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[–] 193 points 2 years ago (9 children)
  • [–] 27 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Why are non-European countries even allowed to participate?

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    [–] 95 points 2 years ago (13 children)

    As a European, I think it would be pretty funny if, after Brexit, the other parts of the former Empire joined the EU.

    But at least right now, membership is probably more of a meme - some solid cooperation and shared institutions would be amazing, though.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (12 children)

    EU already said this can't work. It said in the rules only European countries can join the EU. But something can be worked out, no doubt.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    Membership of the European Economic Area - same as Norway - for example.

    Comes with being part of the EU Internal Market, Freedom Of Movement (both ways, of course) and exceptions in a couple of areas (such as fishing rights not being decided by the EU, which I suspect is something that Canada would rather have) but without voting power within the EU.

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  • [–] 82 points 2 years ago (6 children)
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    [–] 47 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    Well, we do share a land border with Denmark. Sooooo…. we’re practically European already!

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  • [–] 45 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Well, if Canada can take part in the Eurovision song contest, they might as well join the EU.

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    [–] 40 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    Let's just rename the EU to "United Earth" like in Star Trek, since Australia is practically in it already on account of being in Eurovision.

    That way we don't need to change the initials, just swap them.

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  • [–] 28 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Earth United would be better, no need to even change the merch.

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  • [–] 28 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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    [–] 22 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    How about the US just becomes provinces 14-64? I'll gladly take anything else.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 years ago

    #canadentry

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (9 children)
  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    I'm not sure why I keep seeing this posted, like it's some sort of gotcha. It doesn't mean our other elections would have to change, just the brand new representatives to the EU.

    The vote for liberal leadership used Preferential Voting where you could indicate more than one preference.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    It's not about being a "gotcha" - it's about demonstrating a pathway to better democratic representation.

    You're right that EU membership would only require PR for European Parliament representatives initially. However, this would create several significant opportunities:

    1. Practical demonstration: Canadians would experience firsthand how an electoral system that ensures every vote counts actually works, rather than just hearing theoretical arguments.

    2. Institutional precedent: Once PR is successfully implemented for one electoral body, the argument that it's "too complex" or "un-Canadian" becomes much harder to maintain.

    3. Democratic legitimacy gap: Having representatives to the EU Parliament elected through PR while our own MPs are chosen through FPTP would create an obvious legitimacy contrast that would be difficult to justify.

    The Liberal leadership vote using preferential voting actually supports this point. Internal party processes already recognize the limitations of FPTP - they just don't extend those same democratic principles to the general electorate. In fact, all parties, even the Conservatives, use superior electoral systems to FPTP.

    The reality is that 76% of Canadians support electoral reform according to recent polling, but our major parties benefit from maintaining a system that systematically discards votes. Exposure to functioning PR would make the democratic deficit in our current system increasingly apparent.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago*

    A lot of people don’t get it until they see it in action.

    My union recently had a vote about increasing health benefits. “No” won in one of the categories because there were 3 options for how much to increase it by. (Yes won by 76% while the no beat the top yes 24% to 23%)

    I pointed this out at the next meeting and we had a vote and struck the no vote. Later a bunch of people said thanks for pointing that out, and my reply was “no sweat, we have the same problem with our elections.”

    Then everyone applauded and Einstein gave me a piece of π. Just kidding, it was more like weird looks and a couple agreements, but I like to think I brought the issue to a few people’s attention.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago (16 children)

    Might be some geographical issues (perhaps of the ocean variety) with this proposal

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Well, Ireland is separated from the rest of the continent by ocean. Canada is just a slightly bigger island, slightly further away...

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    There is French territory just off the coast of Newfoundland too (see Saint Pierre and Miquelon), also Denmark is right next door because of Greenland. So while still pretty far fetched, there is some precedent for European territory in North America.

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    [–] 14 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    Guys guys guys, let's be good friends with the EU, let's even adopt some of their best policies, but honestly, they also have some baggage we don't need.

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    [–] 13 points 2 years ago

    Why not? I would vote yes to allow Canada into the EU.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    I'm super jealous because I've wanted to have Canadian citizenship since back in my late teens / early adulthood when I realized that there was already a version of America that actually lived up to American ideals and which offered same-sex marriage as well as universal healthcare. That weed and apparently codeine are legal there make it so much more bittersweet.

    The only people I've known personally to get citizenship are those who married a Canadian citizen. Which sucks for me because I'm already happily partnered and there's no way I'd give that up for anything, not even Canadian citizenship, awesome and appealing as it is.

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    [–] 10 points 2 years ago

    Yes please, I will vote to support this.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    Can’t we just harvest the states that want to leave?

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    The EU 🇪🇺 is more than welcome to include Canada 🇨🇦 as the 28th member state 🤝

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    #28thnever51st

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  • [+] 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)
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