CFN – A Minimum wage rise in Ontario is making imports more profitable for exporters from China, India, and other countries while killing manufacturing jobs in Ontario and making it harder for those on fixed incomes to survive. It will make Wal-Mart more money while penalizing those who work for them.
It’s always funny in politics where the solutions and names given to programs rarely help those they are designed for. Ontario Works? Really? Nobody can survive on what a single person is given monthly; and the poorest of the poor actually are penalized when they do find some work.
Project Truth? Very little “Truth” was exposed via the $50M plus inquiry which essentially was a cover up for those that covered up for pedophiles rather than any real “ring” as was alleged. Politicians would’t spend ten cents to cover up for an average person; only because of some very connected people was this travesty committed against the tax payers of Ontario via Cornwall Ontario.
We need a safety net in place; but right now it looks like the net is for those employed to offer the net rather than those the net is really for. There’s one simple solution and that’s a guaranteed minimum income. You lose the expensive overheads of all these programs. You’d actually get to eliminate some programs completely.
The more the average person has to spend the more of it that’s spent locally and that’s never a bad thing. Right now we have allowed a system that allows TRILLIONS of dollars to sit in offshore accounts and allow Western Companies to set up shop offshore at much reduced labour and environmental costs while devastating our economies locally.
Free Trade? There is nothing free about Free Trade or NAFTA for Canadians; but there is no real political will to end it. Most Canadians don’t even have a clue about how NAFTA impacts their lives.
With the costs passed on to the average person via taxes how can people in Ontario survive long term as property taxes and values rise? At some point who will be able to actually own a home and will we all become rent slaves?
There are no easy solutions to tax and income reform and it may never be allowed to happen; but it could if enough people wanted it to.
Here is the lip service from our local election debate in SD&G Ontario
Elections are always a time to talk about issues that usually are forgotten as soon as the polls close. Most times the issues are twisted to help someone get elected. Rarely is anything really ever resolved.
Currently we in Ontario are hugely in debt. Could you imagine if interest rates doubled? Our province would be bankrupt. Not one single party is really addressing that issue, and that’s scary.
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There is no real solution to the minimum wage. One time I was reading something on the net and some big shot in the US said that eventually Wal Mart aka Wally World will seem like you entered Neiman Marcos a very wealthy high end store in the US. A lot of people today are earning minimum wage and others just a little above that. NAFTA, GATT and all the rest are not advantageous for us little people but are for the international “banksters as in gangsters which they are” and the big corporations and we are struggling to keep afloat. I read plenty a while ago and cannot reveal what I read but it tells all. We are literal slaves and prisoners and cannot break out of this mess.
Excellent article Jaime.
Minimum wage should be raised. But by doing so it raises costs for small business and cuts into the it profit and ability to hire more employees. It’s sort of a “Catch 22” situation.
“Project Truth” …. I agree with your comments.
“Minimum Income” is a good idea. But companies will always find a way around it.
“Free Trade” is a classic SNAFU.
“Income Tax Reform”…. it’ll never happen. It’s a cash cow for governments.
Debt in Ontario. ?.. no one wants to deal with it. We’re screwed.
Yes Hugger we are screwed. My daughter is gone since an hour ago working at minimum wage. There is nothing out there and you can’t live on that at all. Nobody is happy at all and businesses will let go of employees as time goes on. I wish that there was a solution but I see none. If Hudak gets in he will cut and those cuts will be painful and any of us who remember Mike Harris (Harrass) he will never be forgotten – well Hudak may try and imitate him but he has absolutely no other alternative from what I see. Project Truth only protected Cornwall’s hyarchy (yes those with connections) and I can tell you first hand that it is hundreds of times worse than what came out and all swept under the rug. It would have taken down much more big shots in the community and elsewhere than what you all think.
Very thought provoking Jamie. Especially guaranteed minimum income.
You also mention that a rise in minimum wage will kill manufacturing jobs in Ontario. But manufacturing is already dead. We’re in deep trouble.
Jules; if Hudak gets in (which is highly unlikely) the 100,000 job “losses” will be done through attrition (retirement, resignation, etc.). Hudak’s math is awful. Jamie posted an article earlier, I think, about this. Hudak made basic math mistakes in his calculations. Even with the 100,000 job “losses” service (teachers, health, etc.) will suffer.
@ Hugger. Hudak and his team didn’t make any math mistakes. They didn’t even turn on their calculators.
Hudak is going to unleash the Catholic God and stop the seven sins of McGuinty. Project Truth was an anti-Catholic witch hunt. It was the city and lawyers at fault, if anybody. {MODERATED} Too soon?
WOW there is only one God. As far as the Catholic church is concerned you would be shocked on how powerful they are and believe me you just named something where our troubles begin and end but at the highest levels on the pyramid. I will say no more and do your research and when you do you keep on digging and you will keep on finding more and more and more that are mighty frightening. Things are written in the Bible as well and one has to be a Bible scholar to figure a lot out.
The fact is that while governments can for short periods of time influence the economy they are along for the ride. Take corporate taxes for example, corporations do not pay taxes rather taxes flow through them via the one and only taxpayer otherwise consumer. When corporate taxes increase so does the cost to the consumer or end user. Profits of the corporations only decrease when the overburdened taxpayer has less disposable income and then as a result either the corporation seeks out additional markets or layoffs occur.
Canada (indeed North America) is no longer a manufacturing mecca . Until we accept and embrace the simple truth that we have left the industrial age and have entered the Digital Age we will stagnate and struggle.
As a nation we need to stop doing the same old same old expecting different results. We are lagging far behind at a time when we could be at the front of the pack. We have become lazy, apathetic and complacent and the answer to our problems has been to open immigration to fill the jobs that we feel beneath our dignity while at the same time enhancing our social safety net to enable more to live without contributing.
I was once a proud Canadian.
We only reap what we sow. Sow incompetence, reap more incompetence. The Liberals only feed off the natural depravity of man – greed, covetousness, something for nothing, and the people love it to be so -“the check is in the mail”. The aristocrats look down upon the commoners and say “Minimum wage, quit complaining, be glad you have that. You could be working for us for nothing!”. Remember – socialism is another name for Communism, but the difference is that the commoners are to blind to see the difference, and don’t care to do anything about it. “Hi,ho, Hi,ho, it’s off to the labor camp I go…”.
And to the three leading candidates – it’s not about jobs, the economy, and prosperity. It’s about doing right by God’s standard – Pro 14:34 “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people”.
How about starting by outlawing abortion, same sex marriage, sodomy, divorce, and human trafficking, murder, etc? How about a law with teeth that punishes politicians for incompetence? One scandal, and you are on the next bus out of town. Tared and feathered, and banned from holding any public office for life. We the people must hold our elected politicians to the fire – accountability and honestly.
But there is a problem, without God, without His revelation via the Scriptures, there is no unchanging definition for honesty? Is there? Ask any politicians? Ask our Premier? She will say, “of course I am honest”. What about Ornge, E-health, the Gas plants cancellation, the erased hard drives, and now, Mars scandal? That is just the tip of the iceberg, Isn’t it?
When are Ontarians going say it is enough, and really do something about it? As long as we are kept busy with minor things, like minimum wage – a small fish, a scrape of meat to keep us dogs content, well, enjoy!
Mr. Newton….how about looking at things in today’s world, not in an idealistic one? The world has changed for the better, we are more tolerant now of others. And BTW, there is a law against murder.
Yes Mr. newton. And all gods and religions other than your own should be outlawed as well. Sounds reasonable.
Both Mr. Oldham and Pastor Newton is absolutely right. When I get a chance Pastor I always listen to some Pastors of the different Protestant faiths and when we live in a society that is like Sodom and Gamorah we both know what happened back in those days. God gave abundance to the English nations of the world like Canada, US, Australia and England and a few others and what did the people do but to turn their back on God Himself and hurled insults at Him and believe me Pastor I am well into what you preach. I thank you very much for your Bible quotes. I believe that I am in the wrong society and believe me Pastor I say that every single day that goes by. Like you said we reap what we sow. People do not know what is yet to happen but I listen and I read plenty and it is mighty scary. If people knew I think that they would all be taking to the woods somewhere. Again I thank you Pastor Newton. I wish that the people were really awake.
And just think, Jules, the whole mess was started about five thousand years ago by a talking snake that convinced Eve to chew on a Granny Smith. Boggles the mind, it does.
Hugger1 “And BTW, there is a law against murder” – Is there? I would’ve never known. Slap on the hand, 5 years, early parole. When there is no capital punishment, there is no just law for murder. Oh, yes abortion is murder too! Legalized murder!
Do some research before spouting off. The minimum sentence before being eligible for parole in Canada is 10 years. And there are exceptions where abortion should be permitted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_sentencing_in_Canada
Hugger1 10 years minimum is a joke. An insult to justice, and a sure sign that we do not care at all about life. How about the woman that dropped three of her babies into the dumpster(three different times) – did she get 10 years? [http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/01/29/calgary-woman-who-left-three-of-her-infants-in-a-dumpster-killing-two-sentenced-to-18-months-jail/. How about the guy, who is now walking free that cut off the man’s head in the bus a while back – did he get 10 years? [http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/02/27/man_who_beheaded_greyhound_bus_passenger_gets_unescorted_trips.html]. Want some more spouting off?
Hugger1 – that may be the law on the books, but who in Canada enforces it?
Isa 59:14 “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter”.
Interesting, but not surprising that born-again “Christians” seem so eager to bring back the death penalty.
Agreed Furtz. No use even trying to discuss this with him.
My daughter came home a little over an hour ago and she was saying to me that if she ever voted she would never vote Liberal/fiberal at all whatsoever and the rest of us feel the same way. She said that with all the Cons faults she would put them in any day compared to the Libs. None of the candidates are any good at all and we all know that. All are there for the government slop trough and they don’t give a hoot about any of us. They work for the big banksters and corporations. I know way too much.
Actually Hugger1 in Canada the length of incarceration for murder has been less than one year. Young offenders are part of our society also. You should follow your own advice before finding fault with others. It makes you look a little foolish.
So the the death penalty is out for you Furtz? So what is your solution – tougher sentences, more prisons, get rid of the youth offenders act? Accountability including disbarring from practicing law for judges that do not enforce the law, but actually legislate the law from the bench. What about prison reforms? Or is your solution just let us all live happily altogether while we all enjoy a big bowl of spaghetti? Complements of the Noodle head god. You can sprout off criticism, but where is you answers, solution. Ignoring it will not cause our social ills to go away. And yes, action always speaks louder than words.
Agreed Hugger. No point in mentioning that crime rates in Canada have been dropping steadily for over thirty years, or the long list wrongly convicted “murderers” who would have been executed if Mr. Newton had his way.
I have to wonder why Mr. Newton chose to live in Canada when there are so many other countries where his values are strictly adhered to.
David Oldham…..I went with what Wikipedia said. Don’t shoot the messenger.
I understand HUGGER1 and you are no different than a vast number of people who obtain and trust the internet for information. Unfortunately the internet has its limitations and other sources are necessary to substantiate a reliable/accurate conclusion. The net is a quick and easy route but riddled with misinformation and pitfalls. Personally I do not draw conclusions or base opinions on a single source. No slight intended Hugger1. I always come away with something from reading the comments and opinions of others in this forum. Thank you for contributing and sharing.
so Furtz has no solutions to offer just “Let it be”….
Everybody is raising the minimum wage including in the US but it won’t help matters because the living is going up that much more. There was a commercial this morning on our car radio coming from the Jewel Radio station here in Ottawa about the utilities and everything else going up and the man asked his wife how they were going to manage since he wasn’t getting any raise and they decided to go with Francis Fuels for advice. LOL LOL. Talk about getting screwed. This is to show you that there is no other solutions things keep going up and salaries remain the same and people cannot keep their heads above water. People have to learn where to cut and how to live with less. About the young offenders act that has to be scrapped and when people do the crime then they have to do the time and shove them in with the adults and that will teach them a good lesson. Maybe they will learn how to bend for it. I am completely against abortion, gay marriage, transgender, being gay, etc. I should never have been in this society since I do not approve of it at all.
Too funny Jules! You and the preacher should get a room.
And you are correct about not belonging in this society. That’s pretty insightful on your part.
About minimum wage the PC candidate here actually said “a higher minimum wage should act as a kind of goal for graduates.” Is this guy for real??
How about we get the Liberal party to pay back all the wasted spent tax dollars on all the scandals, and raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour. Even if we raised it to $25, we would still have a lot left over to go around – health care, lowering our Hydro bills, education, etc.
Instead of enslaving our children, and grand children to the debt, have the Liberals pay it back, and if they can’t send them to debtor’s prison until they do!
jules..your comment about the talking snake?…..wonderful….just wonderful…i just can’t stop picturing it……the granny apple…..shit man….!….hehehe
@ Christopher North. Don’t be making fun of the talking snake and Granny Smith apples, lest ye be tossed into the fiery lake to burn for eternity. You have been warned!
Seek ye The Flying Spaghetti Monster, and ye shall have a full belly!
Dream on Mr. Newton, dream on. They were elected and screwed up. We end up paying for their mistakes.
You are correct Hugger. The Libs won in 03 after the Harris reign of terror. And again in 07 when John Tory blew it for the Cons over religious education. And again in 2011 when Hudak blew it for the Cons just by being creepy as hell. And it looks like Hudak might pull it off again this time too.
The Liberals should be tossed out for sure, but nobody can stand that creepy guy who promises to eliminate 100000 jobs.
“We end up paying for their mistakes” – just like a good Canadian should. No back bone, no guts. A ninny state full of ninnies! A ninny by the way is “a dull-witted person”.
Furtz you likely remember that Harris was defeated by McGuinty who blasted the Conservatives for running up a 3 billion dollar deficit while maintaining that it was closer to 5 billion. With 1 out 5 people employed by government in Ontario ( that’s approximately 1.2 million people ) you do not think that through attrition we would benefit by creating room in the economy for productive jobs not directly funded by the taxpayer? Hudak does have a masters in economics I believe.
“We end up paying for their mistakes” – You mean to tell me that all the scandals that as cost us billions, and the erased hard drives, and the failed green economics of the Liberals were all, just “mistakes”? Wow! If you do it once it is a mistake, but when it is done a half dozen times, the same mistake, well, to call it still a mistake is border line stupidity.
I think, a lot of people are thinking the same, not mistakes but criminal negligence! It is time people not just removed the present government by the ballot box, but prosecute them to full extent of the law. So the next bunch of politicians will think twice about doing such similar “mistakes”. And if there are not laws to cover such criminal negligence, than our law makers need to be awakened to the fact they better get on the ball and get some laws passed to deal with political corruption/incompetence of this magnitude.
David, you are making up history. Harris quit politics so he could spend more time patching up his marriage. There was dancing in the streets when he made the announcement. Both FACTS!
McGuinty defeated Oil-Can Ernie. Remember him? Obviously not.
Hudak might have studied economics, but he clearly doesn’t remember much from his college daze. In fact he himself has admitted that he was a doper back then. Nobody can seem to find a credible economist who will validate Timmy’s hair-brain numbers.
Try again, David.
Pastor Tom Newton said: “I think, a lot of people are thinking the same, not mistakes but criminal negligence! It is time people not just removed the present government by the ballot box, but prosecute them to full extent of the law. So the next bunch of politicians will think twice about doing such similar “mistakes”. And if there are not laws to cover such criminal negligence, than our law makers need to be awakened to the fact they better get on the ball and get some laws passed to deal with political corruption/incompetence of this magnitude.”
Agreed Mr. Newton. But since the politicians make the laws do you really think they’re going to enact laws that punish themselves? Dream on, dream on!!
Pastor Tom Newton said “We end up paying for their mistakes” – just like a good Canadian should. No back bone, no guts. A ninny state full of ninnies! A ninny by the way is “a dull-witted person”.
No back bone, no guts? It’s hard to do anything to politicians when they make the rules. m And the only recourse we have is trying to get them out at election time.
Bring out the hanging ropes and hang them till they die. None of my neighbors want to vote and they are all laughing about it. We have been getting nothing but calls for voting and I think that my husband took the phone out again.
My prediction… we will see more manufacturing jobs come back to North America, due to the rising price of oil and the implementation of robotics.
Does this mean there will be more jobs? Unfortunately not, as manufacturing will be mostly automated via robotics, producing quality goods for less than it cost a kid in china to make 😉
@ Jason. It’s interesting that General Motors with it’s long history of building the worst cars in North America, is still spitting out the same number of inferior vehicles as they did in their heyday thirty or forty years ago. The difference is that they continue to produce the same amount of garbage with about a tenth of the workers they used to require.
I sort of agree with Jason. But I see the quality failing with robotics. Perfect example. …we ordered a “custom made” screen door from a family run lumber yard here. It arrived and we painted it. The guys arrived today to install it. It was 1/4″ larger in width than ordered. The installer offered to take it to his place and fix it. I talked to the installers boss and he said he’s seeing that more and more and just not from this supplier. I also spoke to the salesman at the place we bought the door. “Custom made” products are not returnable, which is stupid when they make it the wrong size. I think the “custom made” door was cut by a computer and put together by people.
A lot of the manufacturing is already being done by robotics as we speak in China, India, etc. The people of those countries are highly educated and only those who do manual labor like those of Domtar, Courthaulds, Levi Straus, etc. are uneducated. You will never see manufacturing jobs back the way they used to be and robots is what is replacing people no matter where they settle. Cars and other items are being manufactured that way. Machines do not cry about more and more wages and a machine works for nothing. Robots are made here in Ottawa and elsewhere in the high tech industries. Many high tech industries have gone abroad from both Canada and the US and are in India, China and elsewhere. Canada and the US will become third world gradually and this is what the banksters as in gangsters which they are and the big corporations want and are achieving their goal.
Just a friendly reminder to all that it’s ok to debate the point, but please do not attack each other. We are here to entertain and inform.
Dream on, dream on!!!
The more wages goes up the higher prices become and there is no win situation. The only way to get out of the mess is to ban all unions and make people work. Why bring industries abroad and all we are buying nowadays is junk. You keep salaries down and the prices will eventually come down. Don’t buy things that you don’t need and pile up junk. Learn to live a healthy lifestyle and a happy one. Hudak has the right idea and Harris was right. People laughed at Harris before he got in and he made the cuts. Everyone was happy that Harris cut on the poorest people and he came out with that before he got in and people applauded that. Well now it is everyone’s turn to feel just how people were made homeless. Soon a lot of you may not be able to have your homes anymore and if that happens I want all of you to remember what you all did when you voted Harris into office. You cannot spend your way out of debt and Harris was right. You won’t be laughing when electricity goes to 41% and keeps on climbing along with gas and other utilities as well as your taxes. Money doesn’t fall from heaven nor grow on trees. You learn to cook from scratch and eat the right food. Grow your own gardens. Food is climbing in price at every turn we take.
Banning unions is not the answer. Working with them is the answer. 41% is their prediction, I disagree. Prices will go up, as does everything. 41%…I don’t think so.
Yes, Jules, money does grow on trees. What do you think paper is made of?
I am 100% to ban unions. You should see the beautiful work that is done in the parks here in Ottawa as well as the hospital grounds done by non union workers. We don’t need lazy people asking for higher and higher wages that push up prices beyond belief. No tanks. I am completely against unions. One of my co-workers in the federal government was trying everything to get out of the union and she was an RC like myself. I told her to say that she became Jehovah Witness and she could get out of such a thing since it was not part of her belief. It is a total rip off.