Canadian Politics

[17to85]

15 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Which we should have had in 2005. Thank the Cons and NDP for bringing down the Paul Martin government.

The 2005 Canadian Federal Budget during the premiership of Paul Martin, included CA$5 billion over five years for a national day care program similar to Québec's child care system.^[12] The federal and provincial governments signed bilateral agreements "Moving Forward on Early Learning and Child Care". This allowed individual provinces to access the new federal funding.^[13] Both Saskatchewan and Manitoba signed agreements through which they committed to expanding only in the non-profit sector. Ontario did not.^[13] In 2005, the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, said that there needs to be support for "more and better before and after school learning and care opportunities for children 6-12". The Coalition also noted that the agreement was not binding on Ontario in regards to additional funding from the province to child care. Without both federal and provincial funding, longer-term child care is unsustainable in Ontario.^[13] When Stephen Harper won the 2006 Canadian federal election, the new government eliminated the bilateral agreements on child care as their first act of power.

The ndp in Alberta started a pilot program which was wildly successful and they had plans to expand it but it was one of the first things the UCP cut when they took power.

Guess which government is now running ads about how they are making life more affordable for albertans and touting early child care funding.... disgusting.

[GCn20]

15 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Let's use this sport analogy in a different way. Apparently Rider fans can say that the RoughRiders are the best team franchise ever in the history of sport because it's their opinion that doesn't have to be backed up with evidence because it's their opinion. Sure I think the Bombers franchise is the number 1 best franchise ever because my blood flows blue and gold but I do know I'll have a hard time backing that up with facts if I get called on it and admit that this isn't true but this is where my heart is.

Just be upfront with your thought processes if your opinions don't match the facts. I think that's a reasonable expectation for us all.

 

I have not seen a single fact on this forum to provide me any evidence that my opinion is incorrect. If we must discuss facts, then it works both ways. I see no merit in the vast majority of what they have been doing over the past several years.  I have not heard a single argument that compels me to endorse the carbon tax as an answer to climate change, I have not seen a shred of evidence that the Liberals should be with holding health care dollars from the provinces, I have not heard any good reason as to why 37 billion dollars in stolen tax payer money is unrecoverable, I have not seen any tangible results in opening up resource sectors in this country, I do not understand why we import over 50% of our oil from overseas, I do not believe that the Liberals are being genuine in their support for EVs when they are not even transitioning their own federal fleet to them and I am quite frankly disgusted by a prime minister playing politics with health care money. So many reasons I have, and not one of you has provided even an iota or shred of evidence to make me believe otherwise. Maybe I am being deluded, I don't know, but it's possible. What I do know is that nothing on here leads me to believe otherwise, and certainly the gang piling that goes on here just causes anyone with questions about our current government to just dig in their heels and be more skeptical.

[GCn20]

13 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

The ndp in Alberta started a pilot program which was wildly successful and they had plans to expand it but it was one of the first things the UCP cut when they took power.

Guess which government is now running ads about how they are making life more affordable for albertans and touting early child care funding.... disgusting.

The UCP are way too out to the right for my liking. I wish the far right would stay with PPC and the far left would stay as a faction in the NDP. My hope for an improved Canada is that the Libs and Cons return closer to centre. Both parties. The recent hard turns to left and right we are seeing in the US and Canada is gross.

[HardCoreBlue]

6 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I have not seen a single fact on this forum to provide me any evidence that my opinion is incorrect. If we must discuss facts, then it works both ways. I see no merit in the vast majority of what they have been doing over the past several years.  I have not heard a single argument that compels me to endorse the carbon tax as an answer to climate change, I have not seen a shred of evidence that the Liberals should be with holding health care dollars from the provinces, I have not heard any good reason as to why 37 billion dollars in stolen tax payer money is unrecoverable, I have not seen any tangible results in opening up resource sectors in this country, I do not understand why we import over 50% of our oil from overseas, I do not believe that the Liberals are being genuine in their support for EVs when they are not even transitioning their own federal fleet to them and I am quite frankly disgusted by a prime minister playing politics with health care money. So many reasons I have, and not one of you has provided even an iota or shred of evidence to make me believe otherwise. Maybe I am being deluded, I don't know, but it's possible. What I do know is that nothing on here leads me to believe otherwise, and certainly the gang piling that goes on here just causes anyone with questions about our current government to just dig in their heels and be more skeptical.

Wow.

[Bigblue204]

53 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I have not seen a single fact on this forum to provide me any evidence that my opinion is incorrect. If we must discuss facts, then it works both ways. I see no merit in the vast majority of what they have been doing over the past several years.  I have not heard a single argument that compels me to endorse the carbon tax as an answer to climate change, I have not seen a shred of evidence that the Liberals should be with holding health care dollars from the provinces, I have not heard any good reason as to why 37 billion dollars in stolen tax payer money is unrecoverable, I have not seen any tangible results in opening up resource sectors in this country, I do not understand why we import over 50% of our oil from overseas, I do not believe that the Liberals are being genuine in their support for EVs when they are not even transitioning their own federal fleet to them and I am quite frankly disgusted by a prime minister playing politics with health care money. So many reasons I have, and not one of you has provided even an iota or shred of evidence to make me believe otherwise. Maybe I am being deluded, I don't know, but it's possible. What I do know is that nothing on here leads me to believe otherwise, and certainly the gang piling that goes on here just causes anyone with questions about our current government to just dig in their heels and be more skeptical.

For me, this comes down to what has already passed. We know the PCs were given money to help with Covid (i think that's what it was for..the 85 mil) and we have zero knowledge of what happened to it. Even after they've been asked, nothing. Similar things happened with Daycare and education. Daycare I know the prov gave the payments to the centres...instead of investing in actually making daycare cheaper all the time. Don't get me wrong, I've benefitted THIS month because of what the PCs did. (I didn't have to pay this month) but I would have preferred to pay this month knowing that in the next year or so, daycare costs would be coming down. PCs had also been given money to help with school infastructure...essentially to update it especially the ventilation...again..what happened with it? 

So my question is...if the Feds are giving provinces money for specific things, and the provinces aren't using it for those things or only using part of it...or using it for those things but not in the intended way. AND the provinces are then turning around and pointing the finger at the feds for the problems those funds were supposed to address. When does it become reasonable to want a solidified plan in place before more money is given out?

Edited December 21, 2022 by Bigblue204

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

35 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I have not seen a single fact on this forum to provide me any evidence that my opinion is incorrect. 

I literally did, 3 hours ago. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Wanna-B-Fanboy

[17to85]

34 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I have not seen a shred of evidence that the Liberals should be with holding health care dollars from the provinces,

They are not withholding funding... they are simply saying that if the provinces want additional funding then it comes with assurances about how it is spent. Like seriously why can alberta cry poor when they have a surplus? Someone posted manitobas spending on healthcare same deal.

[blue_gold_84]

47 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I have not seen a single fact on this forum to provide me any evidence that my opinion is incorrect. If we must discuss facts, then it works both ways. I see no merit in the vast majority of what they have been doing over the past several years.  I have not heard a single argument that compels me to endorse the carbon tax as an answer to climate change, I have not seen a shred of evidence that the Liberals should be with holding health care dollars from the provinces, I have not heard any good reason as to why 37 billion dollars in stolen tax payer money is unrecoverable, I have not seen any tangible results in opening up resource sectors in this country, I do not understand why we import over 50% of our oil from overseas, I do not believe that the Liberals are being genuine in their support for EVs when they are not even transitioning their own federal fleet to them and I am quite frankly disgusted by a prime minister playing politics with health care money. So many reasons I have, and not one of you has provided even an iota or shred of evidence to make me believe otherwise. Maybe I am being deluded, I don't know, but it's possible. What I do know is that nothing on here leads me to believe otherwise, and certainly the gang piling that goes on here just causes anyone with questions about our current government to just dig in their heels and be more skeptical.

This is what a persecution complex paired with cognitive dissonance looks like.

Maybe?

[Wideleft]

59 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I have not seen a single fact on this forum to provide me any evidence that my opinion is incorrect. If we must discuss facts, then it works both ways. I see no merit in the vast majority of what they have been doing over the past several years.  I have not heard a single argument that compels me to endorse the carbon tax as an answer to climate change, I have not seen a shred of evidence that the Liberals should be with holding health care dollars from the provinces, I have not heard any good reason as to why 37 billion dollars in stolen tax payer money is unrecoverable, I have not seen any tangible results in opening up resource sectors in this country, I do not understand why we import over 50% of our oil from overseas, I do not believe that the Liberals are being genuine in their support for EVs when they are not even transitioning their own federal fleet to them and I am quite frankly disgusted by a prime minister playing politics with health care money. So many reasons I have, and not one of you has provided even an iota or shred of evidence to make me believe otherwise. Maybe I am being deluded, I don't know, but it's possible. What I do know is that nothing on here leads me to believe otherwise, and certainly the gang piling that goes on here just causes anyone with questions about our current government to just dig in their heels and be more skeptical.

There is simple ignorance, not knowing, and willful ignorance that refuses to know, that covers the light of knowledge with the dark blanket of bias. Elizabeth Moon

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

The UCP are way too out to the right for my liking. I wish the far right would stay with PPC and the far left would stay as a faction in the NDP. My hope for an improved Canada is that the Libs and Cons return closer to centre. Both parties. The recent hard turns to left and right we are seeing in the US and Canada is gross.

I think you are not seeing the forest for the trees. Right-wing politics in the US, Britain and Canada have swung sharply towards fascism but the center and center-left politics in Canada at least has remained static.  British left-wingers have always been nutty and the US has no real concept of what European/Canadian left-wing politics are really like.

[GCn20]

48 minutes ago, Wanna-B-Fanboy said:

I literally did, 3 hours ago. 

Problem is you were WRONG.

 

https://theconversation.com/what-the-canadian-election-results-would-have-looked-like-with-electoral-reform-125848

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

The recent hard turns to left and right we are seeing in the US and Canada is gross.

Just so we are on the same page, can you give a few examples of the "hard turns to left"? I am trying to understand your point of view. 

11 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Problem is you were WRONG.

 

https://theconversation.com/what-the-canadian-election-results-would-have-looked-like-with-electoral-reform-125848

Sorry- it was about the health care funds. 

 

Also, funtcionaly- The liberals would have a minority government every single time- the NDP would prop them up, very time over the cons. So, No- I am not wrong in that. 

 

Interestingly enough- all those graphs show a clear left of center preference for Canadians. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Wanna-B-Fanboy

[17to85]

You can't take results from an election under one rule and apply it to a different sort of election anyway. Further to that does it really matter if the liberals or conservatives have a minority? They still have to find support across the aisle somewhere to get anything passed. 

[blue_gold_84]

On 2022-12-20 at 6:40 PM, blue_gold_84 said:

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-25.2/page-1.html

Clarification: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-ban-non-resident-buyers-exemptions-1.6693875

Quote

Exemptions from the ban include:

• Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

• International students who meet certain requirements, including having spent the bulk of the previous five years in Canada. They would be able to purchase a property for no more than $500,000.

• Workers who have worked and filed tax returns in Canada for at least three out of the four years prior to purchasing a property.

• Diplomats, consular staff and members of international organizations living in Canada.

• Foreign nationals with temporary resident status, including people fleeing conflict, and refugees.

Buildings containing more than three dwelling units, and recreational property — such as cottages, cabins and other vacation homes — will also be exempt.

Non-Canadian entities, such as corporations, and foreign-controlled Canadian entities, will be banned from buying property.

Non-residents make up less than four per cent of residential property owners in most parts of the country...

Seems like the effects could be minimal.

And in other developments: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-interview-economy-windfall-tax-interest-rates-1.6693777

Quote

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dismissing what he calls the "simplistic" idea of slapping a windfall tax on the grocery and energy sectors, adding such a move likely would do more harm than good.

"The last thing we want to do is put on a tax that people then just pass along to the consumers," Trudeau said in a year-end interview with CBC News Chief Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton.

Statistics Canada reports that the annual food inflation rate hit 11.4 per cent last month, up from 11 per cent in October. Gasoline prices declined by 3.6 per cent but are still up 13.7 per cent compared to where they were a year ago.

Those averages conceal some price spikes for specific consumer items — such as edible fats and oils (up 26 per cent), coffee and tea (up 16.8 per cent), eggs (up 16.7 per cent) cereal products (up 15.7 per cent) and baked products (up 15.5 per cent).

The NDP has been calling on the federal government to impose a windfall tax on the oil and gas sectors and on grocery store chains — businesses party leader Jagmeet Singh has accused of engaging in "greedflation."

The Liberal government already has imposed such a tax on big banks and insurers. These sectors have been hit with a one-time 15 per cent tax on profits over $1 billion for the 2021 tax year. The tax is expected to raise about $4 billion.

Trudeau said his government will continue to look for ways to help the most vulnerable, but hitting the energy and grocery sectors with a new tax won't be one of them.

"I don't think that the simplistic solution, as satisfying as it might sound, is necessarily the right approach here," Trudeau said. 

Trudeau said his government is pressuring the oil and gas sector to invest some of its windfall profits into decarbonization efforts, in the hopes of creating long-term jobs in the sector.

Trudeau also defended the Bank of Canada's interest rate hikes. The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points early this month, to 4.25 per cent, in an effort to bring down stubbornly high inflation.

The bank has taken its rate from functionally zero to its highest point since 2008 — its fastest pace of rate hikes since inflation targeting began in the 1990s. Those rate hikes have contributed to a rise in mortgage rates and the cost of servicing other loans.

"In Canada we have strong institutions and the Bank of Canada acts independently in a way that it thinks is best for Canadians. And we respect that," Trudeau said.

[Wideleft]

1 hour ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Clarification: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-ban-non-resident-buyers-exemptions-1.6693875

Seems like the effects could be minimal.

And in other developments: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-interview-economy-windfall-tax-interest-rates-1.6693777

Friends of mine just sold their beautiful lakefront cottage in Kawartha Lakes to a realtor who was going to turn it into an AirBnB.  Looks like the realtors are going to have some competition as foreign buyers' options just got tighter.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cruelty is the point.

BUILD Inc. shutters Winnipeg job training program after funding negotiations with province fail

 

Daniel Peterson has a blunt answer after being asked where he thinks he would be without the opportunities he received through the job training program at BUILD Inc.

"Dead," he said. 

Peterson is one of about 1,000 people who have gone through the program — which works with people facing barriers to employment and trains them to do interior renovations — over the last 16 years. 

Now that program is shutting down, after two years of funding negotiations with the provincial government failed to produce an agreement.

Peterson first came to the program in 2016, shortly after getting out of prison. He said he struggled with addictions since the age of 12, and had few skills to help him get a job.

After several more stints in jail, Peterson has been doing painting and carpentry work for six months.

"They took me back again because, thank God … they liked me. They just kept giving me chances and it's really appreciated, because I stayed out of jail."

'Another family'

BUILD's training program gave him confidence, he said. 

"It's like another family," he said. "They've given me a lot — love, compassion, understanding. I get a lot through this."

Most of the program participants identify as Indigenous, although Peterson does not.

The provincial government funded the program until 2018. It then received funding from the federal government, but that agreement ended in 2020.

Executive director Sean Hogan said the training program has struggled for the past two years.

• Manitoba to commit $2.25M to program that aims to reduce number of Indigenous youth in justice system

• Manitoba looks to private sector to help reduce youth recidivism through social impact bond

They've kept it going by using profits from the business side of the social enterprise, which renovated low-income housing, but Hogan said that isn't sustainable in the long term.

"We have people coming in literally every day asking for an opportunity, people who are leaving a gang, people who are leaving jail," he said.

"The past couple of years we've had to say no, consistently say no that we don't have anything for them and we're sorry."

Negotiations with the province initially focused on trying to secure a grant to fund the program, but that would have required BUILD to stop paying the trainees directly, Hogan said.

They then shifted to trying to work out a social impact bond — a method of funding social programs that uses private investment, which is then repaid with interest if the project's goals and cost savings are achieved.

Recently, however, the province told Hogan they would only issue the social impact bond if they stopped working with people involved in the justice system.

"I expressed that we weren't happy with that, and then about two weeks ago, they told us that they wouldn't be moving forward with us on a social impact bond, or funding."

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A spokesperson for the province didn't respond to questions about why the province placed those conditions on potential funding agreements with BUILD. 

Last April, the province gave BUILD $485,000 as a "bridge grant," and recently renewed an agreement for the organization to to be "one of the contractors of choice for repair and maintenance in Manitoba Housing."

The spokesperson also said the province has issued a request for proposals for $2 million in training initiatives available in 2023.

All organizations, including BUILD, are invited to apply, the spokesperson said.

BUILD – which stands for Building Urban Industries for Local Development – was founded in 2006. 

Its six-month training program includes two months of in-class education followed by four months of on-the-job experience. 

Many of the participants are people who have been recently incarcerated, as well as youth aging out of Child and Family Services and parents trying to reunite with their children.

Renovation business to continue

Although the training program will end, BUILD will continue its business renovating low-income housing, Hogan said.

"Which is OK, that can exist that way. But … there's going to be 50 to 100 people in this next year that are not going to get an opportunity in Winnipeg's North End, that could have had an opportunity to make a better life for themselves."

Hogan's referring to others like Daniel Peterson, who credits the program with saving his life, as well as helping him support his daughter and three grandchildren.

"I phoned and asked for a pair of free work boots, because I was going to go to a temp agency. They gave me a job along with the work boots here," he said.

"I'd probably be dead if these guys weren't here."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/build-inc-shutting-down-job-training-program-1.6694552

Edited December 22, 2022 by Wideleft

[Fatty Liver]

A lawyer who represented 'Freedom Convoy' organizers has been sued for defamation after alleging a Toronto consultant carried a Nazi flag to discredit protesters.

 

 

ctvnews.ca

'Freedom Convoy' lawyer sued over Nazi flag claim

A lawyer who represented 'Freedom Convoy' organizers has been sued for defamation after alleging a Toronto consultant carried a Nazi flag to discredit protesters.

[HardCoreBlue]

18 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

A lawyer who represented 'Freedom Convoy' organizers has been sued for defamation after alleging a Toronto consultant carried a Nazi flag to discredit protesters.

 

 

ctvnews.ca

'Freedom Convoy' lawyer sued over Nazi flag claim

A lawyer who represented 'Freedom Convoy' organizers has been sued for defamation after alleging a Toronto consultant carried a Nazi flag to discredit protesters.

This picture of these two says it all.

These are the types of people who say are fighting for our individual freedoms and standing up to Ottawa.

These people don't represent anything good and view the world from a narrow self entitled perch taking cues from knuckle draggers to the south of us. They can spout at, froth at and mock everyone else for doing the right things for each other. Freedom of speech allows them that right. But consequences should follow but unfortunately doesn't always. They willfully ignore the balance between individual freedoms and social responsibility. And they consistently say nothing will change the way they think and do. 

They do not speak for us nor do they represent what the majority of us Canadians are all about. Period.  

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/announcement-1.6699095

Quote

The federal government is reimbursing Windsor for the millions the southwestern Ontario city spent on the Ambassador Bridge blockade earlier this year.

Ottawa is giving Windsor up to $6.9 million for the costs of the blockade, including policing that helped "restore public safety at the bridge and the areas surrounding it," Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Thursday. 

During an announcement in Windsor, Mendicino said the amount will depend on what the total cost is from the city, which will be talked through.

The government said the illegal blockade by people protesting COVID-19 pandemic mandates caused layoffs, plant closures and "[endangered] our international reputation." The money will make up the costs of managing and clearing the blockade.

Nicely done, covidiot scum.

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/announcement-1.6699095

Nicely done, covidiot scum.

Seems to me that suing the blockaders to retrieve as much of that money as possible would be the logical next step.

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

Seems to me that suing the blockaders to retrieve as much of that money as possible would be the logical next step.

Straight up confiscate the multi-millions that were donated to the convoy and apply it directly to the cost these protest caused, idiots have no clue the billions they actually cost taxpayers in lost business, disruptions and police OT.

[FrostyWinnipeg]

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/alan-lagimodiere-pc-mla-and-cabinet-minister-not-seeking-re-election-1.6216394

[Mark H.]

10 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/alan-lagimodiere-pc-mla-and-cabinet-minister-not-seeking-re-election-1.6216394

Watch Selkirk go orange again.

[Tracker]

The ship is nearly submerged and the rodents are exiting.

[WildPath]

'Freedom Convoy 2.0' in jeopardy as top organizer announces cancellation | CBC News

So apparently the convoy is off.... or perhaps it is on? No irony in it being a "unity convoy" but they can't even have a consistent message/plan amongst their little play group.

Quote

Other supporters, meanwhile, contradicted Bauder's assertions. Another organizer who announced the convoy 2.0 plan for Winnipeg alongside Bauder claimed the event will move ahead.

"Multiple people and groups are involved. The world unity convoy 2023 is not cancelled," Ron Clark wrote in an email to CBC.

Likewise, Tyson Billings — also known as "Freedom George" — said he still plans to attend a convoy gathering in Winnipeg next month.

"I don't know if there's something still going to Ottawa or not," he said. "But the main convoy — the World Unity Convoy — is about unity and it's about bringing the people together." 

 

[GCJenks]

16 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Watch Selkirk go orange again.

New to the riding, any ideas on who the red and orange candidates will be? Are they nominated already?