SamuelRJankis @ SamuelRJankis @lemmy.world

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2 yr. ago

The social media accounts of two of Canada's most vocal far-right pundits have fallen unusually silent after U.S. officials accused them of being collaborators of a covert Russian propaganda campaign.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment against two Russian nationals, accusing them of setting up a conservative media outlet as a front for pro-Kremlin propaganda.

The media outlet was unnamed in the indictment, but it was clear from details within that the charges referred to Tenet Media, founded in 2023 by the Canadian influencer known as Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donavan.

Among the people they hired last year was Chen's longtime friend and occasional collaborator Lauren Southern, another Canadian far-right influencer with a massive social media following.

Public vote counts should help a lot towards catching manipulation on the fediverse. Any action that can affect visibility (upvotes and comments) can be pulled by researchers through federation to study/catch inorganic behavior.

I'd love to see some type of Adblock like crowd sourced block lists. If the growth of other platforms is any indication there will probably be a day where it would be nice to block out a large amounts of accounts. I'd even pay for it.

People shit on Jagmeet as being a poor leader, but I think he's done surprisingly good job getting policies out of the Liberals with 25 seats.

On the side of winning extra seats for his party he's getting into Kevin Falcon(BC United) level of competency where he's close to folding up his party. As a NDP Voting Reform person I hope this gamble works out.

Parliament in back in session Sept 16th.

They're essentially going for broke with a finger in on the trigger for a election. This could get the Liberals to yield on some extra things which would win NDP some votes or a very early election which would be a big loss to the NDP and Liberals.

Liberals could also technically call their bluff and just keep on with what they're doing in which case could win them some NDP voters.

In case anyone is wondering this does not mean there will be a election soon just more political turbulence.

The end of the confidence-and-supply agreement doesn't necessarily mean an immediate election. The Liberals could seek the support of the Bloc Québécois or try to continue negotiating with the NDP on a case-by-case basis.

They care about the oil/gas industry enough to avoid going nuclear.

https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-albertas-ban-on-renewables-carried-heavy-price?taid=66b4cfc7377b7b00016f813a

Since the moratorium announcement, 53 projects have been cancelled. This is more than five times higher than the normal project cancellation rate in the last few years. Calculated very conservatively, these projects represent an annual loss of $91 million per year in tax revenues to communities. This is revenue that would have been stable and sustainable. Wind and sun don’t run out, and when equipment wears out it can simply be replaced.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-renewables-pause-moratorium-aeso-foip-1.7196943

The internal documents now show the opposite chain of events: rather than the AESO asking the government for the pause, it was the government that asked the AESO to write a letter in support of the policy.

https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles-alberta.html

Funny enough a random thing Peterson kept repeating. how progressives think from 1960s that we have finite resources on the planet.

That is the general nuance that somehow entirely missed even though they spend a good half hour on the topic of how progressives are "anti-human" for somewhat factoring environmental concerns into policies.

Also one of the things the proceeded the nuclear thing was how BC is now electrical importer because of progressive policies.

Not this

A sustained period of drought in the province, particularly in the northeast, left both the Columbia Region and Peace River dams at historic lows and with a resulting reduced capacity for power generation.

“This year has been an extraordinary one and has made Hydro a net importer,” Energy Minister Josie Osborne told Global News.

Or this

On an annual basis, B.C. is typically a net exporter of electricity. B.C. often has a positive trade revenue balance, even in years when it imports more electricity than it exports, because of its ability to buy electricity from the U.S. when prices are lower and sell to the U.S. when prices are higher.

Literally the entire 33 minute portion I could make through was two people talking entirely out of their ass. Sprinkling some out of context facts for credibility.

The party leader also says it was “crazy” for the former B.C. Liberal party to have banned nuclear power, saying the province needs to have a “conversation” about reconsidering its position, tying high energy costs to lower living standards.

The "ban" on Nuclear refers to the Clean Energy Act from 2010

Section 2 - British Columbia's energy objectives

(o)to achieve British Columbia's energy objectives without the use of nuclear power.

 

https://lims.leg.bc.ca/pdms/file/ldp/39th2nd/votes/progress-of-bills.htm

People who voted for it which coincidentally includes the guy complaining about it: https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/overview/39th-parliament/2nd-session/votes-and-proceedings/v100428.htm

As someone who made it about 33m through the 1:50 podcast that essentially how everything goes if you fact check it.

With the current system the only reason parties shift like that is because they have to. The Erin O'Toole 2020-22 Conservatives experimented with shifting left a bit lost the election before going PP and the far right.

Biden and Trump were fairly close in the polls for the 2024 election with Trump being the favorite. Then Kamala replaced Biden and the campaigned policy certainly moved further left. I'm also going to drop in why the current NDP is such a failure because they randomly started shifting right when they were providing with so much opportunity for success on the other side.

Given the North American systems and current political climate we're not only seeing more party consolidation but also parties shifting to further ends of the political spectrum.

Will be interesting to see if the Federal Liberal survive without shifting dramatically.

Tesla asked Canada to reduce tariffs on its EVs made in China, Reuters source says - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tesla-canada-china-tariffs-1.7307635

It's pretty crazy to go from proposing a merger 3 months ago to completely folding up shop and letting the other party have the scraps. I suppose this does prove BC Liberals/United were and are a corrupt and incompetent party.

Now the BC right wing option is essentially just a bunch of rats that fled a sinking ship along some even further right wingers led by a guy who got kicked out for denying basic science.

This is pretty big new in the scope of Provincial politics.

The BC United Party that is currently the opposition with 23 out 87 seats is just going to fold and leave all the right wing voters for the rising far right BC Conservative party.

Deal has been reached for BC United to suspend provincial election campaign and some of its candidates will run for B.C. Conservatives. Kevin Falcon will not be running in the election. The list is still being worked on for others running for Conservatives

What's to gains:

BYD, a Chinese car manufacturing giant, debuted its Seagull EV last year at a starting price of about $14,600 Cdn for a 305-kilometre-range version. The cheapest options available in Canada, by contrast, start at roughly $38,000.

What's at risk:

The stakes are high. Since 2020, Canada has attracted more than $46 billion in investments for 13 electric vehicle, battery and battery component manufacturing projects, according to a June 18 report from the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The same report says that Ottawa and the provinces have jointly promised up to $53 billion in return, including tax credits, production subsidies and capital investments. Industry groups, such as the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, warn all of that could be at risk if the industry isn't protected.

By far the biggest agreement is taxing the 1%. Given the recent Capital Gains tax complaints from the Conservatives without any alternative I'm uncertain how they appeal to those voters. Removing Carbon tax should prove that private companies don't cut prices when people have proven they're willing to pay them, but those people getting the rebate check are definitely going to stop getting money.

Some of the interesting data:

At the current time this should only be viewed as a one off from a single arbitrator.

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/bc-landlord-can-increase-rent-235-because-of-variable-mortgage-arbitrator-9353007

The Housing Ministry issued this statement, attributed to Kahlon:

“The policy that allows these kinds of exceptional rental increases because of financing is an old policy from the old government and this is the first time an application like this has been granted since we started collecting data in 2021.

“I know people have a lot of questions and I’ve directed staff to review this policy and how it impacts renters in the current context.”

Dammit BC. Shut up and take my money! I know it’s a lot but the services are worth it.

A lot of people have been talking about the Federal election that is very likely to be a year away. I think we should taking things one election at a time and polls have been trending in the wrong direction for BC in the last few months. It would be good if people gave more attention to BC politics.

From my post a few days ago for the BC Housing thing. The green votes should also consolidate into NDP as well given their current position on things.

Former Green Party leader Andrew Weaver(climate scientist) has been making rounds saying he's a big fan of the BC Cons led by a guy that says carbon is good for the environment.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/andrew-weaver-shows-support-bc-conservatives-1.7262839

They're conservative. It's going to mean removing services and selling off crown assets.