I applaud Peterborough mayor Diane Therrien's assessment of them. And rather than treat them with kid gloves or pander to them a la Pierre Poilievre, more political leaders need to strongly denounce them and their disruptive, illegal tactics. I want nothing to do with them.
And I will lump these people into the results of a recent Abacus poll. When asked the question, All things considered, which is a better place to live - Canada or the U.S.? 91 % of Canadians polled preferred Canada, of course, The other 9% did not.
Looking into how they answered the other questions, reveals that the plurality of younger men [those under 45] think they would be better off financially and enjoy life more if they were living in the US.
Conservative voters also tended to be less keen on Canada.
Only 60% think they have better health care than they would have in the US, and only just over a third think Canada is a better place to earn a living and enjoy life.
Those who are unvaccinated against Covid, of which the deranged are a large part, also have reservations about our home and native land.
Only half of this group think living in Canada means being safer from violence or having better health care. A plurality thinks they would be better off financially and enjoy life more living in the United States.
Now I realize that I am conflating the 9 % with the crazies, but it seems to me that they all have something in common: an unwillingness or an inability to see things as they really are. By objective standards, there really is no basis to argue that life in the U.S. is better, unless one thinks the freedom to engage in violence, to carry and use guns at will, to support insurrectionists, and elevate cult-like movements as legitimate expressions of democracy is preferable to life here at home.
In which case, all I can say is, Don't let the door hit you on your way out.
A very fine Post, Lorne
ReplyDeleteWith zero Malice (or aforethought) I might opine that the daily barrage of ‘POLLS’ ain’t good for our Canadian Social Health
At the same time, here in Canada eh.. er.. uh.. ummm
in the middle of the Caribbean where I’m commenting from
I may fight Fire with Fire.. as a salamander is certainly going to win out at that.. and Proclaim a Brand Spankin New POLL
That’s RIGHT ! Publish a ‘PERSONAL IMPERTINENT POLL’ !
Is that an ‘Ethical’ thing to do.. ? & If Not - Why not !
I has ‘Rights & Freedoms’ last I looked.. my ear is to the ground too ! Will update as it comes to uh .. ‘Fruition’ & may appoint you and some other LOVELY SUSPECTS to the Bored of Direction
I’m thinking such a POLL can replace ELECTIONS.. !
.. since so many now profess to tell US with astonishing Degrees of Invincibility.. how we will VOTE ANYWAYS.. EH ! 🏴☠️ 🦎 🏴☠️
Hope you are enjoying the Turks and Caicos, Sal, as I recall you mentioning it on your Twitter feed. As they say, polls are only "snapshots in time" but, political polls during elections do, no doubt, influence voting. I don't remember in my youth facing a tsunami of such polls. But, of course today, we are told that everything is 'data-driven;' I would prefer that more people thought for themselves instead of letting public opinion dictate their choices.
DeleteSo, ever since ETFO and the OSSTF used me as a whipping boy (punishing students to get at the Harris gov't) and then a bargaining chip in contract negotiations (when they went on strike), I've been fairly right of center (I joined the youth wing of the ONPCs in 1998).
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you write a lot about right wing violence, which is rare, as opposed to the real threat which is clearly on the left amd manifests almost daily in the news.
Je mais souviens the G8 protests in Toronto where left wing protesters set businesses and cop cars on fire. Je mais souviens the occupy movement where left wingers took over parks across the continent. Je mais souviens the black lives matter movement which is clearly Marxist and calls for the abolition of the family unit (shall I go on with the myriad of examples I can pull out of a hat?)
However, this blog and this writer are correctly identified as opinion journalism (like Tucker Carleson at FOX)...let's not conflate that with real news
Thank you for your comments, Anon. I can appreciate how, as a student, you became disaffected with educators, but, from my perspective, the actions we took at that time were justified. And may I remind you that the right to strike is something that teachers are legally entitled to.
DeleteHowever, I am not sure that I really write much about right-wing violence. It Is the crazed right-wing that I have problems with. Basic political and philosophical differences don't bother me, except when they are shrill and unhinged.
As for your examples, it is to the discredit of the protestors during the G8 protests that they did not stop the few anarchists within their midst who resorted to the smashing of windows and setting one police car on fire, thereby enabling the police to take extraordinary repressive measures.
The Occupy Movement, of course, as far as I recall, was without violence on the part of the occupiers. The same cannot be said of the authorities at some points during those protests.
You denounce the BLM as a Marxist-fueled movement, yet I see no evidence offered to support such an assertion. The same with your claim they are out to abolish the family unit.
While I respect your right to your opinion, I dispute the veracity of your claims.
P.S. Anon. In terms of the wealth of right-wing violence, the January 6 insurrection readily comes to mind, as does the attempt to violently kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, for which two were just convicted: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/politics/michigan-whitmer-verdict/index.html
DeleteOn violence.
ReplyDeletehttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35858413/
TB
Thanks for the link, TB. For me, the key finding is this:
Delete"Across both datasets, we find that radical acts perpetrated by individuals associated with left-wing causes are less likely to be violent. In the United States, we find no difference between the level of violence perpetrated by right-wing and Islamist extremists."
The sad part about violence at any event is that it can be executed by the opposition. We will never know but how much off the violence during Black Lives Matter protests was done by the boys in the camo pants?
ReplyDeleteInstalling Agent provocateurs seems to be standard operating procedure for some police bodies, Anon. They also seem to have their marksmanship skills well-tuned when it comes to shooting unarmed Black people in the back.
DeleteDiane Therrien needs to run for parliament. She could be a great PM.
ReplyDeleteHer strong voice needs to be heard, jrk, but my understanding is she is not running for mayor again. I hope she's not burnt out from politics.
Delete