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Canadian PoliGAF - 42nd Parliament: Sunny Ways in Trudeaupia

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MutFox

Banned
Vancouver has crap Mexican food.
People that say we have amazing Mexican food just don't know authentic Mexican food.

This is coming from a person with a Mexican background.

So glad I'm going to Mexico in a month.
Gonna go crazy on the food there.
 

simplayer

Member
To answer all your questions, where another product is not objectively and factually superior, citizens of Canada should make a serious effort to buy Canadian made products. It's really not rocket science.

The line isn't clear. At what point is something "close enough" to the competition that consumers should feel compelled to buy the local product? Should I pick up Mass Effect instead of Fallout for my RPG needs? Assassin's creed over Infamous for open world action? Zellers over Walmart? How about an Oakville made Ford Edge over a Woodstock made Rav4?
 

IISANDERII

Member
The line isn't clear. At what point is something "close enough" to the competition that consumers should feel compelled to buy the local product? Should I pick up Mass Effect instead of Fallout for my RPG needs? Assassin's creed over Infamous for open world action? Zellers over Walmart? How about an Oakville made Ford Edge over a Woodstock made Rav4?
Yup, the RAV4, among several other Japanese cars, are made in Canada!! That's a major point because a huge part of the reason they put these plants here in the first place is to avoid tariffs. Now we remove the tariffs and they'll have that much more reason to shut the plants down and move wherever, losing tons of well paying manufacturing jobs.
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
I was half paying attention to the radio this morning but did Obama call him Justin instead of Trudeau to the media?
 
I was half paying attention to the radio this morning but did Obama call him Justin instead of Trudeau to the media?
this means that they are now friends and on good terms.

It is not the first time that a President calls a Prime Minister by their first name when they like them.

Ronnie said Brian. Bill said Jean.
 

gabbo

Member
this means that they are now friends and on good terms.

It is not the first time that a President calls a Prime Minister by their first name when they like them.

Ronnie said Brian. Bill said Jean.

Why do I not like this turn of events.... My conspiracy-sense is tingling
 

Willectro

Banned
Yup, the RAV4, among several other Japanese cars, are made in Canada!! That's a major point because a huge part of the reason they put these plants here in the first place is to avoid tariffs. Now we remove the tariffs and they'll have that much more reason to shut the plants down and move wherever, losing tons of well paying manufacturing jobs.

Where do the profits go?
 

IISANDERII

Member
I wrote my MP about the TPP and how disappointing it is to see Trudeau being bullied by Obama, allowing Harper to do one final terrible thing and him and how daily the news finds out another awful thing about the TPP rarely anything beneficial to Canada.

You can find your MP here: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Comp...rByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC&PostalCode=K1S2P4
Where do the profits go?
Yea the trade deficit has been a problem for decades and contributes to the decline/stagnation of our wages.
 
I wrote my MP about the TPP and how disappointing it is to see Trudeau being bullied by Obama, allowing Harper to do one final terrible thing and him and how daily the news finds out another awful thing about the TPP rarely anything beneficial to Canada.

You can find your MP here: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Comp...rByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC&PostalCode=K1S2P4Yea the trade deficit has been a problem for decades and contributes to the decline/stagnation of our wages.

thanks for this

I too will send my disagreement for the TPP
 

MutFox

Banned
Tacofino is good. That's maybe the best I've had in the lower mainland.

That's not authentic though...
It tastes good, but not authentic.
Doesn't even use many of the same ingredients/recipes that's in authentic Mexican.
La Taqueria is more authentic than Tacofino, but still not there.
 

Tiktaalik

Member
That's not authentic though...
It tastes good, but not authentic.
Doesn't even use many of the same ingredients/recipes that's in authentic Mexican.
La Taqueria is more authentic than Tacofino, but still not there.

Isn't Tacofino following the San Diego style of tacos, emphasizing fried fish and mayo? I've never been to San Diego, I'm just repeating something I heard. Obviously it's not authentic Mexican, but they're trying to copy that one city's regional style.

I agree Mexican food in Vancouver in general is pretty damn weak. About five years ago it was basically nonexistent, so we're getting better slowly.
 

MutFox

Banned
Isn't Tacofino following the San Diego style of tacos, emphasizing fried fish and mayo? I've never been to San Diego, I'm just repeating something I heard. Obviously it's not authentic Mexican, but they're trying to copy that one city's regional style.

I agree Mexican food in Vancouver in general is pretty damn weak. About five years ago it was basically nonexistent, so we're getting better slowly.

Yeah, we have a lot of US styled Mexican food here.
So Texmex and stuff that's trendy.

Though it's nice to have authentic food from whatever country every now and then.

Just glad I can get authentic from a home cooked meal.
Both Japanese and Mexican. :p
The Japanese scene in Vancouver is pretty good though. :)
 

Pedrito

Member
It's weird seeing all the political pundits obsessing over those damn symbolic airstrikes. And from all the political spectrum. They can't shut up about it.

Actually, all we hear about these days are things that don't really matter: those airtriskes and the self-imposed deadline for the syrian refugees. Self-created problems/dilemnas.
 

Willectro

Banned
I wrote my MP about the TPP and how disappointing it is to see Trudeau being bullied by Obama, allowing Harper to do one final terrible thing and him and how daily the news finds out another awful thing about the TPP rarely anything beneficial to Canada.

You can find your MP here: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Comp...rByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC&PostalCode=K1S2P4Yea the trade deficit has been a problem for decades and contributes to the decline/stagnation of our wages.

Yea.

Some people despise unions as well. I just don't get it. Growing up in areas where there were numerous unionized manufacturing jobs (and many other jobs) at which people were compensated, for the most part, in a fair and equitable manner seemed to build good communities. But this relied on people mainly purchasing domestic products, but competitive pricing doesn't help either.
 
1447998136621.jpg
 

Tiktaalik

Member
B.C., Vancouver ask Ottawa to pick up bigger share of transit projects

The B.C. government and the city of Vancouver are lobbying the Trudeau government to reduce the municipal share of the cost of major infrastructure projects, such as subway lines, and Ottawa is signalling it is willing to consider a change.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who in a speech in Ottawa Thursday likened the Oct. 19 federal election to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, confirmed on Thursday he is asking the federal government to lower the municipal contribution to major projects to 10 per cent from 33 per cent.

That would be a game-changer for Metro Vancouver transit projects, by offering a way out of the logjam on local funding that could easily force another plebiscite for local taxpayers and politicians.

It would also put the cities’ share more in line with the proportion of total taxes they raise, said Robertson, chairman of Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ big city mayors’ caucus.

Currently the provincial and federal governments and local municipalities each fund one third of major local infrastructure projects.

“A new formula that recognizes what we currently collect in tax dollars is the fair way to approach this,” Robertson said.

Robertson said the federal government and the provinces could split the remaining 90 per cent, though he said a new formula could provide some flexibility on who pays how much. Robertson was in Ottawa to lobby a number of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, to make that change as well as push for other city-friendly policies in the 2016 federal budget.

The B.C. government also confirmed it is also pushing for Ottawa to change the funding formula, though no specifics were offered on what Victoria is seeking.

Peter Fassbender, B.C.’s minister for TransLink, said it’s premature to talk about how the funding formula should be revamped, or who should pay what. However, he acknowledged the province will go to the federal government and reinforce both the provincial transportation plan and Metro’s transit priorities in an attempt to find a way to fund them.

“Right now, what we need to do is not get hung up on a percentage, but get all of us at the table,” Fassbender said. “We are still operating under the same formula we have in the past — a third, a third, a third — but if that changes because someone is prepared to put more on the table, of course we will talk about that.

“Whether that is something the federal government is willing to look at that, we’re willing as a government to work with all the parties to help facilitate finding a solution. This is all about getting the job done.”

Robertson acknowledged it’s “early days” and ministers have not made any commitments.

But he noted Sohi has already made a move to ease the pressure on cities. The federal infrastructure minister announced this week that Ottawa will drop a Conservative requirement that provinces and cities consider creating public-private partnerships before receiving infrastructure dollars.

That demand has been a major hurdle for Metro Vancouver in its bid for federal dollars to construct a $700-million Lion’s Gate waste water treatment plant by 2020. Metro has been lobbying for three years to get funding, but hasn’t qualified under the federal government’s rules.


“So they have already sent some clear signals,” Robertson said before making a speech at a policy conference here. “There’s an openness to looking at the design of a new program with local governments and to do what makes sense.”

Sohi gave strong hints in a speech Thursday that the new federal government is open to easing municipalities’ burden. Echoing Robertson’s concerns, he noted cities have far less ability to raise tax revenues than provinces and especially Ottawa.

In a subsequent interview, Sohi told The Sun his government has heard the cities’ pitch and wants to negotiate a new formula that “works for all of us.”

While Robertson was quick to criticize the Conservative approach to infrastructure funding under Stephen Harper, the requirement that cities come up with one-third of the funding for roads, water systems, bridges, and transit systems goes back to 1993.

That year the new Liberal government under Jean Chretien, trying to kickstart a sluggish economy while dealing with a massive debt, announced a job creation-focused public works program funded equally by the three levels of government.

Robertson told The Sun that approach is outdated and is simply unaffordable for cities.

He said the failure earlier this year of the TransLink plebiscite, on using a sales tax levy to fund major transit improvements, has left Metro Vancouver with little ability to take advantage of Trudeau’s promise to pour money into cities, if the old funding formula continues to apply.

The provincial government has said any new funding sources proposed by TransLink would have to go to another referendum.


Major projects like Vancouver’s Broadway Corridor subway and Surrey’s light rail could proceed if Trudeau agrees to boost Ottawa’s share and persuade provincial governments to follow suit.

Fassbender said transportation is crucial for the future of B.C.’s economy but taxpayers sent a clear message through the plebiscite.

“We have to be very clear. We need to find a way that’s fair and equitable to the people in the region who benefit from the transportation system,” he said in a speech Thursday hosted by the Urban Development Institute. “It’s not just about moving people, it’s about moving goods and services. There is only one taxpayer we all serve.”

In his speech at a conference of “progressive” policy-makers, Robertson lauded initial Trudeau steps that have included unmuzzling scientists, bringing back the long-form census, and moving to reopen the Coast Guard station in Kitsilano.

“So it says a lot about the last decade that just restoring some basic common sense measures to the federal government can feel like the Berlin Wall coming down,” he said, according to a prepared text.

Cities were put on the back-burner by Harper, he said, while the Tories focused on resource projects in the “hinterlands.”

He also complained in his speech about the B.C. government’s demand that cities raise their own funds for transit, a requirement that led to this year’s plebiscite failure.

“It should never have come to this,” he said. “And I have a new sense of hope that it never will again ... if the new federal government works with us on a historic partnership to craft a comprehensive, national strategy for transit.”

If that happens then Ottawa and municipal leaders can unite to “compel provinces to be willing partners.”

As I said during the election the major problem with transit projects in Vancouver has never been that the feds and province weren’t putting money on the table, but rather the unworkable “one third each government” arrangement. If Robertson can successfully get this changed this will be a massive victory for municipalities, which simply don’t have the revenue tools to contribute at the same level as higher order governments.

I’m really hoping for this change because I can’t see how transit expansion happens in Vancouver with the status quo arrangement and obstructionist BC provincial government.
 

maharg

idspispopd
I would really rather see the revenue tools fixed than actually *increase* municipal dependence on begging higher levels of government for funds. That just seems like a bad plan. Living in a city that our federal government has basically punished for pretty much just electing their MPs less enthusiastically than elsewhere in the province, and that the provincial government has punished for electing opposition MLAs at all, has made me deeply mistrustful of that whole mechanism. Making it worse scares me, even if we're in some weird golden age where the provincial and federal governments actually like my city.
 
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who in a speech in Ottawa Thursday likened the Oct. 19 federal election to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, confirmed on Thursday he is asking the federal government to lower the municipal contribution to major projects to 10 per cent from 33 per cent.

This would be fantastic.
 

SRG01

Member
I would really rather see the revenue tools fixed than actually *increase* municipal dependence on begging higher levels of government for funds.

I think that's a little unrealistic in the grand scheme of things, since rewriting the revenue structure would mean rewriting the responsibilities of each level of government. It's simply easier, from the current organizational structure, for the federal government to pick up the tab for these projects.
 

maharg

idspispopd
I think that's a little unrealistic in the grand scheme of things, since rewriting the revenue structure would mean rewriting the responsibilities of each level of government. It's simply easier, from the current organizational structure, for the federal government to pick up the tab for these projects.

Something being easy does not mean it should be done or that it can't make things worse. Also, all municipal powers are devolved by provinces so it is well within the power of provinces to change this without anything happening at the federal level.

I'm a bit tired of people ignoring fundamental problems in favour of quick-barely-fixes with unintended side effects. In this case, making cities even more dependent on federal funding and removing some of what little policy autonomy they already have. More federal money is an offer municipalities can't refuse, whether it's good for them in the long run or not.
 
Though it's nice to have authentic food from whatever country every now and then.

You need a cook from that country.
A coworker from Colombia once took me to a restaurant owned by Peruvians.
I would definitively not have gone there on my own.
The food was definitively authentic. Very cheap lunch.
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
Something being easy does not mean it should be done or that it can't make things worse. Also, all municipal powers are devolved by provinces so it is well within the power of provinces to change this without anything happening at the federal level.

I'm a bit tired of people ignoring fundamental problems in favour of quick-barely-fixes with unintended side effects. In this case, making cities even more dependent on federal funding and removing some of what little policy autonomy they already have. More federal money is an offer municipalities can't refuse, whether it's good for them in the long run or not.
I agree. I liked that Ontario gave municipalities the power to bring in new taxes like Toronto's $60 a year car tax (even though I drive) and extra land transfer tax. The only problem is we then turned around and elected a crack smoking moron as Mayor because he promised to get rid of those taxes and did so with one (car tax which costs the city over $60 million a year in lost revenue). :(
 
I agree. I liked that Ontario gave municipalities the power to bring in new taxes like Toronto's $60 a year car tax (even though I drive) and extra land transfer tax. The only problem is we then turned around and elected a crack smoking moron as Mayor because he promised to get rid of those taxes and did so with one (car tax which costs the city over $60 million a year in lost revenue). :(

But bro he stopped the gravy train.
 

Tiktaalik

Member
I would really rather see the revenue tools fixed than actually *increase* municipal dependence on begging higher levels of government for funds. That just seems like a bad plan. Living in a city that our federal government has basically punished for pretty much just electing their MPs less enthusiastically than elsewhere in the province, and that the provincial government has punished for electing opposition MLAs at all, has made me deeply mistrustful of that whole mechanism. Making it worse scares me, even if we're in some weird golden age where the provincial and federal governments actually like my city.

This is a good point because the cities are increasingly having more and more problems dumped on them by negligent provincial governments. It's not just transit infrastructure. In Vancouver the most significant example is homelessness. The Provincial government is not in any way devoting enough money and effort into building social housing, and so as a result Vancouver has to try to solve the problem itself with the few revenue sources it has.
 
This is a good point because the cities are increasingly having more and more problems dumped on them by negligent provincial governments. It's not just transit infrastructure. In Vancouver the most significant example is homelessness. The Provincial government is not in any way devoting enough money and effort into building social housing, and so as a result Vancouver has to try to solve the problem itself with the few revenue sources it has.

I wonder, would the Federal Government be able to legislate the ability for Municipal Governments to set a tax rate, or would that infringe on Provincial rights?
 

SRG01

Member
Something being easy does not mean it should be done or that it can't make things worse. Also, all municipal powers are devolved by provinces so it is well within the power of provinces to change this without anything happening at the federal level.

I'm a bit tired of people ignoring fundamental problems in favour of quick-barely-fixes with unintended side effects. In this case, making cities even more dependent on federal funding and removing some of what little policy autonomy they already have. More federal money is an offer municipalities can't refuse, whether it's good for them in the long run or not.

Maybe I should've used efficient, I dunno.

My number one issue with the whole thing is that none of the powers devolved by the province can actually make a significant difference in municipal revenues. The only way cities can even hope to approach reasonable levels of funding (edit: autonomously) is to have local sales taxes and/or income tax and that's never going to be feasible both from an operational point of view (fractured tax structure across Canada) as efficiencies across the board.

Having a national umbrella and/or program for municipal funding would be more efficient and will ideally ensure some sort of equal standard across the entire country.
 

Kifimbo

Member
It seems pretty clear that the goal of the EFP is to prepare the ground for the deficits the Liberals plans to run; it will be easier for the government to do so if it can credibly claim that it inherited a deficit situation in the current fiscal year.

Based on the information made available so far, I don’t think that claim would be credible. I don’t doubt that the government will produce a deficit for 2015-16 if it wants one, but it would be the Liberals’ deficit. They should take ownership of it.

http://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/the-liberals-deficit-claim-doesnt-add-up/
 

maharg

idspispopd
Maybe I should've used efficient, I dunno.

My number one issue with the whole thing is that none of the powers devolved by the province can actually make a significant difference in municipal revenues. The only way cities can even hope to approach reasonable levels of funding (edit: autonomously) is to have local sales taxes and/or income tax and that's never going to be feasible both from an operational point of view (fractured tax structure across Canada) as efficiencies across the board.

Having a national umbrella and/or program for municipal funding would be more efficient and will ideally ensure some sort of equal standard across the entire country.

There already is a fractured tax structure across Canada. Provinces decide their own tax rates (and then the CRA, in one of those Absolutely Impossible Federal Programs That Infringe On Provincial Rights things collects them on the province's behalf with the agreement of the province). A 'city income tax' would probably just be the province including the amount the city sets into the provincial taxes of people living there. This would also mean, if they moved away from property taxes, that municipalities could spend *considerably less* money and effort on enforcing property taxes and doing property value assessments. This would be more efficient, not less.

As for unlikely things, a federal program giving money to municipalities (that are two levels of government removed from them) as direct transfers that doesn't end up at some point a tool for pork? Yeah, that's right up on the top of that list.
 

Tiktaalik

Member
There already is a fractured tax structure across Canada. Provinces decide their own tax rates (and then the CRA, in one of those Absolutely Impossible Federal Programs That Infringe On Provincial Rights things collects them on the province's behalf with the agreement of the province). A 'city income tax' would probably just be the province including the amount the city sets into the provincial taxes of people living there. This would also mean, if they moved away from property taxes, that municipalities could spend *considerably less* money and effort on enforcing property taxes and doing property value assessments. This would be more efficient, not less.

As for unlikely things, a federal program giving money to municipalities (that are two levels of government removed from them) as direct transfers that doesn't end up at some point a tool for pork? Yeah, that's right up on the top of that list.

The Vancouver transit referendum was on whether or not for Metro Vancouver to have an extra 0.5% sales tax. In this case the province was going to collect the sales tax and hand back the 0.5% back to Translink or to Metro Van and then to Translink I guess. It didn't seem like a big issue. This was a really smart approach and I wish the referendum had succeeded.

The municipalities obviously need more money. I agree having the cities raise money themselves is a lot better than going hat in hand to higher levels of government, as this just results in political pet pork projects from the government. Giving sales tax powers to the cities would be a good idea. The NDP's election promise to hand over additional money from the gas tax was also a smart approach. That would get less effective over time as technology changes, but if the cities were given power over comprehensive road pricing systems, that would be a good replacement too.
 

SRG01

Member
As for unlikely things, a federal program giving money to municipalities (that are two levels of government removed from them) as direct transfers that doesn't end up at some point a tool for pork? Yeah, that's right up on the top of that list.

Well, I mean, there's already a nation-wide equalization program for individual provinces, no? That doesn't have much pork behind that since it's strictly formula based.

All they'd have to do is tie infrastructure funding to another equalization formula -- which would be excellent for smaller municipalities that can't raise money even with increased powers of revenue.

The municipalities obviously need more money. I agree having the cities raise money themselves is a lot better than going hat in hand to higher levels of government, as this just results in political pet pork projects from the government. Giving sales tax powers to the cities would be a good idea.

Wanted to address this too: would giving sales tax powers to the cities result in an opposite outcome, that is, less political pork projects?

Municipalities -- and transit -- definitely do need more money, but I'm not sure another sales tax would be the best way to go about it.
 

Tapejara

Member
Apologies if this is the wrong thread to post this in, but this image just cropped up on my Facebook news feed.

Between the attacks on Muslims in Toronto and other parts of Canada, as well as seeing gross imagery like this, I'm both disappointed and disgusted by my country. I don't know what the government can do to curb this reaction from the public, but I fear for the Syrian refugees coming into the country next month. I hope things go smoothly, and that the combination of Harper's anti-Muslim rhetoric and recent events won't stymie their entrance into Canada; but I am worried about more people being attacked and harassed.
 
Apologies if this is the wrong thread to post this in, but this image just cropped up on my Facebook news feed.

Between the attacks on Muslims in Toronto and other parts of Canada, as well as seeing gross imagery like this, I'm both disappointed and disgusted by my country. I don't know what the government can do to curb this reaction from the public, but I fear for the Syrian refugees coming into the country next month. I hope things go smoothly, and that the combination of Harper's anti-Muslim rhetoric and recent events won't stymie their entrance into Canada; but I am worried about more people being attacked and harassed.

Just show this map of where Maple Trees are found -

 

The problems with this analysis are that:

a) it minimizes the impact of lower oil revenues. Seeing as the previous projections all had oil at $60+/barrel, and Canadian oil is currently going for under $30 (since for some reason, we sell for around $15 less than the going rate), that's a pretty huge difference in assumptions vs. reality.

b) the Conservatives did all kinds of accounting tricks to get a surplus this year, and none of them were sustainable. They played around with federal employee sick leave and pay, they sold off their GM shares, they sold off all kinds of overseas buildings -- all those things generated revenue that was reflected in Conservatives' budget and projections, and it's intellectually dishonest to use them as a basis going forward.

Yea the trade deficit has been a problem for decades and contributes to the decline/stagnation of our wages.

This is fundamentally untrue. The trade deficit hasn't been a problem for decades. We had a surplus last year, and we've generally had surpluses going back to the '70s. The only reason we don't have a surplus this year is because of the lousy dollar -- our trade volume hasn't decreased at all, but the amount of money we're taking in has. To the extent wages have stagnated in Canada -- which isn't even something you can take as a given, since the numbers are all over the place -- you can't blame it on a persistent problem when that problem doesn't even exist.

I wonder, would the Federal Government be able to legislate the ability for Municipal Governments to set a tax rate, or would that infringe on Provincial rights?

Huge infringement on provincial jurisdiction. Municipal governments are a creation of the provinces, so it's all on the provinces to deal with the issue of underfunding. The federal government can earmark some money for cities, but that's the extent of what they can do (and that, obviously, doesn't change the structural issues maharg was talking about).
 
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