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Why Canada Should Join the EU

economist.com

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Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#801

Post by positr0n »

icegreentea2 wrote: post #51

This is hardly a serious analysis, and the author knows it. No European would seriously consider the reduction of population density that comes from admitting Canada to be a meaningful improvement to the EU. Canadian energy resources would definitely be welcome, but that's hardly enough of a reason to extend membership, especially since a trans-Atlantic power cable (which would be needed to get the most out of Canada…

I agree it's a nonstarter for a huge variety of issues, but what's wrong with low population density?

Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#802

Post by bobxmax »

mardifoufs wrote: post #779
bobxmax wrote: post #774

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree with that at all. It can feel that way in big cities - but rural Canada have a very strong Canadian identity. Trump will have a hell of a time annexing Quebec.

I'm from Quebec, I completely agree that it wouldn't go well at all, but that doesn't mean that we would try to defend Canada. And that exact Canadian identity has been eroding very strongly in my experience. There's no real Canadian identity, I'm not even sure why that has shifted, but apathy is much more common than any feeling of belonging. Maybe the fact that urban areas control Canadian politics (which makes sen…

Unfortunately the deeply irresponsible immigration policy also hasn't helped.

Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#803

Post by mainframed »

Amezarak wrote: post #738
mainframed wrote: post #701

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At least in America, “less immigration” won out over “more immigration” by clear polling margins every year since 1965, except for a few years in the 2010s. Democratic processes gave them more. You are probably referring to the Gallup poll [1]. To me, it seems, they don't make a distinction between legal and illegal immigration. Some questions even dig into the illegal part. I'd say illegal immigration is a differe…

> No. Look at the age pyramid of Germany. We have to overcome the baby-boomer Everyone has this problem. Birth _rates_ are declining everywhere. Different countries are just in different parts of the decline. Even if this is your reason for importing immigrants and you think it’s worth any negatives, you are simply helping the boomers and doing nothing to help later generations. In addition, you are making the situat…

> In addition, you are making the situation dramatically worse for migrant origin countries as their young people leave to be workers somewhere else.

I did not disagree. But I also think this is a whole other argument.

> German culture, norms, morals, and ethnicity will be a tiny minority in Germany the economic zone.

Ethnicity I really don't care about. Why do you? I'm also fine and actually glad about people bringing along their culture as long as it doesn't get in the way of life of other people and most importantly respects everyone's human rights. The other ones are a question of integration. There is certainly a lot of room for improvement, but making it sound like they come here and will replace German culture is a big stretch. If anything is killing German culture, it is increasing cost of living and it being somewhat outdated, e.g. a lot of meat in cuisine, outdated values from Christianity and alcohol consumption. If any culture is replacing ours, it is US/consumerism.

Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#804

Post by valunord »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #601
valunord wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get the sentiment, but let’s not pretend Canada’s running some utopian alternative to the US. Canada’s got deep, deep, DEEP structural cracks that are hard to ignore. I've got family that fled Canada and I've got some more that are miserable up there at the moment. They hate the government, they hate the cultural evolution, and they simply hate all the possible futures right now. Think about this: - Trudeau’s leade…

Alberta's voice being drowned out? Civil war? "Fled" Canada? C'mon. Get real. You sound like you've been talking to a pretty far right-wing echo chamber. I'm from Alberta originally and ... no... not drowned. Shrill, and a with a strong persecution complex, but... very well heard. And with way more power than it pretends. There are certainly forces... American forces included... that would like to characterize things…

Look, I get that you don’t see it that way, but dismissing this as some far-right echo chamber narrative feels pretty shortsighted. When I hear this stuff from actual Canadians - family, friends, and people living the experience - it’s hard to chalk it up to 'outside forces' pushing an agenda.

I’m not saying Alberta’s voice is literally drowned out in the sense that it’s silent. It’s drowned out in the sense that for all the noise, policy-wise, Alberta’s concerns often get sidelined while other regions take priority. That frustration isn’t imaginary. You might be comfortable with how things are, but not everyone is.

Shrill? Persecution complex? Maybe. Or maybe people are just fed up and tired of feeling like they’re being patronized when they point out legitimate issues. You can call it overblown, but the cracks are there whether you acknowledge them or not.

Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#806

Post by aristofun »

wkat4242 wrote: post #765
aristofun wrote: post #431

No thanks. Canada is a young kid with a lot of good opportunities in the future. Europe is an old drowning rusty bureacratic ship. It should get their shit together themselves

Nah it's not. It's not all about money. We're doing pretty great in Europe. I wouldn't ever want to live in the US. We don't have cities full of skyscrapers but we have enough.

I wasn’t speaking about money. Neither about skyscrapers. Only after you lived for a while in many countries and cities can you realize how terrible Europe is in terms of everyday comfort and growth potential.

Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#807

Post by remarkEon »

fzeroracer wrote: post #696
remarkEon wrote: post #631

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need immigrants either way. The idea that a country must import more immigrants because birthrates are not increasing or are below replacement is just "number go up" economics. It's the same trite and annoying arguments that some Bitcoin boosters make (the ones who don't actually understand the underlying technology, there's a parallel there). Japan, for one example, isn't going to collapse. Or should they…

Japan has been going through multiple smaller crisis's as a result of their population problems. Because (and this might surprise you): the elderly need specialized care and that specialized care needs to come from somewhere. That's why Japan has been bringing in nurses and caretakers from abroad en masse. Unless you want to make the argument that past a certain point they should just be left to die, but given that o…

Are Japanese people incapable of learning the skills for these so-called specialized care roles?

Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#808

Post by seabrookmx »

calf wrote: post #736
seabrookmx wrote: post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My family and I have no issues growing either of these on the island or lower mainland. This sounds like a you problem. You don't want to believe a stranger on the internet? Take a cruise through Delta sometime in early summer.

Not the point. If you can grow then why are Canadian supermarket produce so awful compared to American tomatoes and raspberries? Think about that for a second and why that would be the case, if not for fundamental geographic limitations (the objective length of the growing season and the angle of sunlight). BC in particular is inferior and Montrealers moving here have made this exact complaint, it's not "just" me, so…

Don't argue back? Way to promote intelligent discourse. I just disagree with you.. I've had lots of American produce and I can grow tomatoes just as good as those I've had in the US.

Comparing what's in a supermarket is also kind of a bad way to judge things, as both Canada and the US import a lot of items from each other or South America.

I'm not making an "arrogant assumption" I'm just refuting your broad and negative claim that our "land sucks." I shouldn't have to assume a bunch of nuance when you don't include any in your original comment. Is their limitations to growing in Canada/BC? Yes. I'm not growing citrus for a reason. But I disagree with your take, and I find it doubtful our geography is to blame for any poor performing tomatoes. Gardening/farming can be hard. My tomato year this year was poor but that was the fault of slugs.

Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#809

Post by rat87 »

atmosx wrote: post #199
hkpack wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Russia agreed to Ukraine joining the EU Russia didn't agreed to that, it sabotaged any effort and any agreement between EU and Ukraine to the maximum of its abilities. Ukraine paid a huge price to be able to have an association agreement with EU.

Russian diplomacy tends to be straightforward – they make their positions clear and repeat them often to ensure their message gets across. Putin has explicitly stated he’s not opposed to Ukraine joining the EU. He has no trouble stating his views, no matter how controversial, publicly. However, he has repeatedly made it clear that Ukraine joining NATO is unacceptable to Russia. In the past discussions about Ukraine’s…

Russia invaded Ukraine when they were not seeking to join NATO and had no chance of joining anytime soon. So yes Russia did oppose Ukraine seeking EU membership

Re: Why Canada Should Join the EU

#810

Post by brailsafe »

calf wrote: post #737
brailsafe wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Raspberries and tomatoes seem to grow fine on the boulevards despite rainforest soil being less than ideal. Otherwise Canada has extremely fertile land.

They are inferior goods and require warmth and sun, that's what they are limited by, the Canadian latitudes. Try American raspberries, it's a world apart.

Canada gets plenty of warmth and sun, and Raspberries do quite well in other provinces naturally. In Vancouver though, there's a few varieties that people plant and seem to flourish, but they don't propagate quite like the Himalayan Blackberries that seem to consume the city
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