In the upcoming federal election how would you be likely to vote?

[David Gordon]

Re: The TPP is aimed to harm China and harm to Canadian sovereignty is another "benef

What a load of nonsense

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: In the upcoming federal election how would you be likely to vote?

Whatever the case may be, it would be nice if the price of the basic necessities of life (or for most other things) went down for just once in living memory.

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: In the upcoming federal election how would you be likely to vote?

Whatever the case may be, it would be nice if the price of the basic necessities of life (or for most other things) went down for just once in living memory.

Oh no, deflation is bad you see. Why? Because of debt. You probably don't have any debt, and neither do I. That makes us weird.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/econo...ist-explains-4

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: In the upcoming federal election how would you be likely to vote?

No personal debt for me, so yes besides being a chessplayer I'm weird by that measure alone.

We've got Trudeau the father to thank for a large share of the national debt. I'm sticking with my New's Year's prediction that the son will get a majority government. Then he'll proceed down a path towards finishing the father's work of ruining Canada.


[edit: Btw, for those who don't pay attention (most Liberal voters!?), Ontario's debt in hundreds of billions of dollars stands at about the same as Greece's or California's.]

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Re: The TPP is aimed to harm China and harm to Canadian sovereignty is another "benef

um policyalternatives.ca?

find a real think tank.
Thanks.

Like the foreign funded (Koch brothers et al) Fraser Institute? lol.

[William Li]

Re: Now, if only some others felt the same way...

Ndp mate!!

[Pierre Denommee]

Re: The TPP is aimed to harm China and harm to Canadian sovereignty is another "benef

um policyalternatives.ca?

I have never visited this site. There is a ton a legitimate sites that demolish the ridiculous TPP. Even a Nobel price in finance is against the deal. The TPP will increase the revenue of 10% of the population and make 90% of the workers in the US poorer. Why do you think Hilary Clinton is against the TPP?

Do you really want to free trade with a country where salary is 60 cents per hours? If I ever write a free trade agreement, I would include a provision that if a Canadian corporation move to another country and closes in Canada, we can impose tariff at a punitive rate for lack of loyalty to Canada.

The Lord said, “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." This is what I believe of PTT, if it was good for the people, it would not have been negotiated covertly. The conservative would like us to vote on a secret deal whose final text is not even available.

Despite their effort at secrecy, parts of the TPP has been leaked. It is a pure bullshit that places corporations above Nations with his investor dispute settlement provision.

Voting NDP will preserve us from the danger.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: The TPP is aimed to harm China and harm to Canadian sovereignty is another "benef

I have never visited this site. There is a ton a legitimate sites that demolish the ridiculous TPP. Even a Nobel price in finance is against the deal. The TPP will increase the revenue of 10% of the population and make 90% of the workers in the US poorer. Why do you think Hilary Clinton is against the TPP?

Most likely because she sees a temporary political advantage by pandering to her base.

Do you really want to free trade with a country where salary is 60 cents per hours?

Probably I would if everything I learned about economics continues to make sense.

If I ever write a free trade agreement, I would include a provision that if a Canadian corporation move to another country and closes in Canada, we can impose tariff at a punitive rate for lack of loyalty to Canada.

That would obviously not be free trade then. Corporations are only loyal to themselves in practice and perhaps should be loyal to their shareholders in theory.

The Lord said, “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." This is what I believe of PTT, if it was good for the people, it would not have been negotiated covertly. The conservative would like us to vote on a secret deal whose final text is not even available.

Most deals that require negotiations are secret until the ink dries.

Despite their effort at secrecy, parts of the TPP has been leaked. It is a pure bullshit that places corporations above Nations with his investor dispute settlement provision.

Voting NDP will preserve us from the danger.

Do you not think the Lord would find some NDP doctrines and policies more objectionable than TPP?

The sky is always falling. My prediction is that whoever forms the next government, the TPP will survive.

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Michael Geist: The TPP is a danger to privacy in Canada.

Michael Geist has absolutely eviscerated the TPP from the point of view of privacy for Canadians. This, despite the odious and evil secrecy surrounding the corporate rights deal. True, some people say idiotic things like "But I have nothing to hide! What do I care about privacy?" etc.

How the TPP Puts Canadian Privacy at Risk

These are the same people who have nothing to say about restrictions on free speech. But that means they have nothing to say that would interest anyone else. lol.

Interestingly, the Harper regime tried to suck NDP leader Mulcair (and Lib leader Trudeau as well i think) into a Privy Council "briefing" about the TPP just days before the election. "No thanks," said Mulcair. Good on him.

One of the most troubling, but largely ignored effects of the TPP involves privacy. Privacy is not an issue most associate with a trade agreement, however, the TPP features several anti-privacy measures that would restrict the ability of governments to establish safeguards over sensitive information such as financial and health data as well as information hosted by social media services.

Two provisions are the source of privacy concern. First, according to the Canadian government’s summary of the agreement, the agreement “prevents governments in TPP countries from requiring the use of local servers for data storage.”

The restriction against local data storage – often called data localization – originates from Silicon Valley tech company frustration with a growing number of governments that want local data to remain within their jurisdiction. The reason for data localization requirements typically stem from mounting concerns over U.S. surveillance activities and the power granted to U.S. law enforcement under laws such as the USA Patriot Act.

The combined effect of these U.S. laws is that many users fear that once their information is stored in the U.S., it will be accessible to U.S. authorities without suitable privacy protections or oversight. Since U.S. law provides less privacy protection to foreigners, there is indeed limited legal recourse for Canadian data held in the U.S.

In response to these concerns, provinces such as British Columbia and Nova Scotia have enacted laws to keep government information (such as health data) within the country. The TPP is designed to counter these efforts by restricting the ability of governments to mandate local data storage.

ETA: a Canadian, crossing the border at Windsor or some such place, was prevented from entering the USA because she once sought medical treatment for depression. The US Border Authorities had access to her medical information, ignoring Canadian privacy laws, and simply rejected her, treating her as a "risk" to herself or others. These are police state tactics, pure and simple, using the lack of privacy to bully the citizens into submission and silence.

In addition to the lack of privacy above, there is also this: " the TPP actually features provisions that might expand the ability of Internet providers to block content." That's a great way for the Harper regime to prevent dissidents from communicating.


No thanks.

[Pierre Denommee]

Re: The TPP is aimed to harm China and harm to Canadian sovereignty is another "benef

The sky is always falling. My prediction is that whoever forms the next government, the TPP will survive.

There are 12 countries in the TPP. It can go on with 11 countries without Canada.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: The TPP is aimed to harm China and harm to Canadian sovereignty is another "benef

My prediction is that whoever forms the next government, the TPP will survive.

Well, these trade deals do take time to ratify. There are 12 nations in the TPP: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. I wonder what the time frame is to ratify, and what happens if only 10 or 8 or 4 nations ratify the agreement. At what point does it become null and void, and when does a good deal become a bad deal as some nations may try to renegotiate along the way.

Of course we don’t have enough information yet to give a proper assessment. Most of the rhetoric for or against rests mostly on the established political allegiances of critics and supporters.

Here is a possible poll question for chess talkers:

When Prime Minister Tom Mulcair and President Bernie Sanders summit in 2017, will they be:

1. discussing whether or not to ratify the TPP, or
2. trying to amend the TPP, or
3. in a dispute over the TPP, or
4. praising the TPP, or
5. trying to exit the TPP?

Just asking a question!

[Pierre Denommee]

Re: The TPP is aimed to harm China and harm to Canadian sovereignty is another "benef

Probably I would if everything I learned about economics continues to make sense.

What I learn in economics is that money goes into multiple channels : it can be stored in the corporation for future use, it can goes in salary for management, in salary for the workers or to the shareholder. The normal behavior of a corporation is to reduce as much as possible the percentage of the wealth that goes to the workers. I find that unacceptable and with the TPP the salary of the people in Canada will go down which is very bad. It is the spendings from families that keep the economy alive.

Generating wealth is irrelevant if all the cash is moved out of Canada covertly without being taxed.

[Pierre Denommee]

Re: Michael Geist: The TPP is a danger to privacy in Canada.

ETA: a Canadian, crossing the border at Windsor or some such place, was prevented from entering the USA because she once sought medical treatment for depression. The US Border Authorities had access to her medical information, ignoring Canadian privacy laws, and simply rejected her, treating her as a "risk" to herself or others. These are police state tactics, pure and simple, using the lack of privacy to bully the citizens into submission and silence.

I wasn't aware of that. I am surprised that this is not an issue in the next election. In Quebec, a dying patient confessed a murder to a registered nurse and she had to go to her professional order to check is she is allowed to reveal that information to the police. There is something called professional secret that US does not seem to be aware of.

[Pierre Denommee]

Re: Michael Geist: The TPP is a danger to privacy in Canada.

The TPP would grant the power to destroy your computer for minor violations.

https://openmedia.ca/blog/why-intern...ngry-about-tpp

[Ken MacDonald]

Re: Michael Geist: The TPP is a danger to privacy in Canada.

The TPP would grant the power to destroy your computer for minor violations.

https://openmedia.ca/blog/why-intern...ngry-about-tpp

I'm beginning to get the feeling of those cartoon signs, "The end of the world is nigh!"