Now we’re seeing that MPs in Parliament and ministers, including Trudeau and Mélanie Joly are using a very carefully scripted response saying, “We have not authorized new permits for full weapon systems.”

I get the sense now that they’re kind of a bit spooked that they’ve now decided, “Okay, we actually have to be very careful about what we say. We can’t have people thinking we’re selling military goods to Israel. We can say this thing that is technically true. We’re not sending full weapon systems while obscuring the fact that we are still authorizing huge quantities of military exports that allow the Israeli occupation forces to do their job, which in this case is genocide.”

From https://canadians.org/media/premier-ford-gives-american-bottled-water-giant-permit-draw-billions-litres-ontario/:

Over five years, the permits will allow the American-owned company to take over 8 billion litres of groundwater in total from their main well in Puslinch (Aberfoyle) and a second well in Erin (Hillsburgh). Most of the company’s revenue comes from selling water in single-use, 500-ml plastic bottles.

“These renewed permits grant Triton enough groundwater to fill 14 billion more plastic bottles. Laid end to end, those bottles would stretch 5.6 million kilometers – enough to circle the globe 70 times,” Mark Calzavara added.

“Bottled water is frivolous and wasteful, and groundwater resources are finite. With droughts and forest fires ravaging the planet due to climate change, we cannot allow these precious groundwater reserves to be bottled and sold for profit.”

“Today’s Alberta government is completely incapable of managing something like climate change, drought and widespread water shortage because they only see environmental problems as political and ideological problems, as opposed to actual problems with potentially catastrophic real-world consequences.”

Meanwhile Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government has appointed an advisory body with no known water experts. But it does include Ian Anderson, a promoter of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that will transport bitumen from the oilsands to the Port of Vancouver, criss-crossing many dwindling rivers, creeks and streams as it does.

To quote one of the links you shared: [Please] Do not condescend me sir.

I don’t think you’ve presented a very compelling case. Of the 5 links: 1 is an NDP petition sign-up page, 1 is a send-a-letter to a political leader, 1 is the NDP tabling a motion in the HoC during which Singh was absent, 1 was a Singh press conference on other topics where he was asked about Palestine and he just admitted that anti-Palestinian racism existed, and 1 was a Singh press conference about other topics back in November where he expressed some focal criticism of the Netanyahu government.

I fail to see much evidence that Singh has a significant role in the NDP’s relatively greater criticism of Israel and its ongoing slaughter in Palestine compared to the LPC and CPC. To me, the resources you shared lightly support my sense that Singh is “at arm’s length” from his party’s politics on that issue.

Whether that’s strategic - so that he and the NDP can collectively appeal to as many voters as possible - or whether he personally has been “affected by Israel lobbying”; we’ll likely never know

Nah, my money’s on just downvoting. I don’t think they want the clapback. (And, as always: context is everything; and we all know the context by now - this month 5)

I was surprised reading the article how much evidence was presented of Singh specifically/individually kowtowing to the Israel lobby. Nothing’s ever galvanized the “Singh’s got to go” sentiment in me as strongly

Amidst Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, the divide between NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and party supporters, as well as his caucus, has become glaring.

Outside a bowling hall in a Montreal on Sunday I tried to ask Singh whether he agreed with South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. He refused to answer and a member of his RCMP detail told me I didn’t have the right to “bother” the NDP leader, pushing me away and knocking my phone out of my hands.

This was in stark contrast to NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice who minutes before Singh arrived took my questions. Boulerice agreed that Canadian charities that funnel money to the Israeli military should lose their charitable status, Canadians fighting in Gaza should be investigated for war crimes and that South Africa has a strong case that Israel is committing genocide.

Boulerice’s position aligns with NDP supporters. A recent Angus Reid poll found that NDP voters were five times (68 per cent to 14 per cent) more likely to say “Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians” than “Israel is not committing genocide”.

In one of Singh’s more crass displays of anti-Palestinianism, the NDP leader refused to mention the long oppressed group when asked about resolutions submitted to the 2021 NDP convention regarding “Canada’s relationship to Israel and the Palestinian territory.” Instead of responding to the question, he mentioned “anti-Semitism” four times. Asked again by the CBC interviewer about “resolutions that in a sense condemn Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians”, Singh again failed to mention Palestine or Palestinians. Instead, he talked about “increased hate crimes also against people of the Jewish faith.” Singh’s complete erasure of Palestinians was hard to listen to and prompted a massive backlash.

FWIW: I’m always on VPN and I’ve never had an issue with lemmy.ca

From Turtle Island to Palestine, genocide is a crime

I’m glad I read that. These are dark times, and a little humour from people who get it helps

This isn’t at all evidence-based, this is just a gut reaction and being an Ontarian I hear a lot more about what happens in my province that Alberta.

I find Doug Ford much scarier than Danielle Smith because I think he’s more effective at destroying this country, more people would vote for his destructive policies than hers (which are more clearly socially regressive), and I could see him being successful at the federal level.

Higgs scares me too. I’m appalled by the devolution of trans rights in AB and SK, but politicians gunning to increase corporate power, gut the public sector, and reduce labour’s power really unsettles me vis-a-vis the direction we’re heading in.

Medical school and residency spots are controlled by provincial governments, and even the provincial medical associations exist at the will of provincial governments.

I don’t know enough to comment. I believe groups like the CMA would have their voice heard in such conversations.

Any government that says “we recognize a sizeable portion of Canadians don’t have a primary care provider (like a family doctor), that is a major healthcare problem that costs the system a great deal of money and other problems (e.g., overcrowded ERs), and we’re going to start graduating more physicians this year to meet Canadians’ needs” - would receive widespread approval I think, and from any party. I think physicians’ lobby groups however would do/say whatever necessary to kill that.

The CMA sold their wealth management company, MD Financial Management, to Scotiabank in 2018 for 2.6 billions dollars. The CMA has been touring with the Globe and Mail over the last year to promote healthcare privatization (example).

Requiring proof of a causal relationship may be setting the bar so high that it can’t be cleared.

I think there’s an abundance of moderately strong evidence that the CMA has its members interests at heart, not Canadians who rely on public healthcare.

Here’s the Ontario MA’s statement on fixing issues in primary healthcare. They note 2 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor. Where on the list of their proposed solutions is graduating more doctors?: https://www.oma.org/advocacy/prescription-for-ontario/prescription-for-ontario-doctors-solutions-for-immediate-action

Here’s a well-documented example of their interest in privatization: https://www.healthcoalition.ca/the-canadian-medical-associations-cross-canada-town-halls-are-pro-privatization-say-doctors/

This is purely speculation on my part, but I think the Canadian Medical Association, the group which represents Canadian physicians, is interested in maintaining a shortage of physicians and, for example, would vehemently oppose graduating 5-10% more physicians starting now as a means of filling the physician gap. Their motivation is to keep existing physicians in very high demand so that they can maximize compensation and job security.

I think the ultimate problem (neoliberalism) is that there are too many people in positions of power that are trying to profiteer off of a system that’s intended to provide a public service (e.g., privatization of healthcare, hospital inaccessibility in rural communities, the large number of Canadians without a primary care provider)

“I think we should protect the rights of parents to make their own decisions with regards to their children.” [-PP]

Asked to state definitively if he’s opposed to puberty blockers for people under the age of 18, Poilievre said he is.

So, in other words, he’s only for ‘parental rights’ (/s) when they’re useful for suppressing trans rights

Do something now!!!

Agreed. Capitalism working as intended

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/240202/dq240202a-eng.htm:

This study revealed that more than 15% of immigrants admitted to Canada from 1982 to 2017 emigrated within 20 years of admission. However, this proportion varies by characteristic, including immigrants’ country of birth.

Emigration is slightly more common from three to seven years after admission. This period may reflect the length of time that immigrants try to integrate into Canada by attempting to find a job and a place to live and adapting to life in Canada. Some immigrants may also emigrate if they encounter challenges in integrating or because they intended to from the outset.

Immigrants born in Taiwan, the United States, France, Hong Kong or Lebanon and immigrants admitted in the investor and entrepreneur categories are more likely to emigrate.

Longitudinal Immigration Database data will continue to be used to analyze the socioeconomic situation of immigrants, including economic integration and retention in the province or territory of admission.

I think the presence of a tank in a park facilitates acceptance of war - it does not prevent acceptance of war. That’s where I’m coming from. Monuments should be about remembering the sacrifices that were made in the service of larger causes (that’s what I meant by “important”), the lives lost, and preventing war. I think we’re just disagreeing on the effects of a tank in a park

What is the point of “declassifying” a document to the extent that Global News can run a story about it scant on details but it’s not publicly available? “Marginally less classified” might be more accurate

I’d like to memorialize important human sacrifices, not killing machines, arms trade, and their glorification