1/ THREAD: I see a lot of Liberals scoff when people rightly claim the NDP were responsible for many of the best aspects of the government's COVID relief benefits (a robust $2K/month CERB, 75% wage subsidy, CESB, $2K/extended CRB, and CRSB paid sick days). So here's the receipts.
2/ March 18, 2020 the Liberals' initial pandemic response was to expand EI access with an Emergency Care Benefit ($1800/month/15 weeks), boost the CCB, a one-time GST rebate, student loan payment deferrals, 10% wage subsidy, and tax deferrals until August. cheknews.ca/trudeau-announ…
3/ March 23: The NDP demanded a 75% wage subsidy instead of 10%, and called for $2K cheques for *every* Canadian adult + $250 for each child (Mar 23). They also called for a mortgage/rent/utilities moratorium, and boosted domestic PPE production. burnabynow.com/local-news/jag…
4/ Mar 26: Liberals scrap the previously announced Emergency Care Benefit & (vaugely defined) Emergency Support Benefit. Replaced with CERB: $2K/month for 4 months. Eligibility is expanded to those who qualify for EI, but many people are still left out. globalnews.ca/news/6735158/e…
5/ April 11: Jagmeet Singh calls for the government to remove eligibility criteria and make CERB universal. Singh notes that he is already negotiating with PM to close gaps in government support eligibility. beta.ctvnews.ca/national/2020/…
6/ April 29: Under pressure from NDP and student organizations, the Liberals create the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB). As reported, NDP ensured CESB was also boosted to $2K/month for students with disabilities and/or children. theglobeandmail.com/politics/artic…
7/ September 23: Singh demands the newly announced Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) be boosted from $1800 to $2K/month to match the phased-out CERB. He also demands concrete legislation on national paid sick days. Both are conditions for NDP confidence support of the throne speech.
7/ October 06: The throne speech passes with NDP support, only after Trudeau acquiesced to Jagmeet Singh's demands that the new Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) be boosted to $2000/month and the government legislate paid sick days.
7.5/* Amendment: the Liberals initial proposed CRB rate was actually only $1600/month ($400/week). Sept 24 it was reported Liberals agreed to boost the CRB rate to $2000/month ($500/week) as a condition of NDP confidence support for the throne speech. huffingtonpost.ca/entry/jagmeet-…
9/ Aug 14, 2020: NDP gets motion passed for $2 billion in federal transfers to provinces for child care. Singh also demands an extra $10B over 4 years for national, universal childcare. By #Budget2021 Liberals acquiesced, expanding the initial NDP proposal into $30B over 5 years.
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1/ There's a lot of talk about how many Leopard 2 tanks are available to send Ukraine. Based on several sources, here's a breakdown of existing Leopard 2s from global stockpiles.
Around 3,565 Leopard 2s have been built in total. 12 of Ukraine's close allies use them:
1/ To be blunt, I don't want to hear about how you didn't find the leaders likeable, or the campaigns inspiring. I don't want to hear about the flaws in platforms, or how the polls look. There are so many people in this province counting on us to defeat the Ford PCs this #onpoli:
2/ Vote for the most vulnerable Ontarians with disabilities who are trapped in poverty, some of whom are seeking medically-assisted suicide (MAID) because of #ODSPoverty. #VoteForTheDisabled#VoteToEndODSPoverty
3/ Vote for our doctors and nurses, the people you called heroes this pandemic and who are pleading with us to vote the PCs out of power and elect a government that will actually invest adequately in healthcare again. #VoteForNurses#VoteForDoctors
I get nervous whenever I see Russia make gains in Ukraine. But tides of war can dramatically change. In 1942 Germany seemed unstoppable and likely to break the USSR. But motivated resistance and massive Western support made the difference. It'll make a difference in Ukraine too.
2/ Like Hitler's attack on Europe, Putin's seems doomed to fail in the long term. Sanctions will only continue to increase against Russia, while US lend-lease is only just beginning, and Ukraine is training its massive reserve army. Russian morale and troop resolve is weak.
3/ The weak link is the "strategic patience" approach of France, Germany and Italy, and the appeasement movement in the West. If adequate supplies do not get to Ukraine in time, and Western resolve wanes, Russia could hold onto territorial gains & prepare for its next offensive.
1/ Normally PCs have the firmest vote commitment. Surprisingly, according to Leger's latest the NDP have the highest percentage of committed voters now. Less than half of Liberals and Greens are committed. Moreover, NDP is the 2nd choice for most voters (69% of Libs!). #onpoli
2/ Only 1.5% of voters are both NDP-leaning and open to voting Liberal. OLP should focus the last week on winning the 4.92% of voters currently PC-leaning but open to voting for them. NDP should focus on winning over 2nd choice voters in their strongest 53 ridings.
3/ Polls paint a pretty gloomy picture, but they cannot account for turnout. Also nearly 10% of voters remain undecided. If the PCs fall below 36%, the OLP and NDP focus resources on their best ridings, and have better get-out-the-vote campaigns, the PCs will lose their majority.
Liberals love to dunk on Poilievre, but too many arrogantly dismiss the very real possibility that this man could not only win the CPC leadership race but the next federal election too. That same kind of smug, dismissive arrogance is what delivered Trump & Ford to power. #cdnpoli
2/ Too many people on the ideological left & centre dismiss populists at their own peril. I thoroughly detest Poilievre and the ideology he stands for. But I also recognize his political shrewdness. I fear him a lot more than other likely CPC leader contenders for a few reasons.
3/ Poilievre, to the extent that he is ideological, is an old school conservative. But like the Jordan Peterson/Ben Shapiro types he is still able to tap into the rage and anti-intellectualism rising especially amongst male voters as a backlash against dramatic social changes.