Bluesky

Demolishing Pierre Poilievre’s radical blueprint for Canada

The first book from The Breach’s new publishing arm Breach Books, The Poilievre Project: A Radical Blueprint for Corporate Rule, is a short but incisive analysis of Pierre Poilievre’s ideology. Martin Lukacs’ deep and methodical analysis yields a nuanced portrait of Poilievre as a more radical far-right break from the history of Canadian neoliberalism.

WHOvd25 on Substack

@#CanadiansAgainstPoilievre @Canadian Gurl🍁🍁 A lot of people voted Conservative. I think that Canadians need to take action to reduce our vulnerability to the slide toward fascism we see to the south. How to best do that? I’m sure it involves face to face activities, not social media posts. 😏 But social media can inform actions in the real world. So here are some ideas. Thoughts?  Jason Stanley’s book “How Fascism Works” notes that fascism is facilitated by making reasoned public discourse impossible. So we can frame the question: How to best build up Canadians’ ability to have reasoned public discourse about difficult subjects? I’ve known Ed Renner for decades. He is a retired Professor of Psychology whose career has been focused on trying to solve social problems. His essay “The Challenge of Our Time” https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-challenge-of-our-time/ is about a process to restore civic discussion. The process is to hold Forums where groups of people who have some basic affiliation (e.g., the parents of a children’s softball team), sit together to identify different perspectives on key issues and articulate the beliefs and values on which those perspectives are based. Before a Forum, each participant reads a short essay on the topic and fills out a questionnaire about the issue, indicating their level of agreement or disagreement with an assertion about the issue. A sample issue for discussion is “A person should have the right to choose whether or not to be vaccinated.” People sit in the room based on their perspective: those who agree face those who disagree.  Each Forum has to have a trusted moderator who will ensure that 1) the basic facts are known by all in advance via the reading, and 2) rules of discussion are followed. Each person has a chance to speak, and no one can speak again when someone else is waiting to speak. A person who disagrees can say: “I think about it differently, for these reasons...” Everyone hears the complexity of others’ reasoning and the articulation of their values. Participants learn the complexity of the perspectives of “them” and “us.” They also develop their own identity: “I am a person who believes this, because of these factors.” Participation in the Forum is only a part of restoring civic discussion. The main point as I understand it is to develop more people’s self-understanding “I am a thoughtful person who can listen to others’ perspectives on difficult issues.”  It assumes that there are irreconcilable differences about current social issues only when those issues are oversimplified, as Ed discusses in a related article.  https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/managing-the-disruptions-of-change-in-the-foreseeable-future/ I would add that oversimplification aids fascism. What are people’s thoughts? Could this process be implemented in your community? I especially invite two types of comments:  “This could really work, because...” and  “The problem in getting this to work would be....” Thanks for reading!

Liberal candidate Stephen Fuhr elected in battleground Kelowna riding

On Tuesday afternoon, Elections Canada said 100 per cent of polls were reporting and Stephen Fuhr was ahead of Conservative candidate Tracy Gray by 235 votes.

Liberal candidate Stephen Fuhr elected in battleground Kelowna riding

On Tuesday afternoon, Elections Canada said 100 per cent of polls were reporting and Stephen Fuhr was ahead of Conservative candidate Tracy Gray by 235 votes.

Liberal candidate Stephen Fuhr elected in battleground Kelowna riding

On Tuesday afternoon, Elections Canada said 100 per cent of polls were reporting and Stephen Fuhr was ahead of Conservative candidate Tracy Gray by 235 votes.

Pierre Poilievre, Canada’s Opposition Leader, Loses Seat in Parliament

It was a stunning upset for the Conservative Party leader, who was first elected in 2004.

Pierre Poilievre, Canada’s Opposition Leader, Loses Seat in Parliament

It was a stunning upset for the Conservative Party leader, who was first elected in 2004.