Canadian Political Events

Interesting, I thought they had put in for September for unlimited budget power, but I guess that was just a proposal.  I'd be ok with September.  Or at least like 3 months, and then extend it if need be.

The powers they ended up with were very narrow And until June.  It’s all the Conservatives would agree to.  The Bloc was willing to go with all spending and taxing power until September.  Now the Conservatives are blaming the government for writing a narrow bill.  You can’t make it up.

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.

Interesting that a Hasidic Jewish community in Montreal is under quarantine.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/boisbriand-releases-plan-to-enforce-quarantine-among-tosh-community/

Does anyone know why Quebec's numbers are so high?

I thought maybe they're testing more but they seem to have the same criteria as ROC.

significant ties to New York and France; after Feb 28 as last school day, thousands of Quebec spring-breakers drove into the U.S. and flew to Europe/Caribbean on holiday

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.