Tara it would be excellent if you could dedicate a segment to the travesty of the MAID program. I'm witnessing this firsthand with a friend and I'm simply appalled at the cavalier manner in which applicants are being approved for this program as well as the complete lack of accountability. Like many Canadians I was completely unaware as to how far down the rabbit hole Canada has gone with MAID until a recent experience with a friend - diagnosed as depressed by her psychiatrist - who qualified for the program with no terminal illness involved.
My spouse died just before the time of MAID, when he had ALS, and my father was diagnosed with the same some months later. It boggled my mind that MAID didn't offer what was truly needed for ALS... they never have, really, for people with ALS and forms of dementia--always wanting another state of mind.
Yet this choice now! Madness.
I just checked the website to ascertain AGE, and it's as of 18 that one can make this choice!
I have a 24 year old son who has struggled with mental health. I hate to think.
Now he has an incredible (yes) therapist and travels and creates and connects. But if this had been available...
A number of young (Canadian!) people, in a poll last year, thought that "poverty" should also be a reason.
The problem is that “boring” requires courage far beyond what is common. It takes rare courage to stand tall enough for the political elites to see and hear you. It takes a heart of courage to demand the right thing from them. It is cowardly to sit back, expecting them to do it by themselves. The Liberal party has behaved badly in a great measure with the imposition of the Emergencies Act upon us. It was an enormous step into tyranny. The Canadian people deserve far better and yet, the cowards are still supporting those who are ready to THROW PEOPLE IN JAIL AND FREEZE THE BANK ACCOUNTS because they disagreed with the enforced narrative. Bear in mind any debate about was disallowed.
Should the Conservatives take the next election (certainly not a given), we must hold them to the same standard; one far above what the Liberals want for themselves.
Read in the National Post, reported by Adam Zivo, that bureaucrats in the BC government are proposing safe supply for youth without parental permission.
Free fentanyl for kids sounds like a grand idea.
And looking at recent PISA (International tests on Math, Reading and Science) the scores in Canada continue to decline except for Alberta which is almost at Singapore level.
I love this country but when my sport of soccer is even ruined by the incompetence of the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) I want to go somewhere where governments and institutions are just boring and “get shit done.”
Love love love your writing. I have been following you actively since your first substack. I don't engage nearly enough Tara. I just wanted to say thank you for your research, perspective, and commitment to investigative and contemplative journalism. I do appreciate that you dedicate your skill and time, and want you to know you provoke thinking. There is hope yet for Canada, and you are a gem.
Tara, Thank you for a very concise on point article. You might as well have written the United States & Canada for every item you mentioned and where we are now.
Many say we are BOTH at a very serious inflection point; my personal view is an ever revolving circle trying to discern whether we are past that point or perilously dangling on the very edge . I choose to believe we are NOT past it but I am also realistic enough to know we are standing with one foot on a banana peel.
I don't get the impression actually that the US and Canada are in the same boat. Canada's institutions seemed to lean more liberal even in the old days and that contributes to its complete progressive capture, whereas, as Tara has pointed out in this newsletter before, the US does have some strong, influential conservative institutions; e.g., the Wall Street Journal, almost anything out of Texas, Brigham Young University, etc. The conservative counter-elites are not quite as loud as the progressive elites right now, but they have been in the past, and the non-elites that voted for Donald Trump are hardly silent. Canada on the other hand doesn't seem to have much of an established conservative tendency since the power centers are pretty much entirely in Toronto and Vancouver. I think Canada would need to have an equally powerful Alberta to balance out the progressive capture. (That would also lead to more aggressive polarization like in the US, of course.)
Destructive Covid policies were also driven by Trump hatred. Anything he or his supporters said was reflexively rejected. Vilified. In the Anglo world: US, Canada,Britain, Oz.
These cultural institutions may ultimately die, but for now they have essentially infinite funding and rabid partisan supporters.
I fear for my grandchildren, either way. If the schools turn them into good little mindless robots, they’ll hate me. And if they have free minds, they’ll face crushing oppression.
I disagree. Don't let them die. Tom Thomson and The Tragically Hip are important touchstones for us. Canada needs to return to sanity so new Canadian artists and authors and bands came come forward with confidence again. Rebuild don't destroy.
Tara, thank you for having had the courage to cast a light on the terrible effects of the government's invocation of the Emergencies Act - not just now but while it was actually unfolding. That took guts. Here's how many of us still feel two years later - we were betrayed by our country's slide towards totalitarian values: https://voicesforinclusion.substack.com/p/freedom-of-thought-on-trial Nevertheless, I still love Canada: https://voicesforinclusion.substack.com/p/why-i-still-love-canada
Tara it would be excellent if you could dedicate a segment to the travesty of the MAID program. I'm witnessing this firsthand with a friend and I'm simply appalled at the cavalier manner in which applicants are being approved for this program as well as the complete lack of accountability. Like many Canadians I was completely unaware as to how far down the rabbit hole Canada has gone with MAID until a recent experience with a friend - diagnosed as depressed by her psychiatrist - who qualified for the program with no terminal illness involved.
YES to this, I so second.
My spouse died just before the time of MAID, when he had ALS, and my father was diagnosed with the same some months later. It boggled my mind that MAID didn't offer what was truly needed for ALS... they never have, really, for people with ALS and forms of dementia--always wanting another state of mind.
Yet this choice now! Madness.
I just checked the website to ascertain AGE, and it's as of 18 that one can make this choice!
I have a 24 year old son who has struggled with mental health. I hate to think.
Now he has an incredible (yes) therapist and travels and creates and connects. But if this had been available...
A number of young (Canadian!) people, in a poll last year, thought that "poverty" should also be a reason.
Truly losing our minds. Our compassion, at least.
The problem is that “boring” requires courage far beyond what is common. It takes rare courage to stand tall enough for the political elites to see and hear you. It takes a heart of courage to demand the right thing from them. It is cowardly to sit back, expecting them to do it by themselves. The Liberal party has behaved badly in a great measure with the imposition of the Emergencies Act upon us. It was an enormous step into tyranny. The Canadian people deserve far better and yet, the cowards are still supporting those who are ready to THROW PEOPLE IN JAIL AND FREEZE THE BANK ACCOUNTS because they disagreed with the enforced narrative. Bear in mind any debate about was disallowed.
Should the Conservatives take the next election (certainly not a given), we must hold them to the same standard; one far above what the Liberals want for themselves.
Canada: Nonsense Governance.
Read in the National Post, reported by Adam Zivo, that bureaucrats in the BC government are proposing safe supply for youth without parental permission.
Free fentanyl for kids sounds like a grand idea.
And looking at recent PISA (International tests on Math, Reading and Science) the scores in Canada continue to decline except for Alberta which is almost at Singapore level.
I love this country but when my sport of soccer is even ruined by the incompetence of the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) I want to go somewhere where governments and institutions are just boring and “get shit done.”
Nonsense Governance :(
Love love love your writing. I have been following you actively since your first substack. I don't engage nearly enough Tara. I just wanted to say thank you for your research, perspective, and commitment to investigative and contemplative journalism. I do appreciate that you dedicate your skill and time, and want you to know you provoke thinking. There is hope yet for Canada, and you are a gem.
I hope every Canadian pays close attention Tucker Carlson's speech in Calgary last week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNqeEidfvSU&t=400s
Tara, Thank you for a very concise on point article. You might as well have written the United States & Canada for every item you mentioned and where we are now.
Many say we are BOTH at a very serious inflection point; my personal view is an ever revolving circle trying to discern whether we are past that point or perilously dangling on the very edge . I choose to believe we are NOT past it but I am also realistic enough to know we are standing with one foot on a banana peel.
I don't get the impression actually that the US and Canada are in the same boat. Canada's institutions seemed to lean more liberal even in the old days and that contributes to its complete progressive capture, whereas, as Tara has pointed out in this newsletter before, the US does have some strong, influential conservative institutions; e.g., the Wall Street Journal, almost anything out of Texas, Brigham Young University, etc. The conservative counter-elites are not quite as loud as the progressive elites right now, but they have been in the past, and the non-elites that voted for Donald Trump are hardly silent. Canada on the other hand doesn't seem to have much of an established conservative tendency since the power centers are pretty much entirely in Toronto and Vancouver. I think Canada would need to have an equally powerful Alberta to balance out the progressive capture. (That would also lead to more aggressive polarization like in the US, of course.)
Yes. I tell friends my impression is it’s a Toronto/Ontario province and Vancouver problem. Disproportionate population, coupled with siloing.
Superb points/info. Thank you.
Two minor points of difference:
Destructive Covid policies were also driven by Trump hatred. Anything he or his supporters said was reflexively rejected. Vilified. In the Anglo world: US, Canada,Britain, Oz.
These cultural institutions may ultimately die, but for now they have essentially infinite funding and rabid partisan supporters.
I fear for my grandchildren, either way. If the schools turn them into good little mindless robots, they’ll hate me. And if they have free minds, they’ll face crushing oppression.
Someone should start making a list of the collaborators.
My own take on the convoy fiasco. https://toonsday.substack.com
Weaponized tractor trailers are not freedom of expression.
On culture institutions, no love lost there either. Let them fail. Please.
I feel no nostalgia for complacent, compliant Canada.
I disagree. Don't let them die. Tom Thomson and The Tragically Hip are important touchstones for us. Canada needs to return to sanity so new Canadian artists and authors and bands came come forward with confidence again. Rebuild don't destroy.
Thank you for these words! I so appreciate!