M. Grégoire

ingénieur, tory canadien, citoyen du Grand Montréal
#FédiQC #Montréal #CanPol #cdnpoli #polqc #conservateur #conservative #fedi22

Languages: EN, FR
Status: En pause pour le Carême / Away for Lent

Public Key

npub1pz3hwxzx8x3rr952f6v3795quk0gd34qualw95vvwpdvfdg4v3gskudwqw

NIP-05 Address

mpjgregoire_at_cosocial.ca@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsq3gmhrprrng33j69yaxglz6qwt85xc6swwlhz6xx8qkkyk52kg5gpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds2xz2rt

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1pz3hwxzx8x3rr952f6v3795quk0gd34qualw95vvwpdvfdg4v3gskudwqw

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Last Notes

2026-04-08 16:16:37 UTC

I'm not pleased of course, but on the bright side the Liberal Party and caucus are moving farther to the right, and the odds of a federal election in 2026 are decreasing.
https://mstdn.ca/@davidakin/116369666296427649
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2026-04-06 00:30:50 UTC

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The Fedi could yet be the place that's neither silo'd nor driven by algorithms that reward stupid outrage.

2026-04-05 16:00:18 UTC

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The way I've thought about it is that yhe local timeline is still slow enough that one can follow it all, but at some point it will become easy to miss messages from @npub1was…gh5g ; best to follow that account directly.

2026-02-16 06:39:07 UTC

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I've never heard of the guy before, but according to the obituary he:
* encouraged listeners to send bottles of polluted water from the Rideau River to Queen's Park
* advocated for safer gun laws
* helped organize the 1995 unity rally in Montreal
* was co-founder of the Ottawa chapter of Big Brothers, and the Help Santa Toy Parade
Sounds to me like he did at least a few good things.
‐-----------------
Anyway, the reason I jumped into this thread: Who's Kirk?
@npub1lud…8056

2026-02-13 13:51:17 UTC

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It's odd that the "Similar countries" include the US, Japan and Canada, in addition to the EU-27.

2026-02-11 19:45:41 UTC

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There are lots of complaints in the world; it's good to see praise when it's deserved.

2026-02-09 01:35:28 UTC

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I wonder why the Tamil dictionary has twice as many words as English; the latter, after all, has unusually many words by virtue of its history of absorbing bits of other languages. Perhaps the Tamil dictionary lists separate declinations of words, or includes place names...
#Tamil

2026-02-06 11:27:15 UTC

#FOSDEM2026 - Updates on GNU/Hurd progress: rump drivers, 64bit, SMP, software bootstrapping ...
https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/7FZXHF-updates_on_gnuhurd_progress_rump_drivers_64bit_smp_software_bootstrapping/
Presented by [@samuel_thibault](https://toot.aquilenet.fr/@samuel_thibault )
I wonder how close #TheHurd is to becoming an official port of #Debian ? As I recall, many years ago, lack of a firewall system was a blocker.
#Hurd

2026-02-05 17:52:01 UTC

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You're famous/infamous!

2026-01-31 14:33:02 UTC

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He did well in the last election — not well enough to win, obviously, but well enough to be given a second chance.
And there are no tempting alternatives on deck at his point in time.

2026-01-31 06:01:48 UTC

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With luck, the link here will work for you: https://rss-parrot.net/u/www.youtube.com.channel.ucs1xwrtmeasnhyphgjjtbfw/status/1769801604354858861

2026-01-31 04:29:22 UTC

Jason Kenney 🇨🇦🇺🇦 : "There is no doubt that Pierre has earned the right to carry on as Conservative Leader. He has expanded the Conservative coalition, drove Justin Trudeau out of office, defined the policy agenda, continues to have the Conservatives in a competitive position, has demonstrated the ability to learn and change. And tonight was Pierre at his best. Energetic, compelling message, presenting a positive alternative, hopeful and determined."
https://nitter.net/jkenney/status/2017433155700224087#m
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2026-01-28 13:14:27 UTC

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There's a factual error here. CPC polls went from about 45% support when PM Trudeau resigned to 41% on election day, with a low of 37% in between. That's not a "50-point collapse".
You can see this by looking at the historic polling here:
https://338canada.com/federal.htm#projection
(There are other points I disagree with, but they're arguable. This one is flatly wrong.)
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2026-01-23 00:51:23 UTC

The new version of @npub18wv…53pp , with the ability to view quote posts (#quoosts) is now available on #FDroid.
Thanks to @npub1h7x…gl8m and the other developer.
#tusky

2026-01-18 20:44:21 UTC

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You don't mean to say that you see this on the Fediverse, do you? Is it on X/Twitter?

2026-01-14 22:46:48 UTC

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"Western Civilisation" refers to the cultures that are the descendants of Athens + Rome + Jerusalem. The borders of Western Civilisation are blurry, but it's still a meaningful concept.

2026-01-14 04:31:51 UTC

Everyone agrees that doctors, nurses and healthcare providers in general shouldn't be forced into providing services they consider unethical, right?
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:eiyryfczicuhk7xrjppyqjxv/post/3mce7pmtdmx2v
#RightToRefuse #ethics #healthcare

2026-01-13 22:35:39 UTC

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For what it's worth, I also oppose theocracy. But there's not much chance of theocracy in modern Britain.
@npub17wp…5j24

2026-01-13 18:28:08 UTC

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My concern is less about theocracy than blasphemy.
@npub19ua…53cv @npub17wp…5j24

2026-01-13 17:17:48 UTC

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Can't say I like the idea of a political party having an image of the Eucharist as part of their logo either (even if what they say is true).
On the plus side, the UKIP is a fringe party. Nigel Farage and his followers are now the Reform UK.

2026-01-13 11:13:13 UTC

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Fair enough. X/Twitter is arguably Canada's most influentual or politically important social media platform.

2026-01-13 05:14:39 UTC

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X/Twitter has serious problems, but it is not the largest social media platform in Canada. That would be Facebook, followed by Instagram and TikTok, with Twitter in fourth place. (Possibly YouTube is in second place, if we consider it a social media platform.)
As to newspapers, it would be preferable if Postmedia were Canadian-owned, sure, but there are few Canadians who want to own a newspaper these days. A #MontréalGazette owned by Americans is better than no Gazette at all.

2026-01-03 14:55:18 UTC

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It depends. If you click on the link to the account of someone on Bluesky who's bridged his account, you can follow the account and see all his posts, just like following someone on the Fediverse.
(Hang on, why isn't that working for me?)

2026-01-03 14:14:37 UTC

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You can see posts from Bluesky accounts that have enabled the bridge, e.g., [@radiofreetom.bsky.social](https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/radiofreetom.bsky.social ) .

2025-12-23 01:25:17 UTC

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Here, maybe this will be more to your liking: https://russroberts.medium.com/the-three-blind-spots-of-politics-c5e8cc7c60b6
Or maybe this one: https://quillette.com/2018/08/08/the-three-languages-of-politics-a-review/

2025-12-23 01:00:57 UTC

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If you're curious about the thesis, I think I saw a review that summarises it, but (of course) is much shorter. Shall I look for the link?

2025-12-22 23:22:34 UTC

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Interesting. You haven't seen a list of ridings where #CPC HQ picked the candidate, have you? I wonder if there are any current MPs who won their nominations that way...
It would be also interesting to compare with other parties and past practices. I think the Liberals often award nominations to star candidates, but I could be wrong.
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2025-12-22 14:52:20 UTC

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Do you think it's worth trying to circumvent the paywall to read this?

2025-12-19 11:15:03 UTC

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Humans are social animals, yes. Does Mr. Junger think humans in society are naturally egalitarian, naturally hierarchical, or does he take some other position?

2025-12-09 22:58:28 UTC

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I read these things, I ask myself, what I should do with my savings? Bonds? Gold? Short the market? It's worrisome.

2025-11-30 00:49:53 UTC

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I wonder what the consequences will be? A JAG prosecution of the chain of command? Resignations? Will Pres. Trump be able to shut down any legal action while he retains power?
#uspol

2025-11-26 18:41:29 UTC

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People on the Fediverse who have lists dedicated to #CanPol should probably include my account. Not because my opinions are correct [0], but because over 40% of Canadian voters supported the #CPC in the last election, and I'm pretty much the only person around here willing to explain why I did so.
[0] I think they are, but I could of course be wrong.
@npub1vtz…zqq3
#cdnpoli

2025-11-26 17:56:52 UTC

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I knew it! Beware of my crazy opinions...
@npub1vtz…zqq3

2025-11-26 16:58:45 UTC

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I'm on "Wary", aren't I?
@npub1vtz…zqq3

2025-11-17 20:10:05 UTC

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If governments waive the GST on all homebuyers, won't that just cause the selling price of the houses to increase correspondingly?

2025-11-13 00:30:12 UTC

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"Federation: Imagine if with a single Twitter account, you could follow your friends on Instagram, trending videos on TikTok, and a channel on YouTube. And not just follow them, you could interact with them by commenting or sharing with your followers. Although such services are less developed than Mastodon, they now exist and the interoperability works."
Something like that maybe.
The next big source of growth for the Fediverse might be from something other than Mastodon...

2025-11-13 00:09:05 UTC

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I'm surprised you didn't add anything about the other types of server you can connect to on the Fediverse, e.g., Pixelfed. I'm not that interested personally in photo-sharing apps or short-form video, but the ability to follow such feeds from a single account seems incredibly useful.

2025-11-11 02:40:13 UTC

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Is there something broken in the market in Nozick's argument? Is there something unfair about Mr. Chamberlain earning money for his exceptional skills?
@npub1l2s…zxv0

2025-11-11 02:22:40 UTC

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Some sources of wealth inequality reflect market failures; others do not. Have you read about the Wilt Chamberlain Argument? https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Nozick/The-entitlement-theory-of-justice#ref828038

2025-11-09 02:11:31 UTC

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If you'd asked me two years ago, I would have said that Americans wouldn't stand for this sort of thing — both Rs and Ds, politicians and voters, the public at large — that they wouldn't accept masked, unbadged government agents assaulting and imprisoning civilians in the US.
I would have been wrong. Plenty of Americans see nothing wrong with this, and the federal government seems to be completely under the thumb of Pres. Trump.
#uspol

2025-11-05 16:17:24 UTC

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I think you were interesting by the essays of #JosephHeath I've linked to in the past. He co-authored *The Rebel Sell*, which was in part a response to *No Logo*: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rebel_Sell
(I confess that I have read neither book as yet.)

2025-11-01 17:28:16 UTC

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Was that what drove the name change, the unpopularity of the federal Liberals? Makes sense, but hadn't occurred to me.
Thanks for the explanation.
@npub1mvm…jgeg

2025-11-01 16:01:08 UTC

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But why did the business community give up on BC United? Did the BC Conservatives rise in popular support past BC United, and then the money decided the former were their best bet? If so, then why had BC United support fallen so low?
#bcpoli is often full of drama.
@npub1mvm…jgeg

2025-10-30 03:46:06 UTC

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How are such LLMs for coding? There's a vast corpus of out-of-copyright books, but I don't think that's true for, e.g., Python.

2025-10-17 23:07:31 UTC

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Sounds like a tough interview. Good.

2025-10-14 20:25:59 UTC

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There will never be peace in the Holy Land until both sides accept that they won't get everything they want -- even if that's unfair. There are extremists on both sides, but I think one side has shown more willingness to compromise than the other.

2025-10-14 20:11:16 UTC

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I can imagine people on both sides of the conflict agreeing to that statement, seeing themselves as the ones under attack.

2025-10-12 00:49:07 UTC

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The pepe memes I'm aware of. Why are people protesting ICE by dressing as frogs?

2025-10-12 00:42:33 UTC

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"Frogs"?
Any discussion of the relative degree of compassion of the Right and the Left needs to discuss which group is more likely to give to charity and to volunteer.

2025-10-11 00:12:36 UTC

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I can't help expecting that the pinprick will be applied (accidentally) by Pres. Trump. But he hasn't even blown up TSLA yet, which I was sure would happen once he and Mr. Musk started hanging out together...

2025-10-08 21:15:06 UTC

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Oh, I hadn't spotted that: "China [saw] a 2% drop in its use of fossil fuels in the first half of the year compared with the same months in 2024, Ember found. Over the same period India grew its renewable energy by more than three times its electricity demand – which was significantly weaker this year – causing its coal and gas use to fall by 3.1% and 34% respectively."
Thank-you.
@npub1afm…5gp4 @npub1m0j…lvpq

2025-10-08 21:00:18 UTC

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Is it the case that China's carbon emissions are falling? I'd like that to be true, but the BBC article said they are still building coal power plants. OurWorldInData shows their CO2 emissions still increasing: https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/china

2025-10-06 20:51:28 UTC

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How is it useful?

2025-10-05 17:59:01 UTC

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Gah! I forwarded a post supposedly quoting Dame Patricia. Now I need to retract it.
Thanks for posting this.

2025-10-02 18:28:39 UTC

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I've encouraged a few of my conservative brothers and sisters to come here, but mostly they're content on Twitter.

2025-10-01 20:55:44 UTC

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Good essay. Thanks in particular for drawing my attention to that Doctorow piece.

2025-09-29 20:36:52 UTC

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It's also because we think in terms of consumption. I care about how much money I spend, and how much I *can spend. The fact that my house has gone up in value doesn't make me feel free to increase consumption, though there are ways I could turn that into cash.
@npub19ua…53cv

2025-09-29 20:33:10 UTC

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That's a fair point. It's harder to find Gini coefficients for wealth than for income, but someone has probably has come up with figures for France.
One of the reasons that Gini coefficients are hard to find for wealth is that it's harder for governments to measure than income -- which is part of the reason that wealth taxes have proven difficult to apply.

2025-09-29 19:39:43 UTC

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Since 1970, the overall trend for France is a falling Gini coefficient for income: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=FR
Income inequality fell in France until the mid-90s, and since then it's fluctuated.
#polfr #equality

2025-09-28 23:08:08 UTC

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Let's not give @npub1xsv…q6he any ideas for new projects at the moment...

2025-09-26 02:50:14 UTC

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Some things work well as hierarchies.

2025-09-25 21:11:57 UTC

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It's valuable to listen to those we disagree with, at least so long as they're neither knaves nor fools. "He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that."
#politics

2025-09-25 10:08:07 UTC

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Yeah, that's a great thread.
In my own case, it's probably the Lesage upright piano. Not really sure how old it is; the company was around from 1891 to 1989.

2025-09-24 21:38:47 UTC

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There are ways in which certain Trump policies appeal to CPC voters, sure; it would be blind to deny that. But it's hard to see how 18% of Canadians wouldn't care that he's trying to make Canadians lose jobs and become poorer.

2025-09-24 19:24:04 UTC

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Hard to believe. Given that 41% of Canadian voters chose the CPC in the last election, this suggests that 18% of Canadians approve of how Pres. Trump is doing his job. That's shockingly high, especially given his malevolent policies towards Canada.
1. I wonder how many voters skipped the question?
2. It would be interesting to see how CPC members compare with CPC voters on the question.
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2025-09-18 13:40:12 UTC

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A quoost, one might say...
@npub1vl7…f6g0

2025-09-17 19:34:28 UTC

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Are you sure quote posts won't do what you have in mind?

2025-09-16 22:14:07 UTC

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@npub1hmq…rlex
The thing that surprises me is how quickly people online came to conclusions about the killer:
* He's obviously on the Right, a Groyper
* He's obviously on the Left, an Antifa sympathiser
(Few have even considered the possibility he was just crazy, like John Hinckley.)
Social media can be very unhealthy for public discourse; the more often your circle repeats something, the more certain you become of its truth.
#SocialMedia #uspol

2025-09-15 18:47:04 UTC

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I suppose some of the people suspended from Bluesky will be coming here -- I think I saw one new account like that. Do you have any feel for whether people are leaving Bluesky over this issue?

2025-09-11 01:22:57 UTC

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I'd bet I could get more engagement on Twitter; there aren't many people interested in conservative views on #CanPol on the Fediverse, and that's probably true for Bluesky and Threads as well.
@npub1wxn…y9r6

2025-09-11 00:40:14 UTC

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There are really two questions: Which social network has the largest number of users? Which social network has the highest growth rate?
To the former, Facebook has over 3B MAUs, so I wouldn't count it out yet. I haven't found a clear answer to the latter, but I think it's Threads.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_platforms_with_at_least_100_million_active_users
@npub19ua…53cv

2025-09-11 00:05:50 UTC

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Some people left Twitter and went to Bluesky, sure. But my understanding is that the number of MAUs on Bluesky has been falling for months. The only social network that's really growing these days is Threads, to the best of my knowledge.
@npub19ua…53cv

2025-09-10 17:40:12 UTC

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Where do you think they would get the most engagement at present? Probably not Mastodon, alas. Maybe Threads? Or even Facebook?

2025-09-10 02:09:04 UTC

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I think I can speak for almost all Canadians in saying we're glad you enjoyed your visit. Come back soon!

2025-09-05 06:37:55 UTC

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There's no "waiting to make his move" — Mr. Poilievre is doing everything he can now to bring down the Liberal government. Though I'm sure he doesn't expect his efforts to bear fruit any time soon, since he'll need the NDP and the Bloc to also want an election.
I hope that PM Carney manages to turn things around for this country: greater economic growth, lower cost of housing, etc. But I don't really think this country will have the changes it requires until Mr. Poilievre is PM.

2025-09-04 03:01:38 UTC

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Oh, I don't think an election will come any time soon. The Conservatives, Bloc and NDP would all have to vote together to defeat the Liberals, and it's rare that they all have the same interest at the same time. On the other hand, the NDP probably feel burned by their experience supporting PM Trudeau, and thus might be less likely to sustain this government...
I predict that #CPC MPs will only rarely vote with the government. We'll see whether your prediction or mine is better.

2025-09-04 01:37:21 UTC

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I think, in his heart of hearts, PM Carney would have preferred to maintain a consumer #CarbonTax; but he concluded that if he kept it, then it would be repealed by a #CPC government, whereas if he cancelled it then the Liberals might hold on to power.
I predict that the Conservatives will find justifications to vote against the budget. It's very rare for a budget to be supported by the Official Opposition, even if they are sympathetic to elements of it.
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2025-09-03 23:55:34 UTC

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Well, we'll see what happens in the budget.
Out of curiosity, what did you think you were voting for when you voted for the Liberals?
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2025-09-03 21:20:22 UTC

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I expect we'll see some government programmes cut back, and some reductions in the size of the civil service (which grew by 40% under PM Trudeau) — but overall we'll probably have a large deficit, larger than any we've had since 2021. If that's correct, then I don't think "austerity" would be the right word.
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2025-08-28 20:16:12 UTC

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I'm going to defend @npub1hmq…rlex and Prof. Loury. They both live in states that were almost certainly going to go for VP Harris. Why shouldn't they vote with their consciences if they believed neither main candidate was fit to serve?

2025-08-28 19:57:08 UTC

#GlennLoury finally confesses: "I didn't vote for Kamala Harris. I didn't vote for Trump either. I voted for Cornel West."
(From his August Q&A; not an exact quote.)
#uspol

2025-08-27 22:36:18 UTC

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Aren't you a US citizen, @npub1764…nuj0 ? CBP has to let you in, don't they?
@npub19ua…53cv

2025-08-27 22:18:49 UTC

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What springs immediately to mind is anti-Trump posts on Mastodon.
But I hope it needs to be more than that...

2025-08-27 21:27:20 UTC

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You haven't been clear about whether they were refused entry because of what was on their phones, or because they declined to hand them over.
The former is probably the case. If so, then do you know what was on their phones that led CBP to deny entry? What does it appear CBP was looking for?

2025-08-27 01:30:56 UTC

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Is there some sort of Bluesky news tonight?

2025-08-25 23:00:16 UTC

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If my parents give me a large quantity of money in their old age, should I be taxed upon it? Should gifts in general be taxable?
(In Canada, FWIW, neither inheritance nor gifts are taxed as income for the recipient -- but they may be taxed as capital gains for the giver. I had to look that up.)
#CanPol #cdnpoli #InheritanceTax

2025-08-18 20:38:08 UTC

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Sure, people treat rental properties differently than what they own.
I notice though that US home ownership has been in the 60% to 70% range for the last fifty years; it's fluctuated, but doesn't seem to have changed substantially: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RHORUSQ156N
Probably that's not accurate where you live.
@npub1lqv…6la8 @npub1gvx…nztx

2025-08-18 19:46:21 UTC

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In Canada, it's normal for middle class people do do their own gardening.
@npub1gvx…nztx

2025-08-18 14:11:57 UTC

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Nasty indeed.

2025-08-18 11:17:50 UTC

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It's bizarre the way Americans expect to have a class of foreign-born workers serving them — gardeners, cooks, caregivers, etc. Don't people clip their own hedges any more?
#uspol #Doonesbury

2025-08-16 20:12:53 UTC

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We should allow #cabotage. That's the lasting solution that serves the public good.
#AirCanada
#CanPol #cdnpoli

2025-08-13 14:42:07 UTC

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I'd like "liberal" to mean someone who is particularly concerned with freedom, social, political and economic. But unfortunately in English words change meaning according to their usage.

2025-08-12 20:54:39 UTC

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It's rarely worth arguing online with someone who disagrees with you -- how many times have you changed your mind about something because of some online stranger arguing with you?
If it's someone who follows you, or who has interacted positively with you in the past, then disagreement might lead to a constructive discussion.

2025-08-11 02:43:55 UTC

I hear in the news about Canadians cancelling their travel to the US. But really, how frequently do people visit our continental neighbours?
Canadians, how often did you go to the US before 2025?
(Boosts welcome)

2025-08-09 15:32:50 UTC

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Be sure to get out of Halifax and explore.

2025-08-08 20:08:31 UTC

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Have you seen any #Ghost accounts on the Fediverse?
I went looking at https://explore.ghost.org/ , but I couldn't find out what the account names are supposed to be. (And probably many sites haven't yet migrated to #Ghost6 .)

2025-08-08 20:02:40 UTC

Now that #Ghost6 has been released, websites published using that version of Ghost are available on the Fediverse. Has anyone seen any worth following? Please reply with the account name if so.
Boosts encouraged.
[@ghost](https://threads.net/@ghost/ )
#ghost

2025-08-04 03:49:06 UTC

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Kessler Syndrome, here we come... I wonder how many years away it is.

2025-08-02 17:33:22 UTC

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Why are they interested?

2025-08-01 13:57:58 UTC

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Doesn't Mr. Poilievre support the Harper policy on Israel/Palestine? https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-supports-two-state-solution-stephen-harper-tells-benjamin-netanyahu-1.3004891
@npub1ynt…3zqj @npub1spc…3gwu @npub1j7g…c603