# \[Canada\] Trudeau gets to work **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709 "2015-11-05T14:28:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/121 "2015-11-13T19:49:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > No. The CPC did not, in terms of popular support, regress towards a Reform Party pattern; rather, it contracted its overall vote count in every single region of Canada **except Quebec** : > > NL: 2011 28.4 - 2015 10.3 > PE: 2011 41.2 - 2015 19.3 > NS: 2011 36.7 - 2015 17.9 > NB: 2011 - 2015 25.3 > QC - 2011 16.5 - 2015 16.7 > ON - 2011 44.4 - ON 35.0 > MB - 2011 53.5 - 2015 37.3 > SK - 2011 56.3 - 2011 48.5 > AB - 2011 66.8 - 2015 49.5 > BC - 2011 45.5 - 2015 30.0 Thank you for this in-depth analysis - I see where you’re coming from. My comments were based more in simply looking at maps of the 2011 vs the 2015 election results. I concede the point. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/122 "2015-11-13T19:51:46Z")
[The Government of Canada is back.](http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/brison-says-governments-brand-is-canada-not-trudeau) Now that “The Harper Government” is gone, it is nice to have confirmation that we do NOT have “The Trudeau Government”. We’re back to normal, and have a Government of Canada again. > [@](#): > > Canada’s public servants will no longer have to “brand” all government communications by using the prime minister’s name, said Treasury Board President Scott Brison. > > Brison said all government communications will return to the traditional use of “Government of Canada,” and won’t refer to the “Trudeau government” as the Conservatives branded departmental new releases and backgrounders with the “Harper government.” > > “We are committed to this being the government of Canada,” said Brison in an interview. “We are not going from one leader’s brand to the next leader’s brand in terms of naming of our government. We are the government of Canada and it should always have been the government of Canada.” ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/123 "2015-11-13T20:47:06Z")
I think a good canary test for when to boot out a prime minister is when the government is branded by that person or party. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/124 "2015-11-13T21:12:05Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Come to think of it, the gap insurers in Canada can best be described as pieces of shit, similar to American health insurers. For example, my coverage included endodontics and fillings. The insurer denied a root canal and denied the glue used to attach a filing. It took a call to each of their legal departments to get them to cut cheques. Sadly, that is the nature of health insurers these days. Yep, I remember when I had a broken front tooth, which is an awful thing not just for practicality and appearance, but you can’t even talk without a lisp! And my dentist immediately put in a temporary, and sent an X-ray to the insurance company. Claim denied! They said there was no reason to pay for it, as the image already showed a functional tooth in place! I think my dentist sent them a nasty letter explaining what a “temporary” was, but I really got a good impression then of what basic health care must be like under private insurance. Really unbelievable. In Canada when I need health care I just go to a doctor or a hospital and get it. We really should cover dental, too, under the universal plan, like the UK does. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/125 "2015-11-13T21:12:28Z")
Incidentally I am taking bets, offering 3-2 odds, that Trudeau will be re-elected. Why? Well, because in Canada, that’s what we do, at least at a federal level; parties are almost ALWAYS re-elected. Since the First World War ended and the Unionist Party was disbanded, there have been only two exceptions in a century; 1. R.B. Bennett interrupting Mackenzie King’s run, and 2. The Joe Clark hiccup interrupting Trudeau’s run. Even before that, if you count the Unionist party as an extension Borden’s government, which really we should, there’s only one other one-term example, and again it’s an interruption of a longer-service Prime Minister; Alexander Mackenzie’s one term in the middle of MacDonald’s run. If you can, _get people to bet with you on this._ [QUOTE=wolfpup] We really should cover dental, too, under the universal plan, like the UK does. [/QUOTE] I am sure there’s some historical explanation for this, but I’ve always found it baffling as to why our health insurance schemes don’t cover teeth. I mean, my teeth are rather indisputably part of my body. Quite an important part, in fact. If anything they’re an extension of my skeleton, and if I break part of that, OHIP covers the treatment. In fact, they have, and I’m sure fixing my broken arm cost a hell of a lot more than filling a cavity. I suppose someone will argue that people have to take care of their teeth and medical insurance will demotivate them from that, but nobody wants to go to the hospital for anything, much less to see a dentist. And anyway, we don’t distinguish in any other way between wise and unwise behaviour in terms of treating things. If I have a heart attack because I eat two Whoppers a day they’ll still treat me. It’s as if they decided “Okay, so we’re gonna have universal health insurance… but not for kidneys. To hell with kidneys! For that you’ll need private insurance.” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/126 "2015-11-13T21:44:49Z")
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered Vancouver’s [Kitsilano Coast Guard station re-opened](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trudeau-orders-kits-coast-guard-open-1.3318028) in a mandate letter to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Hunter Tootoo. > [@](#): > > Support for the decision was echoed by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who in a statement called the initiative “great news for our city, and the safety of our harbour and local waters.” > “This new government in Ottawa has been very responsive to the needs of Vancouver,” he said. > [@](#): > > According to the city, the base responded to more than 300 calls every year, making it one of the busiest in the country. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/127 "2015-11-13T22:12:08Z")
My best guess is that universal health care was centered on hospitalization (the initial federal Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act), so doctor’s, often tending to patients in hospitals, had their clinics tagged onto universal health care. Since dentists seldom work in the hospital (where AFAIK OHIP covers them), they were not considered to be part of the hospital based health care coverage. Same for drugs, which fifty or so years ago were not as extensive or as expensive as today. It’s a very unfortunate historical oddity that needs to be fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/128 "2015-11-13T22:47:32Z")
It was a political decision by the Pearson government, based on finances and the ability to persuade people to support the programme, I believe. Emmett Hall, that [del]crazy socialist radical[/del] pillar of the Conservative establishment, recommended a much broader range of coverage in the Hall Report. If I remember correctly, he wanted dentistry and pharmacy included. Pearson’s Cabinet balked, I think because of the cost, but also because of the political concern that if they tried to go too far it would stir up too much opposition. Medical care from doctors and hospitals was the core of the Hall Report and the part that had the greatest popular appeal, so that’s what Pearson ultimately went with. ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/129 "2015-11-14T04:43:32Z")
Our new prime minister made a promise to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees before the end of this year. With what has transpired in Paris earlier today, do you supporters of Trudeau feel he should continue with carrying out this promise, or should he hold off and proceed at a slower speed? My thoughts were that for this promise to be carried out, and up until now the government has been heading in that direction, it was a very reckless move on their part. I believe last year Canada brought in about 24,000 refugees. So to attempt similar numbers in less than two months could lead to confusion and ultimate embarrassment for Canada on the world stage. Now with the terrorist attacks in Paris, I feel the government absolutely has to back off until the dust settles. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/130 "2015-11-14T17:57:51Z")
If anything it strengthens my resolve to assist the refugees. I feel it is important enough to assist the innocents fleeing their homes and lives that a slightly increased possibility of an attack in Canada is worth the risk. I also believe that we should look hard at why ISIS set up these attacks (or at least claimed responsibility). It doesn’t take a mind reader to know that on the heels of such an attack there would be calls to end accepting refugees as well as inflaming feelings of xenophobia against Muslims (that seems to lie just below the surface in many Western Nations). I feels that knowing this is a fairly predictable outcome of the attacks points toward it possibly being one of the goals of the attacks. That alone, to me, provides good reason to take a hard look before deciding to stop accepting refugees. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/131 "2015-11-14T18:10:20Z")
Trudeau has given his mandate letters to his ministers, and for the first time in history, [these letters have been released to the public.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-s-plans-revealed-in-ministers-mandate-letters-1.3318022) This is such a 180 degree turn from our previous government, it is nothing less than amazing. Open, transparent government. Yet some are attacking him. My favourite is when the Parliamentary Budget Office revealed last week that the claim of a budget surplus by Harper was complete and utter crap…Then Tony “Gazebo” Clement had the unmitigated gall to blather ““We want to know how the Liberals will avoid falling deeper into the fiscal hole,”” Good God. Tony’s party created this fiscal hole. They lied about it during the election. NOW, he demands to know how the Liberals will fix it. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/132 "2015-11-14T20:18:32Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > If anything it strengthens my resolve to assist the refugees. I feel it is important enough to assist the innocents fleeing their homes and lives that a slightly increased possibility of an attack in Canada is worth the risk. > > I also believe that we should look hard at why ISIS set up these attacks (or at least claimed responsibility). It doesn’t take a mind reader to know that on the heels of such an attack there would be calls to end accepting refugees as well as inflaming feelings of xenophobia against Muslims (that seems to lie just below the surface in many Western Nations). I feels that knowing this is a fairly predictable outcome of the attacks points toward it possibly being one of the goals of the attacks. That alone, to me, provides good reason to take a hard look before deciding to stop accepting refugees. I can’t add anything to this except ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/133 "2015-11-14T20:38:54Z")
The message below was sent out to military staff and DND civilian staff: Message from Prime Minister Trudeau to the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence “During my travels across Canada, I have had the honour of meeting veterans, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and Department of National Defence (DND) civilians and I have tremendous pride in their service to our country. Their message was clear: Canada needs to take care of its military the way its military takes care of Canada.” ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/134 "2015-11-14T22:13:47Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > If anything it strengthens my resolve to assist the refugees. I feel it is important enough to assist the innocents fleeing their homes and lives that a slightly increased possibility of an attack in Canada is worth the risk. > > I also believe that we should look hard at why ISIS set up these attacks (or at least claimed responsibility). It doesn’t take a mind reader to know that on the heels of such an attack there would be calls to end accepting refugees as well as inflaming feelings of xenophobia against Muslims (that seems to lie just below the surface in many Western Nations). I feels that knowing this is a fairly predictable outcome of the attacks points toward it possibly being one of the goals of the attacks. That alone, to me, provides good reason to take a hard look before deciding to stop accepting refugees. That makes sense. Remember that [del]ISIS[/del] Daesh is obsessed with killing and terrorizing residents of the Syria-Mesopotamia region. Attacking France is probably intended as a means to that end. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/135 "2015-11-14T22:55:00Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I don’t think you understand what “courage of your convictions” means. If I had called a politician some derogatory name and then later decided I liked them and supported them, one might well ask for an explanation. But I did not. The courage of my convictions is that I have made hundreds of posts over the years critical of most of Harper’s policies, many of them in these forums but also elsewhere since before I joined here, and **they were all backed by cited evidence and I stand by all of them**. That’s what the phrase means. > > If you want to challenge anything of substance I said in those posts, please do so. If you want to keep railing on about frivolous trivia like you feel a particular derogatory adjective I used against a politician was not nice and you disapprove, take it somewhere else. This is not a conversation I’m going to continue because it has zero substance, and secondly, because I started this thread on a positive note of celebration of what I regard as the renaissance of a new kind of government, and I’d like to keep it positive and on topic. I don’t know who you think you are fooling. But it’s not me. I’m not sufficiently dim for you to fool. Find someone a lot dumber and better luck next time. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/136 "2015-11-15T00:25:31Z")
That’s not a challenge anyone really has time for. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/137 "2015-11-15T02:14:18Z")
Charlie’s newfound concern with shaming women for their looks is heartening, given: [Charlie Wayne compares female politician to mule](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18188292&postcount=1); [Charlie Wayne can’t quite get over how ugly Michelle Obama is](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17250417&postcount=251): [Charlie Wayne can’t believe Michelle Obama wore the same dress more than once](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732267&highlight=Dress): [And it was an ugly, ugly dress](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17112420&postcount=28)! [Michelle Obama is an even dumber, uglier ape than her husband](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719231). So, yeah, lard bucket is totally uncalled for but it’s odd that Charlie is doing some of the calling. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/138 "2015-11-15T03:00:47Z")
Trudeau[intends to follow through](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/trudeau-plans-to-follow-through-with-plan-to-withdraw-warplanes-and-resettle-25000-syrian-refugees) with resettling 25,000 refugees from Syria. (according to “sources”) This does not bother me one little bit. I have confidence that our security apparatus is up to the task of screening refugees, and also making sure that they are not radicalized when they are here. This is the MAJOR task ahead, and I think it will be done as well as we can do it. One must also keep in mind that ISIS does not want the west to take in refugees. The attack in Paris was intended (at least in part) to further isolate Syrian refugees. The think is, ISIS, HATES, HATES, HATES moderate Muslims (that make up the vast majority of Muslims), and kills them all the time. They don’t want them to go to the west and become successful. They want them to stay, and remain powerless slaves to ISIS ideology. So for those who want to close our borders to innocent refugees because they are afraid that terrorists might slip in with them… I say: Why do you want to do the work of ISIS for them? And why do you have such little confidence in your fellow Canadian’s ability to do their security jobs? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/139 "2015-11-15T03:18:34Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Trudeau[intends to follow through](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/trudeau-plans-to-follow-through-with-plan-to-withdraw-warplanes-and-resettle-25000-syrian-refugees) with resettling 25,000 refugees from Syria. (according to “sources” > \ > And why do you have such little confidence in your fellow Canadian’s ability to do their security jobs? Probably because with 25 000 people coming from a war zone it’s not that unlikely a few bad apples will sneak through even if our screening is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709/140 "2015-11-15T04:06:57Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Probably because with 25 000 people coming from a war zone it’s not that unlikely a few bad apples will sneak through even if our screening is pretty good. That tends to be my concern – not with the principle, but just with the sheer numbers, which has implications in terms of screening, infrastructure, and capacity for assimilation. By way of comparison, in the US Clinton is committing to 65,000 refugee admissions, and Sanders isn’t committing to a number at all. Don’t even get me started on Republicans, let’s talk about the sane ones. By that standard our numbers are hugely out of whack in terms of relative population – either we should be admitting 6,500 instead of 25,000, or the US should be admitting 250,000. I can’t imagine anyone there supporting such numbers, so why are we trying to do exactly that relative to our capacity? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-trudeau-gets-to-work/736709.md?page=8)