Wokeness does seem to function to suppress working class people. We can imagine snooty upper class people at the turn of the 20th century referring to the working classes as "riff-raff" or "low quality" common people. Today it is the same except the moral superiority is cloaked in phony social justice terms. Hence we have the trucker convoy protest which had nothing to do with race but were immediately labelled as "racist" which is the equivalent way that the elites of today look down on working class people. So instead of being solely uncouth or unsophisticated the working class is denigrated for not having the exactly correct views on race and gender etc. Although most elites are nominally left leaning and have to pretend to care about poverty, this framework gives them licence to openly express their contempt of poor people who can be conveniently labelled as racist or misogynistic or transphobic whenever they get out of line.
Well said. I fall into the exhausted category. I am trying to take a one-month new hiatus this January. The title of your article caught my eye so I broke down and read it. Now, back to my piano lessons.
The analysis makes sense. The iron fist dispensed with the velvet glove during COVID. Now half the country hates the government and institutions. No reassembling that humpty dumpty.
If the COVID fist had been short term, or if dissenting views had been allowed, the hatred would have come and gone with manageable impact. Instead, Trudeau and his minions in and out of government carried on a war against their own citizens for years. Good luck papering that over.
I would extend this point to nearly all Western nations.
For a decade or more, those on the Left thought "the others" were stupid awful people. Now, "the others' think those to their Left are stupid, awful, and out to strip them of their rights and humanity. They are correct. When did all my Classically Liberal Democrat friends become authoritarian totalitarians? Were they always there but used the beard of Free Speech and Compromise to finally get enough power that they could pull the mask off?
And, I'm taking about people over 50. The young kids (or at least a decent % of them) have been thoroughly indoctrinated and radicalized by the education system. They are lost. And they intimidate the rest. I fear for my grandchildren.
I would agree with everything Tara has said in this article. However, she has neglected one of the things that happened that I believe was one of the biggest blows to Canada. When Canada became a nation that committed “ genocide” this pronouncement cut to the core of every Canadian. We now feel shame when previously we were proud of who we were. No country is perfect and we should not shy away from mistakes that were made with indigenous people.
However we also need to stand up and be proud of our accomplishments and also of our national character, which is generally kind, polite and reflective. Otherwise we run the risk of leaving our children and grandchildren no country to be proud of. That would be a shame.
Yours is a good example of the lack of nuance in critical thinking. There was and is no genocide. No one wanted to kill all First Nations people. Had that been the goal, it could have been easily accomplished. John A. MacDonald and many others thought education would bring people living ancient subsistence ways into the European present. And that there was no other option. After trading for guns and metal pots, was there any going back? Trucks, four wheelers and skidoos followed, yet many (most?) First Nations communities still operate as they have historically, on a subsistence level, all of which is sanctioned and subsidized under the Indian Act
Many Canadians, (most?) do not understand why we can't get rid of the Indian Act. It's because Indians can't agree they would be better off without it.
I agree the word genocide should never be used to describe Canadian society. But why can we not call the Indian Act for what it is, legalized racism, apartheid?
Yes of course. Appreciate the recommendation. I can't take Raybould seriously since she botched the Justice portfolio. But talking about this issue in a full and frank way is something we need to do.
I read Sebastian Yungers book Tribe. He discusses the interesting phenomenon where captured westerners wanted to stay in there new tribe where captured First Nations almost always went back to their tribe. Also found the story of Kondiaronk fascinating.
As I understand it he ended up influencing European philosophers of his time which influenced some of our thinking today, specifically around ideas of individual freedom.
My crazy thought is does our long standing challenge with the Indian act provide us an opportunity to get Canada out of its current situation. Where is the win win between our First Nations people and the Western migration that followed? If we need to reset our current political framework is this not an opportunity? If as hard a problem as it is, we achieved it, could we not come out of this with a model for other states dealing with similar challenges? Maybe instead of talking the talk (which IMO is all we do now) we should walk the walk. I love the line from the Game of Thrones show we’re Egrit says to John Snow “You know nothing John Snow”.
Love it Roy. You're persistent. And thought full. Of course (not exactly but you'll catch my drift) everyone is nostalgic about the original people and their honest way of living. "We" settlers valourize that, especially the Germans dare we say?
I can imagine a movement to res-establish authentic indigeneity, low to no carbon footprint, minimal technology, old school family values. Clams, dynastic family leadership. Subsistence but sustainable.
But I'm obviously not the person to do that. Are you? Where are the now well educated First Nations scholars getting ahead of the curve, the avant garde.
I would listen to something like that, not mired in the past.
Thanks for the reply. Really agree with what you said. I’m not interested in the past or some idealistic notion that’s not possible in a modern world. Just keeping an open mind and trying to learn a bit along the way. Enjoyed the conversation. Cheers.
I’m not sure if the Indian Act should be thought of as apartheid or legal racism even though, I agree, it may be responsible for contributing to inequality of Indigenous people. As you mentioned, previous governments wanted to get rid of the Indian Act, but Indigenous leaders, at the time, did not want this to happen. South Africans, oppressed under the apartheid system, would have welcomed an end to the system if it was offered earlier. It seems different…….I’m also wary of the word apartheid because, like genocide, it is being applied to more and more situations. However, I agree that all Canadians should be able to talk about the issues that concern us in a full and frank way. The more people that contribute to the conversation, including Indigenous people, the more likely it is that we can overcome difficulties and move forward together.
The bureaucratic state has exploded in Canada since this version of the Liberal party has been elected. They want to control everything from the Prime Ministers office, including the private sector, the media, education the courts what we are allowed to drive where we are allowed to live what we are allowed to say and think and view on the internet and on and on. And meanwhile everything gets more and more expensive for the poor and working class. I don't know how you could call these people "leftists" including the NDP. They are the complete manifestation of the PMC.
I think this set of elites are worse than the ones I grew up with (I'm in my 50's). Not only are they richer than everyone else, but they're better than everyone else morally too.
It's no wonder artists who are traditionally the rebels of our societies have been completely neutered. These people are cowed into submission, the class first leftists of my youth have been cowed into submission and Justin Trudeau, one of the most privileged people in Canadian history, is looked at as some revolutionary. & I guess they are, just not in the way I would want. It just blows my mind.
Anyways spot on Tara. Great piece. Canada is definitely in big trouble.
I agree. But I think the real problem is that these control freaks are actually the dumbest collection of “leaders” in Canadian history. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that Trudo’s IQ is 40 points lower than Harper’s. He’s Biden with darker hair.
You hit some good points on our country's decline. I think there are some other points that also need to be addressed as factors in the country's decline.
1) multiculturalism, has generally failed because the population and the political class failed to keep the Canadian culture dominate that would otherwise make multiculturalism actually work. This can be attached to the wokism problem because their sole goal is to destory Western Civilisation.
2), mass immigration and saying all cultures are equal has resulted in large diaspora population not integrating into Canada. The number of riots and sword fights in Brampton Ontario between sikhs and hindus is unacceptable. One can argue Canada is being colonized by India and China.
3) the constant need/action for Canada to be Not American. This is a long standing problem from our founding. The gun ban for example, literally was spurred by an American shooting. Or all the BLM virtue signals spurred by an incident(s) in America. Canada needs to solve its actual problems not reacting to someone elses just to claim a brownie point from reactionary voters.
4) political apathy. People know that it does not matter who they vote for, the partieq are like M&Ms they look different on the outside but they are all the same inside. There is barely a difference between them. Either that or voters do not care to vote. Voter turn out illustrates that. Not to mention that political parties generally do not vote the way their constitutes want them, party discpline takes priority.
Thanks so much for this, Tara - i think it's one of the best articles yet that you have written for your Substack. As you allude to toward the end, a large question becomes: how in the world do we get out of this "polarization spiral"? Certainly economic class is a part of it - but i am skeptical if that alone will do it. At the heart of this is a sense of social fragmentation that haunts everything - we have all been told that the goal of being a flourishing human is create ourselves in our own image, to be "self made" men and women and to define our own ends. One can argue that there are clear benefits to this kind of philosophical anthropology: lots of (primarily negative) individual freedom; protected by proliferating forms of "rights"; strongly encouraged market entrepreneurship, etc. Yet until we fully come to terms with the social costs to this approach, and especially their connection to the philosophical anthropology that undergirds them, i fear we will just be continually chasing the tail. We need a more robust notion of "freedom", one more than simply "choosing" to be a man or women in spite of biology, or just "choosing" to not be vaccinated because of "my choice, my body." Does choosing something - anything, really - ourselves make it in itself moral? Or does it need to be grounded in an end that is (at least relatively) stable and, to say the "t" word, even true?
Thanks again, Tara, for distilling lots of phenomena down into a clear articulation of the state of things in Canada. You are working hard at reading the "signs of the times."
I have frequently been impressed by your articles but this was special. The best summary I have seen of the slide in Canada's position (both internally & externally). I was not lucky enough to have been born in Canada but one of the proudest days in my life was when I became a Canadian citizen. Sadly, I have to say that I am not so proud of that anymore. The emphasis on identity politics that cynically tries to divide us has been a real poison for our society and this has been combined with a lack of seriousness externally to the point where I don't believe that Canada is seen as a country that stands for much at all. How very sad. Hopefully we can dig ourselves out of this hole of our own making. Keep up the good work!
The polarization in our society is not all due to 'the woke', 'the left', 'elites' or the Trudeau gov't. We have a Federal opposition party which feeds on rage-farming rather than offering solutions.
There's a quote from Molly Ivins that I'm very fond of: "Polarizing people is a good way to win an election and also a good way to wreck a country." I see that polarization happening on BOTH sides of the political spectrum.
That may be true but for now the Liberals and the NDP are in charge. The problems Tara has outlined here have happened under their watch, not the Conservatives.
The problems Tara has identified have happened under all of our watches.
As an example, the seeds of the housing crisis were planted decades ago, not just the last 10 years. We have a rental housing (& homelessness) crisis because gov't's of all stripes got out of supporting low-income housing. Nimby's in suburbia & higher-income neighbourhooods have fought higher-density (or social) housing in their backyards. It wasn't the Liberals or NDP who engaged in real estate bidding wars which rapidly drove up the costs of real estate. These are just a few things that come immediately to mind.
IMO you've kind of proved my point about polarization when you immediately go to blaming the Liberals & NDP without acknowledging that Conservatives play a part also.
The housing crisis has spiraled completely out of control in the last 10 years. I don't know if you subscribe to Terry Glavins newsletter but even the free version goes into this in detail with graphs showing that yes there was an increase in rent and house prices starting in 2000 but it has exploded under the Liberals. Why can't housing get built in cities completely controlled by LIberals and NDPers? There are no conservatives on city council in big cities and that includes Peterborough where I lived until recently. Regulations especially environmental make in impossible to built anything.
I agree that we don't need most new housing to be single family homes and that there should be high density around transit.
Other people here have mentioned the incredibly high immigration levels that have reduced supply. That started as soon as the LIberals became government. Also non permanent residents in Canada has exploded which also fuels housing shortages.
Liberals and NDP run city council. Yes Conservative premiers have fueled some of the problems. They mostly want their major donors to be happy and major donors want their and their allies bank balances to grow. And they have. The gap between rich and poor has also exploded on the watch of the 'left". That's because class has gone out of fashion as a measure of privelege.
NIMBY's can pull a lever but untimately it is the municipal provincial and federal governements who control the factors that relate to housing imo.
Yes, as a supporter of the conservative party I have pointed out several time in emails that they will get more votes with practical solutions than with rage farming. They must figure their popularity is due to their attacks on the Liberals as they are not listening to me.
I intend to do what my Irish Great Grandmother did back in the 19th century. Vote with my feet! When a country like Canada becomes unliveable it's time to pack up and leave, if you can! Sayonara! it was nice knowing ya!
Great analysis Tara. As an anecdotal piece it is interesting to note that over holiday parties I increasingly heard people talk about leaving Canada. Somewhat surprising to me to hear as I came here thinking that it was a great place to move given the steady collapse we are seeing in Europe for instance. It is not that dire of a situation just yet, but there is indeed a lot of work ahead of the country to get back on track.
My dear Tara, most of the events you described in the downfall of Canadian society were planned. The government is not so stupid they would not try to correct some of these things such as housing shortages that led to sky high prices. Canada has the highest regulation and longest lead time of the development industry in the world according to an IMF report a few years ago. To get a housing project approved can take 5 to 10 years before a single house is built. As Mayor Bob Morrow once said in the 1990's, "Mandatory planning hasn't done a thing for Hamilton" The Covid malfeasance has and is being explored by many substackers (Steve Kirsch, Robert Malone, etc) and the conclusion is most of the Covid deaths in 2020 were due to changed patient protocols that guaranteed death to otherwise survivable cases. The twitter files exposed government interference in freedom of speech so only the "government narrative" was seen by the public. Part of plan is the taking away of guns from people which is one of the first things a facist state does to control the public. Australia did it and Trudeau is doing his darnest to remove guns from the public here while simultaneously ligtening the sentences for gun crime. Margaret Thatcher famously said "You can vote in socialism but you have to SHOOT YOUR WAY OUT. I can go on and on about other events however it is time for your readers to do their own due diligence and do their own research to satisfy themselves about what I am saying.
Perhaps nearer to your heart, Trudeau's government provided a 5 year, $15,000 per employee subsidy to newsroom staff at "selected Media outlets" in 2018 right before the 2019 election. He renewed it in 2023 for 2 more years until the 2025 election and subsequently doubled it to $30,000 per employee. Given the positive Mainstream Media coverage of the Liberals here and the negative or absence of coverage for the Conservatives, no one is going to tell me the near bankrupt MSM isn't playing ball for the liberals.
Bravo Tara! Seems to me the unfortunate way these ideas are perpetuated is through once valued institutions where the persons within are caught by the short hairs. Do your job, punch out, complain in private or not at all. The way forward, that is harder but so necessary. Thanks for helping.
Wokeness does seem to function to suppress working class people. We can imagine snooty upper class people at the turn of the 20th century referring to the working classes as "riff-raff" or "low quality" common people. Today it is the same except the moral superiority is cloaked in phony social justice terms. Hence we have the trucker convoy protest which had nothing to do with race but were immediately labelled as "racist" which is the equivalent way that the elites of today look down on working class people. So instead of being solely uncouth or unsophisticated the working class is denigrated for not having the exactly correct views on race and gender etc. Although most elites are nominally left leaning and have to pretend to care about poverty, this framework gives them licence to openly express their contempt of poor people who can be conveniently labelled as racist or misogynistic or transphobic whenever they get out of line.
Well said. I fall into the exhausted category. I am trying to take a one-month new hiatus this January. The title of your article caught my eye so I broke down and read it. Now, back to my piano lessons.
The analysis makes sense. The iron fist dispensed with the velvet glove during COVID. Now half the country hates the government and institutions. No reassembling that humpty dumpty.
If the COVID fist had been short term, or if dissenting views had been allowed, the hatred would have come and gone with manageable impact. Instead, Trudeau and his minions in and out of government carried on a war against their own citizens for years. Good luck papering that over.
I would extend this point to nearly all Western nations.
For a decade or more, those on the Left thought "the others" were stupid awful people. Now, "the others' think those to their Left are stupid, awful, and out to strip them of their rights and humanity. They are correct. When did all my Classically Liberal Democrat friends become authoritarian totalitarians? Were they always there but used the beard of Free Speech and Compromise to finally get enough power that they could pull the mask off?
And, I'm taking about people over 50. The young kids (or at least a decent % of them) have been thoroughly indoctrinated and radicalized by the education system. They are lost. And they intimidate the rest. I fear for my grandchildren.
I would agree with everything Tara has said in this article. However, she has neglected one of the things that happened that I believe was one of the biggest blows to Canada. When Canada became a nation that committed “ genocide” this pronouncement cut to the core of every Canadian. We now feel shame when previously we were proud of who we were. No country is perfect and we should not shy away from mistakes that were made with indigenous people.
However we also need to stand up and be proud of our accomplishments and also of our national character, which is generally kind, polite and reflective. Otherwise we run the risk of leaving our children and grandchildren no country to be proud of. That would be a shame.
Yours is a good example of the lack of nuance in critical thinking. There was and is no genocide. No one wanted to kill all First Nations people. Had that been the goal, it could have been easily accomplished. John A. MacDonald and many others thought education would bring people living ancient subsistence ways into the European present. And that there was no other option. After trading for guns and metal pots, was there any going back? Trucks, four wheelers and skidoos followed, yet many (most?) First Nations communities still operate as they have historically, on a subsistence level, all of which is sanctioned and subsidized under the Indian Act
Many Canadians, (most?) do not understand why we can't get rid of the Indian Act. It's because Indians can't agree they would be better off without it.
I agree the word genocide should never be used to describe Canadian society. But why can we not call the Indian Act for what it is, legalized racism, apartheid?
May I humbly suggest the book “True Reconciliation” Jody Wilson Raybould, it helped my perspective immensely.
Yes of course. Appreciate the recommendation. I can't take Raybould seriously since she botched the Justice portfolio. But talking about this issue in a full and frank way is something we need to do.
I read Sebastian Yungers book Tribe. He discusses the interesting phenomenon where captured westerners wanted to stay in there new tribe where captured First Nations almost always went back to their tribe. Also found the story of Kondiaronk fascinating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kondiaronk
As I understand it he ended up influencing European philosophers of his time which influenced some of our thinking today, specifically around ideas of individual freedom.
My crazy thought is does our long standing challenge with the Indian act provide us an opportunity to get Canada out of its current situation. Where is the win win between our First Nations people and the Western migration that followed? If we need to reset our current political framework is this not an opportunity? If as hard a problem as it is, we achieved it, could we not come out of this with a model for other states dealing with similar challenges? Maybe instead of talking the talk (which IMO is all we do now) we should walk the walk. I love the line from the Game of Thrones show we’re Egrit says to John Snow “You know nothing John Snow”.
Love it Roy. You're persistent. And thought full. Of course (not exactly but you'll catch my drift) everyone is nostalgic about the original people and their honest way of living. "We" settlers valourize that, especially the Germans dare we say?
I can imagine a movement to res-establish authentic indigeneity, low to no carbon footprint, minimal technology, old school family values. Clams, dynastic family leadership. Subsistence but sustainable.
But I'm obviously not the person to do that. Are you? Where are the now well educated First Nations scholars getting ahead of the curve, the avant garde.
I would listen to something like that, not mired in the past.
Thanks for the reply. Really agree with what you said. I’m not interested in the past or some idealistic notion that’s not possible in a modern world. Just keeping an open mind and trying to learn a bit along the way. Enjoyed the conversation. Cheers.
I’m not sure if the Indian Act should be thought of as apartheid or legal racism even though, I agree, it may be responsible for contributing to inequality of Indigenous people. As you mentioned, previous governments wanted to get rid of the Indian Act, but Indigenous leaders, at the time, did not want this to happen. South Africans, oppressed under the apartheid system, would have welcomed an end to the system if it was offered earlier. It seems different…….I’m also wary of the word apartheid because, like genocide, it is being applied to more and more situations. However, I agree that all Canadians should be able to talk about the issues that concern us in a full and frank way. The more people that contribute to the conversation, including Indigenous people, the more likely it is that we can overcome difficulties and move forward together.
The bureaucratic state has exploded in Canada since this version of the Liberal party has been elected. They want to control everything from the Prime Ministers office, including the private sector, the media, education the courts what we are allowed to drive where we are allowed to live what we are allowed to say and think and view on the internet and on and on. And meanwhile everything gets more and more expensive for the poor and working class. I don't know how you could call these people "leftists" including the NDP. They are the complete manifestation of the PMC.
I think this set of elites are worse than the ones I grew up with (I'm in my 50's). Not only are they richer than everyone else, but they're better than everyone else morally too.
It's no wonder artists who are traditionally the rebels of our societies have been completely neutered. These people are cowed into submission, the class first leftists of my youth have been cowed into submission and Justin Trudeau, one of the most privileged people in Canadian history, is looked at as some revolutionary. & I guess they are, just not in the way I would want. It just blows my mind.
Anyways spot on Tara. Great piece. Canada is definitely in big trouble.
I agree. But I think the real problem is that these control freaks are actually the dumbest collection of “leaders” in Canadian history. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that Trudo’s IQ is 40 points lower than Harper’s. He’s Biden with darker hair.
You hit some good points on our country's decline. I think there are some other points that also need to be addressed as factors in the country's decline.
1) multiculturalism, has generally failed because the population and the political class failed to keep the Canadian culture dominate that would otherwise make multiculturalism actually work. This can be attached to the wokism problem because their sole goal is to destory Western Civilisation.
2), mass immigration and saying all cultures are equal has resulted in large diaspora population not integrating into Canada. The number of riots and sword fights in Brampton Ontario between sikhs and hindus is unacceptable. One can argue Canada is being colonized by India and China.
3) the constant need/action for Canada to be Not American. This is a long standing problem from our founding. The gun ban for example, literally was spurred by an American shooting. Or all the BLM virtue signals spurred by an incident(s) in America. Canada needs to solve its actual problems not reacting to someone elses just to claim a brownie point from reactionary voters.
4) political apathy. People know that it does not matter who they vote for, the partieq are like M&Ms they look different on the outside but they are all the same inside. There is barely a difference between them. Either that or voters do not care to vote. Voter turn out illustrates that. Not to mention that political parties generally do not vote the way their constitutes want them, party discpline takes priority.
Thats my two cents.
Thanks so much for this, Tara - i think it's one of the best articles yet that you have written for your Substack. As you allude to toward the end, a large question becomes: how in the world do we get out of this "polarization spiral"? Certainly economic class is a part of it - but i am skeptical if that alone will do it. At the heart of this is a sense of social fragmentation that haunts everything - we have all been told that the goal of being a flourishing human is create ourselves in our own image, to be "self made" men and women and to define our own ends. One can argue that there are clear benefits to this kind of philosophical anthropology: lots of (primarily negative) individual freedom; protected by proliferating forms of "rights"; strongly encouraged market entrepreneurship, etc. Yet until we fully come to terms with the social costs to this approach, and especially their connection to the philosophical anthropology that undergirds them, i fear we will just be continually chasing the tail. We need a more robust notion of "freedom", one more than simply "choosing" to be a man or women in spite of biology, or just "choosing" to not be vaccinated because of "my choice, my body." Does choosing something - anything, really - ourselves make it in itself moral? Or does it need to be grounded in an end that is (at least relatively) stable and, to say the "t" word, even true?
Thanks again, Tara, for distilling lots of phenomena down into a clear articulation of the state of things in Canada. You are working hard at reading the "signs of the times."
Tara,
I have frequently been impressed by your articles but this was special. The best summary I have seen of the slide in Canada's position (both internally & externally). I was not lucky enough to have been born in Canada but one of the proudest days in my life was when I became a Canadian citizen. Sadly, I have to say that I am not so proud of that anymore. The emphasis on identity politics that cynically tries to divide us has been a real poison for our society and this has been combined with a lack of seriousness externally to the point where I don't believe that Canada is seen as a country that stands for much at all. How very sad. Hopefully we can dig ourselves out of this hole of our own making. Keep up the good work!
The polarization in our society is not all due to 'the woke', 'the left', 'elites' or the Trudeau gov't. We have a Federal opposition party which feeds on rage-farming rather than offering solutions.
There's a quote from Molly Ivins that I'm very fond of: "Polarizing people is a good way to win an election and also a good way to wreck a country." I see that polarization happening on BOTH sides of the political spectrum.
That may be true but for now the Liberals and the NDP are in charge. The problems Tara has outlined here have happened under their watch, not the Conservatives.
The problems Tara has identified have happened under all of our watches.
As an example, the seeds of the housing crisis were planted decades ago, not just the last 10 years. We have a rental housing (& homelessness) crisis because gov't's of all stripes got out of supporting low-income housing. Nimby's in suburbia & higher-income neighbourhooods have fought higher-density (or social) housing in their backyards. It wasn't the Liberals or NDP who engaged in real estate bidding wars which rapidly drove up the costs of real estate. These are just a few things that come immediately to mind.
IMO you've kind of proved my point about polarization when you immediately go to blaming the Liberals & NDP without acknowledging that Conservatives play a part also.
The housing crisis has spiraled completely out of control in the last 10 years. I don't know if you subscribe to Terry Glavins newsletter but even the free version goes into this in detail with graphs showing that yes there was an increase in rent and house prices starting in 2000 but it has exploded under the Liberals. Why can't housing get built in cities completely controlled by LIberals and NDPers? There are no conservatives on city council in big cities and that includes Peterborough where I lived until recently. Regulations especially environmental make in impossible to built anything.
I agree that we don't need most new housing to be single family homes and that there should be high density around transit.
Other people here have mentioned the incredibly high immigration levels that have reduced supply. That started as soon as the LIberals became government. Also non permanent residents in Canada has exploded which also fuels housing shortages.
Liberals and NDP run city council. Yes Conservative premiers have fueled some of the problems. They mostly want their major donors to be happy and major donors want their and their allies bank balances to grow. And they have. The gap between rich and poor has also exploded on the watch of the 'left". That's because class has gone out of fashion as a measure of privelege.
NIMBY's can pull a lever but untimately it is the municipal provincial and federal governements who control the factors that relate to housing imo.
I'll just note that NIMBY's have always had a really outsize lever to pull in municipal politics. Going back 50 years or more.
Yes, as a supporter of the conservative party I have pointed out several time in emails that they will get more votes with practical solutions than with rage farming. They must figure their popularity is due to their attacks on the Liberals as they are not listening to me.
I intend to do what my Irish Great Grandmother did back in the 19th century. Vote with my feet! When a country like Canada becomes unliveable it's time to pack up and leave, if you can! Sayonara! it was nice knowing ya!
Perfect! Marx vs Mao. Universalist pro-worker vs identitarian pro-plutocrat.
Most commentators intentionally miss the fact that wokist divisiveness benefits Jeff Bezos and ruins the working class.
Machiavelli didn't miss the connection.
Great analysis Tara. As an anecdotal piece it is interesting to note that over holiday parties I increasingly heard people talk about leaving Canada. Somewhat surprising to me to hear as I came here thinking that it was a great place to move given the steady collapse we are seeing in Europe for instance. It is not that dire of a situation just yet, but there is indeed a lot of work ahead of the country to get back on track.
My dear Tara, most of the events you described in the downfall of Canadian society were planned. The government is not so stupid they would not try to correct some of these things such as housing shortages that led to sky high prices. Canada has the highest regulation and longest lead time of the development industry in the world according to an IMF report a few years ago. To get a housing project approved can take 5 to 10 years before a single house is built. As Mayor Bob Morrow once said in the 1990's, "Mandatory planning hasn't done a thing for Hamilton" The Covid malfeasance has and is being explored by many substackers (Steve Kirsch, Robert Malone, etc) and the conclusion is most of the Covid deaths in 2020 were due to changed patient protocols that guaranteed death to otherwise survivable cases. The twitter files exposed government interference in freedom of speech so only the "government narrative" was seen by the public. Part of plan is the taking away of guns from people which is one of the first things a facist state does to control the public. Australia did it and Trudeau is doing his darnest to remove guns from the public here while simultaneously ligtening the sentences for gun crime. Margaret Thatcher famously said "You can vote in socialism but you have to SHOOT YOUR WAY OUT. I can go on and on about other events however it is time for your readers to do their own due diligence and do their own research to satisfy themselves about what I am saying.
Perhaps nearer to your heart, Trudeau's government provided a 5 year, $15,000 per employee subsidy to newsroom staff at "selected Media outlets" in 2018 right before the 2019 election. He renewed it in 2023 for 2 more years until the 2025 election and subsequently doubled it to $30,000 per employee. Given the positive Mainstream Media coverage of the Liberals here and the negative or absence of coverage for the Conservatives, no one is going to tell me the near bankrupt MSM isn't playing ball for the liberals.
Fantastic piece. A great start to 2024. Happy New Year!
Tara, you nailed it. Spot on. I’ve forwarded this to my friends and family.
Bravo Tara! Seems to me the unfortunate way these ideas are perpetuated is through once valued institutions where the persons within are caught by the short hairs. Do your job, punch out, complain in private or not at all. The way forward, that is harder but so necessary. Thanks for helping.