Canadian Federal Politics Thread v5

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by peter12

$1.3M is chump change.

This still sounds crazy, but it is true, 1.3M ain't what it used to be.

[Azure]

When do the Canadian inflation numbers drop?

US numbers for November are really encouraging.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by peter12

$1.3M is chump change.

It’s less about the value and more about what it represents symbolically. The let them eat cake story kinda thing. The indifference and entitlement and expectations and not even considering the spend is why it is a story.

Politicians should be paid way more so that we can attract way better candidates.

Lastly, every $1.3mm wasted adds up. If they want to just throw it away, can I have it? Does money even matter to any of these people or is the government just a blank cheque to go draw from and do whatever the #### you want?

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Azure

When do the Canadian inflation numbers drop?

US numbers for November are really encouraging.

Next week - December 21

Their big decreased rate is still higher than our October rate (7.1% for them vs 6.9% in October for Canada) - so will be interesting to see what happens.

Fuel has been on a big decline for the past month and getting close to pre-Ukraine invasion rates of late here.

[Yoho]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1602736990512115712

Why not blame Mulroney?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Next week - December 21

Their big decreased rate is still higher than our October rate (7.1% for them vs 6.9% in October for Canada) - so will be interesting to see what happens.

Fuel has been on a big decline for the past month and getting close to pre-Ukraine invasion rates of late here.

Yeah, overall the numbers are still brutal, and with the expected continuation of price increases on food in Canada, we are still kinda screwed.

Should raise the interest rates another few basis points. That'll make food prices go down!

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Next week - December 21

Their big decreased rate is still higher than our October rate (7.1% for them vs 6.9% in October for Canada) - so will be interesting to see what happens.

Fuel has been on a big decline for the past month and getting close to pre-Ukraine invasion rates of late here.

Canada's year-over-year number will almost definitely remain at roughly the same level (or even go up) in November and December. Unlike the US, our November and December 2021 inflation numbers were quite low (it was actually negative in December), so even with good month-over-month numbers, the annual number won't really drop like it did in the US.

Just to illustrate, if we have 0.2% inflation every month going forward (which is about 2.5% annualized), we'd have the following annual rates:

November 2022: 6.9%
December 2022: 7.2%

January 2023: 6.5%
February 2023: 5.6%
March 2023: 4.3%
April 2023: 3.9%
May 2023: 2.7%
June 2023: 2.2%
July 2023: 1.9%

Effectively, we have high YoY numbers baked in until early 2022.

So what I expect to happen is, the Canadian month-over-month numbers will be pretty good, but the annual number will remain high because virtually all of our current elevated inflation is because of January-June 2022 and the YoY number won't drop until those months start falling out of the data. Then people who don't understand how inflation is calculated (and those that do understand but have an axe to grind) will freak out and talk like the sky is falling.

[Azure]

It doesn't matter whether or not people understand how inflation works, if food prices continue to go up like this it means people are gonna hurt even more.

After a year that saw food prices climb by numbers not seen in decades due to record inflation, the cost of groceries in Canada is expected to continue rising in 2023, a new report suggests.

The latest Canada Food Price Report released Monday estimates food prices will increase by another five to seven per cent on average next year, adding hundreds of dollars to the average family’s annual expenses.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9321958/c...e-report-2023/

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

It’s less about the value and more about what it represents symbolically. The let them eat cake story kinda thing. The indifference and entitlement and expectations and not even considering the spend is why it is a story.

Politicians should be paid way more so that we can attract way better candidates.

Lastly, every $1.3mm wasted adds up. If they want to just throw it away, can I have it? Does money even matter to any of these people or is the government just a blank cheque to go draw from and do whatever the #### you want?

I don't think the best and brightest avoid politics because of the money. The pensions alone are very lucrative. It's a largely a despised profession that brings with it a high level of media scrutiny and toxic levels of partisanship. I could argue that upping the salaries would bring forth more greedy, power hungry people into politics for the wrong reasons.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Azure

It doesn't matter whether or not people understand how inflation works, if food prices continue to go up like this it means people are gonna hurt even more.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9321958/c...e-report-2023/

Man, having cooking as a main hobby sure sucks these days. Basically killed it. Getting f'ing depressing when I have to pass on things I enjoy so much.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't think the best and brightest avoid politics because of the money. The pensions alone are very lucrative. It's a largely a despised profession that brings with it a high level of media scrutiny and toxic levels of partisanship. I could argue that upping the salaries would bring forth more greedy, power hungry people into politics for the wrong reasons.

Are they?
People say this all the time.
They say things like "They did one term and get a lifetime pension", but it's not true.
Yes MPs, and MLAs get a pretty good pension, but it's not like it's some massive payout the day they leave office.

1) The have to serve 6 years to get the full pension
2) they can't start taking it until they are 55 (at a reduced rate), or 65 for the full pension.

It's good, but it's not some golden goose that you can serve one term and walk away set for life.
DB pensions aren't all that common anymore, and this is a pretty good one, but it's not outrageous.

Average pension payout as of 2019 (way down in the link below) is a little less than $70k/year.

Not bad, for sure, but not lucrative. And the average age is 74 years, so it's not like there are a bunch of single term 40 year olds collecting anything (cause they wouldn't be eligible anyway)

https://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/eng/oca-...MP19.aspx#appA

The whole pension thing is something people always throw around, but I'd be willing to bet almost no one actually looks it up.

[Erick Estrada]

Six years to get a full pension? Where do I sign up? You won't get that in the private sector. Unless you are making seven figures annually that's a great pension for a short 6 year portion of your career.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Six years to get a full pension? Where do I sign up? You won't get that in the private sector. Unless you are making seven figures annually that's a great pension for a short 6 year portion of your career.

What do you mean? You know where to sign up.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

What do you mean? You know where to sign up.

Yeah but I'm too smart to go into politics. Seriously though I'm not cut for that line of work. I'm too honest. It's why I would make a bad salesman.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Six years to get a full pension? Where do I sign up? You won't get that in the private sector. Unless you are making seven figures annually that's a great pension for a short 6 year portion of your career.

Yeah, again, you didn't really look at it, or try to even understand it did you?

Yeah, 6 years and you're eligible for a "Full" pension, but how much you get is based on years of service and salary.
Kind of like every other pension.

You don't get $70k for serving 6 years.

Someone who serves 6 years, is getting a wildly different payout than someone who serves for say 20 years...like every pension.

Jesus, this is why the pension thing is so annoying.

Typical person: MPs get giant pensions for life!

Someone who actually took the time to look at it: They get a good pension, to be sure, but it's not wildly different than any other DB pension.

Typical person: They Get a full pension after 6 years! That's crazy!

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yeah but I'm too smart to go into politics. Seriously though I'm not cut for that line of work. I'm too honest. It's why I would make a bad salesman.

Based on your understanding of how pension payouts work.....

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Yeah, 6 years and you're eligible for a "Full" pension, but how much you get is based on years of service and salary.
Kind of like every other pension.

You don't get $70k for serving 6 years.

Someone who serves 6 years, is getting a wildly different payout than someone who serves for say 20 years...like every pension.

Jesus, this is why the pension thing is so annoying.

Typical person: MPs get giant pensions for life!

Someone who actually took the time to look at it: They get a good pension, to be sure, but it's not wildly different than any other DB pension.

Typical person: They Get a full pension after 6 years! That's crazy!

It's kind of annoying how you are focussing on a small part of my original post that didn't really have anything to do with smart people not moving into politics. I see I hit a nerve as this pension talk is dear to you but you are kind of taking the discussion in a totally different direction.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It's kind of annoying how you are focussing on a small part of my original post that didn't really have anything to do with smart people not moving into politics. I see I hit a nerve as this pension talk is dear to you but you are kind of taking the discussion in a totally different direction.

I don't really have a dog in the rest of the discussion.

I just pointed it out because for a lot of people it's a big bone of contention when it comes to what politicians make/the benefits they get.
A bone of contention, that almost everyone misunderstands, almost no one looks into, but almost everyone just repeats verbatim because it sounds good.

I just think its annoying because it's something people throw out all the time, when a simple google search is all it takes to actually find out if it's true.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by MBates

I am not saying you have said it can be done or that you have been defending the legislation, but I am interested in your view. If nobody in government can explain why guns were added to the ban list as late amendments and now even some Liberal back benchers are decrying the banning of some hunting rifles and shotguns (in spite of the government claim that is not happening) do you agree the law could end up being seen as a 'silly' law and lead to major non-compliance from current gun owners who have previously followed the existing laws religiously?

I missed this post earlier in this thread but you raised some very good points, I think where our difference of opinion stems from probably has more to do with how we each define major non-compliance.

I agree it could definitely lead to non-compliance, I’m just not sure I would say it will lead to major non-compliance though. That would really depend on a number of factors including how many people actually own the style of guns in question, the penalties for non-compliance and how strictly these laws will be enforced.

With that being said I’m also not sure that the cases of non-compliance would have a substantially detrimental effect on Canadians overall because I don’t imagine there will be widespread open defiance and IMO we’re more likely to see those in defiance try and keep their guns hidden rather than risk being caught with them on a hunting trip, but that’s obviously debatable.

To be clear I’m not saying the inclusion of some guns in the new law makes sense or that people shouldn’t be frustrated by it, personally I guess I just feel that there are more pressing issues that the government should be addressing and more than anything I’m disappointed that the uproar over this type of legislation on the part of politicians and media draws peoples attention away from those more pressing issues. That isn’t to say that it’s fair for otherwise law abiding Canadian gun owners caught in the middle to have to deal with this or that some of their concerns aren’t valid, I just think the same can be said about a number of things our governments have done or are trying to do that are more detrimental to a greater number of Canadians overall.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Azure

It doesn't matter whether or not people understand how inflation works, if food prices continue to go up like this it means people are gonna hurt even more.



https://globalnews.ca/news/9321958/c...e-report-2023/

I wouldn't be so mad if corporations were not raking in record profits.
Food prices as much to do with greed as inflation, in my opinion.