Politics in 2018

[Underway]

I agree ... but he's not the only one.

My guess (valid until end of the afternoon, only) is that Trudeau wins a minority in 2019 and both Scheer and Singh resign.

I have no views on who the NDP should select ... someone who doesn't alienate Quebecers for a start, I suppose.

The Conservatives need, in my opinion, to go young, female, bilingual and media savvy ... and there really aren't any obvious candidates, yet. Maybe one of Bernier or O'Toole is their best choice if:

    1. Scheer still cannot connect with Canadians in 2018; and

    2. Trudeau doesn't really, massively screw the pooch.

With identity politics the main discussion at this point I'm pretty sure the Conservatives will 18 wheeler it.  Is that tires screeching I hear?
http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2017/05/29/lgbt-conservatives-not-worried-scheer-wont-attend-pride.html

Of course events ...

 

[FJAG]

I see our illustrious provincial leader is now taking on a Tim Horton's franchisee (in fact the original one) who has taken steps to even out her raise in the minimum wage by cutting back on benefits they had previously given their employees voluntarily.

Ontario premier calls Tim Hortons heir 'a bully' over wage actions
Kathleen Wynne reacts to CBC story uncovering compensation changes at franchise after minimum wage hike

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wynne-minimum-wage-1.4473156

Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?

I'm not sure if she's just naive or thick as a post. We're already the province with the leading debt and she just keep piling on the cost of living for all of us in just another shameless ploy to get herself and her miserable party reelected.

Unlike Wynne who simply raises taxes or debt when she wants more money, business owners must either raise prices or take a cut in profits to meet rising wages. I wonder how long it will take her to change legislation so that the benefits this employer offered voluntarily become mandatory under our employment standards legislation? My guess: before the next election.

If she really wants "a province where everyone can get ahead" then she should just resign and take her moron party with her. :2c:

:cheers:

 

[Remius]

I really do not want to see her or her party win.  But with all of these freebies she’s trying to Wynn the vote. 

Given that her current wage increase and free prescriptions affect mostly the younger demographic who traditionally have a lower voter turn out, I wonder if she’ll come up with something for the older demographic that might be feeling left out...

 

[FJAG]

I really do not want to see her or her party win.  But with all of these freebies she’s trying to Wynn the vote. 

Given that her current wage increase and free prescriptions affect mostly the younger demographic who traditionally have a lower voter turn out, I wonder if she’ll come up with something for the older demographic that might be feeling left out...

The key, as usual, is Toronto and area (plus Ottawa) where all her strength is centred and which usually tosses the election to the Liberals. I also expect the public service unions will come out hard for her again because they just get one freebie after another.

I fear that as long as she keeps doling out the cash, she'll be unstoppable because those constituents don't care what the future debt burden will be.

:cheers:

 

[Altair]

From what I hear, the free prescriptions are not covering much.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

I see our illustrious provincial leader is now taking on a Tim Horton's franchisee (in fact the original one) who has taken steps to even out her raise in the minimum wage by cutting back on benefits they had previously given their employees voluntarily.

Ontario premier calls Tim Hortons heir 'a bully' over wage actions
Kathleen Wynne reacts to CBC story uncovering compensation changes at franchise after minimum wage hike

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wynne-minimum-wage-1.4473156

Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?

I'm not sure if she's just naive or thick as a post. We're already the province with the leading debt and she just keep piling on the cost of living for all of us in just another shameless ploy to get herself and her miserable party reelected.

Unlike Wynne who simply raises taxes or debt when she wants more money, business owners must either raise prices or take a cut in profits to meet rising wages. I wonder how long it will take her to change legislation so that the benefits this employer offered voluntarily become mandatory under our employment standards legislation? My guess: before the next election.

If she really wants "a province where everyone can get ahead" then she should just resign and take her moron party with her. :2c:

:cheers:

Or we could all pay 10 cents more for a cup of truly crappy coffee.......seeing as the collective we voted to raise the minimum wage.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Or we could all pay 10 cents more for a cup of truly crappy coffee.......seeing as the collective we voted to raise the minimum wage.

Are you proposing a government department to control coffee pricing, too?

 

[FJAG]

Or we could all pay 10 cents more for a cup of truly crappy coffee.......seeing as the collective we voted to raise the minimum wage.

The "collective we" didn't vote for this. For those who voted Liberal, the Liberal platform in 2014 was to raise the minimum wage to $11.00 and then tie it to inflation.

http://strategycorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Ontario-Liberal-2014-Platform.pdf

Since the 2014 election the increases took it to $11.40 for 2017 and then jumped to $14.00 this January. That's a 22.8% increase and greatly exceeds the rate of inflation. It's an election ploy, plain and simple.

By the way they also pledged to balance the budget by 2017/18 but only did that through a one-time Hydro One asset sale worth CA$3 Billion. The picture is bleak for the future.

http://torontosun.com/2017/06/01/ontarios-budget-a-house-of-cards/wcm/3f3290f7-4cdc-4c4a-8621-d19974b94f9d

Agree with you as to quality of coffee - - but I truly love the apple fritters.

:cheers:

 

[mariomike]

From what I hear, the free prescriptions are not covering much.

I'm not a pharmacist, but this may help,

What medications are covered

OHIP+ completely covers the cost of more than 4,400 drug products that are currently available through the Ontario Drug Benefit program, including:
•antibiotics to treat infections
•inhalers for asthma
•various insulins, oral diabetic medications and diabetes test strips
•epinephrine auto-injectors (e.g. EPIPENs®)
•drugs to treat arthritis, epilepsy and other chronic conditions
•medications to treat mental health conditions (e.g. antidepressants)
•attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs
•drugs to treat some childhood cancers and other rare conditions

Check medication coverage
Find out if your medication is covered through the Ontario Drug Benefit program, including OHIP+.
Type a medication name, ingredient or DIN
https://www.ontario.ca/page/check-medication-coverage/

The key, as usual, is Toronto and area (plus Ottawa) where all her strength is centred and which usually tosses the election to the Liberals.

The provincial Legislature passed the City of Toronto Act in 2006 in a 58-20 vote, with Liberals and New Democrats supporting it and Progressive Conservatives opposing it.

Prior to 2006, the mayor had to go to Queen's Park to ask for permission to install a speed bump.

Voters remember the party that opposed it at election time. Those who do not remember are reminded.

Province of Toronto? Where's the door!? 

I also expect the public service unions will come out hard for her again because they just get one freebie after another.

Our union has always supported the politicians we believe will improve our lives and livelihoods.

I expect most people vote the same way.

"they just get one freebie after another" reminds me of the "I pay your salary" types we used to run into on jobs.

 

[Remius]

"they just get one freebie after another" reminds me of the "I pay your salary" types we used to run into on jobs.

Under any other government I might agree with you.  Wynne has bought the unions though this time around for the election.  Even the unions acknowledge it.  7.5% increase and no conditions.  That's a freebie.

 

[mariomike]

Wynne has bought the unions though this time around for the election. 

I retired nine years ago, but our union respected its members’ right to vote for whomever they chose.

Members were only asked to respect the union's right to endorse candidates, regardless of party, who demonstrated their support for our members and the emergency services.

After that, our union believed that every member had an absolute right to vote for the candidate that he or she feels best represented and embraced that individual’s views and political philosophy. No one, including our union, had a right to tell you how to vote.

 

[Remius]

I retired nine years ago, but our union respected its members’ right to vote for whomever they chose.

Members were only asked to respect the union's right to endorse candidates, regardless of party, who demonstrated their support for our members and the emergency services.

After that, our union believed that every member had an absolute right to vote for the candidate that he or she feels best represented and embraced that individual’s views and political philosophy. No one, including our union, had a right to tell you how to vote.

Ok, I'll rephrase.  She gave the unions a freebie in an attempt to buy their vote.  I'm not questioning how the membership chooses to vote or even if the unions tell its membership how to vote.  I am however stating that Wynne is handing out freebies to win votes. 

 

[Rifleman62]

I believe the term is extracting your money to purchase votes.

 

[ModlrMike]

Nothing more than class warfare. Do you think it's any accident that a Joyce owned franchise was singled out for condemnation?

 

[FJAG]

I retired nine years ago, but our union respected its members’ right to vote for whomever they chose.

Members were only asked to respect the union's right to endorse candidates, regardless of party, who demonstrated their support for our members and the emergency services.

After that, our union believed that every member had an absolute right to vote for the candidate that he or she feels best represented and embraced that individual’s views and political philosophy. No one, including our union, had a right to tell you how to vote.

That's only because the union can't go into the voting booth with you to supervise how you vote. Take a look, however, at the ad campaigns that nurses and teachers and others run at the time of the elections. They are massively against the Conservative Party and usually much more negative than the Liberals' own advertising.

:cheers:

 

[ballz]

Or we could all pay 10 cents more for a cup of truly crappy coffee.......seeing as the collective we voted to raise the minimum wage.

Oh, we will.... and a proportionate amount on every other thing we purchase.

On one hand, gov'ts tell consumers they have too much debt and not enough savings... on the other hand they continue to cause massive inflation to make their own soaring debt cheaper... those who have net savings lose the value of their savings in exchange. This minimum wage increase is really just a clever tax.

 

[Rifleman62]

really just a clever tax

Cue National Carbon Tax.

 

[mariomike]

Take a look, however, at the ad campaigns that nurses and teachers and others run at the time of the elections. They are massively against the Conservative Party and usually much more negative than the Liberals' own advertising.

This is shows what it took to get PTSD presumptive / cumulative legislation passed in 2016.
It won't help my generation, but it will help present and future members,

QUOTE

"When first responders seek a response, they don’t give up until the government gives in."
https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/02/18/how-firefighters-beat-politicians-at-their-own-game-cohn.html

On Thursday ( 2016 ), Queen’s Park will move forward on legislation recognizing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a “presumptive” hazard for firefighters and other first-responders (including police and paramedics).

The OPFFA’s ( Ontario Professional Firefighters Association ) campaign to win the hearts and minds of Liberal politicians turned heads in the 2007 election, when union members donned yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan, “Firefighters for McGuinty” — flanking the premier protectively at campaign stops.

Fanning out across the province, they served as photogenic backdrops at photo-ops — and helpfully blocked the shots of photographers when an anti-tax mascot dubbed “Fibber” stalked the premier. Again in the 2011 election, they deployed a yellow RV painted with a “Firefighters for McGuinty” banner, hitting more than 60 campaign stops and drowning out protesters when needed.

Belatedly, the opposition Progressive Conservatives and NDP are trying to crash the firefighters’ longstanding love affair with the Liberals.

END QUOTE

 

[FJAG]

Or we could all pay 10 cents more for a cup of truly crappy coffee . . .

Not to belabour the point but it seems the reason that franchisees are cutting benefits is because Tim Horton's parent organization, RBI, isn't allowing them to raise prices meaning that all the new labour costs have to either come out of the franchisee's profit margin or be on the backs of the employees one way or another.

The Great White North Franchisee Association, which says it speaks for a number of Canadian Tim Hortons franchise owners, has said it is facing a massive increase in labour costs and says it has cut costs because their parent company, RBI, has refused to raise prices.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tims-timhortons-minimumwage-wynne-liberals-ontario-1.4474836

:cheers:

 

[ModlrMike]

All this attention paid to Tim Hortons is a red herring. The real issue is that small business has been hit with a 20% increase in labour costs. That can only translate in to cost saving initiatives such as reducing benefits, reducing the number of employees or not hiring new employees as planned, cutting hours etc, etc. Many small businesses provide for a comfortable, but not lavish life for the owners. To characterize all small business owners as robber barons is the same tactic the federal Liberals used to paint doctors as thieves. A tactic that backfired the last time it was used, I should point out.