All; Good morning to you all, I hope that wherever this finds you that it finds you well.
During our morning walk earlier today, my wife and I were chatting about an exchange I'd watched on legacy media where the host mentioned that "even experts" can't find a direct link between increased carbon taxes and higher costs of food.
That got me to thinking of a few of the different businesses that I'd managed and/or helped keep the wheels rolling over the years and how increased energy costs would have effected them.
For 27 odd years I worked in various capacities in a cabinet, cabinet door and furniture making facility.
When the cost of diesel would go up, we'd get a "transport surcharge" and while we might not be able to pass it onto the consumer for the set of cabinets we'd already started, you can be sure the next set they bought was going to cost them more.
Even back in the '80's we had a natural gas bill that was shocking because as anyone who has worked with wood knows, it needs to be warm and dry in order to keep it stable.
Also wood glue works best at from about 20° up to 40° max.
Most commercial stains and any commercial clear coats we used were happiest at 35°, not much more or less.
Even back in early 2000's when we looked at more environmentally friendly waterborne finishes, we couldn't afford to use them because of the increased energy costs required to keep both the temperature and humidity VERY controlled.
Later on I managed a storage facility where we provided frost free inside storage for RV's, boats, motorcycles, classic and exotic automobiles and some other misc. stuff.
The fixed overhead costs there were municipal fees and taxes and the cost of heating the building. If I had to pay a higher carbon tax, you paid more to keep your wake board or fishing boat from freezing.
If one is reading this and thinking to oneself, "Well I don't have a boat in storage and am not buying new cabinets anytime soon", let me float this thought out for you.
Suppose you do want to move at some point and either need to spruce up the place before putting it on the market or would like to get into a new house for whatever reason.
Can one just imagine now with me attempting to plan a new place when all the local cabinet shops can only operate in warm months of the year?
Well, you say, we'll buy cabinets made offshore in places that are warm year round then.....
Which is happening for sure, but when we push work to other countries, there are less people putting money into the kitty that hopefully will be supporting Canadian infrastructure.
Little things we've become addicted to such as functional roads, water, power, the little things in life, much less a government pension, cannot exist if not enough are paying into it.
That's just simple math.
I'll let the gentle reader imagine the downward spiral to whatever depth they choose, but historically speaking functional societies have the majority of it's people working towards a common goal. The successful ones figure out how to have achievable goals that many if not most can attain, for fairly obvious reasons.
Anyways all, I've intentionally not gone into how increased energy costs ALWAYS make for increased production costs on food, both because I've stated that in other posts and to me it is a given truism, regardless of what any talking head in any university or legacy media desk believes otherwise.
Again I'm likely preaching to the choir here, but perhaps the choir can use some of my random thoughts to convince a fence sitter of their acquaintance how math actually works.
A lot what follows here is my opinion, not from willful ignorance, but from a deliberately opaque lack of information in the industry. My son works in forest management, investors buy huge tracts of timberlands and hire forestry management companies who actually do the timber sales, road maintenance, reforestation, fire protection, water quality, wildlife management. Over the last few years, a lot of logged over land has been purchased by investment groups, formerly these lands went cheap, in our area you are looking at a minimum of a 40 year cycle for harvest. The price of this logged over land has skyrocketed. People wonder why...how does the price go up when harvest goes down? Well it turns out it has to do with the old carbon credit trading plan...you may recall the 'cap and trade' conferences in Europe some years back. If I'm understanding it correctly, businesses like tree plantations/reforestation are huge carbon credit generators. But businesses like manufacturing...cars, widgets and cabinets are gross energy consumers...and they pay carbon penalty 'tax' to operate. I think the tree farm puts it's credits up for auction, and the widget manufacturer may buy them them to offset his penalty 'tax'. What is not explained, who oversees the carbon trading market, where does the penalty money go, what govts or agencies enforce this scheme, by what legal authority? It reminds me of the US Federal Reserve...everything is shrouded in secrecy. Unfortunately, IMO, tree farming is highly overrated as an environmentally ethical enterprise...or at least as forestry practice is applied currently. The best surviving species in our 30'' rain a year is ponderosa pine...so they plant ponderosa...'pines in lines'. Proven to be tinderbox firetraps, proven to be nearly uninhabitable by larger wildlife, very low market value...but it qualifies to earn carbon credits, what a shame.
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
flintlocke; Good afternoon sir, I hope the day's behaving down there and it's a nice sunny one like it is here.
Thanks for the reply and additional perspective, I wasn't aware of that but it makes perfect sense.
Where we live is in the Ponderosa Pine belt and you're correct that mature stands of Ponderosa provide very limited wildlife habitat, but luckily - or maybe not - they do burn like crazy and the regrowth is good for the next half century.
Some of this "cap and trade" and "carbon credits" is so much smoke and mirrors it makes my head hurt. Better said, likely all of it does, but I digress.
Here we stalled a whole bunch of development on natural gas plants and exports, even though the leaders of Germany and Japan came here asking for it.
The reasoning given by Socks and minion crew was that there wasn't a business model that made sense at this point and it'd raise our carbon emissions.
Ironically, at the same time the same bunch has increased our coal exports, because that doesn't raise Canadian carbon emissions, but of course does nothing for global carbon emissions.
When someone asks one of the true believers if the clouds of whatever can't move across borders, they're met with a blank stare and sometimes a stern lecture about how we must be world leaders in this sort of thing.
It'd be whole lot more humorous if it was happening to someone else sir, alas, it seems to be our turn in the rocking chair.
In my feeble military mind, carbon tax credits are nothing but a ponzi scheme for the politicians. One of the state economists here in WA was fired when he dared to point out that the carbon tax for our resident idiot governor would raise gas prices around .50 a gallon. Inslee's demon idiots told him it wouldn't and were very upset when the economist was right. Spin is going on now as we speak to show that the gas increase was not due to the carbon tax as the fund increases to something over a billion dollars.
Perfect tax scheme —pay a tax on the air you breathe with no way to measure what it accomplishes. People are starting to wake up to the scam but a ton of money has gone down the drain.
Random thoughts, Dwayne. Well....I am a self employed hvac contractor, I have all the measurement devices to set up , adjust and tune all gas fired and oil fired equipment in the hvac business. My assessment, when we burn properly designed and installed heating equipment, the emmisions are negligable. a tiny amount of CO 2, some nitrogen and lots of condensate, water vapour. The rapid deforestation practices should welcome our tiny contribution of carbon dioxide. My measurements conclude a miniscule carbon effect and we can heat our homes and buildings. But heck, Will they actually listen to a hayseed from Western Canada? Will Big Brother save anything if all Canadian's packed up and left for southern Florida? I don't know, what would it cost for all the plane's, train's and automobile's emmisions to do this? Old Geezer here. Maybe, I will burn a little more wood until it warms up. I will send the appropriate smoke signals to anyone who cares.
Good analysis by Brian Lilley --- carbon tax mking everything more expensive. Do not forget we pay the GST on top of the carbon tax and that is not in the rebate
Its just another tax, a tax that has no ceiling, they need the revenue to fund wars and the ridiculous Communist social programs etc...
If one lives in the City and doesn't drive to work etc (Liberal and NDP voters) then they will enjoy the so-called carbon credit cheques, supplied on the backs of those who do have to purchase fuel.
Its underhanded, and the so-called PM had a meltdown and left the house under questioning today, he wouldn't allow a Liberal MP who is against the tax to answer a question proposed by Poilivere at least 6 times today, an infantile way to react to legitimate questions. LOL
As an aside....I wrote a Liberal MP fromBC a letter about a month ago on this very subject, he got back to me yesterday and he was touting it was the BC United (right wing) that brought the tax in in 2008 and it was supported and we should love it....I reminded him that was a good reason to despise them for the tax lol.... the BC United is now a distant 3rd and will be unikely to govern in my lifetime again, the rats are jumping ship over there....clown show.
Dwayne, hope the snowstorm that is headed our way dropped a bit of moisture on your side of the Rockies.
It would be interesting to know the qualifications and political alignment of the "experts" that cannot find a link between the carbon tax and higher prices. Perhaps they should do a simple check at a local pizza place to see if the prices of a pie out of a gas fired oven have gone up to support the direct increased cost of firing the ovens.
I was in senior administration when the NDP were in power in Alberta and had to prepare budget impacts based on both the carbon tax (levy) and the increased minimum wage that they brought in. In speaking directly with various NDP I can confirm that they had no idea on impacts of increased costs of fuel to private facilities let alone government buildings and budgets. The comment made to me was they thought there was fat in budgets that this increase could be absorbed.
I do not know if you remember the press on the impact to the operation of greenhouses and how this almost shut down the industry.
On minimum wage increase they did not factor in compression. Certain contracts have clauses that the minimum their employees are paid is xx above minimum wage, so compression resulted in further increases with these being passed onto owners. Small businesses really took a double hit with increased labour costs and increased fuel. Many small businesses shut down with some restaurant chains pulling out of Alberta. The answer from one MLA was that if a business could not absorb these extra costs without passing them on they should not be in business.
I put this background up as I believe the current Liberal and NDP MP's are all economic illiterate’s and have no idea what it takes to run a business or a family budget let alone a country. They are totally clueless on flow through costs and these costs compounding to the end buyer.
The carbon tax refund as being implemented in Canada is a wealth redistribution --- simply buying votes on the low end of the income scale.
All the best from a cool and soon to be wet Alberta
Wannabewana --- if you check the video from Brian Lilley (first link I provided) at the 2:19 mark there is an excellent chart that show the breakdown by quintile on net cost for the 5 income groups in Canada.
Our houshold recieves a small amount every few months as well. This amount does not come close to covering the defined carbon taxes we see on home heating, power and the increase in vehicle fuel. Prices on everything we use, eat or choose to do for recreation have gone up. I believe the PBO and the Bank of Canada have both stated that the CT is an inflationary pressure.
Plus there is the GST rip off of a tax on a tax. We never see any of that.
Prior to shutting my company down I was asked by clients what my rate increase would be due to the CT. So the only people that do not think there is an impact seem to be in Ottawa, having their salaries paid for by the taxpayers.
I just want this government to go away for a long long time. The problems they have created will take a generation to fix.
Hugh; Good evening to you sir, I trust this finds you well and prepared for whatever weather is headed your way.
Thanks for the replies and links.
There's not much that Brian Lilley puts out that doesn't end up in my feed, for sure he knows numbers and can make sense of what is actually happening - and then explain it in an intelligent, understandable manner.
Your statement about the NDP folks not being able to grasp simple economic, well mathematical concepts truly Hugh, doesn't surprise me as much as confirms my suspicions.
Lately I've been giving a lot of thought to how truly disconnected from reality many seem to be.
In particular it's vexing how little people grasp the process which brings their daily bread to their table, you know?
Somehow they can't make the connection between the Door Dash or Skip the Dishes driver and the folks who grew the food or milked the chickens as it were.
That's become a bit of a focal point with me as a result Hugh, a windmill to tilt at if you will, me attempting to have people understand where supper came from.
Hopefully we're not too late Hugh and we can repair the damage so our kids and grandkids have something functional when we're gone.
You’ve covered the bases well. I’ll just add that the BS spewed by the carbon tax crew is only successful because most people do not understand economics nor do they bother to do any additional research.
About the not making the connection on where food comes from; a former neighbor of our does financial planning and a large number of his clients are farmers. At a family gathering one of his nieces said “why are you so worried about farmers? If they go broke we will just go to the grocery store for food”. The young lady is in her early 20s.
In short
Carbon tax and gst on carbon tax sucks. Justin and his minions need to go. Take every chance you can to educate people about reality.
Hard to watch, but this is what these guys think. I do wonder if this debate is a distraction from other issue's such as the myriad of scandals, the Liberals are involved?? Out of control immigration is one I can think of, anyways......the Turd runs away near the 8 minute mark, what an infantile fool he truly is.
673; Morning my friend, hope all is well as can be with you and yours up to the north.
Moose on the Loose seems to be a decent young fellow for the most part and certainly does dig up some gems.
Between him, True North, Northern Perspective and some of Rebel's stuff as well, they can surely excavate dirt.
Just watched Harrison Faulkner on True North interview Eddie Cornell who is suing the government, the PM and some cabinet ministers personally and several banks and credit unions over the unlawful and extrajudicial seizure of assets. If you have time for that one it's sobering to say the least.
For sure though there seems to be a few themes I'm seeing from Socks and the Evil Minions.
One is that if they say it, it's happened, for example the air defense system we've donated to Ukraine which isn't even begun production, but they'll speak of it like it's there and working to defeat the Unspeakable Evil Empire. Same with some of the housing initiatives, where they act like people are moving in and there aren't even drawings to bid on.
The other seems to be that if we repeat the same line of astoundingly false, steaming BS over and over and then a few more times, well it must now be true, no?
There are a whole lot of balls in the air anymore are there not?
Well despite all that, we are going to keep pressing on for a favorable outcome because our kids and grandkids are depending on us and frankly we believe it's our duty.
I use "our" there sir as we've talked of this on the phone enough times that I believe I can say that.
This is an interesting article from today with concerns expressed by the RCMP on the economic situation facing Canadians. In discussions with close friends we have agreed that things have to get much worse financially for the average Canadian before they would start to push back against the government.
It looks like the much worse is just about here.
I do not agree with the RCMP --- "Another major theme of the report is that Canadians are set to become increasingly disillusioned with their government, which authors mostly chalk up to “misinformation,” “conspiracy theories” and “paranoia.”
What is happening in Canada right now is the fault of the current government and in many ways the RCMP as well. If the RCMP had truly investigated SNC or handled Nova Scotia shootings differently instead of trying an underhanded approach to support the firearms legislation or if they had stepped in on any one of Trudeau ethics violations or handled the foreign police stations on Canadian soil then perhaps trust in the RCMP and the government would not be so eroded.
Perhaps there is some self examination by the authors of the report in the redacted sections but somehow I doubt this.
Secret RCMP report warns Canadians may revolt once they realize how broke they are
Right from the get-go, the report authors warn that whatever Canada’s current situation, it 'will probably deteriorate further in the next five years'
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A secret RCMP report is warning the federal government that Canada may descend into civil unrest once citizens realize the hopelessness of their economic situation.
“The coming period of recession will … accelerate the decline in living standards that the younger generations have already witnessed compared to earlier generations,” reads the report, entitled Whole-of-Government Five-Year Trends for Canada.
“For example, many Canadians under 35 are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live,” it adds.
The report, labelled secret, is intended as a piece of “special operational information” to be distributed only within the RCMP and among “decision-makers” in the federal government.
A heavily redacted version was made public as a result of an access to information request filed by Matt Malone, an assistant professor of law at British Columbia’s Thompson Rivers University, and an expert in government secrecy.
Describing itself in an introduction as a “scanning exercise,” the report is intended to highlight trends in both Canada and abroad “that could have a significant effect on the Canadian government and the RCMP.”
Right from the get-go, the report authors warn that whatever Canada’s current situation, it “will probably deteriorate further in the next five years.”
In addition to worsening living standards, the RCMP also warns of a future increasingly defined by unpredictable weather and seasonal catastrophes, such as wildfires and flooding. Most notably, report authors warn of Canada facing “increasing pressure to cede Arctic territory.”
Another major theme of the report is that Canadians are set to become increasingly disillusioned with their government, which authors mostly chalk up to “misinformation,” “conspiracy theories” and “paranoia.”
“Law enforcement should expect continuing social and political polarization fueled by misinformation campaigns and an increasing mistrust for all democratic institutions,” reads one of the report’s “overarching considerations.”
Ironically, among the report’s more heavily redacted sections is one carrying the subtitle “erosion of trust.” “The past seven years have seen marked social and political polarization in the Western world” reads a partial first sentence, with the entire rest of the section deleted by government censors.
The censor’s pen also deleted most of a section warning about “paranoid populism.” “Capitalizing on the rise of political polarization and conspiracy theories have been populists willing to tailor their messages to appeal to extremist movements,” reads the section’s one non-redacted sentence.
In terms of declining living standards and inaccessible home ownership, the RCMP’s warnings are indeed in line with available statistics.
Canadian productivity — measured in terms of GDP per capita — has been trending downwards since at least the 1980s. But this has accelerated dramatically in recent years — even as per-worker productivity rises in many of our peer countries.
An analysis last year by University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe found that if Canada had merely kept pace with U.S. productivity growth for the last five years, Canadian per-capita earnings would be $5,500 higher than they are now.
Meanwhile, housing affordability has reached “worst-ever” levels in most of Canada’s major markets, according to a December analysis by RBC. On average, even condos are now so unaffordable that only 44.5 per cent of Canadian households had sufficient income to buy one at current prices. As for single-family homes, only the richest 25 per cent of Canadian households had any hope of obtaining one.
“Economic forecasts for the next five years and beyond are bleak,” reads the RCMP’s assessment of the rest of the decade, even adding a quote from French President Emmanuel Macron that “the end of abundance” is nigh.
We’ll have to thank the RCMP for drafting this nonsense in order to save us from Canadians that have become disillusioned with the government due to misinformation, conspiracy theories and paranoia. Basically, that would be describing myself. The Trudeau Liberals lost me in 2015. I feel as if my government is against me, my beliefs and way of life. I have to figure out why I feel this way, is it from misinformation, believing conspiracy theories or am I just paranoid? No, I’m pretty sure it’s because of Trudeau and his inability to govern this nation.
Secret RCMP report warns Canadians may revolt once they realize how broke they are
Something in which they the RCMP have been completely complicit with the liberal gov't. Pretty much an admission of guilt now that they are afraid the people may have had enough.
Or are they warning the gov't that they should get prepared to administer the War Measures Act once again to quell any protest measures in advance.
bushrat; Good evening to you sir, I hope the day went well for you on your side of the big hills and you're well tonight.
For sure that little communique that Hugh posted is troubling any way we want to slice it.
It is, in my view, time for us out west to restart the Alberta and British Columbia Provincial Police forces. They have a proud history, they did wonderful work in the past and wouldn't be tied as close to the hip of Ottawa as the RCMP have become.
Between reports such as this, their obstruction and subterfuge in helping Socks' minions take our firearms away - the Nova Scotia shooting comes immediately to mind and even how completely useless they are with things like the SNC Lavalin investigation, it's time to restructure how we do policing in Canada.
We shall keep on working towards that end for sure, both on the federal and provincial political levels.
Good article with numbers on the impact carbon tax will have on fuels of all types. Note that the Liberals keep pushing a fantasy that a carbon tax will change the environment in Canada which will in turn reap benefits. Canada somehow must have moved into a sealed bubble chamber for the impacts from the higher non complaint nations to affect us.
Grits’ defence of carbon tax divorced from reality Toronto Sun21 Mar 2024lgoldsteinpostmedia.com @sunlorrie
Correcting the Trudeau government’s political spin defending its carbon tax is like playing whack-amole.
You deal with one nonsensical claim and another pops up.
For example, the false impression the Liberals try to create that the carbon tax is mainly about the price of gasoline and home heating fuel.
In reality, the carbon tax increases the cost of 22 forms of fossil fuel energy.
That’s why it increases the cost of almost everything, because almost all goods and services are created using fossil fuels.
On April 1, the carbon tax increases by 23% to $80 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions, up from $65, followed by annual hikes of $15 every April 1 until 2030, when it will be $170 per tonne.
The carbon tax will increase the cost of gasoline by 3 cents a litre to 17.61 cents on April 1, rising to 37.43 cents in 2030.
The cost of natural gas will increase by 2.86 cents per cubic metre, to 15.25 cents, rising to 32.40 cents in 2030.
Here’s the added cost of the carbon tax on 20 other fuels on April 1, and in 2030:
The Liberals say 80% of households in the eight provinces paying the carbon tax (Quebec and British Columbia have separate systems) receive more in rebates than they pay in carbon taxes.
But Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux says that, when the negative economic impact of the carbon tax is factored in, 60% pay more than they receive in rebates, rising to 80% in Nova Scotia in 2025, in Ontario in 2026, in Manitoba in 2029 and in Alberta and Prince Edward Island in 2030.
Here are the PBO’S estimated annual net costs (after rebates) for average households paying the carbon tax as of April 1, and in 2030: Alberta $911, $2,773; Ontario $627, $1,820; Saskatchewan $525, $1,723; Manitoba $502, $1,490; Nova Scotia $537, $1,513; P.E.I. $550, $1,521; Newfoundland and Labrador $377, $1,316.
New Brunswick joined the federal system after these estimates were completed, and the carbon tax carve-out for households using home heating oil temporarily reduces their costs for three years.
The Trudeau government argues the PBO didn’t factor in the economic costs of climate change.
But claiming the carbon tax will result in financial savings due to less severe weather in Canada by 2030, when our emissions at 1.5% of the global total don’t materially impact climate change, as the PBO notes, is absurd.
The government says the carbon tax is revenue neutral.
It’s not.
The government keeps the GST imposed on top of the carbon tax and hasn’t rebated billions of dollars promised to small businesses.
LORRIE GOLDSTEIN
Article Name:Grits’ defence of carbon tax divorced from reality Publication:Toronto Sun Author:lgoldsteinpostmedia.com @sunlorrie Start Page:13 End Page:13
673; Morning my friend, I see your light is on and hope all is well with you all up north.
As you know I'm active on a BC Hunting forum too and on a carbon tax thread there, threw up a few thoughts this morning.
One poster Olympia, mentioned how the "gloom and doom" cult has been proselytizing now for a half century and by all measures now hold sway in many government and I'd say most secondary educational facilities.
I do not use the term proselytizing lightly or by accident. Many or perhaps most of the practitioners of climate theology have rejected the concept of a higher power, a Deity if you will and have elevated themselves to that position as they plainly believe they - man - has the solutions.
Also and this is important, the more enlightened people are more valuable than those "below" them.
It's a caste system by any other name.
Thus when they suggest that Canadian farmers need to emit less carbon but do not even mention what the plan for replacing lost food production might be, we must all understand that IF Canadian farmers produce less food, people somewhere are going to starve.
IF an imaginary UFO came by and vacuumed up all of Canada, we read that less than 2% of global emissions would disappear with us.
Based upon the latest numbers available, here's a quick overview of seed crops production alone.....
Wheat 2022 - Canada is #7 in the world, producing 34.3 million metric tonnes
Canola 2023 - Canada is #1 in the world, producing 20.3 million metric tonnes - 23% of the world's Canola....
Barley 2022 - Canada is #5 in the world, producing 9.98 million metric tonnes.
We can go on and I'd urge individuals to do that.
Further, we need to understand that our entire population including the big cities is about what there is in California.
We produce more food per capita than any other country above us, so our farmers and the Dutch are some of the most efficient on the entire planet.
But we're the problem and we'll need to cut those nasty emissions.........
The farmer revolts in Europe are partially about carbon emissions and mandatory cuts to fertilizer use, just like Guilbealt attempted here.
If implemented, it will mean less food grown. Full stop.
So somebody goes hungry and a few million will die.
Meanwhile as another poster Jim said, we can't get an ambulance when we're at the Massey Tunnel - saw that on the news yesterday night. Guy had a stroke and waited for 9 hours.
Next story was 87 year old chap in Victoria spent 8 or 9 days in a hallway in the hospital because they're running at 103%.
Also on the news, the true believers in some Lower Mainland centers still want to stop natural gas going into new buildings - lower those carbon emissions you know - despite the fact that there is currently not enough power - FOR TODAY - much less to have no natural gas and everyone plugging in their Nissan Leaf or Ford Lightning tonight.
We, collectively, are being run by religious zealots in my view. Nothing less makes any sense whatsoever.
The same zealots who guide how legacy media reports to us, which questions they ask, which slogans they repeat.
One need only notice how Global, CTV and CBC anchors will use the same or eerily similar phrasing and terms to make the antennae perk up.
Can it be repaired is the question and the short answer is yes and further it's our responsibility to do so.
We were handed a functioning society and it's our duty to pass a working system down to our children and grand children.
Anyways, that's where I'm at this morning gentlemen.
As always anyone is free to disagree with me and cast aspersion upon my thought process.
100% agree. The synagogue of Satan is my only explanation.
I believe Pete will make some things better, but much of what is happening will continue under Pete's watch, and until some of these people trip and fall, break their necks we will continue down the same path.
We will not pull out of this without God's intervention......God acting through people.
Good article in the Financial Post by Jack Mintz on Trudeau's legacy of making Canada a poorer nation that ties directly back to the carbon tax and other anti business developement policies.
My worry on coming out of the Trudeau socialist period is that not all provinces will be supportive on getting major projects moving forward once again in Canada.
If we are fortunate enough to get a new government it will be a difficult process re-writing policies, fighting the activist movement and the inertia of the federal civil service for the new government. Now add on top of that provinces like Quebec and BC where the provincial governments are clearly against resource development projects.
Having an expectation for a quick turn around of clearing up the Trudeau mess is very optomistic and in many ways unrealistic when a person considers the interest debt burden.
Here is the article
TRUDEAU'S LEGACY OF A POORER NATION, National Post (National Edition)22 Mar 2024
This is a weekend in which prime ministers past and present are likely to be considering their legacies. Justin Trudeau can look back at a number of important policy initiatives in his almost nine years in office. He has done plenty of popular redistribution — subsidizing child care, child benefits, dental care and a skeletal pharmacare program, all paid for by rising corporate and marginal personal tax rates and higher debt. He can also claim credit for recovery from the COVID recession, though he did it with over-the-top, inflationary deficits.
He imposed social justice and carbon policy criteria throughout the government, whether in trade agreements and academic research grants or approvals for resource projects. Even federal budgets now contain a (rarely read) gender analysis, concocted no doubt by glassy-eyed civil servants holed up in windowless rooms.
Despite these achievements, the prime minister doesn't seem ready to leave. Saying “I couldn't be the man that I am and abandon the fight at this moment,” he has made clear he still has work to do pushing for women's and LGBTQ rights and fighting climate change.
He's certainly right, there is more work to be done — but not the kind he's thinking of. Canada is falling behind economically and it's getting worse. Eighth among OECD countries in per capita GDP in 1974, we are 14th today. From 2015, when the Liberals were elected, to 2022 our GDP per capita fell from 78.6 per cent of U.S. levels to 72.8 per cent. Relative to the G7 average (the favourite comparison for a finance minister), it fell from 92 per cent in 2015 to 88 per cent in 2022.
As Trevor Tombe of the University of Calgary has shown, almost all of Canada is now poor by U.S. standards. British Columbia (average per capita income of $US57,000), Ontario (US$55,000) and Quebec ($US51,000) are at roughly the same level as West Virginia (US$54,000), South Carolina (US$56,000) and Alabama (US$55,000). Only Alberta (US$80,000) lies closer to the top — though it ranks only 14th among the 60 states and provinces. Saskatchewan (US$71,000) is second in Canada but 25th in North America.
If he does stay on, Justin Trudeau's eventual legacy may be to have made us poorer than the poorest U.S. state — Mississippi at US$47,000. Continuing with the same anti-growth framework of the past nine years will eventually achieve that. Expand the federal civil service by another 40 per cent so they can dream up even more inefficient programs while working from the comfort of home. Keep hiring by woke criteria rather than merit. Impose even more regulations and taxes to discourage entrepreneurship, investment and growth. Encourage more emigration of our talented and well-educated workers to countries offering now much higher after-tax incomes.
Some of our decline is the result of ideologically driven emissions reduction. An energy transition that shifts resources from our highest value-added sector — oilsands, where VA is almost $1,000 per production hour — to manufacturing and other sectors where it is less than a tenth that is obviously going to be very costly. But we don't have to deliberately make it even worse than it has to be, as we did by failing to provide European allies with multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas exports to replace Russian gas. After we bailed on Germany, she went to the U.S. and Qatar (not her longtime ally). And, yes, she did sign the memorandum of understanding we insisted on regarding Canadian hydrogen, which at best will play a minor role in her energy needs.
The prime minister is also pouring money into EV and renewables projects that will certainly enrich both foreign and domestic investors in these projects — so much for our concern about inequality — but are far from certain to result in viable production. At the same time, he is piling higher energy costs onto consumers and businesses with new clean fuel regulations, emissions caps and mandates for clean electricity and EV sales. These non-price interventions are contrary to his recently declared preference for the “cleaner ... market-based solution” that is the carbon tax. That tax is now in intensive care after he exempted heating oil to gain more political support in the Atlantic provinces.
The Trudeau government's lack of focus on economic growth will hurt Canada. Bloated, inflationary federal spending on a featherbedded civil service, combined with poorly designed subsidy programs, leave little money for critical federal responsibilities. We have downgraded our military, which hardly has a working tugboat or jet to its name. We haven't yet been kicked out of NATO for failing to live up to our commitments but we are no longer on speed dial with our U.S., U.K. and Australian allies, who are building next-generation nuclear submarines together. Immigration has become our de facto growth policy. Yet we don't have adequate housing or public services to support the large numbers coming here. And our health care is ailing, with long wait times, not enough doctors and nurses and emergency triage that needs to be fixed.
Whoever is prime minister in the next few years does have their work cut out for them, but not on more climate and woke rights policies. The challenge will be to reverse an economic slide that is seeing us lose investment and our best and brightest to the rest of the world.
KEEP HIRING BY WOKE CRITERIA RATHER THAN MERIT.
Article Name:TRUDEAU'S LEGACY OF A POORER NATION, Publication:National Post (National Edition) Start Page:FP7 End Page:FP7
I am waiting for some "journalist" to ask him how much CO2 has been reduced in the atmosphere by his carbon tax.
The answer, of course, is none - it is growing, and will continue to grow forever, as long as China and India stay on the path of industrialization - which neither will ever abandon, either for the welfare of their people or the welfare of their economy.
The "carbon tax" is just an excuse to raise taxes, with a goal to impoverish the average man and turn Canada into a socialist/welfare state where the elite have total power.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing -- Edmund Burke
The "carbon tax" is just an excuse to raise taxes, with a goal to impoverish the average man and turn Canada into a socialist/welfare state where the elite have total power.
I agree with your opinion HughW, that there will not be any quick solutions to the state in which Trudeau’s liberals have left this country in. If Pollievre should form the next government the true state of our national finances will be revealed and it will be crippling. We may never recover from this as an intact nation or even remain a G7 nation. That will be Trudeau’s legacy.
We’ll have to thank the RCMP for drafting this nonsense in order to save us from Canadians that have become disillusioned with the government due to misinformation, conspiracy theories and paranoia. Basically, that would be describing myself. The Trudeau Liberals lost me in 2015. I feel as if my government is against me, my beliefs and way of life. I have to figure out why I feel this way, is it from misinformation, believing conspiracy theories or am I just paranoid? No, I’m pretty sure it’s because of Trudeau and his inability to govern this nation.
On the surface, the concept of a carbon tax and carbon credits is stupid. Dig deeper and it is more than stupid; it is criminally stupid. One might argue that the intent is to raise the price of fuel to the point that people might take it upon themselves to alter their energy use habits. However, when the infrastructure of the entire nation is predicated on the availability and use of fossil fuels, the only result is the runaway inflation we are seeing. The thing is, the current system of supply and transportation has been built up over the last 75 years. At fifty years ago, it was already apparent that the model was not sustainable, but no one wanted to hear it. When asked about their plan to deal with climate change, the Conservatives need to first state that climate change, influenced by man or not, needs to be met with real world plans to minimize any negative effects on our country. They then need to state, what will not help are band-aid solution which exacerbate any negative impacts. They need to point out that the Liberal "plan" to combat climate change is not only ineffective but detrimental to the welfare of the citizens of the country. Never mind the catchy phrases and cheap politicking, we can handle some substance and we deserve it. GD
Paul; Good morning my friend, I hope you all had a great Easter weekend other than the gas prices etc.
Not that it makes you feel any better, but the fuel companies did that here too.
We're at $1.72.9/liter here in beautiful downtown OK Falls, but I see our daughter gets gouged anywhere from $2.01.9 to $2.05.9 at the coast.
Wonderful stuff really isn't it?
Also read through the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses this little report.
"Though the government promised to return 9% of revenues to small businesses through grants and rebates, less than 1% has actually been returned. The tax has undoubtedly contributed to the rising cost of doing business in Canada, and at great expense to small business owners."
It remains a mystery to me that so many in the legacy media remain incapable of connecting the dots where higher fuel costs necessarily result in higher transportation costs which in turn always have and always will mean we pay more as consumers.
Thought we'd kinda sorta covered that by say Grade 5.....
Because I live close, I fill up south of the border. I buy off-road diesel down there as well. If I get a rebate check, I will sign it over to Poillievre, with instructions that it is to be applied to the national debt when he gets elected. GD
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