Meanwhile, in Canada

[Robert]

[Ken]

i wonder what lesterb would be thinking?

8 days ago / North West Cavalryman / Alberta's Had Enough! Delegation Heads to DC to Petition for Statehood! / 15+min


6 days ago / Depressed Ginger / Alberta *WANTS* to be the 51st State?? Visiting DC / 10+min


8 days ago / Depressed Ginger / Alberta wants to *LEAVE* Canada and join the United States?? / 14+min

This sort of YouTube nonsense is easily fact-checked with actual opinion polls. Such as this recent one: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/l ... -suggests/

Large majority of Canadians reject Trump's annexation overtures, poll suggests

By The Canadian Press
Published: March 08, 2025 at 7:17AM EST

OTTAWA — A new poll suggests few Canadians are open to President Donald Trump’s repeated pitches for Canada to become a U.S. state, though interest in it rises among Conservative supporters and those living in Alberta.

The Leger poll, released this week, says just nine per cent of Canadians want Canada to become the 51st state, while 85 per cent do not.

The rejection appears clear across all regions, political parties and age groups.

Support for the idea is highest in Alberta, at 15 per cent, and lowest in Atlantic Canada at just three per cent, with fewer than one-in-10 people in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia wanting it.

About 18 per cent of Conservative supporters said they want Canada to become a U.S. state, while 97 per cent of Liberal and NDP voters, and 94 per cent of Bloc supporters said they would not want that.

[temporal1]

quoting the Canadian press in Ottawa.

“keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.”
unknown

[Ken]

quoting the Canadian press in Ottawa.

“keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.”
unknown

Yes, stick with your YouTube rabbit holes. I'm sure that will keep you better informed.

[temporal1]

December 2016: appleman2006 [in Canada]
P.3 / The electoral college / viewtopic.php?t=192&start=20

.. .. Sure a huge number do not feel government works for them. I happen to be one of those in Canada. But that does not mean that when I do not vote which is normally that I do not accept the fact that my not voting means that I by default am supporting the ultimate winner. In the end the winner couldn't care less that I did not vote for him. I and millions of others did not vote for the opponent and he there for won.

As to your electoral college system. Be glad for it.

In the Canadian system politicians only have to speak to what the urban populace wants and they will almost certainly win.

Rural interests have dropped so far on the totem pole of importance to them we may as well not exist.

(i think) it’s entirely possible, if Canada had an electoral college system all along, they might have avoided MANY problems that come from their more democratic system - simple majority rules.

For reasons appleman articulated well - in 2016.

[Ken]

December 2016: appleman2006 [in Canada]
P.3 / The electoral college / viewtopic.php?t=192&start=20

.. .. Sure a huge number do not feel government works for them. I happen to be one of those in Canada. But that does not mean that when I do not vote which is normally that I do not accept the fact that my not voting means that I by default am supporting the ultimate winner. In the end the winner couldn't care less that I did not vote for him. I and millions of others did not vote for the opponent and he there for won.

As to your electoral college system. Be glad for it.

In the Canadian system politicians only have to speak to what the urban populace wants and they will almost certainly win.

Rural interests have dropped so far on the totem pole of importance to them we may as well not exist.

(i think) it’s entirely possible, if Canada had an electoral college system all along, they might have avoided MANY problems that come from their more democratic system - simple majority rules.

For reasons appleman articulated well - in 2016.

The only thing we know for certain about Canadian politics right now is that since Trump was inaugurated, conservative poll numbers are plummeting and liberal poll numbers are skyrocketing. Trump may well turn out to be a life saver for the liberal party, especially if they form a coalition with the New Democrats and Quebecois where they despise Trump even more.

It was all so unnecessary as well and a complete own-goal. Trump could certainly have re-opened the USMCA agreement for further renegotiation on whatever points of disagreement exist between the US and Canada. But no, he had to go off completely unhinged with the 51st state stuff and all the false accusations of Canada being a fentanyl pipeline into the US. And the simply wrong rhetoric about how Canada is exploiting the US. Trump's lies might work on the MAGA base. Not so much with Canadians.

[barnhart]

The Liberal party may owe the Trump administration a Christmas card. They were headed for a heavy losses but could pull out a win.

I don't know about applemans theory of majority rule in Canadian politics. The Quebequois are a minority party and they seem to have a lot of power.

[JohnH]

The Liberal party may owe the Trump administration a Christmas card. They were headed for a heavy losses but could pull out a win.

I don't know about applemans theory of majority rule in Canadian politics. The Quebequois are a minority party and they seem to have a lot of power.

In Westminster systems, a tiny party can command a lot of party when the two biggest parties are in a 50/50 dead heat.

[temporal1]

^^just as appleman described in 2016. city-majority rule.

as was made crystal-clear during the truck convoy period (just before Ukraine lit up) - there are serious problems in Canada,
similar to the U.S., i.e., tone deaf libs insulting and talking down to others. it happens on this forum!

the truck convoy disaster was well covered earlier in this topic.
it went silent when Ukraine emerged. Trudeau, off the hook. for awhile.

time will tell.
but .. msm will not! it’s official now.

signtist is another forum member in Canada. his busy topic, “Credible News Sources” has experienced quite a shift since he started it in 2016. viewtopic.php?t=95

it’s a lot like tim walz.
he blathers on, evidently enjoying the sound of his own voice. -not reading the room-

i wish the best for Canada.

[Ken]

The Liberal party may owe the Trump administration a Christmas card. They were headed for a heavy losses but could pull out a win.

I don't know about applemans theory of majority rule in Canadian politics. The Quebequois are a minority party and they seem to have a lot of power.

Every democracy on the planet has to build a majority coalition to get anything done. There is no democracy on the planet where you can pass legislation, budgets, etc. with only a minority vote in Congress or Parliament.

The main difference between systems is where and at what stage those coalitions form. In the US it happens at the electoral level and primary election level because we have a winner-take-all system. We don't have any meaningful minority parties in Congress because we don't have proportional representation. We have single member winner-take-all districts and two parties. We can have split government with one party holding one house of Congress and the other party holding the other. But what we don't have is the inability of one party or the other to reach 51% representation in Congress. I don't think that has ever happened in American history. Or at least not in the modern era.

Canada, by contrast, has more than two parties and it is common to have minority coalition governments. That is what Trudeau had, and conservative Steven Harper before him. Neither reached 51% but had to form coalition governments.

The problem for conservatives in Canada right now is that the smaller parties are even more anti-Trump than the conservatives. The New Democratic party is more naturally allied with the liberals. And the Quebecois party is also more naturally aligned with the liberals. Especially in the current environment. They are generally socially liberal and also more independent and anti-American.

So in the very likely event that neither the Conservatives nor Liberals achieve a 51% majority in the next Parliament, it is the liberals who are best positioned to form a coalition government because they have more natural allies and Trump is pushing all the minor parties away from the Conservatives by making them toxic.