Originally Posted by Titan2
This is a great discussion but immediately fell into the trap of "We are going to reinvent the party from the ground up by throwing away all of our old views...except this one... and that one... and we need this one as well of course...and if we get rid of this one then the .001% of the population will be mad at us so we have to keep that..." and so on.
I would also suggest we eliminate coded or loaded terms like progressive, labour, etc., and basically any term that already has baggage. Powderjunkie's post made a great start on this. I am not sure the family budget is the best template, but it is a good place to start. We can chew gum and walk at the same time.
I like the suggestion of losing left/right and finding a new paradigm. Not sure vertical is the way to go as it implies top and bottom (hee hee) and we don't want people to view themselves as the bottom if we can avoid it. We can workshop that.
1. Sell as much O/G as we can for as long as we can. The idea of transitioning away from O/G by reducing its use is the same as a CEO saying his company is more profitable by cutting costs. It meets the short-term goal of rising stock prices and quarterly numbers, but does nothing to actually increase the company's efficacy, and in many cases, it actually cannibalizes it. Sell that #### before the MARKET determines it is no longer the best use case. (I think of it as show me a solar-powered airplane, then we can talk. O/G is far too entrenched in everything we make and use to just stop getting it.
2. Encourage ANY promising industry to mature and develop as much as we can. Solar is a great idea. Incentivize businesses and residents to install solar on every available surface in the country. I almost got solar installed on a zero-interest loan. I will do it if another program like this comes along. This increases the demand for panels, installers, all the other parts involved, the energy guys to do assessments. Obvious benefit at minimal cost, as the gov't gets the money back, maybe even just guaranteed loans to throw the banks a bone to run the program. Incentivize kids to go into these industries with favourable student loans and, maybe, I don't know, educate them about these opportunities instead of the useless #### school counsellors do now.
3. Support the vast majority of the country instead of the 1%. What makes life hard? Help with that. Daycare, hospital waits, Dr. availability. Incent Drs. to come here and not leave. Pay the #### out of them. Make our immigration system work better. Want to move here? Work in home construction (or whatever required industry for 3 years. Look at immigration as HR to be used to solve problems, and create markets, and not as a drain. Staff the immigration process on a 'for-profit' basis, so to speak.
4. Have a fair income tax code. Don't put the entire burden on the middle class. Make rich people pay their share, or at least a share. Eliminate the workarounds. Pay the CRA lawyers like real lawyers. You win? You get a cut of the winnings. Watch enforcement skyrocket and challenges plummet.
5. Pay teachers what they are worth, in view of what they are contributing to the overall economy over the next generation. Structure schools like they should be, not just lowest-common-denominator catchalls.
6. Teach kids the skills they will actually need. Proper long-term investing. Banking, budgeting, how to run a household, how to maintain a household. How to eat properly and why. How to go grocery shopping and prepare simple, healthy meals.
7. Incent students to go into the most in demand areas. We need welders? Welding school tuition is free, paid part by gov't, part by industry.
8. Disincentivize the #### out of unhealthy food. You want that twinkie? It will be 25% more and the money goes DIRECTLY into the health care budget. Have you seen the display in the grocery store? Or most of the food in the aisles of the grocery store? Why do we make it so easy for people to eat terribly?
9. No more general revenue bull####. If it is promised to go to something, it has to and must be proven to or automatic recall (maybe not that harsh but accountability) No more robbing pensions to pay for opex.
10. Make lobbying more transparent (No, PP, that is not what that word means!) Severely limit the ability of money to influence results. Go farther away from the US system, not towards it.
11. Make farming and rural living desirable. Has a city kid ever gone to become a farmer? We need those roles too. Treat them like the business people they are. Although there are no slave labour-type employment policies. Like WTF?
12. You invoke the NW clause, you have to have a general election within 6 months, AND that issue must be on the ballot. Or even just a binding referendum, and if you lose, the government falls. (Haha. I like this one. Just thought of it. If it is really necessary, they should be able to defend it in an election.
Remind the politicians they are there to represent EVERYBODY in their riding and make them catch hell if they don't. We should understand that the proper incentives do encourage the sought-after behaviour. Put that to use.
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