JustinBeach.ca

Category: Canada

  • Yes, there are lessons in the UK election for the US and Canada.

    Yes, several. The central lesson is the lesson of most elections since 2016 – Most voters are not on Twitter or Facebook. Some may have accounts but, don’t use them as often or use social media to talk politics. Most of political Twitter (and Facebook) are hardcore activists and ideologues of one stripe or another…

  • The Liberals are still the only progressive vote

    Since Justin Trudeau’s blackface photos emerged I’ve seen a lot of people debating how they’re going to vote but, whatever baggage Trudeau may be carrying, the Liberals are the only option if people want to return to the Harper years.  The NDP isn’t an option, they are dying. They do not have enough support to…

  • Idea In Progress: A new kind of electoral reform

    What if you could not only vote, but change your vote at any point, vote for individuals rather than parties and have your vote reflected in government without having elections at all? This is an idea in progress. There are some flaws that would need to be addressed and a lot of “what about” questions…

  • The Case for Canada joining the European Union

    We live in dangerous, disruptive times. At some point, if we are going to move forward, Canada is going to have to chart a new course. We will need a new “New Deal” for individuals, and we will need a foreign policy course that reduces our dependence on the United States, without leaving us vulnerable…

  • The USMCA isn’t a threat to Canadian sovereignty

    There has been a great deal of hand-wringing the last few days about Clause 32 of the US – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA). Some see it as a threat to Canadian sovereignty but it isn’t, not really. It has more to do with US sovereignty and the paranoia of an out of control US…

  • Bernier is going to be more of a problem for conservatives than they want to admit.

    Last week, just before the Conservative Party of Canada’s 2018 convention in Halifax, Maxime Bernier announced that he was leaving the party to form his own. The immediate response from Tories and most of the press was dismissive. From the convention state to Twitter, Conservative leaders and most of the media waved off Bernier as…

  • High levels of immigration are the only way we get to keep Canada, Canadian

    Despite Canadians generally positive attitudes toward refugees and immigrants, conservatives continue to try to make it controversial. They try to limit the number of immigrants and refugees admitted to Canada, the types of immigrants we allow, try to frame the debate as if we have to choose between immigration and domestic concerns and sometimes even…

  • Canada is worth celebrating if we look forward as much as we look back

    The great thing about Canada, to me, isn’t what it is or has been but what it might yet become and, given our history and culture that could be pretty much anything it wants to be.  My social media feed today, Canada Day, the 150th anniversary of Confederation has been a mixed bag. There have…

  • The case for Canada joining the European Union

    Since the start of the American Revolution, Canada has lived in the shadow of the US. At times America has been the enemy, at other times a close ally, Canada’s number one trading partner, the source of waves of immigration and the destination of Canada’s ‘brain drain’. For the entire time though, Canada’s politics have…

  • Pride & Prejudice: Angry white voter edition

    Photo credit: DonkeyHotey via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA Today on Twitter, Juliana Pache said “White people think pro-blackness is anti-white because pro-whiteness is rooted in racism & is synonymous with white supremacy & violence.” White people think pro-blackness is anti-white because pro-whiteness is rooted in racism & is synonymous with white supremacy & violence. —…