The Maple Leaf Lounge

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Edit: I haven't actually heard about the US anthem getting booed at the skydome. I don't know if anyone's actually doing it. I think it would have made the news down here if they were. But we'll see.

Fans boo U.S. anthem before Blue Jays home opener at Toronto's Rogers Centre

Some Blue Jays fans booed the United States’ national anthem at Toronto’s home opener against the Baltimore Orioles

www.cp24.com

 

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With our election now in full swing, Australia's estimable Juice Media has turned its sights to the Great White North once again, and has created its second Honest Government Ad focused on Canada!

(If you've watched Honest Government Ads before, you probably know there's some NSFW language, in case you're watching at work.)

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[Timewalker]

I decided to take a mental health break and watch some Red Green episodes I found on YT.

Oh, and explaining the references in Ric Mercer's Talking to Americans to the guy hosting a reaction channel. Funny how I totally missed the "tete de merde" bit the first time I saw it.

It kinda does fit how Paul Martin was behaving at that time, with him harassing Chretien to the point of kicking him out of cabinet, then using his spare time to engineer Chretien's ouster from the leadership of the party.

But in the end, Paul Martin did end up tabling the legislation making same-sex marriage legal in Canada. It's still ludicrous that the Catholic church threatened to excommunicate him over that.

 

[MarcKle1964]

It's still ludicrous that the Catholic church threatened to excommunicate him over that.

I'd consider that a badge of honor (context: lapsed for two decades)

 

[Owain Taggart]

Oh, and explaining the references in Ric Mercer's Talking to Americans to the guy hosting a reaction channel. Funny how I totally missed the "tete de merde" bit the first time I saw it.

It's too bad Rick Mercer isn't doing a Talking to Americans sequel. But I fear that it wouldn't be taken too well in this climate. But I'd love to see him collaborate with Michael Moore on a movie.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Fans boo U.S. anthem before Blue Jays home opener at Toronto's Rogers Centre

Some Blue Jays fans booed the United States’ national anthem at Toronto’s home opener against the Baltimore Orioles

www.cp24.com

Oh dear.

Thanks for the heads up.

But I'm still singing it.

(Not too loudly, though. If my voice carries too much it could trigger a potentially deadly stampede for the exits.)

It's too bad Rick Mercer isn't doing a Talking to Americans sequel.

He had the presence of mind to pull the original after 9/11 so I highly doubt he'd resurrect it at a time like this.

 

[Timewalker]

It's too bad Rick Mercer isn't doing a Talking to Americans sequel. But I fear that it wouldn't be taken too well in this climate. But I'd love to see him collaborate with Michael Moore on a movie.

I think the first one worked because people didn't immediately have Wikipedia at their fingertips when it was made. I had to explain this to the video presenter when he wondered why nobody was looking things up to check.

It's too bad Rick Mercer isn't doing a Talking to Americans sequel. But I fear that it wouldn't be taken too well in this climate. But I'd love to see him collaborate with Michael Moore on a movie.

Some "patriot" would probably call ICE on him. If he was allowed into the country at all.

Oh dear.

Thanks for the heads up.

But I'm still singing it.

(Not too loudly, though. If my voice carries too much it could trigger a potentially deadly stampede for the exits.)


He had the presence of mind to pull the original after 9/11 so I highly doubt he'd resurrect it at a time like this.

Sing whatever you want. Canada has freedom of expression, which includes singing. As long as it's not hate speech, you're fine.

The original Talking to Americans is all over YouTube and several reaction channels have been doing it lately. It's decades out of date, but some of it is still pretty funny.

It's sad, though, that some of the current generation of Canadians don't get the jokes. I have to wonder why - don't they teach the political history of the last 50 years in Canadian schools anymore? So help me, I had to really argue with someone who was convinced that Mercer made this show when Brian Mulroney was still Prime Minister (Mulroney quit in 1993 and Talking to Americans came out in 2001, several months before 9/11).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Sing whatever you want. Canada has freedom of expression, which includes singing. As long as it's not hate speech, you're fine.

Well, yeah, of course. I was just referring to the possibility of people in the crowd taking offense to it. But I'm sure that won't happen. I won't be the only American there, after all.

I mean, I've seen the clip of that hockey match - the one where three fights broke out in the space of like 9 seconds - and I heard the anthem get booed, but nobody in the stands was fighting or anything like that.

 

[Timewalker]

Nobody will mind if you sing your country's anthem at a sporting event where your country is competing. As you say, others will also be singing.

Fighting at hockey games is reserved for the ice. People fighting in the stands will get thrown out.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, I saw Charlie Angus speak tonight, and he's quite an inspirational speaker. I'm sad that he's retiring, but I think there's still a chance he'll have a career as a motivational speaker. If all else fails, he can always fall back on his music career.

 

[Timewalker]

Well, I saw Charlie Angus speak tonight, and he's quite an inspirational speaker. I'm sad that he's retiring, but I think there's still a chance he'll have a career as a motivational speaker. If all else fails, he can always fall back on his music career.

I'm jealous. He's coming to Edmonton, but there's no way I could get there to see him. I think what everyone's hoping for here is for him to tell Danielle Smith off as only he can do.

She's looney-tunes. She thinks she has a "mandate to fix Canada." Hello, DanYell, nobody died and made you Prime Minister.

The indications are becoming clearer that she wants Alberta to separate, and to hell with what the non-UCP or indigenous people want. Now we're wondering wtf she had to promise Trump when she was busy scampering around Mar-a-Lago and Washington.

 

[DEWLine]

Her backers in Big US Fossil Fuels want her to engineer Albertan "independence from Canada", I'm sure...

 

[Timewalker]

And from there it'll be "Oh, damn, we can't manage alone, let's join the U.S." And there wouldn't be a thing the Canadian government could do about it.

At least that's probably how she hopes it would go. But people nowadays tend to forget what it was like in the 1990s, with the Quebec situation. Mulroney's Meech Lake Accord didn't work in 1992 because he set the bar high on that - all provinces had to be unanimous, and all MLAs (or whatever they're called in some provinces) had to agree, or at least not disagree. The lone holdout in Manitoba was Elijah Harper, who repeatedly and in the face of increasing pressure, said "No."

The Charlottetown Accord didn't work, either. I voted No when it came to that. If the 5 different parts of it had been separate, I could have voted yes in at least one of them with a clear conscience. But all 5, together? Nope.

And the Quebec referendum in 1995... that was a squeaker. Rumor has it that the government had the military on standby in case the results favored the Yes side and things got violent.

I wonder if the other provinces would care if Alberta separated, other than it would be much more inconvenient for BC to connect with the rest of the country, since traveling through the U.S. isn't a viable option any longer. Going via the Yukon and NWT would be one hell of a detour. Of course the realists would say our borders wouldn't be shut, since we'd cut ourselves off as well.

But the government in Alberta is about on par with the U.S. government now. We have a delusional sociopath for a premier, and social programs and supports for the low-income/disabled are being cut more and more. Sometimes I wonder if some of my benefits might be cut out of sheer spite, since I haven't been at all shy about voicing my contempt for my MLA (Minister of Gutting Health Care) and our Maple MAGA premier.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm jealous. He's coming to Edmonton, but there's no way I could get there to see him. I think what everyone's hoping for here is for him to tell Danielle Smith off as only he can do.

Apparently there's a way to attend via zoom? I have a friend who's attending one via Zoom, but that might be separate cases per venue. Might want to look into it if you're interested. If enough people ask, they might set something up for those who can't personally attend.

 

[Timewalker]

I've never done Zoom.

 

[DEWLine]

I have. It's manageable if you have the bandwidth.

 

[Avro Arrow]

MLAs (or whatever they're called in some provinces)

MPPs in Ontario, MNAs in Quebec, not sure about anywhere else.

I wonder if the other provinces would care if Alberta separated

I assume they would. Nobody wants to see a family get broken up like that. It is disheartening that the separation movement seems to have so many supporters in Alberta, but I am at least consoled by the fact that they have nowhere near the support needed to actually win a referendum. At least right now, anyway.

But the government in Alberta is about on par with the U.S. government now. We have a delusional sociopath for a premier

Don't forget "traitor"! Hopefully you can all clean house in the next election. Too bad it's still a couple years away.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Hopefully you can all clean house in the next election. Too bad it's still a couple years away.

We reach.

 

[Timewalker]

Charlie Angus' appearance in Edmonton is sold out.

That's encouraging.

I was deciding what to use for my voting IDs (no driver's license or passport means finding two of something else) and opted for my AISH card (government-issued statement of medical benefits I'm entitled to) and a utility bill. Then I double-checked it to see if anything had been cut.

The Minister of Gutting Health Care has cut eye exams for some demographics. I'm relieved to see mine isn't one of them.


And after a quick browse of the federal candidates and knowing full well that my riding will stay Reformacon (the boundaries have been changed again and the former incumbent isn't running here, but the replacement is full-on Reformacon)... I can't find any information about the NDP or Liberal candidates. Even their FB profiles are next to nonexistent, or else locked.

So I checked the Green Party candidate, and was pleasantly surprised that it's a local person (one year the candidate they found didn't even live in my city). More to the point, he's a local person who's dealt with the marginalized and low-income people. And while he would probably have a better chance in a provincial election, he's someone I could vote for in good conscience federally.

Of course it's best to check people out at the in-person forums. I wonder if PP is going to let his candidates attend those, or if we'll have Potted Plant Candidates 2.0.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Charlie Angus' appearance in Edmonton is sold out.

Huh, interesting that they would be 'sold' out. There was no such limit when they were advertising him here, but as you say, it's definitely encouraging to hear that people are turning out.

Oh and yeah speaking of riding boundaries, ours have changed too, and I only wish the government would have made more of an effort to educate the masses about the changes, because it wasn't until I was at the event in question that I knew ridings had changed. There are going to be a lot of confused people come election day about which riding they belong to. And looking up my riding, our Liberal candidate hasn't even been confirmed yet.