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True Dough

(20,287 posts)
1. I remember when he was previously minister of defence
Sat Jan 26, 2019, 08:25 PM
Jan 2019

under Chretien or Marin. He never struck me as a star performer.

True Dough

(20,287 posts)
3. I can't answer that, of course
Sat Jan 26, 2019, 09:00 PM
Jan 2019

I'm just glad we don't have to worry about someone like Kellie Leitch becoming Canada's next ambassador to China.

applegrove

(123,134 posts)
4. Yes. I agree to a pipeline through the Rockies too keep Alberta
Sat Jan 26, 2019, 09:21 PM
Jan 2019

partially in the fold and the Conservatives out of power nationally. I compromise myself by doing this but console myself by saying if the Conservatives get power they will roll back alternative energy and reasonable public policy on climate change. And some point, when the public runs the climate change agenda and not the industry, I will be against the pipeline. All that matters is that the Liberals run and win again. It is the only chance the middle class has.

applegrove

(123,134 posts)
6. And all the big car companies are restructuring to the changing car industry:
Sat Jan 26, 2019, 09:36 PM
Jan 2019

electric and self driving and uber and car sharing, which will tank the oil industry even more.

True Dough

(20,287 posts)
7. Yes, but while that is happening
Sat Jan 26, 2019, 10:00 PM
Jan 2019

there are some indications that the cart may be getting ahead of the horse. I just bumped into this article earlier today...


https://qz.com/1533976/automakers-may-overproduce-14-million-electric-cars-by-2030/

applegrove

(123,134 posts)
8. But tech makes uber or car sharing or driverless more likely. I take taxis
Sat Jan 26, 2019, 10:08 PM
Jan 2019

some of the time. I walk some of the time and i take public transportation some of the time. I don't need a car and what I spend is cheaper than a car. I can't drive anyway. But I spend $200 or a bit more to get groceries by taxi or to go to the hardware store a few times a month. And when the weather is bad I take taxis too. Families are smaller. People don't have homes as much. So you don't need a car so much. There are so many other things than electric. I know a single mother who is part of a car sharing club and she uses it for not just shopping but to go camping or other fun stuff. So even if oil does not disappear cars themselves are
going to be rarer. IMHO

I don't know if online shopping is more or less a user of gasoline. If I was a betting man I would invest in a making box company.

True Dough

(20,287 posts)
9. You live in Toronto, right?
Sat Jan 26, 2019, 10:34 PM
Jan 2019

What you wrote applies to a booming metropolis like Toronto and Vancouver. I don't believe it does as much in Regina or Thunder Bay or Halifax. Definitely not in rural Canada. There are still a lot of people living in suburbs who are fully dependent on cars for commuting. Many of them would very reluctantly give up the luxury of being able to hop in their cars and go on a little road trip or take a vacation. Car sharing is growing in popularity, particularly among the younger generation, but it's still a long way from becoming commonplace, IMO.

applegrove

(123,134 posts)
10. I'm in Ottawa. Point is the market is changing. And hopefully that will
Sat Jan 26, 2019, 10:37 PM
Jan 2019

mean big dirty fossil fuel will not run the show anymore.

applegrove

(123,134 posts)
13. Oh that's bad. I'm reading a book called "Enchanted America". About people
Sun Jan 27, 2019, 12:54 AM
Jan 2019

who vote rational vs. those that vote on a feeling (like racism). Financial insecurity is a greater predictor of people voting intuitively rather than rationally much, much more than level of income. If you put the squeeze on people financially you can get them to vote against their own interests. Why I think Doug Ford is changing low income university students to loans vs. grants. So that they will have financial anxiety for years and years and will blame some 'other'. Fact is Canada is getting lots of ambitious Muslim students because of Trump in the USA. We need all the computer geeks and doctors we can get. But these people under long term financial anxiety will not think of their cardiologist. They will think of sharia law and vote for conservatives.

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