Welcome Canada

[sashh]

Do it has just been suggested on Twitter that Canada needs a Mumsnet, I have tweeted that Canada is welcome to join so I thought we could hold a small welcome gathering.

@MNHQ - I hope that's OK

April - is your MP in government or opposition?

Hello Canada.

It's many years since I've been to Canada, but I found it a really lovely and friendly country.

Take comfort in the fact that your political system is not as completely fucked as ours.

I have friends who are scientists in Canada, and what they had to put up with under Harper was a nightmare - climate science denialism, gagging clauses, political interference in science, funding pulled. But at the same time, Trudeau has feet of clay. He makes all the right noises about the environment and about first nations people, while achieving precisely diddly squat. I don't want to see you guys lurch back to the right, but neither do I trust the boy wonder further than I could throw him.

I gave them ample evidence and once they realized they were wrong they stopped responding. The MP is Nick Whalen. He is in the ruling Liberal Party.

I don't like the Conservatives but Trudeau has to go. He is personally responsible for federal corrections having to allow self ID. He dicated it like a little emperor.

@AprilHalley709, here's what I surmise happened: the MP's office was adamant that this was not occurring because it just seems so ludicrous. Then they were likely made aware of this town hall meeting, where the PM declared a change in policy in response to a question (what could possibly go wrong, when changing policy on the fly like that lol?). So then the local MP had to get in line and hence his office could no longer correspond with you lest they contradict the government's position.

It is definatly the case that if an MP finds himself outside party policy, he will have to reel himself in very quickly.
THis is something that has come up with regard to abortion which might seem difficult for feminists because they tend to agree with Trudeau's views. But he has been very active in making it an issue which people have to treat as a party position when traditionally in Canada it's been a free vote issue. Similarly with the funds for organisations hiring summer students. he's very big on centralised control and the idea that what are "Canadian values" in his view are what we all should be required to fall in line with in order to be part of mainstream society.

FermatsTheorem

My husband is a scientist, and feels that things aren't really better now. They still aren't really funding more, they just say nicer things.

That is what happened. He can't stray from the party line. Still it's infuriating.

We are supposed to believe that Trudeau had never thought of housing these men in women's prisons and on the fly he decided to. That would be bad enough. But it's crap.

A month before that town hall a rep for MP Ralph Goodale was alluding to changes.

The outcome of Trudeau's decision to force self ID is Bulletin 584 which is being used to override previous policy. After that was enacted Correctional Services Canada, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and Prisoners Legal Services released a joint statement celebrating it and how this had come about after years of collaboration.

It's all very bizarre. Everyone has abandoned these women including the Elizabeth Fry Society.

The government think we are idiots.

Hello from Halifax NS , well, for two more weeks, then we move to the Dark Side 😆
Any one interested in a Scotian meet up sometime?

The best political outcome is a Conservative government for four years, which will allow the Liberals to replace Trudeau.

@NorthEndGal curious as to what the Dark Side is? Ontario? (careful: that's where I live lol)

(luuuuurve Halifax btw)

Haha nope! @notathing
It refers to Dartmouth, across the harbour
We actually moved here from Ontario

Oh, I'm a Dark-Sider. There seem to be quite a few of us here, which is interesting.

The best political outcome is a Conservative government for four years, which will allow the Liberals to replace Trudeau.

Under some circumstances I might agree, but since we've been given 10 years max to reduce emissions, and that might be generous, I am less inclined to think that is a good idea.

Some sort of minority government situation might be the best bet, often they are what allow people to actually get their point across and have some real say in decision making.

The current federal plan will not meet our Paris Accord obligations.

The Conservatives are releasing their plan next week.

If this is your primary issue, then I suggest you support the Green Party.

God that townhall video is nauseating. No concern for the women in these institutions, none whatsoever. Why are women's rights not seen as human rights. Women's rights are too passe I guess.

I do wonder how Sophie feels. They make such a song and dance about how precious their children are, but it doesn’t seem to have occurred to JT how his decisions affect children or women. Nice guy as long as long as you don’t ask questions of the policies.
I had lunch with a self described group of rad fems a little while ago. I hadn’t met any of them before. It was interesting but there were definitely one or two whose views veered into the caricature of the conservative (straying into homophobia and parental rights - triggered by the GSA/ SOGI hoo ha). You can see where the accusations of right wing involvement and puppeteering come from. Unfortunately most of the push back HAS come from the Christian, right wing, conservative ideologies, and so it’s hard to discuss without being automatically aligned with such.
I’m laughing a leetle bit at the Alberta comments. When we moved to Canada, I was chatting to a Canadian academic at a conference, about the success rates of British academics working in canadian academia (proportionately small) and she visibly winced when Alberta was mentioned. She said that while there were indeed small pockets of more liberal views, that Alberta as a whole tended to be unwelcoming to such. I live in a pocket - but the wider political landscape is defined such that any one view will have you politically characterized, when the reality is essentially political homelessness, just like the UK.

Canadian here, from the West Coast. I have ties to the UK as DH was born in London and DS and DIL live here with 2 DGD. Currently visiting but heading home soon. Love the UK except the weather lately! So happy to be welcomed. I love maple syrup too but I confess to a deep admiration for proper sausages and mash, with fresh English peas. Also strawberries.

I might add son and DIL are in academia and their opportunities to make major contributions to their fields is much greater in the UK. Sad for us to have them so far away though.

Hey, Canada

Thanks for erm, Justin Bieber

< shows ignorance of all things Canadian >

I’m on holiday in Vancouver at the moment it’s fab!

Good to hear that PEI is as lovely as my daydreams

One day I will make it there!

So interesting to hear about these things from a Canadian pov

Hello Canada! I'm a massive fan of your strong poutine work. It's so good that I can almost forgive you for putting sweet syrups on bacon. Monstrous behaviour. ;)

Seriously, I was fascinated by the Canadian overview provided by Meghan Murphy during her recent U.K. tour. The complete silence from almost everyone, zero tolerance for any discussion at all at political level and the downright batshit mental approach of the media. It must be so difficult to bring others into the discussion in those conditions, plus it's such a huge country. I hope mumsnet can help you with that in some way, facilitate some networking or whatever with like-minded women.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about what's happening in your neck of the woods.

50shades, laugh all you wish. You are mistaken. The rural areas around Lethbridge and Red Deer are “Bible belt”. The rest of the province, not so much.

There’s only one world class university in Alberta, and it’s hardly a bastion of right wing thought.

Mm. I know. Been here well over a decade thanks. Spent quite a while knocking about hallowed halls various . My point was, that Alberta has a certain reputation for the rest of the country that is hard to dispel, whether it is deserved or not. And anyone who attempts to assert biological reality is assumed to, er, come from that apparently limited Bible Belt round Lethbridge.
I wasn’t in Lethbridge when I was sitting in a cafe trying to ignore the homophobia either - it’s just unfortunate that no one feels able to speak out unless they are strongly religiously motivated. It appears to be the only reason that makes it harder to sack you. Ergo, it’s impossible to find anyone else willing to talk.
Touchy, though. I wasn’t laughing AT Alberta. I was pointing out a view of the province that’s pretty well established, however uncomfortable that is for Albertans. And allowing myself a wry chuckle as, well, yeah, sometimes you can see where the reputation comes from.
Like all stereotypes, there are grains of truth.

I’ve heard homophobic statements in Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Toronto. A serial killer in Toronto was allowed to operate far longer than he should have because of institutional homophobia. So I would
not put too much stock into these perceptions.

I grew up here, but went to school in the East and lived in Vancouver when it was still affordable. I don’t really find people any different across the country, other than Albertans had a more “can do” attitude. That’s changed, mostly in the two major cities.