Roundup: The “brother” meltdown

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Because we’re in an election and it ramps up the absolute stupidity across the board, we had another so-called “gaffe” that made a bunch of people performatively lose their minds, and I can’t even, you guys.

In a press conference about the situation in Afghanistan, Maryam Monsef, the minister responsible for the status of women and gender equality and a former refugee from Afghanistan, who fled when she was a child, made a direct address to the Taliban about letting people out of the country, and used the term “brothers.” And people lost their gods damned minds. She was asked about it and said that the context was cultural and she absolutely considers them to be terrorists, and yet the insinuation persists that, somehow, she was using the term as being sympathetic to a group that is diametrically opposed to everything she is about. WTF.

https://twitter.com/ChrisGNardi/status/1430565362265907205

And I don’t think it’s beyond the pale to suggest that there was a racist or Islamophobic undercurrent in the media even questioning that she was somehow trying to be sympathetic to the Taliban. Because seriously, you think that somehow Monsef personally, or the Trudeau government, is going to be “soft on terror,” or some other bullshit like this? Are these the tropes by which we will repeatedly fall back into, because we have learned nothing over the past twenty years? Apparently not, especially when it’s all being done to put on a show. It’s pretty gross, you guys. Do better.

On the campaign trail:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Surrey, BC and announced a higher tax on banks and insurance companies making over $1 billion.
  • Erin O’Toole was in Brantford, Ontario, to give more specifics to their mental health plan (and by specifics, they will suggest provinces spend more).
  • Jagmeet Singh was in Windsor to promise lower internet and mobile phone charges.
  • Yves-François Blanchet is trying to float the idea of “green equalisation,” which is pretty much a non-starter.
  • Jewish Liberal candidates and Jagmeet Singh have been subjected to antisemitic and racists attacks throughout the campaign.
  • Elections Canada has suspended their campus voting programme, citing the pandemic and the snap election (the latter excuse being bullshit).
  • The Star’s fact-checker is not convinced by Singh’s claim that nationalizing long-term care homes will result in long-term savings.
  • Susan Delacourt notes that for a pandemic election, so much of retail politics is as it always was.
  • Heather Scoffield talks to some ordinary people about the election, but notes that the Liberals have been talking less about the Middle Class™ in this campaign.
  • Paul Wells experiences some weapons-grade déjà-vu when it comes to the same old battles over healthcare playing out over, and over, and over again each election.

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1430708382839738369

Good reads:

  • The flights to get Afghan interpreters and contractors may wind up ending by today if the Americans signal that they are wrapping up their operations.
  • The decision for Dr. Theresa Tam to not do any in-person briefings during the election has a number of reporters freaking out.
  • Following the arrest of the alleged spy in the RCMP’s intelligence coordination unit, the Force has been conducting “character assessments” of the other employees.
  • Samara Canada is trying to track online toxicity during the election.
  • Former Conservative MP Shelly Glover is planning to enter the Manitoba PC leadership race to replace Brian Pallister.
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column explains the five significant dates in this election that aren’t voting day.

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: The “brother” meltdown”

  1. Canada will suffer if the increasingly likely outcome occurs that the Tory Taliban form government. There won’t be anyone to evacuate Canadians either.

    I have never seen such a full-court press exerting a coordinated push to unseat a country’s leader. Just absolutely dreadful the coverage of this campaign. It really, really reminds me of how the media went into overdrive against Clinton in 2016 and it scares me that the same could happen in Canada. Sickens me, really.

    The Cons haven’t “moderated” one bit the kind of scumbags who would cause someone like Monsef harm. Alas, it seems there’s a lot of people in this country who are content with that as long as they get their tax credits and humiliate Trudeau.

  2. Pingback: Roundup: The “brother” meltdown – routineproceedings.com | Housing Meltdown

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