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Reaction from the Canadian opposition leader: The Prime Minister can’t seem to get his story straight about the “associate membership,” “unique alliance,” or

Reaction from the Canadian opposition leader: The Prime Minister can’t seem to get his story straight about the “associate membership,” “unique alliance,” or whatever else he is negotiating with the EU. Conservatives are clear: we support the decades-old free trade & NATO defence alliance with Europe. But no EU taxes, no EU laws, and no EU open-border immigration policies should be imposed on Canadians. Canada must be independent and sovereign. Period. https://x.com/PierrePoilievre/status/2100274078066036766 https://x.com/PierrePoilievre/status/2100274078066036766

Maskawanian 9d ago
This is the same PP that grasped defeat in the face of victory, and is continually losing support, relegating himself to the same position of the Reform party that it was in the 90's. The same Polly that lost his riding last election, and had to have one handed to him on a silver spoon. I would take his opinion with a grain of salt.
- SketchySeaBeast 9d ago
  Not just losing support, but his poor leadership managed to hand the liberals a majority months after the election.
MrGilbert 9d ago
> EU open-border immigration policies should be imposed on Canadians Not sure what's meant by that... People won't start swimming over the atlantic ocean. And flights to Canada aren't really cheap, by any means.
- AlexandrB 9d ago
  Canada's net immigration (mostly from east Asia) was crazy high for a few years after COVID. Clearly enough people can afford the airfare.
  - jpalawaga 9d ago
    Canada doesn't have "open borders" or "free mobility" with "east asia" in the way that people are boogeymanning. The closest approximation is the united states under NAFTA. There is lots of poverty in America, but the border doesn't appear to have an issue. I fail to see how this would be much different (except more difficult due to an ocean and better security/screening checks on airport arrivals).
  - triceratops 9d ago
    Hang on you're saying people granted legal permission to fly to a country, specifically to immigrate to that country, also have the money to fly there? Crazy coincidence, that.
- gizajob 9d ago
  What, €500 for a return flight? That’s millions of people with no money and no job able to fly to Canada and look for one - putting your hands on €500 isn’t impossible for anyone. The flights are so cheap as to be almost irrelevant for anyone motivated to go there. Plus Canadian wages are much higher, including tips. Getting a hospitality job in Canada pays about €500 a week in untaxed tips if you’re working hard anywhere half-decent. Or at least canadian wages are currently much higher - low skilled labour migrating there from the EU will push wages down and down, same as it always does.
victorbjorklund 9d ago
Schengen and EU isn’t the same.
- timbit42 6d ago
  There are so many things PP doesn't comprehend.
yreg 9d ago
Seems like he's attacking a bunch of strawmen.
- timbit42 6d ago
  Yep.
sicktriple 9d ago
Classic Conservative move of building a strawman and arguing against it. None of these deals would involve taxes, EU "laws" (whatever that means) or border agreements. He's using the boogeyman of "ew brown people" to scare his base. Apparently, even Canadian conservatives are happy to grovel at the feet of the Burger Reich and their supreme leader.
- 0862790842 9d ago
  [dead]
- rdm_blackhole 9d ago
  > None of these deals would involve taxes, EU "laws" (whatever that means) or border agreements. It's a bit rich to say this when nothing yet is known. If Carney or the EU did not want the oppositions to start speculating regarding what it entails, maybe they should have talked about exactly what an associate membership means and what of sort of things could be expected from such a move. Maybe they are wrong or maybe you are and maybe it will involve EU taxes and EU regulations or maybe since you are absolutely certain of what it entails you have some sort of insider information that nobody else has? Until such a time as everyone knows and understand what a possible associate membership means for the EU and Canada, then nothing should be considered off the table and it is justified to ask questions and get some clarifications on all of this.
deleted 9d ago
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AlexandrB 9d ago
He's not wrong. I have a suspicion this EU idea is a way to backdoor immigration increases - something the Trudeau government was very keen on but was scaled back by Carney. Largely because immigration has become a hot-button issue in Canada and was partly responsible for Polilievre's popularity last election. Joining a treaty where another governing body would set the criteria for immigration and Canada just has to accept it due to freedom of movement within the EU is one way to route around the whole thing politically and make it much harder to change in the future. If this is the motivation, it's a grossly undemocratic move. I don't get how folks who hyperventilate about Trump being a threat to democracy can look at stuff like this and cheer.
- donbox 9d ago
  The free movement (if it is in picture) might be restricted to citizens. I think we need to wait for more details.
  - AlexandrB 9d ago
    Absolutely true. I suppose I'm just seeing the ways that this could be abused by our political leaders.
    - fidotron 9d ago
      The question is if it would allow all the wealthy Canadians to finally leave for Cyprus without paying exit taxes.
      - donbox 9d ago
        IMHO, it would be a win even if it allowed movement between Canada and the EU as freely as Canadians and Americans can currently move between Canada and the US. That would give Canadian snowbirds easier (longer) access to warm EU destinations, while those destinations would benefit from the additional revenue.
        9d ago
simlevesque 9d ago
This guy isn't serious and should have resigned a long time ago. Zero credibility.
ChrisRR 9d ago
It sounds like they need to read what an associate membership is before they complain about it then
- AlexandrB 9d ago
  It doesn't seem like anyone knows what it is yet since it's a new thing. But free movement of people for work is mentioned in almost every article about it.
  - hedora 9d ago
    It would need to be actually negotiated and stuff, but the opposition quote is just agreeing with all the public statements I have seen from the EU and Canadian leadership. So, I guess the opposition supports associate membership in everything but name.
- TheCapn 9d ago
  This is Conservative playbook 101. It doesn't matter what the truth of the matter is. What Dear Leader says is used as a scare tactic and marching orders for the underlings to believe and repeat. If you live/interact with conservative people long enough you see the pattern. There's absolute trust in what their leadership says, but skepticism for any criticism of those same talking points. So all this tweet is doing is seeding doubt, and distrust among the electorate. It doesn't have to be true, but if the goal is to maintain control it looks like this. The Canadian Conservatives are still extremely pro-USA but have learned to keep their opinions close to the chest because they're currently politically unpoular.
pbkompasz 9d ago
> EU open-border immigration policies what's that?
- 468854259853 9d ago
  [flagged]
0x696C6961 9d ago
This is what most people in canada think of PP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysqevg-jbAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysqevg-jbAA
deleted 9d ago
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Maskawanian 9d ago

This is the same PP that grasped defeat in the face of victory, and is continually losing support, relegating himself to the same position of the Reform party that it was in the 90's. The same Polly that lost his riding last election, and had to have one handed to him on a silver spoon. I would take his opinion with a grain of salt.

SketchySeaBeast 9d ago
Not just losing support, but his poor leadership managed to hand the liberals a majority months after the election.

MrGilbert 9d ago

> EU open-border immigration policies should be imposed on Canadians Not sure what's meant by that... People won't start swimming over the atlantic ocean. And flights to Canada aren't really cheap, by any means.

AlexandrB 9d ago
Canada's net immigration (mostly from east Asia) was crazy high for a few years after COVID. Clearly enough people can afford the airfare.
- jpalawaga 9d ago
  Canada doesn't have "open borders" or "free mobility" with "east asia" in the way that people are boogeymanning. The closest approximation is the united states under NAFTA. There is lots of poverty in America, but the border doesn't appear to have an issue. I fail to see how this would be much different (except more difficult due to an ocean and better security/screening checks on airport arrivals).
- triceratops 9d ago
  Hang on you're saying people granted legal permission to fly to a country, specifically to immigrate to that country, also have the money to fly there? Crazy coincidence, that.
gizajob 9d ago
What, €500 for a return flight? That’s millions of people with no money and no job able to fly to Canada and look for one - putting your hands on €500 isn’t impossible for anyone. The flights are so cheap as to be almost irrelevant for anyone motivated to go there. Plus Canadian wages are much higher, including tips. Getting a hospitality job in Canada pays about €500 a week in untaxed tips if you’re working hard anywhere half-decent. Or at least canadian wages are currently much higher - low skilled labour migrating there from the EU will push wages down and down, same as it always does.

victorbjorklund 9d ago

Schengen and EU isn’t the same.

timbit42 6d ago
There are so many things PP doesn't comprehend.

yreg 9d ago

Seems like he's attacking a bunch of strawmen.

timbit42 6d ago
Yep.

sicktriple 9d ago

Classic Conservative move of building a strawman and arguing against it. None of these deals would involve taxes, EU "laws" (whatever that means) or border agreements. He's using the boogeyman of "ew brown people" to scare his base. Apparently, even Canadian conservatives are happy to grovel at the feet of the Burger Reich and their supreme leader.

0862790842 9d ago
[dead]
rdm_blackhole 9d ago
> None of these deals would involve taxes, EU "laws" (whatever that means) or border agreements. It's a bit rich to say this when nothing yet is known. If Carney or the EU did not want the oppositions to start speculating regarding what it entails, maybe they should have talked about exactly what an associate membership means and what of sort of things could be expected from such a move. Maybe they are wrong or maybe you are and maybe it will involve EU taxes and EU regulations or maybe since you are absolutely certain of what it entails you have some sort of insider information that nobody else has? Until such a time as everyone knows and understand what a possible associate membership means for the EU and Canada, then nothing should be considered off the table and it is justified to ask questions and get some clarifications on all of this.

deleted 9d ago

[deleted]

AlexandrB 9d ago

He's not wrong. I have a suspicion this EU idea is a way to backdoor immigration increases - something the Trudeau government was very keen on but was scaled back by Carney. Largely because immigration has become a hot-button issue in Canada and was partly responsible for Polilievre's popularity last election. Joining a treaty where another governing body would set the criteria for immigration and Canada just has to accept it due to freedom of movement within the EU is one way to route around the whole thing politically and make it much harder to change in the future. If this is the motivation, it's a grossly undemocratic move. I don't get how folks who hyperventilate about Trump being a threat to democracy can look at stuff like this and cheer.

donbox 9d ago
The free movement (if it is in picture) might be restricted to citizens. I think we need to wait for more details.
- AlexandrB 9d ago
  Absolutely true. I suppose I'm just seeing the ways that this could be abused by our political leaders.
  - fidotron 9d ago
    The question is if it would allow all the wealthy Canadians to finally leave for Cyprus without paying exit taxes.
    - donbox 9d ago
      IMHO, it would be a win even if it allowed movement between Canada and the EU as freely as Canadians and Americans can currently move between Canada and the US. That would give Canadian snowbirds easier (longer) access to warm EU destinations, while those destinations would benefit from the additional revenue.
      - 9d ago

simlevesque 9d ago

This guy isn't serious and should have resigned a long time ago. Zero credibility.

ChrisRR 9d ago

It sounds like they need to read what an associate membership is before they complain about it then

AlexandrB 9d ago
It doesn't seem like anyone knows what it is yet since it's a new thing. But free movement of people for work is mentioned in almost every article about it.
- hedora 9d ago
  It would need to be actually negotiated and stuff, but the opposition quote is just agreeing with all the public statements I have seen from the EU and Canadian leadership. So, I guess the opposition supports associate membership in everything but name.
TheCapn 9d ago
This is Conservative playbook 101. It doesn't matter what the truth of the matter is. What Dear Leader says is used as a scare tactic and marching orders for the underlings to believe and repeat. If you live/interact with conservative people long enough you see the pattern. There's absolute trust in what their leadership says, but skepticism for any criticism of those same talking points. So all this tweet is doing is seeding doubt, and distrust among the electorate. It doesn't have to be true, but if the goal is to maintain control it looks like this. The Canadian Conservatives are still extremely pro-USA but have learned to keep their opinions close to the chest because they're currently politically unpoular.

pbkompasz 9d ago

> EU open-border immigration policies what's that?

468854259853 9d ago
[flagged]

0x696C6961 9d ago

This is what most people in canada think of PP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysqevg-jbAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysqevg-jbAA

deleted 9d ago

[deleted]