If they control immigration surely they could help solve the problem of a lack of skilled trades workers and construction. through immigration...? Even if they cant find enough skilled workers they could encourage all the foreign students/immigrants into that sector through the school they are already paying for or through incentives of permanent residence

That’s (sort of) what they’ve been doing, there are a bunch of industries including construction with pressing needs where it is way easier to immigrate to Canada on than others. This influx helped maintain our GDP and get the jobs few Canadians want like in agricultural or fish processing etc, but of course it brings in people and rental housing at the bottom of the market really suffered.

Part of the reason that those jobs suck so much is because there is no incentive to make them better. Pay and conditions would improve if they actually had to compete for workers rather than saying, welp can’t find anyone to work, guess we will just have to import some workers.

At least in the US they are always crying about a “shortage” of tradespeople and when you look into it they pay $20 an hour with no benefits for backbreaking work with coked up yahoos that don’t follow safety standards.

Like no wonder there is a “shortage”. Pay $40 an hour with benefits and follow safety standards and suddenly your shortage disappears.

Isn’t just trades, nursing, teaching etc suffer from similar problems. They even claim there is a shortage of programmers after 2 years of record layoffs and record enrollment in computer science programs.

There was a lot of baby-boomers here so yeah when they retired and still do today , u got shortage .
But again I’ll stomp on it , still too many unprofitable companies (small and medium sizes zombies companies stealing Human Resources) .
Pre COVID they kept them alive through monetary policy at 0% interest rates .
Post Covid they open the gates to workers living in survival mode by doing those jobs keeping those companies open ( with a massive increase in social cost ) .

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/.../00003-eng.htm

Canada needs a readjustment but politically , recessions are unacceptable anymore .
FWIW Trudeau immigration policy was clearly inappropriate post COVID .

I remember reading that very few immigrants go into the construction sector and this is a big part of why we just don't build more housing I am talking about that not fish processing. Clearly they didn't do a very good job with this aspect or that issue would have been solved over the last decade

This is precisely the dual edged sword. In quite a wide swath of industries, there was a massive clamoring to solve the problem mot domestically but as you suggest here with more immigration. And construction IS one of the priority groups for express entry I believe, this is something liberals (correctly) added behind the usual health care professionals etc where there is also huge labour supply challenges.

But if you do that in industry after industry you get a lot of immigration, as we got and that brings its own problems.

The Bloc is silly. They have a current threat to stop supporting the government unless there is an expansion in OAS for senior and eliminating dairy/eggs etc in any possible future trade negotiations. Both are a little silly. OAS expansion in the 65-74 group sounds lovely, it is just very expensive. OAS & GIS combined are a huge line item, more than health transfers for instance. I'd prefer focusing on GIS than OAS because a lot of seniors don't need that extra support, so focus just on the ones that do. The second is just annoying. Our dairy system really hurts us in so many trade negotiations but for bizarre historical reasons and present lobbying reasons it has remained absolutely sacrosanct. I'm not even saying to get rid of it, but the idea of taking it completely off the table in any future negotiation where we might gain a big quid in exchange for a minor quo doesn't seem right. Also interesting that both of these demands are sort of agnostic of it being about quebec, they are obviously interests of quebec with an old population and lots of dairy industry, but still apply canada wide.

Interesting times.

Well thank goodness all that silly poilievre drama teacher showboating is over for the day with the conservative confidence motion emphatically failed as it was always going to fail. But Poilievre got to repeat the same 4 slogans over and over and over and over and over (and then get mad at CTV the one time they didn't repeat it) and over and over and over and over again.

I do have a question. At some point Poilievre should actually release a comprehensive plan of what he is going to do....right? Like something beyond the axetherebate slogans? Something with details? Like his comprehensive climate change policies with the prediction for the amount of CO2 emissions his policies will generate? DItto every other file? Because back in the day lozen and shifty were droning on about how there is no need for him to do this with the NDP agreement meaning the election was 1+ year away. But now he is pretending it could have been called today, so surely now is the time you guys are going to demand a detail behind the empty slogans?

Are you going to vote for him if you like it?

If I like his plans? Obviously. I’m a non-partisan voter prioritizing climate change. If he has the best plan AND a realistic shot of implementing it he earns my vote. Right now we have a decent set of policies vs a plan to rip them up and replace them with a slogan.

Did anyone catch what the homophobic slur a conservative MP hurled at a Trudeau was? I keep seeing it referenced, but not the exact term.

Hopefully poilievre strongly condemns and sanctions this MP tomorrow.