Category: CDNpoli

Canada’s “Feminist” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Part Two)On…


Kirsty Duncan


Mélanie Joly


Carla Qualtrough


Ginette C. Petitpas Taylor


Bernadette Jordan


MaryAnn Mihychuk


Patricia Hajdu


Filomena Tassi


Diane Lebouthillier


Carolyn Bennett

Canada’s “Feminist” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Part Two)

On the face of it, being in the Government’s Cabinet doesn’t just pay substantially better than being a Member of Parliament, it carries a great deal of power.  After all, it is the PM & Cabinet who decide policy and law.

Cabinet Ministers can be fired for cause — they sit at the table where policy is made, and they’re are not allowed to disagree with Government policy, ever. Even if every member of the riding that elected them begs them to vote against a law the Government is putting through, even if the Minister agrees, to vote against such a law in Parliament would lose their Cabinet post.  

Perhaps growing up in a big family has left me with stronger than usual aversion to having personal boundaries breached.   I’ve chosen the photographs I have because I personally find most of them extremely creepy.   These photographs show the Prime Minister getting right in people’s faces.  In the nose to nose shots he’s gone way past personal distance as he gets right into people’s intimate space. 

In all fairness there are a few photos like this where he gets disturbingly close to men as well, so I imagine this is just his style.  Nonetheless, it is totally inappropriate in the workplace.  No employer should use his unequal power and privilege to overstep the personal boundaries of women— or men— who are effectively his employees.

      “The Prime Minister and the Ministers he or she chooses form the Cabinet. The Prime Minister also appoints Ministers of State to assist individual Cabinet Ministers. Persons appointed to the Cabinet are generally elected Members of Parliament, although it is customary for the Prime Minister to appoint at least one Senator to the Cabinet. Ministers serve “at the pleasure” of the Prime Minister, who may replace them or request their resignation at any time. The Prime Minister may also redefine ministerial portfolios and determine the size of the Cabinet as he or she sees fit.”
                                        —Executive Branch of Government in Canada

Employment law protects most people from being fired on a whim, but like a medieval monarch, Prime Minister Trudeau has the unquestioned power to fire any Cabinet Minister at any time. For any reason. Or none. 

15 of the 20 Cabinet female Cabinet Ministers are pictured in our Feminist PM’s embrace in these two posts.  

What happens to the women in Cabinet who are made uncomfortable by the imposition of such physical intimacy in the workplace?  Perhaps women MPs who mark their personal boundaries never make it into the Cabinet.  

I don’t think my definition of feminism is the same as Mr Trudeau’s.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured above with female Cabinet Ministers: 

  • Kirsty Duncan
    Minister of Science
    November 4, 2015–July 18, 2018
    Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities
    January 25, 2018–July 18, 2018
    Minister of Science and Sport
    July 18, 2018 – Present
  • Mélanie Joly
    Minister of Canadian Heritage
    November 4, 2015 – July 18, 2018
    Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie
    July 18, 2018 – Present
  • Carla Qualtrough
    Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities
    November 4, 2015–August 28, 2017
    Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility[b]
    August 28, 2017 – Present
    Receiver General for Canada
    August 28, 2017 – Present
  • Ginette C. Petitpas Taylor
    Minister of Health
    August 28, 2017 – Present
  • Bernadette Jordan
    Minister of Rural Economic Development
    January 14, 2019–
  • MaryAnn Mihychuk
    Minister of Employment, Workforce and Labour
    November 4, 2015–January 10, 2017
  • Filomena Tassi
    Minister of Seniors
    July 18, 2018 – Present
  • Diane Lebouthillier 
    Minister of National Revenue
    November 4, 2015 – Present
  • Carolyn Bennett
    Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations[a]
    November 4, 2015 – Present

    Find Part One here.


Canada’s “Feminist” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Part One)Even…


Karina Gould


Marie-Claude Bibeau


Mary Ng


Jody Wilson-Raybould


Catherine McKenna


Chrystia Freeland


Maryam Monsef


Bardish Chagger


Jane Philpott


Judy Foote

Canada’s “Feminist” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Part One)

Even though the Liberal MPs elected weren’t anywhere close to gender parity in Parliament in 2015, about a quarter of LPC MPs being women, there was a big todo made about Mr Trudeau’s choice of a cabinet that was half male & half female.  

The Prime Minister has gotten a lot of ink about his gender parity cabinet, and his insistence that he is a feminist.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured above with female Cabinet Ministers:

  • The Honourable Karina Gould, 
    Minister of Democratic Institutions
    January 10, 2017 – Present
  • The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau
    Minister of International Development
    November 4, 2015 – Present
  • The Honourable Mary F.Y. Ng
    Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion
    July 18, 2018 – Present
  • The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould
    Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
    Nov 4, 2015 – Jan 14, 2019
    Minister of Veterans Affairs
    January 14, 2019 – Present
    Associate Minister of National Defence
    January 14, 2019 – Present
  • The Honourable Catherine McKenna
    Minister of Environment and Climate Change
    November 4, 2015 – Present
  • The Honourable Chrystia Freeland
    Minister of Foreign Affairs
    January 10, 2017 – Present
  • The Honourable Maryam Monsef
    Minister of Democratic Institutions
    November 4, 2015 – January 10, 2017
    Minister of Status of Women
    January 10, 2017 – Present
  • The Honourable Bardish Chagger
    Minister of Small Business and Tourism
    November 4, 2015–July 18, 2018
    Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
    August 19, 2016 – Present
  • The Honourable Jane Philpott
    Minister of Health
    November 4, 2015 – August 28, 2017
    Minister of Indigenous Services
    August 28, 2017 – January 14, 2019
    President of the Treasury Board
    January 2019 – Present
  • The Honourable Judy Foote
    Receiver General for Canada
    November 4, 2015 – August 24, 2017
    Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility[b]
    November 4, 2015 – August 24, 2017

Canada’s “Feminist” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Part One)Even…


Karina Gould


Marie-Claude Bibeau


Mary Ng


Jody Wilson-Raybould


Catherine McKenna


Chrystia Freeland


Maryam Monsef


Bardish Chagger


Jane Philpott


Judy Foote

Canada’s “Feminist” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Part One)

Even though the Liberal MPs elected weren’t anywhere close to gender parity in Parliament in 2015, about a quarter of LPC MPs being women, there was a big todo made about Mr Trudeau’s choice of a cabinet that was half male & half female.  

The Prime Minister has gotten a lot of ink about his gender parity cabinet, and his insistence that he is a feminist.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured above with female Cabinet Ministers:

  • The Honourable Karina Gould, 
    Minister of Democratic Institutions
    January 10, 2017 – Present
  • The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau
    Minister of International Development
    November 4, 2015 – Present
  • The Honourable Mary F.Y. Ng
    Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion
    July 18, 2018 – Present
  • The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould
    Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
    Nov 4, 2015 – Jan 14, 2019
    Minister of Veterans Affairs
    January 14, 2019 – Present
    Associate Minister of National Defence
    January 14, 2019 – Present
  • The Honourable Catherine McKenna
    Minister of Environment and Climate Change
    November 4, 2015 – Present
  • The Honourable Chrystia Freeland
    Minister of Foreign Affairs
    January 10, 2017 – Present
  • The Honourable Maryam Monsef
    Minister of Democratic Institutions
    November 4, 2015 – January 10, 2017
    Minister of Status of Women
    January 10, 2017 – Present
  • The Honourable Bardish Chagger
    Minister of Small Business and Tourism
    November 4, 2015–July 18, 2018
    Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
    August 19, 2016 – Present
  • The Honourable Jane Philpott
    Minister of Health
    November 4, 2015 – August 28, 2017
    Minister of Indigenous Services
    August 28, 2017 – January 14, 2019
    President of the Treasury Board
    January 2019 – Present
  • The Honourable Judy Foote
    Receiver General for Canada
    November 4, 2015 – August 24, 2017
    Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility[b]
    November 4, 2015 – August 24, 2017

Abdoul Abdi supporters push for Nova Scotia to intervene in deportation case

Abdoul Abdi supporters push for Nova Scotia to intervene in deportation case:

allthecanadianpolitics:

Family and friends of a Somali refugee who came to Nova Scotia as a child 17 years ago were at Province House Tuesday morning trying to get the Nova Scotia government to intervene in his deportation case.

Abdoul Abdi, 23, will be in Toronto on Wednesday for an Immigration and Review Board hearing where he could be ordered deported from Canada.

“I think it’s unfair that they’re trying to strip him of his permanent resident’s card and that he can’t have health care or work, even now that he has a job,” said his sister Fatuma Abdi.. “He’s trying to better himself but the government is moving him 10 steps back.”

Continue Reading.

Canada’s record on refugees isn’t all its cracked up to be.

Collapse of U.K. construction giant Carillion puts 6,000 Canadian jobs on line

Collapse of U.K. construction giant Carillion puts 6,000 Canadian jobs on line:

Privatization: the gift that just keeps giving

@toby_sanger

Carillion purveyed billions from public sector contracts into private profits, dividends & executive bonuses. Now its failure is leaving that mess for the public sector to clean up, along with the wages and pensions of its 43,000 workers, along with 6,000 in Canada.

Defenders of the status quo argue that Proportional…



Defenders of the status quo argue that Proportional Representation leads to back room deals.  

Proportional Representation
And it is indeed true that Proportional Representation forces political parties to compromise and work together in order to govern.  

But those aren’t back room deals.  Voters know it is going on and can see the results and understand why they happen.  

If your party sells out its core values, you can express your displeasure by electing a different candidate who might actually represent you in the next election.

First Past The Post
The back room deals that are democratically worrisome are the ones that happen within big tent parties.  Big tent parties are based on elaborate back room deals.  Parties that used to have a recognizable ideology – something they actually stand for – merge with other parties, not because of shared valued, but because it is necessary if your party is going to be able to gain power. 

The goings on in these back rooms are so mysterious and secretive that even MPs and party members don’t know which promises their party will even try to keep if they win an election.  Such things are decided in back rooms.  

Once in a while we can see how it really works.  

Following the BRexit vote, the new UK PM Theresa May called a snap election intending to build stronger support for a “hard” BRexit, but in fact  lost support resulting in a snap election. The deal she made with the extremist DUP to keep power horrified many Brits.  

When no party won a majority in the recent British Columbia Election, then Premier Christy Clark was willing to throw everything her party stood for under the bus in order to retain power.   Luckily the other BC Parties were able to reach a compromise.

These are the backroom deals we can all do without.   

Canadian Cannabis CrackdownBecause cannabis was illegal before…



Canadian Cannabis Crackdown

Because cannabis was illegal before any sort of scientific testing was done, there has been precious little modern scientific study of the substance.  What little study there has been suggests negative effects of cannabis are less harmful than many other substances that can be purchased openly and legally by anyone.  Like aspirin. People can kill themselves with aspirin.  But it is physically impossible for anyone to kill themselves with cannabis.  

The worst health risks with cannabis centre around the fact that it is most often smoked in combination with tobacco, and we now know tobacco is hazardous to our health.  And yet the Canadian Government only allowed patients access to edibles after another Supreme Court challenge.

“We believe, however, that the continued prohibition of cannabis jeopardizes the health and well-being of Canadians much more than does the substance itself or the regulated marketing of the substance. In addition, we believe that the continued criminalization of cannabis undermines the fundamental values set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and confirmed in the history of a country based on diversity and tolerance.”
— Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs (2002) 
REPORT OF THE SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ILLEGAL DRUGS

And yet the Canadian Government promising cannabis legalization has increased it’s war on cannabis even more.  They are cracking down on cannabis at a frantic pace in the lead up to legalization.   

The loudest and most effective cannabis activists in Canadian history are Marc and Jodie Emery.  Today, they accepted probation and hefty fines in a plea deal to allow 17 others to walk free.

This makes no sense. Or does it?

Credits
Jodie Emery quotation from “Cannabis Culture dispensaries: What I did, and why” by Jodie Emery;  Photograph by Cannabis Culture editor Jeremiah Vandermeer, released under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.