So, after the somewhat unexpected reversal of last night, I looked back to something from the past few days to help explain this bit of insanity that we’ve all witnessed. Michelle Rempel heard this from Republican officials late last week when she asked them how this all happened:
2/ "Trump happened b/c it was a crowded field in the primary & PAC money artificially sustained candidates that should have consolidated"
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) November 4, 2016
3/ "Trump is pulling 80% of republicans, and the pull of the party is strong"
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) November 4, 2016
4/ "and partisanship is a way for people to shortcut consuming a lot of information to make a decision on how to vote"
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) November 4, 2016
5/ "and all media isn't seeking to inform, it's seeking to reinforce entrenched political beliefs"
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) November 4, 2016
Q. "You system is based on compromise. How does it function after Nov 8?" A. "……….."
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) November 4, 2016
Wait no…..apparently "Christmas and college football finals will take down the political temperature and the govt will function again."
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) November 4, 2016
Here’s a look at what a Trump presidency is going to mean for Canada:
As the numbers tightened, we saw this going around:
The Canadian immigration website has actually crashed. This is not a drill. #electionnight pic.twitter.com/3BsYQ9a0qc
— Melissa Royle Critch (@melissaroyle) November 9, 2016
We do not want to build a wall. We want a welcome mat for America's best and brightest. Even its half-decent are pretty damn good.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) November 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/kfile/status/796206974652321794
Meanwhile, a reminder about the underlying attitudes:
https://twitter.com/james_j_gordon/status/796200489918623745
I’m going to wait before I can have much else to say about the power of nativism, and this “drain the swamp” ethos that has taken over so much of the rhetoric in the campaign, and the part that civic ignorance feeds into the politics of resentment that in turn fuels this kind of thing. But wow.
I will say how glad I am once again to live in Canada, with a constitutional monarchy and a system of Responsible Government, with a Supreme Court that isn’t partisan, and with a neutral civil service. Because we’re probably going to be reminded about how important that is in the next few years.
Good reads:
- Justin Trudeau will be stopping in Cuba and Argentina on the way to the APEC meeting in Peru, and everyone is recalling his father’s frienship with the Castros.
- The government has named a five-person panel to make recommendations regarding overhauling the National Energy Board.
- Here’s a look at the latest round of Order Paper questions, with questions on alcohol on government flights, classified documents and ministerial swag.
- Here is your look at ministerial expense repayments for various and sundry reasons.
- The Victims of Communism memorial is now up for a new design from five different bidders, to go with its new location. The original design is out of the running.
- Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers is leaving the job and will be leading a review of segregation in Ontario prisons.
- Conservative MP (and former sportscaster) Kevin Waugh thinks that female athletes are treated better than their male counterparts, and is being criticised for it.
- The first Conservative leadership debate is tonight.
- The premier of PEI is (rightfully) expressing some scepticism over the province’s electoral reform plebiscite results, and reformers are howling as a result.
- My Loonie Politics column looks at whether the instances of Liberal backbenchers voting against the government are really signs of independence showing.
Odds and ends:
The Yukon Liberals won the territorial election on Monday night, and Trudeau congratulated prospective new premier Sandy Silver.
Both women candidates in the Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership race have dropped out citing harassment and intimidation.