Alberta PC's way out front

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by darklord700

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/i.../oas/oas.shtml

"A partial pension is calculated at the rate of 1/40th of the full pension for each complete year of residence in Canada since age 18.

The minimum period you need to qualify for a partial pension is 10 years of residence in Canada after reaching age 18 (as long as you live in Canada when you receive your OAS pension). In other words, if you lived in Canada for 10 years after your 18th birthday, you may qualify to receive 10/40ths or one-quarter of the full Old Age Security pension."


The problem is while your OAS could be pro-rated but what you lose in the pro-rated OAS, you make up by getting more GIS so I don't know what's the point of this pro-ration. Assuming you have zero income, you still get about $1K OAS + GIS as long as you lived here for more than 10 years.

I didn't realize that OAS was linked to residence (and, indirectly, contribution) this way.

I suppose the Charter isn't infringed (or is justifiably infringed) because it links benefits to residence for all Canadians rather than just those born outside of Canada. In my own defence, I thought that you were proposing that OAS would never be available to an elderly immigrant, whereas the program seems to make partial pension available right away, and full pension available to anyone after 10 years of residence.

In any event, I still stand corrected. Thanks.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by darklord700

Maybe $2M is a bit extreme. How about a $750K RRSP? I would do exactly that. At 65, your house and kids are paid off and you don't save for retirement so $40 K should be enough for a lot of senior couples to live on. The median family income is only $50K before tax which is less than $40K net of tax.

If you do need an extra $20K, borrow it from the bank at this interest rate the interest will be less than $1000 per year, far less than the $24K OAS and GIS benefits you are entitled to.

This sounds pretty solid....except that GIS is for low income seniors only, which for 2012 means less than $16,038. If any of my clients have $750k in an RRSP and want to "beat the system" by trying to get OAS and GIS (you can't get one without the other), I'd cheerfully explain why they've saved money for the past 40 years. $16k a year is nothing to live on by itself.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Slava

A new poll in the Herald today breaks down as follows:

PCs: 53%
Wildrose: 16%
NDP: 13%
Liberals: 11%
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/al...622/story.html

Another new poll. Taken about a week after ^^^ that one.

(frick there are going to be a ton of these done as we lead up to election.)

PCs: 46%
Wildrose: 24%
NDP: 14%
Liberals: 12%
Alberta Party 4%

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...-poll-cbc.html

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well only one poll matters, but its an interesting switch in just about a years time. The Wildrose is basically battling for official opposition with the NDP and perhaps the Liberals at this point. A year ago it was more a question of whether they could win the whole thing.

If the PC's had 53% of the vote, depending on distribution, they could be north of 75 seats though? That would be astounding. It would also probably increase by one when Danielle Smith crosses over.

Instantly thought of you when I saw this today.



Link

[SebC]

^ And that is why we need proportional representation.

[Fire]

I was hoping for WRA to make bigger inroads in this upcoming election to set themselves up for a victory in the following election.

The PCs are acting too much like Liberals for my liking.

[Slava]

Well my comment about 75 seats was with them getting 53% as per the other poll. I think 308 had them at 82 (!) seats when they reviewed that.

The Liberals released their platform today, and it should provide a lot of differentiation between them and the PCs. A return to progressive taxation, beginning at $100k and above being one of the major highlights.

[Jacks]

I really think the campaign could make a huge difference in this election. Most people I know couldn't care less, they are okay with the status quo. If one of the parties can find an issue that gets the attention of the electorate then the PC's could lose a lot of seats. If the PC's are dumb enough to start musing about a sales tax again that could be a game changer.

These polls don't mean much, I bet that 50% of the people don't even know an election is coming yet.

[4X4]

As of today, my vote is going to the Liberals. Thanks to the Wildrose's attack ad on QR, I've found out that the PCs want to raise taxes on beer, so I'm not voting for them. And since I hate attack ads, I'm not voting for the Wildrose. So that leaves me with the conservative in liberal clothing, Raj Sherman.
Also, I once heard him interviewed by Rutherford, and he's a pretty smart guy. (I'm being serious now) He's actually a doctor, and he knows the real situation with our health care system. I'd like to see what he can do to get things in order in health care.

[Slava]

I agree, but at the same time the opposition parties have a hard uphill battle. Things are pretty good! The economy is good, unemployment is a non-factor and the budget for the province isn't terrible either.

The biggest areas of concern for provinces (health and education) are hard to campaign on. I get the impression that even if a party had "the" solutions to health care for example, voters wouldn't believe it. Its not apathy though, its just that people realise its so complex that they don't think there is an easy fix.

That makes it hard to campaign against the status quo I think.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by 4X4

As of today, my vote is going to the Liberals. Thanks to the Wildrose's attack ad on QR, I've found out that the PCs want to raise taxes on beer, so I'm not voting for them. And since I hate attack ads, I'm not voting for the Wildrose. So that leaves me with the conservative in liberal clothing, Raj Sherman.
Also, I once heard him interviewed by Rutherford, and he's a pretty smart guy. (I'm being serious now) He's actually a doctor, and he knows the real situation with our health care system. I'd like to see what he can do to get things in order in health care.

Are you fataing serious?! Never thought I'd see the day!

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Slava

I agree, but at the same time the opposition parties have a hard uphill battle. Things are pretty good! The economy is good, unemployment is a non-factor and the budget for the province isn't terrible either.

The biggest areas of concern for provinces (health and education) are hard to campaign on. I get the impression that even if a party had "the" solutions to health care for example, voters wouldn't believe it. Its not apathy though, its just that people realise its so complex that they don't think there is an easy fix.

That makes it hard to campaign against the status quo I think.

I have to admit that I was happy with the status quo up until the last year or so. I personally never have to use the health system, but in the recent past, people close to me have had to use it - a lot. And it needs work. It's kind of hard to criticize something that's "free", but we're talking about people I care about. And now I have a baby girl that I'd lose my mind if there was any kind of hiccup in caring for her, should she need it.

Basically, I suddenly care about health care a helluva lot more than I did when I was single and invincible. And there has got to be more and more people like me that suddenly care for one reason or another. The PCs cannot continue to do nothing about it. This has been an issue for as long as I can remember. It's news every other week in some area of the province.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Slava

I agree, but at the same time the opposition parties have a hard uphill battle. Things are pretty good! The economy is good, unemployment is a non-factor and the budget for the province isn't terrible either.

I agree with all but the budget. Most people still remember the fight to eliminate the deficit. If the opposition can frame the PC's as poor fiscal managers who are letting us creep back into debt they might chip away enough support to keep it a minority. I doubt the PC's will lose government but anything less than a majority would have to be seen as a major failure.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Slava

This sounds pretty solid....except that GIS is for low income seniors only, which for 2012 means less than $16,038. If any of my clients have $750k in an RRSP and want to "beat the system" by trying to get OAS and GIS (you can't get one without the other), I'd cheerfully explain why they've saved money for the past 40 years. $16k a year is nothing to live on by itself.

BTW, for those interested, the current issue of MoneySense discusses GIS and best ways of "gaming" the system.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by 4X4

As of today, my vote is going to the Liberals. Thanks to the Wildrose's attack ad on QR, I've found out that the PCs want to raise taxes on beer, so I'm not voting for them. And since I hate attack ads, I'm not voting for the Wildrose. So that leaves me with the conservative in liberal clothing, Raj Sherman.

Also, I once heard him interviewed by Rutherford, and he's a pretty smart guy. (I'm being serious now) He's actually a doctor, and he knows the real situation with our health care system. I'd like to see what he can do to get things in order in health care.

Have you seen the Liberal's platform? It'd totally nuts.

http://www.stalbertgazette.com/artic...ction-platform

Highlights:

- Eliminate tuition by 2025.
- Corporate tax goes from 10% to 12%.
- Taxes go up 3% for income $100K-150K, 5% 150-200, 7% >200.

Sorry, but free tuition? If you don't value your education enough to pay for it, why should the taxpayer?

Raj has a lot of credibility on healthcare, but the rest of the platform reads like an NDP wishlist.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by SebC

Have you seen the Liberal's platform? It'd totally nuts.

http://www.stalbertgazette.com/artic...ction-platform

Highlights:

- Eliminate tuition by 2025.
- Corporate tax goes from 10% to 12%.
- Taxes go up 3% for income $100K-150K, 5% 150-200, 7% >200.

Sorry, but free tuition? If you don't value your education enough to pay for it, why should the taxpayer?

Raj has a lot of credibility on healthcare, but the rest of the platform reads like an NDP wishlist.

That, or perhaps the Liberals are ahead of the game here? The services people want from their government cost money so at some point either revenue increases or services get cut. At least there's nothing hidden here.

The other thing to note is that the Liberals can say almost anything here. They're not fielding enough candidates for a majority. I wonder if this platform doesn't make a lot of sense given that consideration. It would be pretty easy to paint a pie-in-the-sky picture with tons of money and say we can fix everything. Instead this is a pragmatic approach where they bring some ideas forward and pull no punches with how they would fund them.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Slava

That, or perhaps the Liberals are ahead of the game here? The services people want from their government cost money so at some point either revenue increases or services get cut. At least there's nothing hidden here.

Well, to me the problems Alberta is having with its budget stem from cutting when things go down, then trying to catch up when everything's expensive (anti-Keynesian spending going back to the the Klein days, mayber further). Then add stuff like Redford cutting a deal with a special interest group (teachers). There are efficiencies that can be realized in healthcare (let's focus on quality of life, not quantity). The federal government is already going to give us an extra billion with the new funding formula.

The education thing is different. It may be that the government gets a good ROI on a 100% education subsidy. But if the students are getting value out of their educations they should be willing to contribute for that. We can facilitate that through loans.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by SebC

Have you seen the Liberal's platform? It'd totally nuts.

http://www.stalbertgazette.com/artic...ction-platform

Highlights:

- Eliminate tuition by 2025.
- Corporate tax goes from 10% to 12%.
- Taxes go up 3% for income $100K-150K, 5% 150-200, 7% >200.

Sorry, but free tuition? If you don't value your education enough to pay for it, why should the taxpayer?

Raj has a lot of credibility on healthcare, but the rest of the platform reads like an NDP wishlist.

I don't agree with free tuition (although would certainly support a return to ~1990 level tuition), but I don't have a problem with the rest of it. And yes, my taxes would be going up in this regime.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by SebC

Well, to me the problems Alberta is having with its budget stem from cutting when things go down, then trying to catch up when everything's expensive (anti-Keynesian spending going back to the the Klein days, mayber further). Then add stuff like Redford cutting a deal with a special interest group (teachers). There are efficiencies that can be realized in healthcare (let's focus on quality of life, not quantity). The federal government is already going to give us an extra billion with the new funding formula.

The education thing is different. It may be that the government gets a good ROI on a 100% education subsidy. But if the students are getting value out of their educations they should be willing to contribute for that. We can facilitate that through loans.

I somewhat agree on the fiscal policy (I'm more Keynesian if I were to pigeonhole myself). I listened to Redford today and its hard to disagree with her on this though. Taking higher education out of it, for public education and healthcare we both need and expect a level of service. Eventually we have to have a discussion about how to fund these things.

As for healthcare I think I could fix that. Its just that the College of Physicians would hate me for it and I'm not sure the nurses union would be too fond either. Thats a whole other discussion though!

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by SebC

- Eliminate tuition by 2025.

Only free tuition? I was expecting free beer and online coed dating services for 4 years from the Grits. If you sincerely want to do something, do it now. The Grits might not even be here in 2025 thought.