[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Jacob]

I don't think he cashed in, but Pierre sold his memoirs as a book which sold very well in Canada at least.  I don't think Justin Trudeau is exceptionally wealthy... well-off sure, but I don't think so well-off that his grandkids well being would be as secure as his own.

I recall reading that he inherited a million or maybe three.  Definitely nice,  but not "never have to worry"  wealth as I recall it.

[Oexmelin]

Charles Trudeau, P.E.T.'s father, was a rich businessman, making a fortune building gas stations around Montreal in the 30s. He married into rich Scottish landowners and real estate speculators. So P.E.T was already wealthy when he became a lawyer.

[Malthus]

When he said "rich people like me" was he talking about the PM's salary?  I thought up to recently he's had a bunch of fucking around jobs.

His family is wealthy, and he inherited a nice little trust fund and a couple of properties.

There was a Globe editorial on the nanny business - basically taking BB's part. The thrust was that in Canada at least, it is the small things that get noticed - they mention a previous case of a minister buying absurdly expensive orange juice and charging it to the public account.

I don't think Trudeau has to worry, though, because we are still in the "honeymoon phase" so such things will be shrugged off by the public - for now. Wait until that wears off, and you will see more public annoyance at this sort of petty hypocrisy.

[Barrister]

I don't think he cashed in, but Pierre sold his memoirs as a book which sold very well in Canada at least.  I don't think Justin Trudeau is exceptionally wealthy... well-off sure, but I don't think so well-off that his grandkids well being would be as secure as his own.

I recall reading that he inherited a million or maybe three.  Definitely nice,  but not "never have to worry"  wealth as I recall it.

He's also been earning a few hundred thousand in speaking fees since entering politics.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/17/trudeaus-oopsie-on-speaking-fees

[Jacob]

He's also been earning a few hundred thousand in speaking fees since entering politics.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/17/trudeaus-oopsie-on-speaking-fees

Yeah, he's certainly not in a poor way.

[Barrister]

68% of Albertans are opposed to the carbon tax.  Only 22% in favour, while 10% are neutral.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/climate-change-plan-mainstreet-postmedia-poll-1.3353891

Like I said before I could get behind a "revenue neutral" carbon tax, but given how anti-tax the province is, and how the carbon tax is designed to be paid be everyone (and not just nebulous "the 1%" or "big corporation") this isn't a huge surprise.

Also gaining some traction, and several protests, are an NDP bill to include "farm workers" under WCB coverage.  Much talk that this will destroy the family farm.

[viper37]

Alberta should join Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba:
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-and-quebec-to-sign-cap-and-trade-deal-today-to-let-polluters-buy-credits-for-emissions
It's a much better plan than going alone with this.

[Barrister]

And here's some super-depressing news.  Suicides in Alberta are up 30% this year - almost certainly due to mass layoffs in the energy sector.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/suicide-rate-alberta-increase-layoffs-1.3353662

BY the way, I tend to link to CBC stories not because I think they're great, but because there's no paywall.

[Admiral Yi]

Like I said before I could get behind a "revenue neutral" carbon tax

How would a revenue neutral carbon tax work, and how would it reduce carbon emission?

[viper37]

Like I said before I could get behind a "revenue neutral" carbon tax

How would a revenue neutral carbon tax work, and how would it reduce carbon emission?

to achieve revenue neutral, it would mean reducing other taxes to compensate.
It hopes to reduce carbon emissions by tagging a price to carbon emmission, all of them, so products that requires more carbon emissions would cost more, pushing consumers toward lower price products.

[Barrister]

Like I said before I could get behind a "revenue neutral" carbon tax

How would a revenue neutral carbon tax work, and how would it reduce carbon emission?

It reduces other taxes by an equal amount to what the carbon tax increases.  So it still creates a price disincentive to CO2 generation, but doesn't increase the amount of money being taken from the overall economy by government.

[crazy canuck]

Like I said before I could get behind a "revenue neutral" carbon tax

How would a revenue neutral carbon tax work, and how would it reduce carbon emission?

If you want to see how it works use your googling skills to look at the BC approach.

[Barrister]

It turns out Syrians aren't so keen on coming to Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/syrian-refugees-not-keen-to-move-to-canada-immediately-ottawa-says/article27561756/

[Valmy]

Canada is finding that many Syrian refugees are reluctant to travel so far afield, a stumbling block as the country works to identify thousands of newcomers to bring here within a matter of months.

Ok there is so much bizarreness and hilarity in this that I do not even know where to begin.

It almost sounds like a comedy sketch.

[Jacob]

It turns out Syrians aren't so keen on coming to Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/syrian-refugees-not-keen-to-move-to-canada-immediately-ottawa-says/article27561756/

Interesting.