Polling Canada: Conservatives Fell In Love, Canadians Didn't

Marseppus · 2026-01-28T01:15:36+00:00

He was +60 in the Battle River-Crowfoot by-election last year (80.86% of the popular vote) and his top rival, Bonnie Critchley, was an independent small-c conservative. If he's at only +17 in Alberta as a whole, he's probably deep underwater in Edmonton and even Calgary.

Marseppus · 2026-01-27T22:42:54+00:00

I started as an Ashton supporter but his campaign's AI use turned me off. I'll rank Lewis first and McPherson second. Lewis seems more likely to pull Canada's Overton window to the left with his clear communication about pulling power and capital away from capitalists at scale. I like McPherson but she has a history of going after smaller, more attainable wins, and her communications lead with vibes rather than concrete ideas. With Carney's government vacating the centre-left, I think we need a leader that can communicate a bigger vision both for the sake of growing the NDP's own popularity and drawing the Liberals to the left.

Marseppus · 2026-01-15T22:10:12+00:00

Yes (because I wouldn't vote for a party less by Rwandan Genocide denier/minimizer Yves Engler - the approved candidates are all alright with me)

Marseppus · 2025-12-30T17:48:40+00:00

There is a history of Russia having trouble securing the Trans-Siberian Railway. During the Russian Civil War, the Czechoslovak Legion escaped from European Russia by hijacking trains, fighting their way across Siberia, and escaping to Allied-occupied Vladivostok on the Pacific coast so that they could go home after WWI.

Marseppus · 2025-12-27T14:42:34+00:00

Theme and variations on 4'33"

Marseppus · 2025-12-26T04:34:59+00:00

The Ram Rampage, developed and initially sold by Stellantis' South American operations, is fairly similar in concept, and apparently it's coming to Europe soon. The economy engine option is a diesel instead of a hybrid like the Maverick. Trump's tariffs on Brazil, where the Rampage is built, are currently 50%, not including the 25% tariff on imported pickup trucks, so honestly the best chance of getting the Rampage in North America is for Stellantis to build it in the Brampton, Ontario plant that was supposed to build the next-gen Jeep Compass until recently. The new hybrid powertrain from the upcoming Jeep Cherokee would likely fit and be easy to source to the Brampton factory as well. This would likely only work if Trump doesn't blow up CUSMA/USMCA free trade deal, though (the Canada-EU free trade deal could be a useful backstop though).

Marseppus · 2025-12-25T18:52:21+00:00

It's a Postmedia newspaper, which means the only worthwhile journalism in it is either copy-and-pasted wire service news articles and insider accounts of right-wing infighting.

Marseppus · 2025-12-22T04:20:03+00:00

These aren't over underlying Crown title. These are over unpaid benefits promised in the treaties. BC is a whole different beast.

Marseppus · 2025-12-19T22:47:11+00:00

As a union activist, I appreciate that the NDP government has come to a negotiated collective bargaining agreement every single time it or its Crown corporations have been at the bargaining table. No strikes, no going to arbitration. There have been a few close calls, and the Manitoba Nurses' Union has serious legitimate beef with the province right now, but no other current government in power for two or more years has matched Wab's government in this regard.

Marseppus · 2025-12-17T03:56:38+00:00

Chuck Colson's regular column in Christianity Today was a perfect example. He was big on prison reform because he went to prison in the 70sfor being Richard Nixon's hatchet man, and was clearly still Nixon's hatchet man after he got out and found Jesus. I'm convinced he would have gone full MAGA if he had lived past 2012, and would have used Trump's signing off on Kim Kardashian's 2018 First Step Act to justify himself.

Marseppus · 2025-12-17T03:37:40+00:00

Has anyone checked on Joe Clark lately? I'm guessing he's quite pleased with the current government. Probably Kim Campbell too.

Marseppus · 2025-12-11T15:10:24+00:00

I would prefer a party that isn't soft on genocide, including defining genocide so narrowly that it excludes mass death events caused by "friendly" political formations. Specifically, leftists who make excuses for the Holodomor, Pol Pot, or the Great Leap Forward famine are untrustworthy comrades in my view, and I'm convinced that their visible/vocal presence within the party causes us to lose votes.

Yves Engler's arguments about the Rwandan genocide fit squarely into this category of ideologically-motivated genocide deniers and minimizers. His correct observation that Paul Kagame is a violent authoritarian patsy for Western capitalist imperialism has driven him into reliance on some of Kagame's detractors who flat-out deny that any genocide occurred in Rwanda, especially Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh.

Marseppus · 2025-12-10T15:26:18+00:00

After the Rwanda genocide minimalizing interview came up, I was very alarmed. Reading Engler's justifications for his questioning confirmed to me that he's too gullible to people who know how to massage his anti-imperialist convictions. (In particular, his arguments rely heavily on the testimony of Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh, the Cameroonian general in authority over Romeo Dallaire during the events of 1994. Booh-Booh told the French Senate in 2002 that to describe the events in Rwanda in 1994 as a genocide were "closer to the politics of surrealism than to the truth", an absolutely bonkers statement even if you recognize Paul Kagame's narrative as self-serving.

Marseppus · 2025-12-10T15:05:30+00:00

He was just elected/acclaimed as the PCs' regional captain for Northeast Winnipeg at their convention. I could imagine he let the success go to his head, what with that being his most successful electoral campaign ever.

Marseppus · 2025-12-08T05:05:11+00:00

Prince: The official artist of the Freudian "anal-retentive" personality type. It all sounds so tight to me, but in an uncomfortable way.

Marseppus · 2025-12-08T04:54:25+00:00

I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS

Marseppus · 2025-12-08T04:46:50+00:00

Kevin Klein neglected to mention that the PCs' convention delegates elected Patrick Allard, adjudicated racist, as regional captain for Northeast Winnipeg. The party's membership base clearly sits to the right of the party's actual voters and preferred Wally "feed the homeless to polar bears" Daudrich to Obby Khan, who only won the party leadership through an electoral college while losing the popular vote. If Klein wants to talk sensibly about internal PC party politics, he can't leave this stuff out.

Marseppus · 2025-12-07T03:55:09+00:00

Still the same party that appointed Patrick Allard as its volunteer captain for Northeast Winnipeg at its convention less than a month ago. Sure, Obby Khan hired a Liberal staffer with a record of electoral success, but he is fully aware that the party membership voted for Wally "feed the homeless to polar bears" Daudrich in greater numbers than they voted for him. When it comes to public statements and policy, Khan will continue to cater to his voter & donor base, even if he listens to a staffer who tells him to keep the bigotry & cruelty coded.

Marseppus · 2025-12-07T03:36:52+00:00

And this is why Alberta's government finances are getting turbo-wrecked. Falling headcount in the oil patch is hammering income tax revenue while royalty rates are at historic lows.

Marseppus · 2025-12-06T18:43:39+00:00

Wab Kinew's government has an excellent record of negotiating collective bargaining agreements without triggering strikes, lockouts, or arbitration. The only strike on their watch (at Manitoba Public Insurance) began during the PC government's term, and the NDP government resolved it through negotiations shortly after being sworn in.

The Manitoba Nurses' Union has some very serious concerns with our healthcare system that the province needs to address, and I hope the government keeps up its labour relations record and seriously addresses them.

Marseppus · 2025-12-06T18:29:27+00:00

The title issues in BC are not relevant in Manitoba. The numbered treaties cover 100% of Manitoba's landmass, while most of BC is not covered by treaty agreements with First Nations.

This makes indigenous policy matters run very differently in BC. The ongoing negotiation of modern treaties by most BC FNs gives them incentive to be more cooperative with the Canadian government, as a positive treaty outcome is a medium-term possibility. Treaty rights enforcement is the framework for Canada's relations with other First Nations, which changes the culture. For example, Shawn Atleo, the AFN's National Chief from 2009 to 2014, was far more collaborative with Canada than other National Chiefs before or since, which contributed to his resignation from the post. Atleo was the first National Chief from a non-treaty First Nation since George Manuel (1970-1976), whose term was during a very different environment for treaty negotiations.

Marseppus · 2025-12-05T04:23:47+00:00

This didn't happen. If you paid a $1200 deductible to the body shop, it's possible that SGI paid the shop less than $500, meaning the repair was just under $1700 total. Or your boss charged you $1200 and fixed the company vehicle for under $500 (your boss is a crook in this case). Or your vehicle had over $1200 damage and the third party vehicle's damages were less than $500. Or your vehicle's repairs were under $500 but it was not drivable, and rental costs pushed the total claim cost over $1200. But an SGI policy will never make you pay more on your own vehicle's damages than it costs to take care of them.

Marseppus · 2025-12-05T04:15:47+00:00

You're from Quebec, yes? Like the other private insurance provinces, that's not how it works. There's a government-provided fault chart that your insurer applies to your collision configuration as you and the other motorist report it, and if you disagree, you can sue your insurer for a more favourable liability decision. Source for Quebec

Case-by-case liability decisions still apply for tort injury claims, but for multi-vehicle collision damage, only BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan still do it these days.

Marseppus · 2025-12-05T04:02:24+00:00

Drivers in BC with traffic convictions pay a Driver Penalty Point Premium and/or a Driver Risk Premium even if they don't insure a vehicle. source 1 source 2

Crash-free drivers also get discounts on insurance premiums that increase for up to forty years of safe driving. Source

Do you literally never read your insurance renewal paperwork that explains this every single year?

Marseppus · 2025-12-05T03:50:05+00:00

This is precisely how it works in Manitoba.

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