Federal Government & Politics II

[kool maudit]

Politicians select from a variety of rhetorical registers with the goal of bringing out the vote.

Elevated can work. So can demotic. Different moments and different coalitions.

Buckley's "I would rather be governed by the first 2,000 people in the Boston telephone directory than by the faculty of Harvard" was a line for a moment. His chosen demeanour was much closer to the latter. Rhetoric is a professional skill like project management or welding.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by dleung

Lol I'm an architect and deal with construction guys all the time. Most do great work, but again, very few of them will make good PMs since understanding complex social issues isn't their wheelhouse. Something that PP has laid bare in his "honesty"

If the mass cacophony of unslightly, bland, anti-street life, 100 shades of grey condo spandrel monstrosities littering the country is any measure to go by (with the GTA being the epicentre), I'm not so sure architects in this country have mastered the understanding of complex social issues.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Who would you rather have at the top of a G7 country running a complex economy on the planet earth of 2024?

Certainly not JT!!!

His previous employment as a surfing instructor and drama teacher don't qualify either.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

If the mass cacophony of unslightly, bland, anti-street life, 100 shades of grey condo spandrel monstrosities littering the country is any measure to go by (with the GTA being the epicentre), I'm not so sure architects in this country have mastered the understanding of complex social issues.

Ouch!!!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

If the mass cacophony of unslightly, bland, anti-street life, 100 shades of grey condo spandrel monstrosities littering the country is any measure to go by (with the GTA being the epicentre), I'm not so sure architects in this country have mastered the understanding of complex social issues.

BURN of the day!

[Build.It]

Well since we're on the topic, what experience would people say does meet the prerequisites for running for PM?

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by Build.It

Well since we're on the topic, what experience would people say does meet the prerequisites for running for PM?

How about someone that has had to meet a payroll and can count. The greatest terror for most small business people is do they have enough funds to pay their employees every two weeks. Our present Government have an Alfred E. Newman "what me worry?" attitude to the business of Government.

I witnessed an old Boss of mine and Company owner go into a serious Anxiety situation when he received a call from his Comptroller in Vancouver while he was at meetings in Toronto. "What do you mean there isn't enough to pay the guys?".

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I live in Halifax and find the best time to enjoy the’night life’ is the summer, when the universities are not in session and there’s a ton of stuff going on.

I haven't been to Ottawa much and don't have an opinion on nightlife there but I tend to agree about Halifax and never really understood the point about it being dependent on university students. Maybe this was true decades in the past. Many of the newer nightlife spots around Argyle, Barrington, the waterfront, and so on are more upscale and less Liquor Dome like. I can't imagine university students spending a lot of time at them unless they're a lot richer than they used to be.

Re: Kingston, I wouldn't expect it to be that similar to Halifax and didn't really feel like it was comparable. Halifax is around 3x bigger than Kingston, likely with more tourism and regional draw, and Dalhousie is smaller than Queen's. Halifax is more regional or provincial capital with the universities you'd expect than it is a "college town" outlier.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Certainly not JT!!!

His previous employment as a surfing instructor and drama teacher don't qualify either.

I'm afraid PP will be quite the disappointment to you.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Dartguard

How about someone that has had to meet a payroll and can count. The greatest terror for most small business people is do they have enough funds to pay their employees every two weeks. Our present Government have an Alfred E. Newman "what me worry?" attitude to the business of Government.

I witnessed an old Boss of mine and Company owner go into a serious Anxiety situation when he received a call from his Comptroller in Vancouver while he was at meetings in Toronto. "What do you mean there isn't enough to pay the guys?".

Those are great skills for an accountant. For a leader we need somebody who's educated in a variety of areas, has high EQ, great communication skills, and can understand the big picture. Somebody who can think quickly but doesn't react immediately. And of course the guy you want to have a beer with, which was perhaps George W Bush's only redeeming quality, but it worked.

Hate on JT all you want, but he has some of those. Certainly the JT of 2015 did. Harper too. PP not so much.

[dleung]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

If the mass cacophony of unslightly, bland, anti-street life, 100 shades of grey condo spandrel monstrosities littering the country is any measure to go by (with the GTA being the epicentre), I'm not so sure architects in this country have mastered the understanding of complex social issues.

It's typically developers and market forces moreso than architects that drive cheap anti-urban buildings, but yes, I'm nowhere qualified to be PM... surprise!

Neither is some populist like PP with nuanced takes like celebrating capital punishment for some disturbed kid, as much as it appeals to society's baser instincts

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Those are great skills for an accountant. For a leader we need somebody who's educated in a variety of areas, has high EQ, great communication skills, and can understand the big picture. Somebody who can think quickly but doesn't react immediately. And of course the guy you want to have a beer with, which was perhaps George W Bush's only redeeming quality, but it worked.

Hate on JT all you want, but he has some of those. Certainly the JT of 2015 did. Harper too. PP not so much.

Other than being a narcissist with "great" communication skills (questionable as he's nowhere near the statesmen that his father was, and other PMs like Chretien or Mulroney I would argue have much better communication skills) he doesn't have any of the rest, that's why this country is in such dire straits at the fin de régime of Trudeau Jr.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Build.It

No one is perfect and part of Poilievre's appeal is that he doesn't pretend to be. He actually talks like a normal person, as opposed to a phoney mouthpiece like most politicians do.

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Funny - to me he usually sounds like he needs to be the smartest guy in the room.

Exactly.
Poilievre is a smooth talking snake oil salesman type appealing to commoners by fooling them into thinking "he's a regular guy, just like us"

When in reality he is a life long politician that's never had a "real 9-5" job outside of politics and could collect a Federal pension well before he turned 40, even under age 35!

From a 2012 CBC article

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, for example, was first elected June 28, 2004, a few weeks after his 25th birthday. At 33 years old, he has already qualified for the MP pension.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/not...ions-1.1155061

I can't think of anyone more establishment politician than that

[dleung]

^^It's amazing how we've all witnessed Trump's rise and yet the same types of people are falling for all the same tricks

Originally Posted by CanSpice

I'm not the person you're replying to, but I think what they meant is that a tradesperson wouldn't make a good Prime Minister if you just picked them up off the jobsite and dropped them into the PM role. The PM role requires a lot of training and knowledge that tradepeople don't have.

Similarly, the PM and the vast majority of career politicians (like Pierre Poilievre) would make terrible tradespeople if you just dropped them on a worksite, not because they're not capable of learning, but because they haven't done the training.

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I thought all you needed was good old Conservative common sense. Isn't that what PP says?

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Lowest Common Denominator.

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Ask some tradespeople about comlex social isues and see what you get.

Elitist! Limousine Liberal! Burn it all down!

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

Other than being a narcissist with "great" communication skills (questionable as he's nowhere near the statesmen that his father was, and other PMs like Chretien or Mulroney I would argue have much better communication skills) he doesn't have any of the rest, that's why this country is in such dire straits at the fin de régime of Trudeau Jr.

JT of 2015 had tons of charisma. If you think otherwise you've got blinders on. He was far better at relating to young people than Harper, or any of his challengers thus far. PP of 2024 may have him beat in that regard though.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Who would you rather have at the top of a G7 country running a complex economy on the planet earth of 2024?

If we get to pick, I'll go for an LL.B/MBA who built a successful manufacturing firm following a stint in the military. She took a year's sabbatical to work with refugees and serves on the boards of several cultural and charitable NGOs.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

JT of 2015 had tons of charisma. If you think otherwise you've got blinders on. He was far better at relating to young people than Harper, or any of his challengers thus far. PP of 2024 may have him beat in that regard though.

What Canadians care about is the leadership of JT in the last 9 years, not a 2015 nostalgic snapshot of JT, bubble-wrapped in his nice hair campaign and untainted by governance.

JT's charisma is overstated though. Amongst the pantheon of PMs, JT won't be remembered for having exceptional communication skills during his tenure. It also doesn't offset the many poor qualities that make him a divisive and under-performing leader.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

If we get to pick, I'll go for an LL.B/MBA who built a successful manufacturing firm following a stint in the military. She took a year's sabbatical to work with refugees and serves on the boards of several cultural and charitable NGOs.

Yeah a good lawyer would do well. OTOH, who would want to put themselves in front of the public and face the constant abuse. Weird narcissists seem to be the main supply of politicians these days.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

If we get to pick, I'll go for an LL.B/MBA who built a successful manufacturing firm following a stint in the military. She took a year's sabbatical to work with refugees and serves on the boards of several cultural and charitable NGOs.

Who?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

What Canadians care about is the leadership of JT in the last 9 years, not a 2015 nostalgic snapshot of JT, bubble-wrapped in his nice hair campaign and untainted by governance.

JT's charisma is overstated though. Amongst the pantheon of PMs, JT won't be remembered for having exceptional communication skills during his tenure. It also doesn't offset the many poor qualities that make him a divisive and under-performing leader.

But that wasn't the question.

Who in 2024 is the best communicator? Leader? Most intelligent? Possesses the qualities we want in a Canadian PM?

Your options are Singh, Trudeau, May, and PP. Sorry Blanchet doesn't count unless they run enough candidates to form government.