[Whattagame]

^^Unironically posts about "TDS" while dropping a Rachel Notley non-sequiter.

Thank you for joining us on today's episode of Faint Correlation Always = Definite Causation.

 

[Whattagame]

NEWS ALAERT. NEWS ALERT NEWS ALERT Trump to impose 25% tariffs starting February 1st.

Since Smith was solely responsible for those 3 seconds of no tariff threats, I'm sure she'll be held 100% responsible for the commitment to impose tariffs.

It should go without saying, but the phrase "Divide and Conquer" doesn't mean "Once they divide us, we'll certainly be in a great position to conquer them."

 

[edmontonidiot]

So Premier Smith stood up for Alberta and Canada during this tense time with the incoming USA administration. She rightfully refused to let the eastern Canadian political oligarchs tax Alberta's oil. She used diplomacy to advocate for Alberta and Canada while Trudeau and many many Canadians lost their minds with TDS, advocated for retalitory measures against the biggest economy in the world, and were quite willing to once again completely throw Alberta under the bus in the name of "national unity". Trudeau even said Alberta and Premier Smith weren't "team players" implying she was a traitor. Unbelievable. And now we see the tariffs not come to fruition - Premier Smith looks like the only adult in the room and its quite clear what many Canadians think of Alberta - a province that is a economic juggernaut that pays much more into federal coffers than any other province. We see that O&G is a very valuable commodity, not a "sunset industry" and we see that the manufacturing and finance industries in eastern Canada are not that relevant internationally. Is anyone on this forum going to admit Premier Smith did a good job? I doubt it - but we are lucky to have her for our premier. Oh by the way, what's Rachel Notley up to?

This aged well..

 

[bodsbods9090]

So Premier Smith stood up for Alberta and Canada during this tense time with the incoming USA administration. She rightfully refused to let the eastern Canadian political oligarchs tax Alberta's oil. She used diplomacy to advocate for Alberta and Canada while Trudeau and many many Canadians lost their minds with TDS, advocated for retalitory measures against the biggest economy in the world, and were quite willing to once again completely throw Alberta under the bus in the name of "national unity". Trudeau even said Alberta and Premier Smith weren't "team players" implying she was a traitor. Unbelievable. And now we see the tariffs not come to fruition - Premier Smith looks like the only adult in the room and its quite clear what many Canadians think of Alberta - a province that is a economic juggernaut that pays much more into federal coffers than any other province. We see that O&G is a very valuable commodity, not a "sunset industry" and we see that the manufacturing and finance industries in eastern Canada are not that relevant internationally. Is anyone on this forum going to admit Premier Smith did a good job? I doubt it - but we are lucky to have her for our premier. Oh by the way, what's Rachel Notley up to?

All her hot air STILL lead to tariffs. Don't pat her on the back.

 

[EdmTrekker]

This is how I see it.

"She" thinks the best offence for Canada and Alberta is to lay on her/our back(s) with legs in the air and acquiesce to what ever beating is given and shut up about it no matter the pain. "He" is talking about massive US oil drilling in Alaska and continental USA and doesn't give a shit about Alberta or Canada. "She" thinks it's best for Canada and Alberta to kowtow to "Him" "and may well be trolling for integration of Alberta into the USA to become a backwater state which would rank the 25th largest state behind Alabama or part of a single state of Canada which would rank as 1st largest state ahead of California.

 

[erudyk_29]

Canada needs to increase trade with nations other than the US. Time for CANZUK, time to stop selling to the States at a discount, they have to pay full price, plus the tariffs that anyone with a basic understanding of economics knows will not have the intended result. Time to stop groveling at Trump's feet in hopes of being granted mercy.

 

[Kosy123]

I honestly don't think CANZUK is the way forward, I mean it could and should be part of the conversation, but expansion of trade into the Asia-Pacific is the biggest and most important thing for trade diversification and a large customer base.

Australia and New Zealand are both resource export economies (AUS especially) and they're competitors when it comes to offering the same products as we do, agriculturally wise. Slight unpopular opinion but ties with China need to be brought back into the conversation, and I still believe the frosting of relations between us and China in the last 4-5 years was a massive mistake. Expansion of both the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert need to be on the table too.

 

[erudyk_29]

I honestly don't think CANZUK is the way forward, I mean it could and should be part of the conversation, but expansion of trade into the Asia-Pacific is the biggest and most important thing for trade diversification and a large customer base.

Australia and New Zealand are both resource export economies (AUS especially) and they're competitors when it comes to offering the same products as we do, agriculturally wise. Slight unpopular opinion but ties with China need to be brought back into the conversation, and I still believe the frosting of relations between us and China in the last 4-5 years was a massive mistake. Expansion of both the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert need to be on the table too.

I can see your point but I think there's a lot to be gained from greater cooperation between the Commonwealth Nations. I don't necessarily think fully uniting would be the way to go, but an EU style agreement would allow all 4 countries to have a bit more weight on the global stage. I would encourage: greater trade cooperation, Schengen style freedom of movement and potentially transitioning over to a shared currency.

I absolutely agree that relations with Asia-Pacific, especially China need to be re-evaluated, particularly in light of what's gone down in the last couple days in Washington.

 

[bodsbods9090]

I think I saw somewhere that Canada was talking to China about oil imports...maybe it was just an opinion piece.

 

[Whatup]

Interesting to note the foreign "student" Zain Haq is finally being deported. He has been arrested 10 times, is a known professional demonstrator who has received 170 000$ from a foreign source (most likely China) to disrupt Canadian society. His specialty was disrupting major transportation corridors by using "free Palestine" tactics. He personally has cost Canadians taxpayers and society millions of dollars. He got into Canada on a student visa but never attended school - Elizabeth May and the Liberal MP for Vancouver Quadra publicly supported Zain Haq and delayed his deportation. Why did they do this? China pumps fentanyl into Canada and supports professional demonstrators to disrupt Canadian society. According to Reuters "Canada's domestic spy agency concluded that China interfered in the last two elections, an official probe heard on Monday, the firmest evidence so far of suspected Chinese meddling in Canadian politics.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party won both the elections, held in 2019 and 2021. Under pressure from opposition legislators unhappy about media reports on China's possible role."
And Trudeau still has not released the names of the MPs who helped the Chinese government.
I brought up the facts about China's government meddling in Canada's affairs before on this forum and got the typical "you're anti-Asian" BS.
Canadians need to wake up and wake up fast. Canada's government has badly underperformed, is led by a trust-fund baby half-with who has surrounded himself with synchophant dimwits like Stephen Guilbeault, Marc Miller, Sean Frazer, Melanie Joly, Seamus O'Regan, Gerry Butts - and now WEF yesman Mark Carney - these people do not have the skills or brains to lead a G7 country in the ultra-competitive world.
But ......"Orange Man Bad" and "Danni's a traitor" and "Elon's a nazi". Good grief.

 

[archited]

China is a "bad actor" on many fronts -- it tries to bully other countries' fishing fleets, coast guards and other-flagged ships in international waters; it tries to intimidate Taiwan with pre-war games; it mistreats its minority indigenous people trying to assimilate them into a monolithic society; it invests in African and other "third-world" countries and then holds them for ransom on the trade and political fronts; it toys (along with Russia) with internet 'bots that try to sway political thought in "western" countries disrupting society (although on that front the internet and alternative media within those countries does a good job on its own to sway mass thinking); it controls its own currency to economic advantage in the theatre of world trade... and, and, and. Western countries should build support and trade channels with Taiwan and with the so-called "Tiger Nations" of South-East Asia -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia and strengthen on all fronts relationships with its ally nations of South Korea, Japan and the Philippines.

 

[archited]

This is the wrong thread but allied with the other post above. I like the concept behind CANZUKSA (a political integration of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and South Africa into a free-trade bloc that would then be composed of 62 States that would include the existing political states and provinces of those nations plus the addition of all of the Caribbean Commonwealth Nations from Guyana in South America and up the Atlantic ring nations of the Caribbean to the Bahamas and Bermuda plus the inner Caribbean nations of Jamaica and Belize; also included would be Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Island Group and other Pacific Islands closely associated with Australia and New Zealand; and in Africa the actual nation of South Africa plus the countries of Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana and Eswatini. Modeled along the lines of the European Union some other factors of this mega-nation would be 4th largest Economic power behind only the U.S., the E.U. and China but with the resource- and population-base to pass all of them over time. It would already be 1.82 times larger than Germany, 1.92 times larger than Japan, 2.28 times larger than India, and 4.84 times larger than South Korea -- all measured by Economic prowess. In land area it would be larger than Russia with near immeasurable raw resource potential and the technical know-how to develop those resources internally. With open access to the sea fronting both the Atlantic and the Pacific from all quarters it would become the world's premier sea-faring power. All of these nations are already pretty much friendly, one with the other. Politically aligned with the U.S., the E.U. and allied nations of the world, it would quickly become a world power that could influence world peace.

 

[erudyk_29]

This is the wrong thread but allied with the other post above. I like the concept behind CANZUKSA (a political integration of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and South Africa into a free-trade bloc that would then be composed of 62 States that would include the existing political states and provinces of those nations plus the addition of all of the Caribbean Commonwealth Nations from Guyana in South America and up the Atlantic ring nations of the Caribbean to the Bahamas and Bermuda plus the inner Caribbean nations of Jamaica and Belize; also included would be Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Island Group and other Pacific Islands closely associated with Australia and New Zealand; and in Africa the actual nation of South Africa plus the countries of Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana and Eswatini. Modeled along the lines of the European Union some other factors of this mega-nation would be 4th largest Economic power behind only the U.S., the E.U. and China but with the resource- and population-base to pass all of them over time. It would already be 1.82 times larger than Germany, 1.92 times larger than Japan, 2.28 times larger than India, and 4.84 times larger than South Korea -- all measured by Economic prowess. In land area it would be larger than Russia with near immeasurable raw resource potential and the technical know-how to develop those resources internally. With open access to the sea fronting both the Atlantic and the Pacific from all quarters it would become the world's premier sea-faring power. All of these nations are already pretty much friendly, one with the other. Politically aligned with the U.S., the E.U. and allied nations of the world, it would quickly become a world power that could influence world peace.

I've wondered about the possibilities of incorporating other nations into this Commonwealth/Anglosphere Union, however I wonder if the development gap between a nation like Canada or the UK and South Africa might cause issues. Obviously there are big differences in the EU between a country like Sweden and Bulgaria or Romania, but this is not anywhere near as big as South Africa and the other major Commonwealth Nations.

I could see South Africa and other lower development members having a major population exodus with Schengen style freedom of movement to nations like Canada and Australia. Which could make it very politically tricky.

I also thought I would add that I don't support the Chinese government or like the CCP, but Canada needs somewhere to sell its resources and with Trump putting exorbitant tariffs on imports from Canada, we need customers. Trade with the US obviously isn't going to stop, but we need to sell elsewhere. That could be other Asia Pacific nations as well such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc or Europe, I don't think China should be taken off the table though. It's clear that Canada needs to diversify its trade portfolio. A massive part of our economy is exports, and the biggest receiver of those exports is the US, who is turning to economic protectionism.

 

[archited]

I spent some time in South Africa a couple of years ago and I don't think that it is so far distant from Canada and the U.K. as economic numbers might suggest. True it has a large population a large segment of which is desperately poor but the people have a "seek" energy that is hard to quantify and spread across Namibia and Botswana which has a similar land area to South Africa but 1/10th the population would yield exceptional results (I have a good friend who has a large ranch in Botswana and who speaks English, Boer, and several indigenous dialects -- the tour we jointly experienced around the Cape Town area of South Africa was quite eye-opening). A large segment of the population could be enticed into enclosed vertical farming in the two states north and west, very mindful and respectful of the wildlife that inhabits those regions some of which have very large migration footprints (another side note -- I am working with a major client on a new approach to vertical farming that will have a test case in Eastern-Alberta/Western-Saskatchewan and also in Kansas and the potentials for systems of vertical farming -- aquaponics/hydroponics combined with AI/machine-learning and robotics-harvesting are Huge!. We, too, along with my friend in Botswana have been talking about applications in the whole South Africa Region. The local population is quite friendly to Canadians in particular (not so much to Americans). The cool thing about CANZUKSA is that there is a common language base -- English; established roots in English Common Law; similar education standards across all regions; a shared thirst for World Peace, resource-rich lands; ocean-fronting shores for good trade routes and roots; a history rich in sea-faring exploration and a shared eagerness to "do better". The potential is there to become a World Power that would match the U.S. and the E.U. and outpace growth in other wanna-be regions of the globe.

 

[Whattagame]

There is a pretty epic battle for longest paragraph in here.