# The great, ongoing Canadian current events and politics thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059 "2011-05-16T03:05:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**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:** [September 11, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/502 "2011-09-11T14:50:10Z")
Even paper money is heavy. When I was a kid, one of my parent’s friends took me inside the vault of one of the Bank of Canada’s repositories, where he asked me if I would like to hold a million dollars. He opened a locker and started loading me up until I collapsed under the weight. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/503 "2011-09-11T15:10:53Z")
Times sure have changed – the respository (St. John, N.B.) where the weight of the Canadian economy laid me out on the floor no longer distributes cash to banks. It’s done electro-magically! [http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Bank-of-Canada-Review-article-Gerrit-Bilkes.pdf](http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Bank-of-Canada-Review-article-Gerrit-Bilkes.pdf) ---
**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:** [September 11, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/504 "2011-09-11T15:14:19Z")
Come to think of it, who the hell first decided to trust Winnipeg with a mint? I mean, Winnipeg? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/505 "2011-09-11T15:35:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > \*Everyone is supposed to float there, because the specific gravity is 1.06 - Jim, my extremely dense husband, got close to floating, but not all the way. Sigh. It was a lovely experience for me, though - I was floating and swimming vertically! He didn’t float at Little Manitou? Do you have one of those ball and chains shackled to his ankle or something? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/506 "2011-09-11T17:56:16Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Come to think of it, who the hell first decided to trust Winnipeg with a mint? I mean, Winnipeg? I think that the answer to this, as in so many of these questions, is “Queen Victoria”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/507 "2011-09-11T18:23:27Z")
Well, I just done been enumerated for our provincial election. Wall’s Sask Party is pretty much a shoe-in for re-election, though my riding is likely to go NDP. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/508 "2011-09-11T18:49:51Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I think that the answer to this, as in so many of these questions, is “Queen Victoria”. 🙂 According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Mint#Winnipeg_facility), a Winnipeg facility wasn’t proposed until the early 1970s, and didn’t open until 1976, so it definitely wasn’t her. Interestingly, the link also states that the Mint has produced coins for over 70 nations–a far cry from the days before the Winnipeg facility existed, when capacity was so restricted that Canadian dimes were produced in Philadelphia. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/509 "2011-09-11T19:08:09Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > .Interestingly, the link also states that the Mint has produced coins for over 70 nations–a far cry from the days before the Winnipeg facility existed, when capacity was so restricted that Canadian dimes were produced in Philadelphia. We make Cuban pennies. Who’d a thunk it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/510 "2011-09-12T02:48:43Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Emotionally, it feels as if my team is serving a 5 game suspension while the other team got 5 for fighting. Remember . Here’s where I think the metaphor breaks down, though; aisde from the 2006 election I don’t think the Liberals really paid much of a political price for Sponsorgate. And I’m not sure they really paid in 2006, either. The Liberals lost in 2006, 2008 and 2011 because, well, they deserved to lose. In 2006 they presented Canada with a leader who looked and sounded like a desperate and scared old man; in 2008 they came back with a guy who had all the zing and panache of processed cheese and I LIKE Stephane Dion); in 2011 they imported an elitist jerk, and by that time just the fact that the party was cycling through leaders was itself a drag. They had no coherent platform in 2006 or 2011 and in 2008 had a platform that was too radical for people to like, though IMHO it had some neat ideas that could have been built upon. But they abandoned it, like they now do everything that doesn’t result in them gaining power immediately. The Conservatives have stuck with a dry but stable leader and always have a clear message. The NDP stuck with the same leader and always had more or less the same message. It worked. If there’s no Sponsorgate (but somehow the 2006 election happens anyway) I suspect, to be honest, that the results would have been more or less the same. **I don’t think people really care about scandals**. I think they used to, but the evidence strongly suggests that they no longer do. Scandals can bring down governments in a vote in the House, but they can’t swing an election. It’s not that people don’t mind; they do mind. It’s that they prioritize other things above scandals. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/511 "2011-09-12T03:10:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > **I don’t think people really care about scandals**. I think they used to, but the evidence strongly suggests that they no longer do. Scandals can bring down governments in a vote in the House, but they can’t swing an election. It’s not that people don’t mind; they do mind. It’s that they prioritize other things above scandals. As a nonaligned voter, I sure don’t care about scandals. I’ve come to the conclusion that there will always be scandals. That doesn’t stop me voting, mind; it simply encourages me to vote for those that seem to be less prone to scandals than the others. Those people seem to change with the wind. No party is as pure as the driven snow. “Your party cheated while mine took steps to ensure a certain outcome” may sound politically correct to the party faithful, but it doesn’t wash with me. Tell me what your party is going to do, because I don’t care about past performances. I know there will always be scandals–that’s the nature of the beast, and I’ll deal. Now, what is your party going to do for me? In short, scandals are a non-factor, because they’re always there. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/512 "2011-09-12T05:57:10Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > No party is as pure as the driven snow. “Your party cheated while mine took steps to ensure a certain outcome” may sound politically correct to the party faithful, but it doesn’t wash with me. Bingo. We argue the details when it is the outcomes that matter. I’ve spent many hours arguing on this board about the positives and negatives of each of the Canadian political parties and I’ve come to the conclusion that they are bad, but some are more bad than others, imho. I can’t vote for the NDP without getting a lobotomy. Even though I can agree with the majority of Liberal policies, I can’t vote for them because of the NEP. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I’m left with the Conservatives, whose policies are essentially interchangeable with the Liberals, but have such odious things as their social ideas re. SSM. Luckily, they have as much chance as getting those passed as I do of winning the lottery (I don’t play). ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/513 "2011-09-12T13:15:56Z")
I hadn’t realized the Zombie P.E.T. was running for the NDP leadership. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/514 "2011-09-12T15:35:22Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > He didn’t float at Little Manitou? Do you have one of those ball and chains shackled to his ankle or something? Was he supposed to take that off?!? THAT explains it! 😃 (He gets instructed occasionally on how to float properly, and he’s not doing it right - I think he has proof positive that he just _does not_ float.) > [@Spoons](#): > > According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Mint#Winnipeg_facility), a Winnipeg facility wasn’t proposed until the early 1970s, and didn’t open until 1976, so it definitely wasn’t her. > > Interestingly, the link also states that the Mint has produced coins for over 70 nations–a far cry from the days before the Winnipeg facility existed, when capacity was so restricted that Canadian dimes were produced in Philadelphia. I found that quite interesting, too; it made perfect sense, once I thought about it - we have the facilities and the materials here, so why not shop out some business? We had the best ice cream we’ve had in a long time last night - at the Dairy King in Swift Current. Seriously, people, if you’re driving down the TransCanada near Swift Current, stop and have a treat. And now, back to politics. 🙂 Why does everyone hate Dalton McGuinty? ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/515 "2011-09-12T16:14:16Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > In short, scandals are a non-factor, because they’re always there. ‘Yea, he was tempted and he fell But judge him not too hard; It does take character to sell Elastic by the yard.’ - Piet Hein I’m never surprised to find out that everyone has a price, I’m just disappointed to find out how low that price can be. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/516 "2011-09-12T16:37:34Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > … Why does everyone hate Dalton McGuinty? You wouldn’t know it by the polls. It’s a toss up between Hudak (PC) and McGuinty (Lib) at this point. I don’t get it myself. The Ontario economy under the McGuinty Liberals has a horrible track record. I started making a list, but then I would be asked for cites, and I don’t have time right now. The provincial debt has doubled under McGuinty though. And this guy is in a horse race to win the next election? Unbelievable… ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/517 "2011-09-12T18:12:06Z")
I think in Ontario there’s a pretty big problem with apathy and attitude when it comes to voting in provincial elections. I hear my sister rail against McGuinty all the time but she didn’t vote in the last election and I can bet my paycheck she won’t be voting in the next one. “They’re all liars anyways” is a big problem but some are more dangerous liars than others. I honestly wouldn’t be suprised if he got in a third time. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/518 "2011-09-12T22:55:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I started making a list, but then I would be asked for cites, and I don’t have time right now. The provincial debt has doubled under McGuinty though. And this guy is in a horse race to win the next election? He’s running against genuinely awful opposition. McGuinty is a terrible premier, but he has a good PR machine and the opposition stands for nothing and keeps jamming its feet into its mouth. The PC’s decision to rant about a program for “foreign workers” that is specifically designed to help only citizens of Canada - evidently their definition of “foreign” differs from mine - is making them look both stupid and xenophobic. The country’s most conservative newspaper is calling them out over it. As for Andrea Horvath, what the hell does she stand for? Ontario used to have STATESMEN. Dalton McGuinty would have been laughed out of any election he contested against Bill Davis. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/519 "2011-09-13T14:45:39Z")
Mr. Hudak’s _Changebook_ is under fire from Jim Stanford’s report for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The covering article can be found [here](http://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/conservative-platform%E2%80%99s-geometry-found-faulty), the link to the PDF of the report can be found [here](http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Ontario%20Office/2011/09/Graphs%20for%20Dummies.pdf). The opening paragraph reads > [@](#): > > This commentary reviews in detail the 13 statistical graphs which are presented in the Ontario Conservative party’s changebook platform. The review finds a consistent pattern of misleading visual presentation in those graphs, including a lack of quantitative proportion in graph objects, mis- labeling and/or arbitrary and/or inconsistent scaling in graph axes, inadequate or incorrect sourcing, and other fundamental flaws. In fact, not one of the 13 graphs conforms to the standards of presentation that are normally required of statistical presentations in academic and professional practice. In at least three cases, the data presented in the graphs is actually false. Whatever one thinks of the changebook’s policy proposals themselves (and those proposals, per se, are not the subject of this commentary), the consistently misleading and inaccurate statistical representations contained in the changebook are lamentable. This should be an interesting day on the campaign trail… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/520 "2011-09-13T15:26:50Z")
Well, I just skimmed through the PDF report, and that’s a whole lot of nitpicking about nothing coming from an economist employed by the Canadian Auto Workers’ Union. It’s a political Changebook, not intended for “statistical presentations in academic and professional practice.” Of course the graphs are going to be proportioned or emphasized to make a particular point. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059/521 "2011-09-13T16:19:27Z")
To the point of falsehood? By all means, show your party and your platform in the best possible light, but if the facts shown are not correct, that’s not acceptable. Mistaken or lying, neither one wins my vote. And as far as the CAW associations of the author, does that automatically refute his findings? (AUTO-matically, get it?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/582059.md?page=27)