Tuesday, October 20

Nevermind the subsidized rentiers...

future growth remains in the hands of the striving newcomers...

Same as it ever was.

In his triumphant address Monday night, Trudeau spoke of the Liberals' agenda for "all Canadians" and hailed the grass-roots outreach and work done across the country. He specifically mentioned campaigning in gurudwaras, or Sikh temples, and told an anecdote of meeting a woman wearing a hijab at a rally.

"[She] handed me her infant daughter … and she said she voted for us because she wants her little girl to grow up and make her own choices in life and that the government can’t [decide for her]," Trudeau said, according to the Montreal Gazette.

Trudeau celebrated Canada's diversity and history of tolerance and immigration — a higher proportion of Canada's population is foreign-born than that of the United States. "We know our enviable, inclusive society didn’t happen by accident and won’t continue without effort," he said.
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Much of the credit for the victory is being laid directly at Justin Trudeau's feet. He ran a disciplined, positive election campaign and withstood the attacks of his opponents, including the defeated Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who attempted to paint Trudeau as an inexperienced naif.
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Now it's Harper's myths about Canada that are coming under scrutiny. Harper is seen by both critics and supporters as an unabashed neoconservative, a nationalist who championed Western values and a more muscular foreign policy overseas even as he whittled away at some of the more progressive elements of Canadian society. He cut taxes and skirted the issue of climate change while boosting Canada's massive energy industry.

The Liberals under Trudeau intend to raises taxes on the rich, increase public spending on infrastructure and other big projects, and set national targets on carbon emissions.
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Under Harper's watch, Canada's economic growth became increasingly yoked to its mining and energy industries. And the country has been hit particularly hard by the recent drop in global oil prices. Of the Group of Seven, or G-7, nations — some of the world's most advanced economies — Canada was the only one to report two consecutive quarters of decline in 2015, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Now, following his dramatic defeat, Harper will also step down from the leadership of the Conservative party. "The people are never wrong," Harper told a crowd in Calgary, after conceding to Trudeau. "The disappointment is my responsibility and mine alone."
Great White North, eh?