutional boundaries; no matter how politically popular the target.

Maduro will plead not guilty. His wife will plead not guilty. And then the real work begins.

Trump may have wanted a trophy. What he got instead was Judge Hellerstein.

And trust me; having been on the receiving end of his rulings when the government overreaches, that’s not the outcome this administration thinks it is.

In other words, he explains, a long drawn out circus that now begins.

I also read Timothy Snyder – a look at some similar US incursions where the outcomes were not what they hoped for. He implies this time is likely no different. https://snyder.substack.com/p/venezuela-the-precedents?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-restack-comment&r=cgren&triedRedirect=true

The point of these four comparisons is not that history repeats. It is that history reveals. It can help us see around corners, into possible futures. Each of these examples, I hope, provides a useful perspective: that American imperialism is a tradition; that removing something or someone does not lead to predictable results; that dispensing with international law is not only wrong but undesirable; that foreign military actions can be about domestic regime change. What we see we can stop; what we understand we can change.

Snyder has a broad understanding of fascism and dictatorships – the focus of his scholarship. It’s worth reading his piece to understand trump’s play here and what some of the unexpected consequences might be.

Phillips P. Obrien yesterday (written before it was clear what precisely had occurred in Venezuela) points our gaze to Cuba and some unexpected consequences of the US military operation in Venezuela.

If this military operation is for real, getting rid of Maduro might be the easiest part of it. He will not be mourned by the Venezuelan people and already his ability to secure capital was under threat. I’m sure everyone around is calculating whether now is the moment to cut and run—or even turn him over. 

However its what comes after that will determine this. If the Venezuelan people are allowed to establish a free and democratic country, with control of their own natural resources, this will be a good thing. However, very few of the outside actors seem to have prioritized this. The USA has made a claim to Venezuelan oil itself, and the Trump administration prefers dictators/autocrats to democrats. The Cubans will also not want a democratic Venezuela in charge of its own destiny and we can assume that some members of the Venezuelan security forces will prefer another strong-man to keep control and spread around the corrupt takings. Sorry if I sound cynical.

So, no tears for Maduro, but do not assume that what comes after will be better or that this will be over soon. And watch the Cubans.

Ann Telnaes sums all of this up as well as anyone: https://substack.com/home/post/p-183299999

Just after the release of former special counsel Jack Smith’s deposition where he unequivocally states that Trump “engaged in a criminal scheme” to overturn the 2020 election, Trump changes the conversation.

No! to the “Golden Shield” scheme

Posted by

0

Did we hear about this on July 15? There certainly was no hullabaloo in the media about it. That was nearly a month ago. We can’t let this decision pass unnoticed!

Fellow Canadians, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment.

The Liberal government has informed the United States that it has resolved its internal issues regarding the signing of Donald Trump’s “Golden Shield” missile initiative.

This message was delivered on July 15 in Colorado, when Defence Minister David McGuinty told U.S. General Gregory Guillot, his American counterpart, that Carney had “removed all restrictions on air and missile defence of Canada.”

This is way bigger than Carney caving on the Digital Sales Tax. Or his musings about cancelling the Online News Act that has pissed off Facebook. Or even dialling back the counter tariffs imposed by former Prime Minister Trudeau.

This move sends the ultimate signal of weakness and represents a serious repudiation of Canada’s longstanding position on airborne missile defence.

This cannot be allowed to stand. [Charlie Angus: Charlie Angus / The Resistance
A Message to Mark Carney: Shut Down the Golden Shield Scheme Now]

Seems to me this move deserves attention. I can’t imagine a majority of Canadians would be OK with this:

Since the threat to our nation began, Canadians have shown an unprecedented level of solidarity. The PM has been given a strong mandate because Canadians are determined to hold the line.

He will seriously undermine this support if he thinks he can placate Trump on something as fundamental as the sovereignty of Canadian airspace.

The blowback will be intense.

My advice to the Prime Minister: Not a single dime, Mark. Not a single dime. You asked for a mandate to defend us with your Elbows Up. We gave you that. But do not think you can placate the gangster.

My message to my fellow Canadians: Let’s shut this idiocy down before it gains any more traction. The PM needs to hear from you.

I urge you to use your voice. Tell him that he does not have a mandate to go along with Trump’s missile control of our skies.

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
mailto:mark.carney@parl.gc.ca
Fax: 613-941-6900

It’s time to write to Carney letting him know he doesn’t have my support on this move to placate trump!

Here’s my letter:

Mr. Carney,

It seems I missed the announcement that on July 15 Defense Minister David McGuinty informed US General Gregory Guillot you had “removed all restrictions on air and missile defence of Canada.”

I was more than a little uncomfortable when you caved on the Digital Sales Tax – I understood you were trying to create conditions that might lead to a favourable trump tariff pullback, but that move was pointless – no reduction in tariffs, no new trade deal by whatever moving deadline trump’s whim broadcasted. (It also doesn’t look as if Canada can look forward to a reasonable renegotiation of UMSCA / NAFTA if trump’s and your comments are anything to judge by.)

I kept quiet, giving you the benefit of the doubt on having inside information I wasn’t privy to that influenced your decision. Seems I was wrong. You, and Canadians, got taken for a ride on that one. Par for the course with trump! You must know by now trump lies – he’s a manipulator – his word is worthless.

Now I learn about the removing of restrictions on air and missile defence of Canada. Sorry, but you didn’t make such a move on my behalf. I don’t support giving trump and his minions unlimited drone, satellite and plane access to fly over Canadian sovereign territory – that move is folly. You can’t seriously believe the American forces would be engaged in such activity to protect us!

Right now, the US is our biggest threat!

Instead of spending billions to pay for trump’s Golden Shield scheme, we should be taking lessons from the Ukrainians – building our own drone factories, strengthening our own mobile defence systems, increasing production of ammunition and other supplies for ourselves and to help supply Ukraine (against both Putin and trump).

I hope your “decision” was a Canadian ploy (comparable to the UK, Japan, and the EU) promising a big deal but having no intention of spending a single nickel (we no longer have Canadian pennies) on the project. But if that was the case, you’d better wink in our direction, letting us Canadians in on the game.

Are you hearing us? We will support you when you stand up to trump. But know we are ready to push back when you try to placate that wannabe dictator.

We Canadians are determined to stand strong against trump! Whether that means sustaining, even intensifying, the boycott on US agricultural and manufactured goods, refusing to travel to the US, refusing to become the 51st state. It definitely means not giving in to bullying regarding trump’s fantastical “Golden Shield” scheme.

Just sharing my thoughts with you before I take to the street with my sign:

Shut Down The Idiocy!
No US Drones over Canada!

Sincerely
Judith Newman

Sign the No Golden Shield petition to show your concern.

Silence Is Not An Option

Posted by

1

I’m trying to get a feel for how I can best participate in our current political world. I’m an outsider to the US mess. I keep an eye on the war in Ukraine, on the horrific destruction in Gaza, watchful of China’s moves on Taiwan and the suppression of liberty in Hong Kong. There’s chaos everywhere.

It takes me back to a Kingston Trio song from the early 60s:

Details different, situation the same (SNAFU)!

I realized recently I can no longer fight on the palisades; but I’m still good at reading stuff from all over the map and building a bigger picture. That’s what I’m finding myself doing at the moment.

Today, I’ll share a few things I’ve read you might find helpful / interesting, too.

Alex Himelfarb’s recent contribution to Pledge For Canada is a must-read, I think. He’s explaining the historical connections we have as a federation and the role taxes play in keeping a nation together. He ends with:

To build a more resilient, less dependent – democratic – Canada, we will need to rebuild our collective toolkit, find a new solidarity across our differences, and rediscover the common good. We will need government strong enough to harness the market and democracy strong enough to harness government. 

What We Owe Each Other describes Canada’s equalization policy and how it operates. It’s a good refresher for all of us, including Albertans. There’s also this tidbit that clarifies provincial contribution to the national economy (in case you think Alberta contributes the most – it doesn’t).

Corey Hogan has written a useful piece about three myths underpinning the Alberta separation movement: Three Alberta Separation Myths.

The next several months could be a dangerous time for Alberta. It does not take a majority of Albertans voting to separate to severely damage our home – serious talk alone will be sufficient.

Consider the example of Quebec in the 1970s: companies moved from Montreal to Toronto to escape political uncertainty. This was despite the fact that corporate taxes were lower in Quebec than Ontario at that time.

Putting so much political risk into the equation will more than undo any other Alberta Advantage we create. It’s incumbent on all of us to tread carefully. Now is a time for cool heads and facts.

There are also the Treaties which govern much of the land in Alberta! It could be argued most of the province is controlled by those treaties and the First Nations Peoples will determines what happens there. (Tried tracking down the source, unsuccessful.)

One other quick link to “The Truth About 51st State Supporters“:

when a Canadian proudly declares they support Trump over any Canadian leader, what they’re really saying is:

✔️ They would rather see this country controlled by a foreign dictator than governed by Canadians.

✔️ They support the rise of authoritarianism over the principles of democracy.

✔️ They would rather burn this country to the ground than see a government they don’t like in power.

That’s not patriotism. That’s treasonous thinking.

I’ll end today with an incredibly moving piece by Victor Kravchuk – a “Ukrainian living through war”.

Let me ask you something:

If tomorrow you woke up and your country was being erased, not just by missiles, but by hate. If you saw strangers online spreading that your story no longer mattered, that your pain was inconvenient, that your survival was a political annoyance…

Wouldn’t you want someone to write you back?

Wouldn’t you want someone, somewhere, to care enough to keep your voice alive?

That’s why I’m still here. 

And that’s why you, reading this right now, are part of something I’ll never be able to measure.

Gotta step away from my computer and get on with life.

It’s a gorgeous warm, sunny day here in NS. Dandelions everywhere. Magnolias and azaleas in bloom. You can see the leaves growing on a day like this.

I have to head out for a walk – to feel connected to it all.

Resisting at 82… Realizing I’m too old to march!

Posted by

5

Ramona Grigg (an elderly American woman – my age) raised some important questions today for people enraged by the trump regime’s clear efforts to install a dictatorship in the US. 

If Speaking Truth to Power is Heroism in America, We’re in More Trouble Than We Know.

If it’s becoming brave to demand our constitutional rights, the need for resistance is NOW.

RAMONA GRIGG

MAY 09, 2025

Toward the end she says:

I’m not going to end this by attempting to come up with solutions, … other than to stress the ‘keep on fighting’ part. How we fight works on a day-to-day, minute-by-minute judgement call: what does this fresh hell require of me?

This right here is what I’m doing. It’s what I have the energy and the skills for. Praise you for what you’re doing! Whatever it is, it’s better than doing nothing. And maybe together we’re building a force formidable enough to make a difference.

“It’s what I have the energy and the skills for….” that jumped out at me.

It struck home and I felt compelled to message her:

Hey Ramona, keep up the “Shouting”! I realized recently that my days to actively participate in a physical protest at the US consulate in Halifax, or our city hall square, or on our waterfront are over! I no longer have the physical stamina to find a spot to park my car, walk to the protest with my sign, and stand around for even so much as an hour! I just can’t do it. No pretending any more. I think that’s part of what’s been immobilizing me – keeping me from being able to sew anything, to create anything. But, like you, I can still write coherently. Which I’m doing even though my audience is small and shows no signs of growing larger! Oh, well. I do what I can. Keep doing what you can, girl!

I’m frustrated by my declining physical capacity! I have no trouble getting around the grocery store, walking from my car to the change room at the pool three mornings a week, being physically active enough to do all the stuff I do in a day, in a week. What I can’t do any more is any extended walking – my knees and back have become cranky and push back when I overextend myself. I have to accept I’m not going to be able to participate in whatever the next protest is, or even the energy to instigate and organize one.

I wish I had a magic wand that would make my writing / shouting visible. I wish I knew what it would take to get a gazillion subscribers to read and converse with what I’m thinking. I have to accept there’s no reason to be noticed. I’m not some well known TV personality who’s jumped over to Substack and found an instant following. Not a well known academic or writer, or political figure who’s already attracted attention. Just carrying on, putting what I’m thinking out there when I have something to say.

I also know shouting publicly makes it likely I would be stopped at the US border where I to attempt a visit the US. Good thing that’s not on my agenda any time soon.

That brings me to Rachael Gilmour’s video today.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-163223839

I watch Rachel Gilmour’s commentary, but I don’t as a rule pass it on. This one is a doozy! She’s calling out the CPC for an email they sent out using serious falsehoods about the three automatic recounts happening from the election (because the results were very close) calling them “rigging” from Liberals!

This looks like how PP’s “cooperation” on a united Canada is going to play out. More stupid lying and confrontation. Too bad.

Please check out what Gilmore has to say – she’s right about how recounts happen in a Canadian election! Nothing to do with the party, directly. All overseen by a judge. Thank goodness there are actual paper ballots to recount!

And this is my today’s contribution to the Resistance conversation!

A Warning From Charlie Angus

Posted by

0

Charlie Angus sounded an alarm this morning – those of us who voted for an independent, more self-sufficient Canada need to heed it.

I know what you were thinking: the election is over, Canada will negotiate a new deal with Trump, and life will return to normal.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s not how it’s going to play out.

In a world of gangster leaders like Trump and Putin, Canada’s repudiation of the MAGA march just won’t stand. The authoritarian, anti-democratic “project” has been years in the making. It’s been driven by the likes of Bannon and Hungary’s Victor Orban — and they aren’t going to let Canada stand tall as a model of liberal democracy.

The online platforms are already gearing up with BOT farms disrupting online conversations. It’s all about undermining both Carney and Canada.

He goes on:

On the domestic front, there is no way the Conservatives will give Carney the grace period needed to build trust with the public. The Maple MAGA machine will do everything it can to undermine Carney. 

Just watch.

He ends with:

In the MAGA world it is unacceptable that Canada is seen as a symbol of the resilience of liberal democracy.

In the coming months, it will not just be the new Prime Minister who is put to the test. Canada, our shared values and nationhood, will be tested as well.

I know we will rise to the challenge, but only if we can identify the toxic playbook being used by Maple MAGA and the far right.

Here’s my reply when I restacked his message:

Thanks Charlie for sounding the alarm. I think I’d have come to the realization myself eventually, but better I should get here sooner.

I believe we need the resistance you’re building right now more than ever. We Canadians need to keep pushing back against Maple MAGA, trump MAGA, and Russian efforts to bring Canada to heel.

We need to keep those protests going – both to support American efforts to resist trump, but also to make complacent Canadians aware of the bumpy future we also face – not from our Liberal government, so much, as from Poilievre and Conservative efforts.

What Canada needs at the moment is a strong collaboration of politicians and citizens to work through the problems we face. I was hoping PP losing his seat might send a message that Canada needs a different approach from him. I wasn’t hopeful he could actually bring that; I was pretty sure he had but one song. But I was holding my breath allowing him the possibility of actually putting Canada first.

I can see from your piece, my hope is naive. You’re right. The attacks have already started. We need to build our resistance as quickly as possible so we can fight back in support of our independence, our autonomy.

We need to be alert for every opportunity to rally – at the moment it’s quiet out there. But as soon as the distractions and stonewalling start up (I suppose that will come with the opening of parliament), we better be ready with our signs. 

One of the things that’s made the protests in the US effective, particularly with regard to the deportations, has been the advance organizing done by community groups who have been in a position to jump into action as soon as someone in the community has been rounded up. People have predetermined what roles they would play, who would call the lawyers, who would bring out the signs, who would make calls, who would sent emails. Within hours, protests have arrived at the right places and they’ve been able to interfere with the disappearing of community members. We need similar advance planning. 

I haven’t found that group of friends who will march with me. I know, I just need to start by calling one or two people to plan for what’s coming….

The election is over. Now what?

Posted by

1

That’s David Suzuki’s headline from the piece linked below. 

Climate issues disappeared during our election. Building energy independence, self-sufficiency, expansion of pipelines were the “big” ideas. The costs of sustaining our reliance on fossil fuels were nowhere to be found. 

OK, so we understood the “enemy” we were fighting was US expansionism, Canadian annexation, trump’s threatening the destruction of our economy. Except for our determined Green Party, the other leaders were focused on the economic realities facing us. We accepted that.

But the election is over. Now what? 

We can’t lose sight of the overarching threat that ignoring climate issues presents us. We can’t forget about the economic and social costs of increasingly destructive heat domes, violent storms, wildfires, floods, droughts, migrating disease threats, habitat loss, and on and on. We can’t pretend these threats don’t matter – they impact everything else in our lives.

We need to keep discussion about these serious issues alive; we need to place them at the forefront of all decision-making going forward.

The tough conversation is, of course, what balance can we, must we, strike between sustained use of fossil fuels and changing over to clean energy resources. That conversation threatens Canadian unity! 

Both Alberta and Quebec claim they feel exploited/hard done by/undermined/ignored by the rest of the country. Alberta is threatening to vote for separation.

Nevertheless, we’ve got to find a way to talk about these tough issues in a civil manner. We’ve got to drop the bombast and hostility and name calling and threats in order to solve what are existential problems!

I am holding my breath, hoping this election has sent a message to our politicians about how they MUST conduct themselves! We’ve sent them to Ottawa to solve serious problems! They damn well better get to work and stop with the name calling and other stupidity we’ve seen for far too long! Our parliamentary system may be confrontational by design. Right now, I believe, all parties must cooperate to resolve the many grave issues we’re facing.

I suppose, in the global scheme of things, Canada’s contribution to climate change is relatively small, but that’s no reason for not putting climate issues at the centre of all our political decisions. There are a number of tipping points to be concerned about: the mass death of coral reefs, the abrupt thawing of the permafrost, collapse of the Greenland ice sheet, breakup of west Antarctic ice, sudden shift in the West African monsoon, loss of Amazon rainforest, shutdown of Atlantic currents. Any one of these impending scenarios could have catastrophic consequences for all life on earth.

The thawing of the permafrost is of particular concern to Canada since most of our north is frozen and increased thawing is causing major difficulties for northern communities (not to mention the release of astronomical amounts of methane into the atmosphere). But even more than that we are experiencing drought on the prairies, heat domes in the west, more severe storms affecting the Atlantic provinces, wildfires in many parts of the country, unexpected flooding following torrential rainfall everywhere – we’ve experienced all of these disaster events during the past decade. We should all be concerned. 

(From Suzuki’s piece this morning):

This election was in large part about countering threats from our neighbours to the south — neighbours we once thought we could rely on but who have turned against us in efforts to weaken our economy and come after our resources. Let’s hope our new government is up to the challenge. Part of that will be showing there are better ways.

During the election campaign, the fossil fuel industry and its political supporters used the tensions between the U.S. and Canada to argue for ramping up the industry — to build more pipelines and oil and gas infrastructure. The ostensible justification is that doing so will make Canada more energy independent. It’s a bogus argument, given that pipelines and oil and gas infrastructure don’t get built overnight.

If we truly wanted to become energy independent, we would focus on the most cost-effective and efficient energy: renewable energy from wind, solar, geothermal and energy storage. We need a clean-powered, connected electricity gridthat facilitates interprovincial transmission. That would give us independence not only from the U.S. but from the multinational oil companies that seek only to enrich their owners, executives and shareholders.

The election is over. Now what? 

Our election may be over, but our work is just beginning.

I agree!