1/8 Some thoughts on the mess in the #NLVotes

First - not an insignificant number of people - including seniors, those with literacy challenges and those who live in rural areas will be disenfranchised by this decision. I expect precedent setting litigation #covid19nfld
2/8 Weak seams in democracy appear where least expected

Like when you vote in 🇨🇦 you first speak to a little old lady or bored undergrad who hands you a ballot & crosses off your name in a little book

If poll workers are too scared to work entire electoral process stops working
3/8 With hindsight there is hubris in @FureyAndrew’s decision to call this vote. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians don’t have a magic power that repels the virus

A lesson for 🇨🇦, too If Trudeau’s vaccine crisis hadn’t already cooled his ardour for a spring election, this may have
4/8 Nobody I know in the province expects this swings the inevitable result (it may cost the Liberals some seats in metro St. John’s). However Furey is likely now a compromised leader - which only compounds the political pain of dealing with the fiscal reckoning that NL faces
5/8 I seriously doubt Elections NL have the systems in place to securely process volume of special ballots they are about to receive. I hope I’m wrong. This is the kind of system that elections officials would normally take months to stand up. In Newfoundland they have a weekend
6/8 Sadly, this admittedly unnecessary mess will provide an excuse for the usual bigots to once again snicker at Newfoundland’s expense

Yes it could have avoided with better decisions - but Newfoundland’s electoral system is far from first institution exposed by this virus
7/8 Finally my prayers are with friends, family & everyone back home. Doesn’t seem like virus is into any long term care homes yet, but we still have days of case growth ahead

Here in Toronto people became numb to restrictions & it made things worse. Don’t make that mistake guys
8/8 So as #NLVotes lurches on, I only hope that everyone takes @CMOH_NL guidance seriously, stays close to home & gets through this safely

If the worst that happens from this is a little bit of political chaos & embarrassment - Newfoundlanders will be lucky indeed.

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More from @davidptarrant

23 Aug 20
1/25 Today 🇨🇦 Conservatives choose a new leader

I was happy to join smart political minds like @MelissaLantsman, @DPinBC, @irbrodie, @howardanglin & @Sean_Speer in @JohnIbbitson’s excellent @globeandmail column on the party’s future

#cpcldr #cdnpoli

theglobeandmail.com/politics/artic…
2/25 I want to expand on the points in that column & elaborate on how 🇨🇦conservative philosophy & policy intersect with electoral strategy of the @CPC_HQ

If you ignore strategy you get to watch Liberals govern 😡
If you ignore your principles you get to become the Liberals 😱
3/25 Here’s a start. At the risk of unfairly singling out @konradyakabuski, virtually every assumption in the story below is wrong

Conservative electoral coalition is very different than Brian Mulroney’s day. Too many commentators are stuck in 1980s

theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…
Read 25 tweets
26 Aug 19
1/7 One of the zaniest #carbontax stories I've seen yet

Now, any cabinet featuring the likes of Seamus O'Regan & Maryam Monsef will have competition at the bottom of the talent pyramid

But McKenna's botching of the carbon tax file is something special

theglobeandmail.com/politics/artic…
2/7 We ALL knew McKenna was lying/unserious when she said there was no plan to raise carbon tax over $50/tonne

When it comes to carbon taxes there has always been a Liberal hidden agenda

But McKenna was so excited to break this promise, she couldn't wait for after Election Day
3/7 The fact is that - if saving the planet is the REAL goal -- the current Nordhaus-based modelling that the IPCC relies on requires a carbon tax of AT LEAST $135 per tonne.

That's over 25 cents/litre in NEW tax gas taxes. At minimum. IPCC says tax could go into the $1,000s!
Read 7 tweets
10 Jun 19
1/8 Some thoughts about today's plastics announcement from Trudeau.

First - Plastic litter is the among worst kinds of litter. It ruins our parks & pollutes our lakes, rivers and oceans. So a mature, balanced approach to reducing plastic should earn support across party lines
2/8 In fact it's worth noting the Trudeau Liberals are late to the party when it comes to plastics

Under the leadership of @fordnation and @RodPhillips01, the Ontario PC Government's environment plant includes serious measures to "reduce plastic waste"

ontario.ca/page/made-in-o…
3/8 Of course, when we launched our plan, the Ford PCs were attacked for daring to mention litter policies (like reducing plastic waste) at all!

Message at the time was clear, any environment policy that distracted from elite/progressive fetish for carbon taxes was to be mocked
Read 8 tweets

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