Is the Stephen Harper era over? YES. Canada elects Justin Trudeau.

[douglasm]

It will be interesting to see how it goes out west. The BC polls don't close till 7 [[pdt) so complete results probably won't come till morning, but both the CBC and CTV are declaring a Liberal win, according to the Vancouver Sun.

[401don]

CBC projects a Liberal government! Only about 10 or 11 minutes after the big poll closings

I'm not surprised by the winner but instead of a minority it's trending toward a majority, which nobody was anticipating until possibly this past weekend. Harper ran a really poor campaign, insulting Trudeau by calling him only by his 1st name in every ad and trying to portray him almost as a child. His arrogance, combined with Trudeau's positive message, did him in. Harper also maintained he was the only one qualified to run the economy - a sagging economy that he was in charge of. Meanwhile the NDP loses out once again as Quebec turns to it's native son.

[dtowncitylover]

And Harper will most likely step down.

[Lowell]

CBC called it for Liberals an hour ago. The only questions is if Canada will finally have a majority government. Congratulations PM Justin Trudeau.

[Canadian Visitor]

As at 11:53pm ET

Most media outlets calling for Liberal Majority.

Currently

Leading Elected

Lib 155 34
Con. 89 13
NDP 23 12
BQ 8 2
GRN 1 0

170 required for a majority

[DetBill]

Liberals now standing at a majority with 184 seats. Justin Trudeau gave a wonderful, eloquent acceptance speech. Pretty impressive.

[Hypestyles]

so what exact kind of platform did Mr. Trudeau run on?
What are his policy ideas regarding job development, health care and poverty?

[Canadian Visitor]

so what exact kind of platform did Mr. Trudeau run on?
What are his policy ideas regarding job development, health care and poverty?

He ran on a very long and detailed platform. I will link to the whole thing below if you want to peruse it.

In terms of the more widely discussed 'highlights' [[in no particular order)

Tax Shift:

We will cut the middle income tax bracket to 20.5 percent from 22 percent – a seven percent reduction. Canadians with taxable annual income between $44,700 and $89,401 will see their income tax rate fall.


To pay for this tax cut, We will introduce a new tax bracket of 33 percent for individuals earning more than $200,000 each year

* note these are federal rates only, and omit payroll taxes and a host of potential deductions.

***

Child Benefit Shift:

Fam. Income 1 kid L 1 kid C 2kid L 2kid C

$15,000	$6,400	$5,825	$11,800	$10,175
$45,000	$5,380	$3,350	$9,850	$5,900
$90,000	$3,245	$2,125	$5,875	$3,300
$140,000	$1,695	$1,500	$3,125	$2,050
$200,000	$0	$1,425	$0	$1,950

So the above refers to the current federal child benefit a family receives in Canada
and shows various income levels and 1 or 2 children. L is the Liberal version of what level these benefits would be paid at, and to whom. C is the current/Conservative plan.

***

Legalize Marijuana


***

Cancel Canada's investment/order for the F-35 Fighter Jet

***

Increase the deficit by up to 10B per year for up to 3 years using the funds to invest in infrastructure. [[Canada is currently in a modest surplus at the federal level)

***

A few 'symbolic' gestures are in there to, including a gender-equal cabinet.

And bringing back the mandatory long form census, something that was made voluntary by the previous gov't.


For the long [[ and I mean, long) version of the platform, follow this link.

http://www.liberal.ca/realchange/

[Lowell]

"The true north strong and free"

[401don]

Nice to see new, although very inexperienced, blood but basically the Canadian economy rolls along according to global energy prices and the U.S. economy. The manufacturing base [[mostly auto) in Southwestern Ont. [[London to Windsor) has really been decimated by the cheap labor in Mexico, even more than Michigan.
I think the biggest change people are hoping for is a more transparent gov't. Harper really ran a secretive gov't, ramming bills through with lots of conservative addendums added on, and virtually no parliamentary discussion.

[oladub]

Anyone know Trudeau's position on the TPP?

[Wesley Mouch]

Anyone know Trudeau's position on the TPP?

Last I heard, he was saying hiding behind the uncertainly on the detailed language -- which let him not support TPP explicitly yet not say no either.

The platform page linked tells a lot about the Liberals. Social policy before international affairs. TPP not featured.

Now its time to implement policy, rather than just sniping at Harper.

Best of luck to you, Mr. Trudeau.

[canuck]

Anyone know Trudeau's position on the TPP?

He wants a debate in the commons;

https://www.liberal.ca/statement-by-...c-partnership/




Apparently, the move towards legalizing [[not decriminalizing) marijuana will be done pretty soon.
Yippeeeee, yizzeeeee, yaaaaawwwww whooooopppeeee, ahhhhhhh, eh?



Excuse me for the disjointed post but I had to link to this as an afterthought;

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...453#post491453

[spower03]

Come on Canadian Liberals WIN WIN WIN. Take back your nation from the conservatives. Social welfare for all. I wish the United States can be like Canada. They what they doing politically to preserve their nation. They are proud to be socialist.

The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people's money!

[gazhekwe]

Well, Congratulations, M. Tredeau. Now we shall see how we begin to pull in the direction of the Eighth Fire. Idle No More!

[renf]

Presumably Prime Minister Tredeau and the Liberals will continue to support the New International Trade Crossing. They are, perhaps, also more likely to invest a bit in Via Rail. What are the othr implications for Detroit and Michigan or the resounding win by the Liberals?

[Bobl]

As a Canadian I can tell you that I'm most proud of the fact that our longest campaign ever will still only be 11 weeks [[that and the fact that Donald Trump is not Canadian).

Canada has more common sense than we do, with our campaigns [[financed by the oligarchy) plodding on for nearly two years.

[Canadian Visitor]

Presumably Prime Minister Tredeau and the Liberals will continue to support the New International Trade Crossing. They are, perhaps, also more likely to invest a bit in Via Rail. What are the othr implications for Detroit and Michigan or the resounding win by the Liberals?

I don't think you'll see many changes that have a direct or material impact on Michigan.

In regards to the US this is what the platform says:

"We will work with the United States and Mexico to develop a continent-wide clean energy and environment agreement.


Because Canada relies on international trade to create jobs and grow our economy, we will work to reduce the barriers that limit trade. With a re-focused Building Canada Fund, we will promote a steadier flow of goods and business travellers by modernizing border infrastructure and streamlining cargo inspections."

Outside of that, I think the biggest changes you will likely feel directly will be from the Marijuana legalization. First when it becomes legal here and then a possible affect on your politics as a result.

Most policies are more domestic in nature and not likely to have a substantial cross-border impact.

You may see some further discussion [[in the US) on the cost of drugs as Trudeau committed to lowering Cdn drugs costs further through bulk buying by all of the provinces and the feds.

While VIA rail may see some money, its unlikely much will show up close to Windsor. There may be track/signal improvements closer to Toronto which could cut travel time and/or some discussion of originating a train on the US side w/pre-clearance customs but those discussions haven't even started vis a vis Detroit yet, and where they have [[Montreal, extension of service from Vermont by Amtrak) it has taken years and still isn't done).

[Onthe405]

The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people's money!

. .and the problem with unfettered capitalism is that you eventually drive down wages to the point where run out of customers and tax revenue!

[Ray1936]

I really don't much care who the PM of Canada is, just so long as he/she doesn't interfere with the hockey season.

[canuck]

I really don't much care who the PM of Canada is, just so long as he/she doesn't interfere with the hockey season.

Eggsactly.

[DetBill]

The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people's money!

Thats Indeed a true and funny comment, however. A definite problem on both sides of the border no matter how you look at it..living in a state that cant even keep its horrific roads and infrastructure working, and many of its people fed, the Canadians do a very good job of taking care of themselves. They pay higher individual taxes but survey after survey from Canada Revenue and Stats Canada shows a clear majority are quite fine with it as they feel they get alot of bang for the buck. Their average standard of living puts the us to shame and their streets are far safer. We have the UBER rich and the UBER poor here. Canadians have a much larger grouping who sits in the middle. My family and friends and myself for that matter., are from there. They all seem far more content than what Im seeing here.

[Zacha341]

And as often offered up as an alternative to the inequalities of capitalism there persists a central power elite dictating who'll have what, how much and when -- while they themselves do what they want without constraint!

The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people's money!

[Bham1982]

. .and the problem with unfettered capitalism is that you eventually drive down wages to the point where run out of customers and tax revenue!

And that would be why the highest wages on earth are in capitalist nations? The U.S. has the highest wages of any major nation. In Europe, Switzerland [[probably the least socialist-leaning Western European country) has the highest wages. In Asia, capitalist Singapore has the highest wages.

[oladub]

Throughout the cold war and, more recently, in response to Islamic terrorism, the US has shouldered much, too much, of the economic burdens of its allies including Canada. Health care and the other social bells and whistles provided their populations by these social democracies would have been unaffordable if these allies had had to pay for their own share of defense. Mr. Trudeau professes that he intends to improve US Canada relations yet two of his first moves were to cancel Canadian plans to buy f-35s and to end Canadian bombing of IS. Were I Canadian, I might applaud those actions but they do cut American jobs and add to the burdens of US taxpayers who will have to now also cover some of Canada's previous share of the war against IS. So congratulations Canada, you now have some more money to spend on Mr. Trudeaus's social agenda at the expense of US taxpayers.