why people in the united states should care about the upcoming canadian election
america’s election isn’t until november 2016, but tumblr is already blowing up about it. i agree that it’s absolutely important, but no one seems to care that canada’s federal election is this october. tumblr is extremely united states-centric, but canadian politics affect americans too.
canada and the united states have the world’s largest trading relationship. our economies are linked.
canada and the united states share a bilateral relationship. the partnership between our countries is forged by “shared geography, similar values, common interests, deep connections and powerful, multi-layered economic ties.” this means that our countries affect each other greatly in almost all spheres of life.
the keystone XL pipeline is one of canada’s hot issues right now. it is a proposed 1,897 kilometer (1,179 miles) pipeline that would be used to transport crude oil (830,000 barrels per day) from western canadian tar/oil sands to refineries on the gulf coast.
arguments for the keystone xl pipeline: would create 42,000 temporary jobs over the two year construction period. it is estimated that the pipeline would contribute $3.4 billion to the american economy.
arguments against the keystone xl pipeline: keystone would generate the carbon emission equivalent of 40 million more cars or 50 coal-fired power plants every year. nasa climate scientist james hansen has called it the “fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the planet.”
issues not directly related to the united states, but still extremely important:
our current prime minister, stephen harper (leader of the conservative party of canada) has been in power for 9 years. while in america, a president is limited to only run for two terms, a prime minister in canada can remain in power for as long as he/she continues to be elected.
when asked about launching a public inquiry into the issue of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women, he is quoted saying “ ‘Um it, it isn’t really high on our radar, to be honest … Our ministers will continue to dialogue with those who are concerned about this.’
the united nations has also called for a public inquiry, which the harper government has rejected. the united nations has also said that canada has violated the rights of aboriginal women by failing to launch this inquiry.
canada has formally withdrawn from the kyoto protocol
“Under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, 38 industrialized countries, including Canada, individually undertook a legally-binding commitment to reduce their respective emissions of a basket of six GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons) during 2008-2012, with the goal of cutting their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% from the 1990 level. Canada’s target is an average of 6% below 1990 levels over the 2008-2012 period.”
the gender pay gap in canada is twice the global average
alberta has the nation’s biggest wage gap. on average, a woman is paid 63% of a man’s income. (this article does not even include the potential difference which also comes with race)
oecd data collected from 35 different countries shows canada stands seventh in place for largest wage gap.
please feel free to add relevant sourced topics.
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