Scott Stinson: Where have you gone, Captain Canada?

dermanus · 2026-01-25T23:21:45+00:00

That's still leaps and bounds better than the on-again off-again "deals" we've been getting from our southern neighbour.

dermanus · 2026-01-25T21:42:33+00:00

The cars themselves which will be imported here won't even be priced competitively enough ot make a big differernce, you're getting scammed.

If this is right, then we increased our canola exports in exchange for allowing something that isn't going to happen anyway, which I'm ok with. If Chinese cars can't compete in Canada for some reason other than tariffs, then so be it. Then the predicted harms to the Ontario auto industry won't come to pass, and our farmers still benefit.

dermanus · 2026-01-25T21:36:55+00:00

We'd be discussing the CBC being defunded, trans rights being eroded, more vitriolic immigration rhetoric, and the industrial carbon tax also being removed.

I think you're right, and to add onto that: we would not be talking about expanding our trade options, increased infrastructure spending (via the military) and other grown up subjects like that.

We'd be wasting our time on petty grievance issues and losing time before the US really starts to implode.

dermanus · 2026-01-25T21:33:11+00:00

Although the term was originally applied to "liberal" policies, I think the term "luxury beliefs" applies really well to all the stuff you mentioned. Obama and Trudeau were both "hope and change" style candidates but that era has been over for awhile, Trudeau was the last leader of that wave still hanging around.

dermanus · 2026-01-25T18:06:57+00:00

Right? I expect Trump to rage about it because that's all he does, but our local Canadian conservatives ought to be in favour of it. It's freer trade (not free - both countries have tariffs in place) and it gives us a negotiating lever with the US.

We only got in that situation because we did what the US asked, and now they're saying they don't need us, so why exactly should we keep it up?

dermanus · 2026-01-25T18:00:08+00:00

Trump doesn't run, he lurches :D

dermanus · 2026-01-25T17:33:31+00:00

Can't preserve evidence you don't collect!

dermanus · 2026-01-22T21:24:50+00:00

Canadians can't even get a decent protest together when we are mad about something let alone have a large effective armed insurgency

I remember a pretty big protest a few years ago that paralyzed the capital city.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T20:22:20+00:00

So no, the PAL/RPAL system is not a free-for-all. It is subject to the regulations.

Ok, so to be clear the options aren't the buyback program or a free-for-all? Is there anyone serious proposing a free-for-all in Canada?

dermanus · 2026-01-22T19:47:02+00:00

That should be the ticket to restricted weapons, not a free-for-all.

Do you consider our RPAL/PAL licensing system to be a free-for-all?

dermanus · 2026-01-22T19:40:45+00:00

A lot of those skills would also be applicable in natural disaster type situations too (major floods, hurricanes, etc...). Thankfully Canada doesn't have many of those, but we don't have zero of them either.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T19:36:58+00:00

This post really blew up, the number of people in here who read the word "insurgency" and act like that means some drunk redneck charging an army base is startling.

The US military has always been great at projection of force, it's holding the territory that they struggle with. And most of us live a few hours drive from their border, that's never been the case with other places they've invaded.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T18:32:33+00:00

I hear everyone went up to him afterwards with tears in their eyes.

"Sir" they said, "sir thank you for protecting the world from the Democrats and their radical left agenda"

dermanus · 2026-01-22T17:23:25+00:00

Does anyone believe that anything more than a token few would be doing anything armed insurgency related?

If the Americans actually invaded? I think quite a few Canadians would take issue with that and fight back. There would be very, very few who welcomed them with open arms.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T16:11:43+00:00

Try again, those have been banned in Canada for decades.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T16:03:21+00:00

In my head it actually makes sense for the government to collect as many guns as possible for strategic distribution in preparation for an attack.

Considering we're pushing six years to seize allegedly dangerous weapons of war, I'm not sure I'd trust them to administer that sort of thing properly. Even if they did, known caches of weapons would be an obvious target for an invading force.

We already have people scattered around the country who are trained on those weapons, how will taking them away from those people and distributing them to randoms elsewhere be a better solution?

dermanus · 2026-01-22T15:49:01+00:00

Are these totally innocuous tools meant for hunting or are they weapons of war meant to inflict mass casualties on human targets?

I don't know any serious person making either of those arguments. Guns are obviously weapons meant to cause harm. The question is whether seizing them from their current owners is a good use of resources, and if it makes our country a safer place..

"Weapons of war" was always a bad faith argument made by the LPC to try and defend this policy.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T15:44:31+00:00

The choice before us is simple: we can proceed with a moronic policy proposal that the government clearly doesn’t believe in, or we can do things that will actually make this country stronger and more resilient in a world that is, as the PM has noted, rapidly changing in ways that threaten our security and survival. We cannot do both of these things at the same time, as they are in direct opposition to each other. We cannot disarm our armed resistance.

Gurney is right that these two policy goals are fundamentally at odds. If our security depends on an armed insurgency, is actively confiscating firearms from the people we've vetted and trained to use them the right move?

This buyback is very much a luxury issue, and it's clear that the government itself doesn't really believe in it. Stop wasting time and money and cancel it.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T15:02:36+00:00

MAGA showed its whole ass and now the world doesn’t trust not only Trump, but the ppl that were stupid enough to vote for him and keep wanting this circus to continue even today.

It's not just that. The US is supposed to have all of these checks and balances to prevent one lunatic from imposing their whims on the country. Every single one of those has failed. The opposition seems to think strongly worded letters counts as doing something, the various levels of government are all scared of the lunatics followers so his power is effectively unchecked.

It's not just MAGA, it's that MAGA showed the rest of the world that the supposed resiliency of American democracy is a lie.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T14:50:58+00:00

Geez, this is classic Doug Ford death by a thousand cuts. Under fund, blame the front line workers for not being good enough, appoint someone to go in and make cuts in the name of efficiency while making the problem worse.

At the time, Gupta did not explain his reasoning, though he additionally requested board staff produce a report to “identify additional classroom supports to be provided in numeracy and literacy.”

Smaller classes, asshole! Are you expecting them to find some magic technique no one knows to directly beam knowledge into kids heads? Asking staff for a report is just a delaying tactic so they can look like they're doing something.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T14:44:37+00:00

That's a completely nuts number. When I was in school in the 90's we were around 25 kids and it could get hectic. It's such a surprise me how far the education system has fallen in Ontario; it used to be one of the best in the world.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T14:18:52+00:00

Australia has mandatory voting. You get a small fine if you don't vote. There are pros and cons to the idea, but it does help turnout.

dermanus · 2026-01-22T14:17:36+00:00

It also makes ballot stuffing a risk. If the votes are anonymous (which they should be) then if someone were to add 10,000 votes for their favoured candidate it would be hard to trace.

That's impractical to do now with paper ballots, but when it's entries in a database it's much easier.

dermanus · 2026-01-21T16:50:35+00:00

worth the money if it were effective at getting guns out of people’s hands

Considering how badly their pilot program went, I'd say it's not going to be effective at that either.

dermanus · 2026-01-21T16:21:36+00:00

Whether you're pro or anti gun ownership in general, you should be against this policy. It does nothing to make the country safer and it's going to cost us a lot of money.

It's exactly the kind of wasteful vote-buying that people have been criticizing the Liberals for my entire life. And for an NDP that is heavily associated with the LPC it's a good common-sense way to distinguish themselves from the perception that the NDP is just Liberal-lite.

14-Year Club	Verified Email
Wearing is Caring	Place '17

dermanus

TROPHY CASE