General Politics Discussion

[jamincan]

Were trans bathrooms, sex-ed in school, identity politics, vaccines and face masks significant issues in this election? Because if they were, I managed to miss them.

Firearms policies are federal, though, so really not much to do with this election. (And, for what it's worth, legal guns do turn into illegal guns very easily, all it takes is one break-in.)

There was a strong narrative from the NDP and Liberals regarding certain social issues and that Ford was 'not there' for them. The LGBTQ+ itself was very vocal that people that vote PC are evil, wicked people (just browsing social media to see this) and the Ford hates every LGBTQ+ person out there. Just seeing the comments on twitter is sickening, but it is what it is.

We clearly live in different twitterverses, because while I do recall that sort of rhetoric during the last election, I heard nothing like that this election. I think most people on the left would readily acknowledge that fears about Ford being influenced by the social conservative wing of the party didn't really pan out.

[robdrimmie]

The LGBTQ+ itself

What is the LGBTQ+? Can I go visit it?

[ijmorlan]

The LGBTQ+ itself

What is the LGBTQ+? Can I go visit it?

I think the word “community” is missing there, but the way you write it makes it sound like the name of a new condo tower. Maybe with each floor a different colour. EIFS of course.

[jeffster]

There was a strong narrative from the NDP and Liberals regarding certain social issues and that Ford was 'not there' for them. The LGBTQ+ itself was very vocal that people that vote PC are evil, wicked people (just browsing social media to see this) and the Ford hates every LGBTQ+ person out there. Just seeing the comments on twitter is sickening, but it is what it is.

We clearly live in different twitterverses, because while I do recall that sort of rhetoric during the last election, I heard nothing like that this election. I think most people on the left would readily acknowledge that fears about Ford being influenced by the social conservative wing of the party didn't really pan out.

I seem to have followers that have a lot of far-left followers as well as followers that have far-right followers, so I see everything.

What I have seen most common from the left: Those who voted for Ford, please explain yourselves! Or: Those who voted for Ford, why do you hate the 2SLGBTQ+ community so much?

As from the some on the right: Why did people vote for Justin Castro? Or: Justin Castro is a dictator, and the Liberals hate all Canadians!

And these people I follow aren't political in nature, I may have followed them because they followed me first (usually) and our connection might be something food related or sports related. Not politics.

[danbrotherston]

We clearly live in different twitterverses, because while I do recall that sort of rhetoric during the last election, I heard nothing like that this election. I think most people on the left would readily acknowledge that fears about Ford being influenced by the social conservative wing of the party didn't really pan out.

I seem to have followers that have a lot of far-left followers as well as followers that have far-right followers, so I see everything.

What I have seen most common from the left: Those who voted for Ford, please explain yourselves! Or: Those who voted for Ford, why do you hate the 2SLGBTQ+ community so much?

As from the some on the right: Why did people vote for Justin Castro? Or: Justin Castro is a dictator, and the Liberals hate all Canadians!

And these people I follow aren't political in nature, I may have followed them because they followed me first (usually) and our connection might be something food related or sports related. Not politics.

FWIW...most of the accusations I've seen from the left are about education, social supports, and especially healthcare. Which I think are much more justified. (I.e., why do you hate teachers, the disabled, nurses, etc.)

I do think it's a misguided direction. While in my opinion voting for Ford is a bad thing for our province, the real problem was that neither the Liberals nor the NDP really made a compelling argument for them. While there were some reasonable policy proposals, there was weak messaging and no branding. As much as I hate it, our society is defined by branding and messaging. Even leaving that aside the policy proposals weren't even that compelling (albeit, better than Ford's).

The net result is not that more people voted PC, it's that a lot of people didn't vote.

There are many ways to improve this, but if the parties don't at least recognize that their failures is a major part of it, well...the same thing will happen next time.

[KevinL]

People were given a number of reasons to vote against Ford, but not very many to vote *for* his opposition. People are much more willing to vote when there is something they are supporting; you'll get some willing to vote in opposition (like myself) but it's not a universal motivator.