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PM Justin Trudeau's Canada

kEiThZ said:
Even then, our unique maritime geography would normally dictate a sizeable submarine fleet. As large or bigger than what the Australians doing. That is if we legitimately cared about our sovereignty and weren't completely giving in to our implied status as a US protectorate.

The Arctic in particular is a huge problem. On any given day, 5 of 6 nuclear powers have their subs up there. And I don't mean in international waters. I mean they routinely manoeuvre in the Canadian Arctic. And the only way to be taken seriously on this one is to have our own submarine capabilities. The Aussies don't even have an Arctic to monitor and defend and they get this.

Rule of three. One deployed. One in work up. One on post-deployment. And that leaves no contingency or surge capacity at all. So with three oceans, our minimum would be nine and our ideal fleet would be closer to 12.

As to the arguments that this is all somehow unaffordable, we should recall that Australia has two thirds of our population and will be fielding half a dozen nuclear subs and currently has two amphibious carriers and twice the air force. We're a G7 country that can't even monitor most of our territory (or move most of our forces internally without help)....among many of the other things that we are uniquely lacking as a G7 country (high speed rail, universal school lunches, etc). The only thing that is truly unique about Canada, among the rich nations of the world, is that we are cheapskates. Try and imagine any other G7 country substantially outsourcing their national security to a neighbour. I'm honestly surprised the rest of the world still humours us and doesn't just boot us from these forums and replace us with more credible countries. In quite a few of these forums, the South Koreans, Australians or Spanish would make more sense.
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Can we accomplish anything if we buy the latest SSKs to replace the Victorias? The Dutch submarine replacement program does seem an opportune time to link up a Canadian contingent.

At US$440 million a pop, we could get four subs for under US$2 billion, or if our pockets are deeper, we could go for the latest U-Boat design for about US$4 billion. The Victoria class SELEX (Submarine Life Extension) program is expected to cost anywhere from CAD$1.5 billion to CAD$3 billion, and will likely cost several billion more in the early 2030s when we need to do it again.

I don’t know if sunk cost fallacy is impolite for submarines, but throwing good money after bad makes no sense. If the Canadian taxpayer is expected to fund submarines regardless, we might as well get new ones that cost no more in actual dollars spent than the ones we have.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Can we accomplish anything if we buy the latest SSKs to replace the Victorias?
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Yes. We'd get more capability.

Admiral Beez said:
I don’t know if sunk cost fallacy is impolite for submarines, but throwing good money after bad makes no sense. If the Canadian taxpayer is expected to fund submarines regardless, we might as well get new ones that cost no more in actual dollars spent than the ones we have.
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It's not so much sunk cost fallacy as an unwillingness to expand capability. The government is content to spend the absolute bare minimum to have a token submarine capability. It does not see the need for a real subsurface capability to counter specific threats. And since it doesn't see such a need, or at least does not consider it a priority, it is not willing to spend substantially for an upgrade. And a new fleet would be more expensive. It's not just about buying boats. There's training, infrastructure and support costs as well. A life extension largely avoids those expenses.
 

Trudeau government’s Speech from the Throne contains warning that ‘Earth is in danger’​

From link.

The federal government delivered a stark warning about the decades ahead as Governor-General Mary Simon opened the 44th Parliament Tuesday, describing a world “in danger” from climate change and urging legislators to turn “talk into action.”

Ms. Simon delivered the minority government’s road map in the Senate, but the Prime Minister’s Office does the majority of the writing for the Speech from the Throne. The address outlined the key election promises for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, who again put ending the pandemic, economic recovery and addressing climate change at the top of the priority list.

“Our Earth is in danger,” Ms. Simon said in the speech’s introductory remarks, written by her office. “From a warming Arctic to the increasing devastation of natural disasters, our land and our people need help.”

“We cannot afford to wait.”

The Throne Speech was the first for Ms. Simon, who was sworn in in July, becoming the first Indigenous person to serve as the Queen’s representative in Canada. She delivered the address to an audience including Mr. Trudeau, senior members of the House of Commons and Senate.
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The speech, Mr. Trudeau’s third in a minority government, will likely need the support of one of the three opposition parties to get through the House of Commons. There is some policy overlap with the other opposition parties, in particular the NDP, but it’s not yet clear if it will be enough to gain the support needed.

The late launch to the fall Parliamentary sitting means the Liberals have just a four-week window to shepherd key government bills through the House of Commons – a short time frame, made more difficult because the opposition has more power to influence the agenda in a minority Parliament.

On the heels of the September election result, Ms. Simon said the direction from voters was clear. “Not only do they want Parliamentarians to work together to put this pandemic behind us, they also want bold, concrete solutions to meet the other challenges we face.”

The government says its strategy to end the pandemic for good will focus on ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots.

To tackle rising inflation, Mr. Trudeau’s government said it will address the associated rising cost of living by acting on its election promises to ensure access to more affordable housing and child care across the country, Ms. Simon said.

The government also confirmed its plan to move to “more targeted support” for sectors still affected by the pandemic and said it will ensure it is “prudently managing spending.”

Ms. Simon reiterated the Prime Minister’s position that the government “must go further, faster” to take “real action” on climate change. She said the government would focus its efforts on capping and then lowering emissions from the oil and gas sector; accelerating work to reach a 100 per cent net-zero electricity grid; investing in public transit and mandating the sale of zero emissions vehicles; and steadily increasing the price on carbon.

Ahead of the speech, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on Monday said his party wanted the government to immediately address the “present danger” of the climate crisis with immediate investments in critical infrastructure; ease housing affordability by tackling both the supply of houses and limiting foreign ownership that is driving up prices; and reverse clawbacks on some income supports for seniors and families.

The Conservatives meantime called on the Liberals to rein in spending and inflation; cancel the planned $100-billion in stimulus spending; and end pandemic support programs that MP Pierre Poilievre argued on Tuesday were deterring people from returning to work.

Ms. Simon said during the speech that reconciliation is not a “single act nor does it have an end date.”

“It is a lifelong journey of healing, respect and understanding,” she said.

Ms. Simon also said that “reconciliation cannot come without truth.”

In this mandate, the government intends to create a national monument to honour residential-school survivors, a long-standing call made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It also plans to appointment a special interlocutor to “advance justice” on residential schools, which was first announced in August.

Ottawa also plans to move ahead on a distinctions-based mental health and wellness strategy for First Nations, Inuit and Métis guided by Indigenous peoples, survivors and their families.

It also intends to ensure there is “fair and equitable” compensation for those harmed by the First Nations child welfare system. The Liberal government is currently engaged in closed-door discussions with parties, including the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, in hopes of reaching an out-of-court settlement on the matter by the end of the year.
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In that this is Canadian news, I'll plunk it here.....


BC is moving to mandate 5 paid sick days for all workers, beginning January 2022.

Paid sick/personal days briefly existed in Ontario, (2), and PEI has a mandate for 1.

This will mark the first time any province has mandated 5 paid sick days.

A positive step forward, as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully other provinces will follow suit.
 
Northern Light said:
In that this is Canadian news, I'll plunk it here.....


BC is moving to mandate 5 paid sick days for all workers, beginning January 2022.

Paid sick/personal days briefly existed in Ontario, (2), and PEI has a mandate for 1.

This will mark the first time any province has mandated 5 paid sick days.

A positive step forward, as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully other provinces will follow suit.
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I am not sure how well this will play in BC yes there getting 5 but many were asking for 10.
 
jayme2016 said:
I am not sure how well this will play in BC yes there getting 5 but many were asking for 10.
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It's better than Ontario ... baby steps is how we do things in this country.
 
Videodrome said:
www.macleans.ca

Erin O'Toole's numbers fall back to pre-election levels: 338Canada

Philippe J. Fournier: A new Abacus poll shows the Tory leader's approval numbers have nosedived since the election, pointing to challenges ahead for the party
www.macleans.ca www.macleans.ca

No surprise here. Erin isn't even liked by his own party.
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Here's the graph from Abacus. Woof this is a bad post-election slide.

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For comparison purposes, Trudeau is largely unchanged.

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