posted April 30, 2012 12:26 PM            

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted April 30, 2012 12:56 PM            

In terms of the banking system (because, let's face it, policy and finances are inexorably linked), it is a capitalist system with somewhat heavy regulations - Canada's banking system has been accused of being borderline protectionist and I don't think this is unfair. Almost every citizen in the country banks with one of the 5 big national banks. For four years running it has been named the safest/most secure banking system in the world. During the global recession, Canada fared best out of all of the industrialized nations.

posted April 30, 2012 01:08 PM            

There is a well-documented correlation between wide income disparities and violent crime. The greater the gap between the rich and poor in a given region the more problems you get from the poor/proletariat. http://www.livescience.com/14638-income-inequality-costing-americans-happiness.html.

This is actually one of the reasons I favour socialism to completely unfettered and unregulated capitalism. Actually, the economic collapse of 2008 can be directly attributed to the repealing of the Glass–Steagall Act in 2009. Letting corporations do whatever they want with no regulation is just about the stupidest thing any government can do but the Republicans held the Democrats hostage then, just as they did in 2010 with the government shutdown over the budget passing and demanding concessions to the tax structure that would favour the rich: http://www.salon.com/2010/09/08/government_shutdown_1995/.

posted April 30, 2012 01:30 PM            

Canadians want people out of our marriages, out of our homes, out of our wombs. Mind your own f**king business, we always say! Or 'live and let live,' whatever you think sounds better LOL!!

We DO have "sin taxes" though to cover the added expenses/burden that certain lifestyle choices place on the system. 75% of the cost of a pack of cigarettes here are taxes, so the cost is what is used as a deterrent. It's also illegal to advertise them anywhere, including in convenience stores (at least here in Ontario, they have to be hidden from view). The current generation of teenagers has a record-low number of smokers at only 9%.

posted May 01, 2012 05:54 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:
For four years running it has been named the safest/most secure banking system in the world.

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Depends on how you look at it the US has the Federal Trade Commission, Canada does not have an equivalent regulating body.

Due to political reasons Quebec did not agree to a national regulating body and as a result all of the provinces are responsible for conducting and investigating, not the federal government.

Quebec and Alberta are traditionally viewed as the "rogue provinces", both provinces are firebrands.

Right now for example Quebec is challenging the Long Gun Registry, think of it as similar to a form of Gun Control.

The Conservatives with a strong base from Alberta have been elected and are abolishing it, Quebec disagrees and towards a certain extent can defy what the conservatives say. The Long Gun registry can be somewhat beneficial to police in gun related crimes.

Personal income tax is calculated by % of income the higher the income the more your taxed an individual earning aprox. $100,000 can be taxed $20,000-$30,000.

Compared to a person earning $50,000 would be taxed around $5000.

There is also a lot of government red tape and it does effect certain businesses for example Canadians pay the highest for telecommunication service(internet, phone and etc) because its too heavily regulated.

China and Canada are the only two countries that have that much control on telecommunications.

But, on the flip side American Auto makers in the late 1990's and early 2000, preferred Canada because of the universal health care and the fact that some of those benefits the automakers would have to pay out of pocket were provided by the federal government.

Economically Canada is gradually becoming less of a knowledge based economy and more towards a resource based economy.

I'm sure you're familiar with North vs South.
Well, in Canada it is east vs west.

Eastern Canada (Ontario - Newfoundland) is generally very left wing and people will literally give you the shirt on there back.

You know the stories you hear of Canadians accommodating stranded passengers during 9/11 it happened in eastern Canada.

Western Canada(Saskatchewan particularly Alberta) are very right-wing almost extreme right wing.

I made mentioned about the long gun registry well that's a western Canada idea.

The reason why I'm saying this is it has an effect on laws and new bills being passed depending on what type of government is in power.

Left wing: NDP Party
center: Liberal Party
Right wing: Progressive Conservative.

Generally, Canada is center-left because Ontario and Quebec have the bulk of the population and essentially in order to win the federal election you have to win control
of at least 1 of the two provinces.

Both are located in eastern Canada and generally have left or center-left views.

A lot that has changed because of the resource boom in Alberta and the migration from people from all over the country into Alberta.

If one part of the country is prospering the another part is in "misery" due to the economic cycle.

Western Canada - Primary Resource driven (Oil and mineral extraction)

Eastern Canada - Primary Service and Knowledge based (Manufacturing, Financial, Services Oriented).

Right now for example Alberta needs 100,000 people just to keep its economy going.

The opposite can be said about Ontario and Quebec, both provinces lost jobs and continue to do so.

posted May 01, 2012 08:11 AM            

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted May 01, 2012 08:20 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by SpooL:
Depends on how you look at it the US has the Federal Trade Commission, Canada does not have an equivalent regulating body.

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Well it's actually not my own assessment, it was ranked as such by the World Economic Forum which is the fiscal equivalent of the UN. So this is the opinion of other countries.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/10/09/us-financial-soundest-banks-idUSTRE4981X 220081009, http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1855317,00.html.

I agree that there is too much protectionism in the telecommuncations sector and it's anti-competitive, but that is changing now. The Big 3 challenged Wind's entry into the marketplace as being "foreign investment" because the CEO is from the Middle East and just this week lost and were told to compete.

My concern is that they will buy Mobilicity; they have so much money that they just keep buying out the competition before they break even on their investment. They did this with Sprint in the early 00's as well.

posted May 01, 2012 09:22 AM            

In comparison to the rest of the world Canadian Banks are well positioned and have low risk.

quote:

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:

What a waste of human capital it would be to send them all to Alberta to mine oil that we don't even refine ourselves............
But the red-hot housing market is essentially what is keeping our economy afloat.

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A++, most people don't realize that are oil is not refined in Canada, its a useless liquid until refined.

We buy the oil back from the US after it is refined, the keystone pipeline would have benefited the US more than Canada.

As per housing market it depends on who you ask, low mortgage rates are the only reason why the housing market is doing okay of course if credit is cheap people will abuse it and live beyond there means.

But, even now the housing market is starting to slow down. Assuming the condo market does bust, Canadian banks will not get hit as hard as the US did because they are run slightly differently.

Sticking with the topic compared to the US the Canadian government will be dealing with a "pension bomb" soon given that Canada has a high rate of senior citizens and is second to Japan when it comes to treatment of the elderly.

Regardless, of what happens there will always be a need for Toronto because it is the hub of financial services, all the money from eastern Canada or Western Canada will have to be processed in Toronto.

posted May 01, 2012 10:09 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by SpooL:
Sticking with the topic compared to the US the Canadian government will be dealing with a "pension bomb" soon given that Canada has a high rate of senior citizens and is second to Japan when it comes to treatment of the elderly.

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I don't necessarily agree with this. CPP has enough funds currently to be intact for the next 75 years based on current demographic trends: http://wheredoesallmymoneygo.com/canada-pension-plan-good-for-another-75-years/

This is a major point of contention for people who are in favour of lowering the number of immigrants Canada receives per annum (or even halting immigration altogether) as they argue that the family class just imports in more old people to strain the system which is fine as it stands today.

quote:

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Originally posted by SpooL:
But, even now the housing market is starting to slow down. Assuming the condo market does bust, Canadian banks will not get hit as hard as the US did because they are run slightly differently.

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Let's be honest: it's because the same commie-like protectionism that is the bane of our existence in the telecommunications sector has kept us afloat/stopped us from going bankrupt in the financial sector. It's faaaar from being SLIGHTLY differently. There are heavy, heavy restrictions on running banks in this country and that's even domestically, let alone foreign-owned. We didn't have the same epidemic of predatory lending practises that existed in the States before the mortgage meltdown - our government would never allow it - and for this, I am grateful.

quote:

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Originally posted by SpooL:
Regardless, of what happens there will always be a need for Toronto because it is the hub of financial services, all the money from eastern Canada or Western Canada will have to be processed in Toronto.

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posted May 01, 2012 10:19 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:

I don't necessarily agree with this. CPP has enough funds currently to be intact for the next 75 years based on current demographic trends:

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I disagree, with a higher population of retired baby boomers vs a small number of young working Canadians paying there taxes the economics do not add up.

Many retries will not be able to receive there full entitlements.

Why do you think a lot of the unions in Canada are on strike, if there pensions were really guarantied.

The other problem is some Canadian didn't even save up for a retirement plan until its too late and won't receive vary much of anything.

I shouldn't have used the term pension bomb I should have said retiring baby boomers.

The pension bomb is more to do with the higher costs older Canadians will have on the health care system as well as for other services.
http://www.investmentexecutive.com/-/news-50796

quote:

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:

This is a major point of contention for people who are in favour of lowering the number of immigrants Canada receives per annum (or even halting immigration altogether) as they argue that the family class just imports in more old people to strain the system which is fine as it stands today.

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If anything the pension bomb would promote more skilled immigrants to come to Canada because of are lack of the low birth rates.

Even right now there is a demand for foreign caregivers to tend to the elderly and that demand will continue to increase, regardless of what happens.

Currently, Canada accepts the highest number of immigrants compared to any other nation in the world, even if Canada were to accept more immigrants it will never be able to replace all of the retiring baby boomers.

The argument that it is used to halt or slow immigration is invalid.

Canada needs every person it can get, just to keep key industries going. skilled immigrants are even better.

Who do you think is doing the "dirty work" on Canadian farms. Foreign workers registered with the Foreign Workers Program run by Human Resources Development Canada.

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/index.shtml

Also certain employers are having a hard time filling positions because of the mismatch between employers and the education system.

For example a student graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and is looking for a job, but the employer is only looking to hire a BSc graduate.

What happens the BA graduate is out of work or is working in a different field and the employer would have to rely on a foreign skilled worker, or not fill the position.

posted May 02, 2012 07:01 AM            

In addition, I know you disagree about the pension situation but this is the official government position as well, it's good for the next 75 years: http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/isp/cpp/soc/18-29/howmuch.shtml.

posted May 02, 2012 07:32 AM            

A glut of labour always cheapens the value of the average worker. Really, what you want from a standard of living perspective is a shortage. I've examined the various reasons why the average worker's salary has stagnated or declined over the past 40 years and what it comes down to is too much labour (especially in the age of automation). Part of it is the tax structure today - the wealthiest citizens pay less in taxes than they ever did historically. Part of it is that women have since joined the workforce adding in another 50% of workers, but women have a right to work and earn a living as well so that's a moot point. Something's gotta give to thin the excess labour, and from where I'm standing that something is mass immigration.

Big businesses act solely in economic self-interest, so pretty much whatever big business wants is the opposite of what I want and the opposite of what is healthy for the average worker. Big business has a lot of clout. They lobby the government to bring in more foreign workers, they're pro-mass immigration, which is why the endless stream (the government - especially the conservative government - will always appease big business first and foremost). If they're in favour of mass immigration and bringing in foreign labour, one has to examine their motives and ask oneself why?

Right before the last election, the conservative government cut immigration fees by a third (which is a source of tax revenue. Why would they do such a thing, one has to wonder). Well coincidentally, they got all of the Sikh community to vote for them: http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/canada/37202-canada-why-embracing-immigrants-works-conservatives.html

posted May 02, 2012 12:28 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:
There is a town in Alberta where the large factory fired all the union employees and hired all Somali refugees to work $10 an hour in their place.

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if you're referring to Brooks you should read the following article... http://www.albertaviews.ab.ca/
if you're speaking of another incident i would be interested in knowing... Alberta did experience an intense labour shortage that accompanied the "boom" of 2006 but the problems in Brooks (Lakeside) started way before that...

SpooL - you have overlooked Old Age Security and the supplemental amount given by the Federal gov't for those whose pension income does not total the Basic Personal Amount (i don't recall which line is from the Federal tax form)...

posted May 02, 2012 01:10 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:
I understand the desire to avert a supposed labour shortage in certain fields but the fact of the matter is that we could just as easily bring in workers to fill those specific requirements instead of the huge number that we do without a specific set of specialized skills.

In addition, I know you disagree about the pension situation but this is the official government position as well, it's good for the next 75 years: http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/isp/cpp/soc/18-29/howmuch.shtml.

I know a woman who works for the government and the "official" numbers per annum are 250k+ (in 2010 it was 267k), but unofficially when you add up students, temporary Visas, family class, refugees and everything it is just shy of 1 million per year, she's disclosed. Immigration reform is desperately needed. It's costing Canada to the tune of $16 billion per year now: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/recent-im migrants-cost-taxpayers-over-16-billion-canada-225603638.html.
While it's true that their children fare extraordinarily well and are more educated than Canadian-born children, first-generation immigrants themselves no longer eventually rise to the average Canadian salary as in days past. I think this is an unfortunate result of the sheer glut of immigrants... they're just not really needed, that's why they end up working lower-income jobs.

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Anyway, I've worked with several diffrent civil servants, keep in mind the public service is the main employer
in Ottawa.

You will be surprised there are some permanent employees that are set pension wise and other permanent employees that started contributing late.

Whould you believe me if I were to tell you there are several civil servants working in the public sector with only high school education, but are only guranted that job because they can speck french and have no real idea how the pension system works?

quote:

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:
There is a town in Alberta where the large factory fired all the union employees and hired all Somali refugees to work $10 an hour in their place. Make no mistake - for those jobs that can't be outsourced big business wants to import in cheap labour to replace us right here at home. I believe in Canada's welfare state and that is my concern, that the burden of excess numbers of immigrants and particularly refugees are not only going to lower our cost of living, but is also going to force us into privitization. The last thing the world needs is another US, another failed first-world country (where the situation inside is more like a third-world country with the very rich and the very poor, lots of crime, poor infrastructure, etc.). Immigrants may be needed but not to the point where they potentially bankrupt the system. Family reuinification is unnecessary as well. When we bring in an immigrant, we bring in that immigrant, not their parents and grandparents as well. It never used to be like that 25, 30 years ago.

Furthermore, I keep hearing so much about averting alleged labour shortages but - and maybe I'm not understanding this correctly - wouldn't a dearth of labour just force business owners to have to hire more unemployed or underemployed Canadians? Would it not force them to offer more money to stave off competition from other businesses? It seems to me that this would be a fortunate thing for the average worker and Canada's steadily-declining middle class. Just sayin'. I am a socialist and socialists can't work with a bankrupt state, just ask Spain.

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No disagreements here, I've heard something about the plight of Somalis in Alberta there was a CBC documentary related to it. I can't remember if it was W5 or the Fifth Estate.

My background is Filipino and if my Mother and Father came to Canada between 1990-2012, instead of the 1980's, the quality of life would be a lot different.

I know several newly arived Filipinos working as live-in caregivers unable to move up in Canadian society.

I wish we could simply hire all current Canadian residents, but as mention its disconnect between what the employers want and what the college/universities are teaching.

Also, the people who do have a certain expertise or set skill will end of leaving Canada anyway either salary or because of government red tape.

I know several taxi drivers who could be doctors that are fed up and leaving.

I'm not knocking down socialism, its just that there hasn't really been a true socialist state. So we can't say it works and we can't say it doesn't either.

Those that knock the idea down will say socialism doesn't work look at Russia and China, the reality is there not true socialist states there still being exploited by a bourgeoisie class.

Ho Chi Minh, would be spinning in his grave, Vietnam says there a communist state there not, there is a growing petite-bourgeois.

Perhaps in a 100+ years a true socialist society will develop, but not right now.

quote:

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:
..Do not underestimate this government and what they will do to snag a vote

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I whouldn't trust the goverment for anything the Robocall Scandal says it all.
Even if the election was lost because of vote spliting, atempting to supresss is bad enough.

The bigger problem is there are alot of uneducated voters out there, belive me when I say this.

The day before election day I look outside and all over Ottawa I see blue PC lawn signs, I'm thinking to myself the homeowner is a public servant, why whould he/she vote for a party that will end up trimming departments and eventually there job.

After election day the conservatives win there majority, the homes that previously had a blue PC lawns signs 3 months ago
have been replaced by a for sale or for rent sign.

A lot of the public servants saw this coming when they voted conservative unless they are uneducated.

You'll be suprised what greets you outside of Toronto, off the record I still wear a Leafs Jersey.

posted May 02, 2012 02:48 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by SpooL:
I kinda think your getting a kick out this debate, lol.

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You would be correct Few Canadians I encounter day-to-day know anything about Canadian politics.

quote:

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Originally posted by SpooL:
Whould you believe me if I were to tell you there are several civil servants working in the public sector with only high school education, but are only guranted that job because they can speck french and have no real idea how the pension system works?

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Absolutely not surprised!! haha.

quote:

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Originally posted by SpooL:
I'm not knocking down socialism, its just that there hasn't really been a true socialist state. So we can't say it works and we can't say it doesn't either.

Those that knock the idea down will say socialism doesn't work look at Russia and China, the reality is there not true socialist states there still being exploited by a bourgeoisie class.

Ho Chi Minh, would be spinning in his grave, Vietnam says there a communist state there not, there is a growing petite-bourgeois.

Perhaps in a 100+ years a true socialist society will develop, but not right now.

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This is somewhat my fault. Perhaps I should be more specific; I believe in a socio-capitalistic society which is akin to what we have now. Capitalism with a protectionist bent; checks and balances, regulation, equitable income distribution. I think the best example I can think of would have to be Switzerland. Universal healthcare in my view is essential to a fair society.

quote:

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Originally posted by SpooL:
The day before election day I look outside and all over Ottawa I see blue PC lawn signs, I'm thinking to myself the homeowner is a public servant, why whould he/she vote for a party that will end up trimming departments and eventually there job.

After election day the conservatives win there majority, the homes that previously had a blue PC lawns signs 3 months ago
have been replaced by a for sale or for rent sign.

A lot of the public servants saw this coming when they voted conservative unless they are uneducated.

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