Thread by @Norlaine

As many have probably guessed, my DNA does not allow any allegiance to conservative philosophy. There is a time to save & a time to spend and our greatest responsibility is to those among us who have the least. But, I seem to recall a time when the conservatives... 1/10 #cdnpoli

Were not wholly evil. When they seemed to have some vague concern for widows and orphans and those who were struggling. When they wanted good for Canadians and were just a bit off on how to get there... 2/10

I remember when Sterling Lyon was elected and my Dad said, "Just watch now. Manitoba is going to be punished for keeping him out of government for so long." And, sure enough, first thing he did was cancel Mincome. Just like Ford. 3/10

He was the first Thatcherist/Reaganist provincial leader in Canada. That is his legacy as far as I am concerned. He took a bold, brilliant social experiment and threw it out with the trash. 4/10

Mincome was a success. The data was sealed and not examined until the 2000s. But it found that, when given a guaranteed minimum income, people did not quit their jobs to lie around at home. The only people who left the workforce were women with new babies 5/10

Because maternity leave was very limited in the 1970s and childcare was mostly grandma. And also young people who had been forced to drop out of school to help support their families. These went back to school once the pressure to bring in money was lifted. 6/10

Domestic violence rates went down. Emergency admissions went down. Mental health admissions went down. Suicide rates went down. Workplace accidents went down. People reported being happier, calmer, more satisfied with their lives. 7/10

Apparently that is a bad thing by conservative standards. Too expensive they said. But, in terms of offset costs to the health system, and policing, and having more skilled people in the workforce, doesn't it balance out? Or even improve everything? 8/10

I know. Giving anyone anything galls conservatives. Even if it improves society. They would prefer to punish than evolve. And it's sad. But here we are, in 2018. And the conservatives in Canada have actually managed to regress to pre-1970s ideology. Wow. 9/10

So, CPC/UCP/ONPC boys are off on junkets to pretend to represent Canada on the world stage. We have seen what happened in Ontario. Let that be a brief one-off, please. Canada cannot afford a conservative sweep. Our most vulnerable cannot afford a CPC government. 10/10