Author Topic: No llores por mí Alberta  (Read 34738 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Online wilber

  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9120
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #720 on: March 30, 2020, 10:27:21 pm »
Well no **** things have changed.  Things would have changed if we would have been running a $30B surplus too - it would have made little if any difference in this situation.

Yes they would have changed, you would have had hundred and twenty billion less in debt at the end of this year.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline Squidward von Squidderson

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 5630
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #721 on: April 01, 2020, 07:53:44 pm »
Interesting....  I hope some folks smarter than me will look at the system we have and improve on it....   a capitalist system, minus the things that make it less useful in a time like this.  I was listening on the radio that up to a third of businesses in some areas will go under because they are so heavily indebted.  People borrow so much money to start a business where the margins are so small that they take years or decades to get out of debt.

And some strike it rich.

Both those things need to be more balanced.  There shouldn’t be grossly rich people and there shouldn’t be a need to go into mass debt to try and make money.   And governments will need a lot more money to provide services so that when emergencies happen, people don’t just lose everything when they can’t make money for 1 or 2 months.


More evidence that having government own the utilities, like electrical power, is beneficial for society as a whole, rather than for-profit corporate ownership.

Alberta is going to allow for deferral of electrical bills...   sounds great, right?  Well...   you’ll still owe money to the electrical company, you just will be able to defer the costs until later.   That for-profit company is still going to be paid.

BC owns the electrical company and will be giving 3 months relief to many people and businesses.  These costs will be absorbed by taxpayers as a whole, to spread out the pain, so to speak.

I’m not going full Marxist here....   but clearly, there are benefits to government ownership of resources, utilities, etc.   Unfortunately, the last BC Liberal (conservative) government reversed some of these.  I think we are going to need to be going the other way again in a big way after this crisis.

Offline Queefer Sutherland

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10186
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #722 on: April 01, 2020, 10:24:46 pm »

More evidence that having government own the utilities, like electrical power, is beneficial for society as a whole, rather than for-profit corporate ownership.

Alberta is going to allow for deferral of electrical bills...   sounds great, right?  Well...   you’ll still owe money to the electrical company, you just will be able to defer the costs until later.   That for-profit company is still going to be paid.

BC owns the electrical company and will be giving 3 months relief to many people and businesses.  These costs will be absorbed by taxpayers as a whole, to spread out the pain, so to speak.

I’m not going full Marxist here....   but clearly, there are benefits to government ownership of resources, utilities, etc.   Unfortunately, the last BC Liberal (conservative) government reversed some of these.  I think we are going to need to be going the other way again in a big way after this crisis.

What's the difference in that and people not making rent/mortage or their car payments etc?

I think there's pros and cons and I don't totally disagree with what you say.  Also consider that in Ontario, the government screwed up the province's hydro system so bad that people will be paying out the nose for high rates for a long time.  As a result they're also producing a ton of extra electricity that isn't needed.  They also wasted billions on a canceled power plant due to corruption.

In cases now, if people don't pay the bills government can loan the hydro companies money or give people the money.
"Nipples is one of the great minds of our time!" - Bubbermiley

Offline waldo

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8713
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #723 on: May 26, 2020, 07:03:35 pm »
 ;D Alberta minister says it’s a ‘great time’ to build a pipeline because COVID-19 restrictions limit protests against them

on a podcast hosted by oil well drilling contractors association, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage:

Quote
Now is a great time to be building a pipeline because you can't have protests of more than 15 people. Let's get it built.



Online wilber

  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9120
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #724 on: May 26, 2020, 07:41:04 pm »
;D Alberta minister says it’s a ‘great time’ to build a pipeline because COVID-19 restrictions limit protests against them

on a podcast hosted by oil well drilling contractors association, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage:

She is probably right.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline Squidward von Squidderson

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 5630
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #725 on: May 26, 2020, 10:27:45 pm »
She is probably right.

Except the time to invest in oil is before the boom....  not during the bust.

Offline waldo

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8713
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #726 on: May 27, 2020, 11:30:42 am »
;D Alberta minister says it’s a ‘great time’ to build a pipeline because COVID-19 restrictions limit protests against them

on a podcast hosted by oil well drilling contractors association, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage:

of course party spokespersons are trying to clean-up in aisle 3... stating the minister was simply speaking plainly and truthfully - and of course the party-line that the Kenney UCP absolutely respects the rights of lawful protestors and their right to speak freely - of course!

then again, when you lose one of the most partisan ConMedia journalist out there, well... Savage earns scorn by crediting pandemic for preventing pipeline protests

Quote
Sometimes the job of an effective Alberta cabinet minister is to shut your mouth. Energy Minister Sonya Savage might keep that in mind.

Her severely stupid crack about COVID-19 limiting pipeline protests started life last Friday on an obscure industry podcast.

By Monday, it was an international story on the BBC website under the headline: “Trans Mountain pipeline: Protest ban is ‘great time’ to build, says minister.”

UK media like the BBC and The Guardian, which ran its own story Tuesday, are implacably hostile to the oilsands and Trans Mountain.

They focus like targeting lasers on the slightest slip or embarrassment. Both have major influence across Europe and the entire English-speaking world.

By Tuesday afternoon, the influential Daily Beast in the U.S. put up a story that began “She maybe shouldn’t have said this out loud.”

She’ll get sympathy in Alberta for the jobs comment, but to link COVID-19 to any kind of political or economic advantage is foolish, insensitive and, to my mind, ethically wrong.

The awful message people will hear from Alberta is, “Look at the bright side of the pandemic — smaller protests!”

Offline waldo

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8713
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #727 on: June 18, 2020, 11:51:49 am »
yes waldo, the carpet-bagging Alberta Premier Jason is just visiting => justVisitingJason!
.
.
=> a "Fair Deal Panel" (with an initial $650K budget) intended to, as stated, "focus on ways to strengthen Alberta’s economy, give it a bigger voice within Confederation or increase provincial power over institutions and funding within its jurisdiction". Intends to conduct 7 open houses across the province and submit a report to the Alberta government by Mar 31, 2020.
Alberta's Fair Deal Panel - fluid & dynamic: it appears some points for possible consideration in, "bettering Alberta's interests", are being passed to the media as implicit trial balloons... trying to gauge worthiness through public/media response. To today's date, a collective summary of actual identified points for panel consideration were a part of a Nov 9th letter from justVisitingJason to the {newly appointed} members of the panel; itemized points for consideration:

=> to replace the federal CRA with an Alberta revenue agency to collect provincial/federal taxes.

=> to replace the federal CPP with an Alberta Pension Plan administered by the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).

=> to replace the RCMP with a provincial police force.

=> to have direct & active participation in international treaty negotiations affecting Alberta’s interests.

=> unless prior approval is received from the Alberta government, to prevent municipalities from entering into agreements with the federal government.

=> to opt out of federal cost share programs.

=> to exchange tax points for federal cash transfers under Canada Health and Social Transfers.

=> to establish a provincial constitution.

so the pandemic delayed the report delivery a tad; but, of course, there was never any doubt what the panel would ultimately deliver. Notwithstanding actual recent polls of Albertans countering many of the recommendations of the so-called "Fair Deal Panel", the charade undertaking delivered the report, delivered what justVisitingJason/UCP wanted:

and right off the mark after the release of the report, Kenney has rushed to the forefront to continue to stoke the so-called, "rhetorical seeds of Alberta discontent... the separatist fires with the/a key driver Wexiteer's play on" - equalization... with Kenney promising a... uhhh... referendum for Albertans to vote on supporting the removal of Section 36 from the Constitution. Somehow, Kenney has failed to advise Albertans that it was Harper Conservatives who were responsible for the current equalization rules... that he, justVisitingJason, was a part of the Harper Cabinet that brought in today's current equalization rules - go figure!

as a part of the official Alberta UCP government response to the report, the related reference to the intended referendum:



again, a couple of doses of reality for Kenney and Albertans predisposed to the Kenney/UCP bullshyte:

=> Why Jason Kenney's proposed referendum is so puzzling --- Holding a constitutional referendum to end equalization wouldn't actually benefit Alberta. Here's how equalization actually works:

=> Why equalization is not unfair to Alberta

Offline waldo

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8713
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #728 on: September 19, 2020, 11:35:13 pm »
Seeking broader appeal, separatist Wexit Canada party changes its name to the Maverick Party --- Interim party leader Jay Hill says Wexit brand was tainted by past incidents... "tainted"!  ;D


Offline waldo

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8713
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #729 on: September 20, 2020, 12:02:13 am »


Kenney leading the charge to have "the feds" change the format/formula for the so-called stabilization funding... payments to provinces that suffer significant revenue hits.

Alberta: the province with a lower taxation rate than other provinces & NO sales tax!

Quote
Kenney says Alberta is owed $6.5 billion based on a proposal to remove the current $60 per person cap on stabilization payments as well as lowering the revenue reduction threshold to qualify to 3% from 5% for non-resource revenue and to 40% from 50% for resource revenue... changes that should be implemented retroactively to 2015.


Online wilber

  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9120
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #730 on: September 20, 2020, 09:21:39 am »
So what’s your point, if Alberta increased its tax rates and kept more money at home it would get more in federal spending instead of seeing that money go to other provinces?
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline waldo

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8713
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #731 on: September 20, 2020, 11:38:28 am »
So what’s your point, if Alberta increased its tax rates and kept more money at home it would get more in federal spending instead of seeing that money go to other provinces?

nice strawman! A part of, as you say, "my point"... was to once again reinforce the same ole' Kenney 'hat-in-hand' routine - a long-standing victimization ploy that relies upon, historically, Conservative Alberta governments refusing to tax Albertans to the same level as the rest of Canadian provinces.

your wedge-play strawman presumes upon one accepting an imbalance exists between federal spending & expenditures to Alberta/Albertans. Since you're positing an imbalance perhaps you should (finally) step-up and, per the 3 types of federal program spending, explicitly state where Alberta and/or persons in Alberta, is/are not receiving appropriate federal program spending, particularly in relation to other provinces. Of course the waldo anticipates your intellectual honesty in recognizing... and rationalizing... the existing degree of federal infrastructure and related support within the province of Alberta.

Online wilber

  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9120
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #732 on: September 20, 2020, 02:09:58 pm »
Don't know how  many times I have posted this waldo but it still hasn't sunk in.

https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/201701E

How Alberta taxes itself has absolutely no bearing on how much tax revenue it sends to Ottawa.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2020, 02:11:41 pm by wilber »
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline waldo

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8713
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #733 on: September 20, 2020, 02:24:58 pm »
member wilber! It's too soon in this go-around for you to make another of your 'silly-buggar' plays. Keep posting that link - it most certainly doesn't have anything to do with what I stated or you qualifying the presumed federal spending imbalance strawman you threw down!

clearly Alberta/Kenney could save continued embarrassment and recoup additional monies if Alberta companies and residents were taxed at rates similar to those in other provinces... notwithstanding that sales tax thingee! As you completely ignored the challenge, let the waldo re-quote:

your wedge-play strawman presumes upon one accepting an imbalance exists between federal spending & expenditures to Alberta/Albertans. Since you're positing an imbalance perhaps you should (finally) step-up and, per the 3 types of federal program spending, explicitly state where Alberta and/or persons in Alberta, is/are not receiving appropriate federal program spending, particularly in relation to other provinces. Of course the waldo anticipates your intellectual honesty in recognizing... and rationalizing... the existing degree of federal infrastructure and related support within the province of Alberta.

Online wilber

  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9120
Re: No llores por mí Alberta
« Reply #734 on: September 20, 2020, 02:29:58 pm »
member wilber! It's too soon in this go-around for you to make another of your 'silly-buggar' plays. Keep posting that link - it most certainly doesn't have anything to do with what I stated or you qualifying the presumed federal spending imbalance strawman you threw down!

clearly Alberta/Kenney could save continued embarrassment and recoup additional monies if Alberta companies and residents were taxed at rates similar to those in other provinces... notwithstanding that sales tax thingee! As you completely ignored the challenge, let the waldo re-quote:

What Albertans pay in provincial taxes has no bearing on how much tax revenue it sends to Ottawa. Alberta's deficits are its problem. How much revenue Albertans can send to Ottawa is the RoC's problem because they have been sending a lot more than they get back in federal spending.

You seem to take some sort of perverted glee in Alberta falling on hard times, completely ignoring the fact that if those high paying Alberta jobs disappear, so does a considerable portion of federal income tax, GST and other federal tax revenues.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC