The new Angus Reid "poll" suggesting that only a small minority of Albertans support independence is exactly what I would expect from Reid. And exactly what I expect from what I am calling Confederationists. 1/ Viewed from my Island redoubt, the Alberta Independence movement is growing organically. Over 6000 canvassers, recruiting district captains, aiming for a million signatures. All with minimal funding and very little positive media coverage. 2/

Go read: on Bill C-9 currently being rushed through the HoC. The Libs are very eager to control speech and a vague, but authoritarian, bit of law could do the job. 1/

https://x.com/YakkStack/status/2020888240115650614

The fact is that gov't cannot actually control speech, what it can do is impose consequences for speech it doesn't like. Say the "wrong" thing, lose your internet access. 2/

It looks to me as if the Alberta petition for an Independence Referendum will get more than enough signatures. In the process the "yes" side will have built a solid ground level organization. Then the fight begins. 1/ It is a pretty good bet that the "no" side will be all about fear. You'll lose your pensions, your health care, your currency...Only Canada can save you. Project Fear can work especially if legacy media pumps the tires. 2/

The Prime Minister of all the Canadas has decided that Canada will go all in for EVs. He's planning on using a combination of buyer incentives and emission restrictions to push Canadians to go electric. 1/ The plan is pitched at two groups, the dwindling number of climate change alarmists and the dwindling number of Canadians engaged in the automotive industry. It will also appeal to voters who like gov't to be involved directly with the economy. 2/

The Party of Toronto is very sad this morning. @PierrePoilievre won the votes of 87.7% of the delegates to the CPC convention. Pierre gave an excellent speech. He is the leader. Jason Kenny, Doug Ford the rest of the wets were firmly rejected. 1/ Say what you want about Pierre, and I say a lot, he is not a "red" tory. Last election he was suckered into me-tooing the Team Canada line, this coming election he has the opportunity to set out on his own. 2/

My American friends are, gradually, getting to the bottom of the 2020 Presidential election steal. The Dems never thought that Trump himself would ever be back in office and no other Republican would allow the 2020 result to be examined. 1/ The details of the fraud are now emerging. A bit in Georgia, a little in Arizona, gradually a pattern of full scale cheating in key electoral states is being established. Does it matter? Biden is no longer in office. 2/

@acoyne has laid out the maximalist "Canadian" position: 1/ Call it the Hotel California theory of the Canadian Confederation: "You can check-out any time you like
But you can never leave!" For Coyne Confederation is a one way street. 2/

We will hear a lot of arguments about Alberta Independence grounded in everything from sentiment to economics with a good deal of Project Fear and odes to the unique frontier culture of Alberta. I am in favour of independence for an entirely different reason. 1/ Smaller, independent, sovereign political units are, I believe, inherently more attractive than larger units. A nation of 5 million is more coherent, more easily governed and more fundamentally democratic than a nation of 42 million. 2/

I am greatly encouraged by the massive turnouts Alberta Independence events and petition signings are attracting. "Too big to rig" and all that. But the growing success of the movement creates a target. 1/ There is growing speculation that Carney is going to call a Spring election (you heard it here first) so he can, once again, run against the bad orange man and get the Boomers to give him a mandate. Could work. 2/

Nice day to travel. I am off to the Vancouver Resource Investors Conference on Sunday but taking the ferry later on today. Should be interesting with silver over $100 and gold at nearly $5000. 1/ VRIC is all about junior exploration and development companies. There will be a few "producers" on the floor but 90% of the attendees are about soil samples and drill results. They are years away from production. 2/

In his speech yesterday Carney acknowledged that the idea of a rules based international order was a fiction that people went along with because it suited their agendas. I think he was right but there are other fictions propped up by agendas. 1/ The entire construct of "net zero" is predicated on the attribution of climate change to increases in the amounts of "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere. Gov'ts the world over pretend that "net zero" will change this. 2/

Read Carney's Davos speech. As these sorts of speeches go it was pretty good. And it was an excellent summary of what Carney is trying to achieve as he jets from place to place. Here's the transcript. 1/ nationalpost.com/news/canada/ma… Recognizing that Canada is a middle power and that building relationships with other middle powers is a good thing is stating the blindingly obvious. It also is oblivious to the fact that we have one, overwhelmingly important relationship. 2/

Beautiful, crisp, Fall day on the Island. The nights are cooling off, but the afternoon is prime Vespa weather. The ostriches are still with us and @PierrePoilievre is still silent. The federal conversation seems to be about guns and censorship. 1/ Everyone who has done five minutes research into the question agrees that confiscating registered, legally owned, guns from people who are licenced to own them will do nothing at all to address gun crime. 2/

Getting news from the ostrich farm is frustrating. There was a fire on the bale wall. A FN tribe has stepped in to protect the ostriches on unceded land. The WCB is looking at work safety issues. A Court may have issued a "stay". 1/ I love our indy media and they are doing a great job, but this is a big story with a lot of moving parts and the gov't is being anything but transparent. The fire was real but how damaging is hard to say. 2/

When I was a kid I played rugby. Not very well but I played. It was and is a brutal game. When I was a bit older I'd be invited to make up a side in club rugby. Which was great fun as after the game you'd drink beers with the opposing team. 1/ Scrolling through the sick takes of the theatre kids, TRAs, queer folk and purple hair leftists on the murder of Charlie Kirk it is pretty obvious that they didn't play team sports when they were kids. They lack the emotional control to be able to leave the game on the pitch. 2/

In hockey "elbowing" leads to a penalty. In their haste to stand up to the bad orange man, Team Canada broke the USMCA rules and imposed tariffs on exempt goods. Which got them sent to the penalty box. 1/ Yesterday (or the day before) Carney finally got a call through to Trump. At a guess Trump told him to stop violating the USMCA rules before there was any chance the US would consider a tariff deal. 2/

The wonderful @RealAndyLeeShow is wandering through grants given by Global Affairs Canada. Not quite curing river blindness in Sub-Saharan Africa. 1/

https://x.com/RealAndyLeeShow/status/1946982178166030572

What is referred to as "foreign aid" tends to push blob obsessions with gender and LGBT in foreign countries at great cost for no apparent benefit. I am generally against foreign aid on principle, but the grants Andy is turning up are simply boondoggles. 2/

It's interesting that the fracus between subsidy and indy media was, in many ways, more interesting than the English language debate itself. Largely because "leaders' debates" have ceased to be debates and have become sort of joint press conferences. 1/ The pollsters and marketeers who have taken over political campaigning recognize that the "average" voter is no longer the right target. Instead, you want to provoke certain emotions in the psychographics you need to win.

The ever valuable @RealAndyLeeShow and others are now routinely catching out Carney for lying about who he has met with in his past. And Carney is dodging questions about where he pays his taxes or if he is conflicted on heat pumps or modular housing. 1/ While subsidy media largely avoids such questions, even the Globe and Mail has called Carney out for lying about his contacts with Chinese business groups. The Liberal war room sees 18 long days stretching out to election day. 2/

Long of tooth National Post columnist wants us to know that @PierrePoilievre has to win in Ontario to win nationally. In other news, water is wet. 1/

https://x.com/nationalpost/status/1903431590971129955

McParland is pretty convinced that Pierre will have to hew closer to the middle ground of the @TashaKheiriddin Party of Toronto Conservatives if he is to stand any chance against the Carney led Liberals. 2/

And we're off. April 28 election day. Leave aside party politics and the horse race here are the issues which matter to me. 1/ Immigration and other newcomers: Canada is well past full. Immigrants, temporary workers, foreign students all use housing and services stretched beyond their limits. I will vote for the party which proposes the greatest reduction in numbers. 1/