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9·2 days agoAll this effort instead of constructing traffic calming road features. Oh wait, that doesn’t generate revenue…
Speed cameras actually generate very little revenue compared to the financial cost of car crashes: Ambulances, drugs, police, surgeons. If speeding fines were to truly reflect the social cost of car crashes, they would be significantly higher.
Also, the people who oppose speed cameras will absolutely FREAK OUT if you propose to reduce lanes. Look at what just happened to Toronto bike lanes.
This is a great article from Dalhousie University.
Justin Trudeau tried to reduce the use of single use plastics. He faced enormous political backlash. Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party, campaigned on defending plastics:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-scrap-plastics-ban-1.7514037
Poilievre claimed that the federal Plastics ban was inflicting financial pain on Canadian families
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bri5-IqHqw
Evidence‑based solutions are indeed under political fire.
I studied in Montreal and I left the country a long time ago. Yet I still pay close attention to Canadian politics. Because I really want to see Canada improve.
How can I say this without offending anyone?
I feel I can speak my mind bluntly precisely because I am a foreigner.
Brutal truth
Many Alberta politicians act like absolute cunts.
Alberta is one of the Jewels of Canada. It was named after Princess Louise Alberta, the favorite daughter of Queen Victoria, it’s a province that was blessed with great beauty and enormous ressources.
One of the responsibility of having enormous natural ressources is managing sustainably to ensure the next generations can live in a good environment.
In 1974, the New York Times reported the province has SO MUCH money it doesn’t know what to do with it:
ALBERTA FLOODED WITH OIL REVENUE
At time when most governments at every level, are struggling hard to stay solvent, Alberta, which produces 83 per cent of Canada’’ oil, has more money than it knows what to do with.
Yet all I hear is constant whining, whining, whining. Why? What the hell is going on?
According to Statistics Canada, under Justin Trudeau, Alberta reached the highest oil production levels in modern history. In fact, Justin Trudeau opened a brand new pipeline:
For the fourth consecutive year, production of crude oil and equivalent products reached a record high, up 4.3% from 2023 to 298.8 million cubic metres in 2024.
The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion began operation in May 2024, providing Alberta crude oil with increased access to Pacific Ocean terminals and markets abroad.
Despite this, all I keep hearing from Alberta politicians is how evil Justin oppressed/raped/humiliated ordinary Albertans. This is insane.
Alberta politicians just keep whining about environmental rules. If they want their constituents to have cancer because of heavy metals from fracking and mining, if they want Alberta lakes and rivers polluted by plastics, it’s horrible, but it’s their choice.
The core issue is these Alberta corrupt politicians seem determined to blow up the planet, claiming there is no alternative. Fort McMurray burned the fuck down. Jasper burned the fuck down. But clearly the Alberta political leaders learned nothing from it.
Alberta has produced many great artists, historians, authors, scientists. They gave Canada many great figures. I hope that one day, people take back their province from these crooks. They deserve better than their current dumbass leaders. I believe Alberta should aim to be like mini-Norway.
Norwegians heavily tax oil and don’t let filthy rich Oil CEOs get away with murder. Norway has an investment fund to support the next generations. But they are extremely environmentally conscious. Norway invests heavily in electric cars, public transit, and takes strong measures against plastic pollution. It would be very sad if Albertan leaders led their province to become like so many ressource-rich failed states
11·13 days agoSorry!! I thought it could also belong here
9·13 days agoAs a non-Brit, I watch what’s happening like it’s a slow motion car wreck.
France has 2 round parliamentary elections.
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First round: You vote for someone to represent your constituency. Only 2 candidates remain.
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Second round: Two weeks later, it’s the second round. You vote for one of the 2 candidates that won the first round. The winner becomes an MP.
Throughout France, Marine Lepen candidates won 35% to 40% of the votes in the first round. They qualified for the second round. Luckily, in the second round, citizens rallied against Lepen candidates, voting for whoever was their opponent.
What will happen if Nigel Farage gets 35% or 40% 😲? You don’t have a second round…
If France used the FPTP voting system, Marine Lepen would be ruling the country with a huge majority in Parliament.
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2·14 days agoYou got me.
I should have read the rules more carefully next time. I will delete it!!
Since when Iran has any terrorists in the united state and canada?
Are you serious…?
Canadian Intelligence foiled an Iranian attempt to assassinate a former minister:
According to a source, the RCMP on Oct. 26 informed Mr. Cotler, a former Liberal justice minister, that he faced imminent threat of assassination within 48 hours from Iranian agents.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) told him that he was a high-profile target of Iran. The close protection provided to Mr. Cotler includes bulletproof vehicles, heavily armed officers and other security measures.
Iranians agents tried to kidnap a woman in New York City:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/nyregion/iran-masih-alinejad-kidnapping.html
Iranians agents tried to blow up the Saudi Ambassador to the United States:
https://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/30/justice/new-york-saudi-assassination-plot
deleted by creator
As part of her climate change plan, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is pedestrianizing streets, building bike lanes, and planting trees. The goal is to reduce carbon emissions, reduce traffic noise and make the city more able to resist heat.
She has been very aggressive and upset some car drivers. But the results are starting to pay off.
Controversial opinion: This is actually a very good thing.
I’m not British, so I should not get involved in British Politics. But privatizing water was a mistake of epic proportions. Keir Starmer needs to have some guts and nationalize it. Enough is enough.
The trash media (The Sun, Daily Hate Mail) talks about poor people stealing welfare, while corporate financiers stole BILLIONS OF POUNDS from you and your families:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw4478wnjdpo
Who privatized water? Margaret Thatcher.
After her time in office, she became a lobbyist for tobacco companies:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-19-mn-4763-story.html
They even paid her birthday party:
Philip Morris’s chief executive, Geoffrey Bible, will chair the dinner. A spokesman for the company said: “Philip Morris is writing the Thatcher Foundation a cheque to cover the cost of the party. That leaves all the money made, like ticket sales, as profit to the foundation.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tobacco-giant-pays-for-1m-thatcher-bash-1576517.html
It says it all, doesn’t it?
Please take your water back!!! Write to your MPs.
8·21 days agoI love Australia. I love Australian people 🇦🇺 ❤️.
But this company and it’s criminal owner (Rupert Murdoch) have inflicted more damage than anyone else to english speaking democracies.
Shame.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68615789
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/rupert-murdochs-american-scandals-243127/
One reason why I give money to The Guardian Australia is because I hate the facts so many people get their news from Newcorp :/
It’s a tram/light rail project meant to connect a large island in Eastern Helsinki with downtown. The most significant part are 3 new bridges that only carry trams, cyclists and pedestrians.
The tram will start operation in 2027, but the bridges are opened for pedestrian traffic as they are completed. The next one should be finished later this summer.
Here’s a short video of the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTW2VIf5k0I
But the tax is set to be fully repealed on July 1. Its abolition was one of the first acts of Premier John Hogan, who took office in May. He said it was contributing to affordability issues in the province.
Very short-sighted decision.
Obesity costs the Canadian Healthcare system billions of dollars every year:
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-025-21905-2
Currently, most Canadian politicians are treating people like little children.
It’s time to tell people the brutal truth:
“We can end traffic jams in our city. But we are going to increase parking fees. We are going to build a bike lane network. Many drivers will be unhappy and will have to change their habits. Do you think it’s worth it?”
“We can reduce the number of car crashes. Less people will die. Less people will be injured. But the number of speed cameras will increase. A lot of speeding citizens are going to receive fines and will be furious. Getting a driver license will also become much harder for older people. Do you think it’s worth it?”
“We can make our healthcare system more financially sustainable. We can do that by increasing your income tax. Or we can increase the sales tax. Or we can tax all business owners. Or we can increase the alcohol tax and sugar tax. Which tax do you prefer? What do you think?”
“We can reduce gun trafficking. We will do it by tripling the number of inspections of trucks and cars coming from the United States. But this means longer waiting times at border crossings. The number of american tourists will be reduced. The price of some imported things may also increase. Should we do it?”
"We can significantly reduce homelessness. But we are going to build very tall buildings like in Eastern Europe blocks. We will ban cities from opposing housing projects that meet legal norms. In many neighborhoods, individual homeowners will be outraged. What do you think? Should we do it?
No pain, no gain. It’s true at the gym. But it’s also true in politics.
There are some decisions that are easy wins : cracking down on tax evasion, using open source software, stronger ethics laws.
Unfortunately, most decision aren’t easy wins. They actually require some pain if you want gains.
Time to start treating people like adults. Tell them the brutal truth.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. I’m not Australian, but you still have some very good Australian news organizations:
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The Sydney Morning Herald
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The Guardian
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC
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Crikey
I believe the real issue is that people are actually attracted to clickbait nonsense.
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I’m not a Canadian citizen. I studied in Quebec before moving back to my country. I love Canada and I follow Canadian politics very closely.
Justin Trudeau has done some disappointing things. Bill C-59 is not one of them.
In fact, I believe Bill C-59 is perhaps the single greatest bill adopted under Justin Trudeau.
This bill gives enormous new powers to the Competition Bureau:
https://theconversation.com/canadas-competition-laws-just-changed-heres-what-you-need-to-know-220020
This bill also allows the Competition Bureau to punish companies that knowingly lie about their environmental record:
https://ccli.ubc.ca/bill-c-59-anti-greenwashing/
Here is a funny thing that happened. A few hours before Bill C-59 was set to pass, some oil companies started deleting content from their websites:
Pathways Alliance, a coalition of Canadian tar sands producers aiming to build a massive carbon capture project in Alberta, scrubbed their website of its content June 19.
In its place is a notice indicating the organization “removed content from our website, social media and other public communications” and that they had done so in response to anticipated changes coming with Bill C-59.
https://www.desmog.com/2024/06/20/pathways-alliance-website-scrubbed-ahead-of-new-greenwashing-law/
It’s just outrageous to see Danielle Smith and these CEOs whine like that about Bill-C59.
If you don’t break the law by knowingly lying, you have nothing to fear.
You know the worst thing about this story ?
This was published recently 👇👇👇
Alberta paid more than 6 times usual price for pain medications in $70-million import deal
Alberta purchased children’s pain medication from Turkey at a price more than six times greater than what the provincial health authority normally pays for the same volume of product, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail.
The Alberta government explained in 2022 that the manufacturer required a minimum order of five million bottles - or $70-million worth of drugs - to get the deal done. But a briefing note, obtained by The Globe, indicates the health authority could have reduced its total bill by ordering less medicine, albeit at a higher price per bottle.
5 million bottles equated to roughly eight bottles for every child in the province.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-turkish-pain-medication-deal-prices/
The United States and Canada have the most expensive elevators in the world. Prices charged in North America are at least three times those charged by the same manufacturers in comparable mid-rise buildings in high-income countries in Western Europe.
As a result, the U.S. and Canada have fewer elevators per capita than any other high-income country for which data could be found
Unique North American elevator standards have led to no discernible improvement in safety outcomes compared to those in Europe.
https://admin.centerforbuilding.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Elevatorsexecutivesummary.pdf
Canada has a very high immigration rate combined with strict zoning rules.
The result? The country is facing the worse housing crisis in the Western world. Rents have increased at double digits. Visible homelessness has skyrocketed. People are ending up on the streets. Landlords are abusing vulnerable women.
Olivia Chow claims to be a progressive fighting for ordinary people.
That turned out to be a lie. If you live in a country with a major housing crisis and oppose making housing more affordable, you aren’t a progressive.