I recently did a post on the possibility of an Alberta Tea Party forming at some time possibly from the social conservatives and separatists in our midst.
Canada 2020 recently hosted a panel on Polling with Frank Graves (Ekos Research) Nik Nanos (Nanos Research) and Bruce Anderson (Harris/Decima) moderated by Don Newman. The panel was broadcast on CPAC last night and I missed it but hope it will be repeated. Should be worth a watch.
I point this out because Susan Delacourt who writes on this Ottawa-ish for the Toronto Star picked up on a comment from Harris/Decima about the possibility of a Canadian Tea Party equivalent. She wrote a story about it here. Susan has also written a blog post on it the concern here called "Distemper of our Times."
Nik Nanos, a very reliable pollsters at the Canada 2020 event, commented on "...the forces of disaggregation, the forces of discontent and the forces of dilution...of power." He concluded by saying "So to wrap up: expect political instability and turbulence. I believe we are at a risky but unintended place in our democracy -- that the forces of disaggregation
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If it were to begin anywhere, it would be Calgary or Toronto, where the hotbeds of Christian nationalism (which is not to be confused with Christianity) have their infrastructure.
ReplyDeleteI've already been seeing suggestions in the former, such as the debates over SunTV, or one mayoral candidate / current Alderman (Joe Connelly) using the Tea Party mantra (modified) of "take back your city" to capitalize on it.
That said, it's not mainstream (it's not in the US, either, it only seems like that from here because they're so vocal).
But the tea party is driven by two factors seeking to exploit Americans' discontent: business interests, and social agendas. In Canada, we don't experience the class struggle quite to the same degree in terms of robber baron actions from the former.
So if it starts anywhere, I'd look to Rushfeldt / CFAC, McVety, Crossroads, Tim Bloedow, et al.
Christianity has nothing to do with the Tea party south of the border nor almost everything else the previous commentator has mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThe Tea Party is about returning to values that flow from the US Constitution and the spirit of its founding fathers (many of whom were actually militant atheists).
Embedded within this movement is a pronounced fiscal agenda. Social agendas are clearly secondary and absolutely non-militant to the point of being a non-issue. The tea party movement includes a huge component from the Democratic party a very significant portion of whom identify or strongly identify with Tea party values in numerous polls.
I warmly welcome Canadian friends to talk to Americans about the Tea Party movement when you visit us during your winters. We have a surprising number of Canadian members who donate to us and we are thankful for your generosity.
The Tea Party Movement has little to do with real Christianity... I agree. Sadly, neither do many people professing to BE Christian.
ReplyDeleteThe Tea Party Movement has a lot of those supporters.