Canada - Next Federal Gov't?

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Yes and it's a problem. Either they don't know what to do to fix the problems or they have a plan and know they can't sell it to us. If we hear their solution we won't vote for them.

I think it would be quite easy for to come up with an eminently sensible and sellable plan, at least for the case of Ontario voters, which could begin to get us out of the hole the Liberals have put us in. For example, use measures to:

1) Get rid of their Green Energy policies, e.g. drop solar panel ideas, cancel and investigate sweetheart South Korean company contract for windmills;
2) Require modern high efficency garbage incinerators be phased in throughout Ontario, as in some European countries;
3) Repeal the provincial pesticide ban (just bans scientifically proven safe pesticides anyway);
4) Eliminate the ECO tax on plastic grocery bags (some of the tax just goes to radical environmental organizations anyway);
5) Restore cheaper Hydro rates;
6) Fresh tax breaks for manufacturers (the previous point also would help reduce their costs);
7) Get rid of LHINs (Liberal introduced local boards) in order to drastically reduce health budget costs, besides getting rid of political plum appointments;
8) Drastically reduce wait times for various health care services (many countries have less health $ available than ON, yet shorter wait times);
9) Restart phasing out the old red and white health cards that lack photo ID, to reduce fraud;
10) Get rid of unaccountable human rights tribunals that often render defendents practically helpless to defend themselves;
11) Require Quebec to be fair to Ontario workers (e.g. construction) unable to work in Quebec due to 'red tape', else we won't allow theirs to work here;
12) Moderate (not massive) stimulus spending to try to improve Ontario economy;
13) Eliminate any illegal blockades (whether by natives or otherwise), using all force necessary;
14) Investigate sweetheart deal with MetroLinks, and/or start a fresh bidding process for public transportation 'smart cards' (e.g. the 'Presto' card, as it's called in Ottawa, should have it's phasing in, instead of tickets, at the least delayed).

[edit: here are links for some of the above points:

#1a: Green Energy

http://opinion.financialpost.com/201...igger-debacle/

#1b: Samsung sweetheart deal with Ontario government on windmills

http://www.frank-klees.on.ca/Newsroo...t_Feb14_12.htm

#2: Environmental group's claims against (old?) incinerators:

http://www.no-burn.org/downloads/Inc...%20Feb2012.pdf

[edit: wikipedia entry that includes discussion of modern incinerators:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incineration

]

#3: Pesticide ban report

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbur...-ban-1.1360507

#4: Grocery bag ECO fee report

http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/is...ags-a-rip-off/

#5: Ontario Hydro rates

http://thebiggreenlie.wordpress.com/...n-energy-scam/

#7: LHINs in Ontario

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/21...ed-what-then-/

#9: Red & White Ontario Health cards

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/21...ed-what-then-/

#10: Ontario human rights tribunals ruling overturned - for a change

http://www.legal-project.org/1113/su...o-human-rights

#11: Ontario construction workers denied chance to work in Quebec

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairnes...Way_Street_Act

#14: Metrolinks sweetheart deals

http://www.frank-klees.on.ca/Newsroo...t_Feb14_12.htm

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

I haven't really thought through all your suggestions, but if you restore cheaper hydro rates as in your point 5, who will pay the real cost of the electricity?

In your point 8 about drastically reducing wait times, I can't complain about my treatments. I've had good service and reasonable wait times. If you're talking about going in for a pacemaker setup check and having to wait an hour or more because the technician is in the surgery room with the cardiologist implanting a new unit in a patient that's a picky point. It could be a lot worse. It could be me needing the replacement.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

I haven't really thought through all your suggestions, but if you restore cheaper hydro rates as in your point 5, who will pay the real cost of the electricity?

In your point 8 about drastically reducing wait times, I can't complain about my treatments. I've had good service and reasonable wait times. If you're talking about going in for a pacemaker setup check and having to wait an hour or more because the technician is in the surgery room with the cardiologist implanting a new unit in a patient that's a picky point. It could be a lot worse. It could be me needing the replacement.

Wait times can vary, but on average they're poor in ON, I understand. One can wait over 6 months in agony for hip replacement surgery, for example. In some countries it's done within 1 month.

[edit: here's a report that includes such wait times:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...es_report.html

]

As for electricity, I understand that the Liberals have completely altered the way Hyrdo is managed in the province. Cheap power was an asset this province had not so long ago. Even now we have extra power that we sell for a loss outside of the province. I don't know the costs of returning Hydro management to the way it used to be. However we also may simply be being ripped off, and this should be investigated. Take those 'smart meters' for example. Even if one does their dishes etc. late at night, there are stories I've heard of no savings on Hydro recorded. I do know that our Hyrdo bills do seem to go down drastically whenever there is the strong chance of an election. Coincidence?

[edit: here's a link to a report on Ontario selling power at a loss:

http://opinion.financialpost.com/201...rating-losses/

]

[edit: I went back and inserted many links in my previous post]

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Wait times can vary, but on average they're poor in ON, I understand. One can wait over 6 months in agony for hip replacement surgery, for example. In some countries it's done within 1 month.

[edit: here's a report that includes such wait times:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...es_report.html

]

As for electricity, I understand that the Liberals have completely altered the way Hyrdo is managed in the province. Cheap power was an asset this province had not so long ago. Even now we have extra power that we sell for a loss outside of the province. I don't know the costs of returning Hydro management to the way it used to be. However we also may simply be being ripped off, and this should be investigated. Take those 'smart meters' for example. Even if one does their dishes etc. late at night, there are stories I've heard of no savings on Hydro recorded. I do know that our Hyrdo bills do seem to go down drastically whenever there is the strong chance of an election. Coincidence?

[edit: here's a link to a report on Ontario selling power at a loss:

http://opinion.financialpost.com/201...rating-losses/

]

[edit: I went back and inserted many links in my previous post]

Kevin, the don't tell you the wait time target. As an example, when a hip replacement meets the target at a higher rate than a Hip Fracture repair, it indicates a difference in wait times. My guess is the target time for the repairs is less than the time for the replacements for the simple reason a replacement is often more elective than a broken hip.

Also, since health care is a provincial matter, the waiting times in the different provinces might not be the same.

Regarding the agony, different people tolerate pain differently.

Electricity, is a case of honouring contracts already signed or paying penalties.

High electricity costs does scare off industry. Although, I wonder if they are opening new plants in Ontario as opposed to offshore.

I can't see why doing dishes should be that much more expensive. If you're heating your water with natural gas there shouldn't be a difference. We don't have a dishwasher. There wouldn't likely be any difference no matter what time we do our dishes.

I don't know how they fix those problems but I'm also not the one running for premier. I'm the one who will vote on the best platform.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Hi Gary

Here's a link suggesting advice on how to save money using electricity at off peak hours, supposedly. It mentions dishwasher use:

http://housewares.about.com/od/green...mart-Meter.htm

[edit: article on smart meters giving dumb results:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4415934/

]

A link regarding electricity costs skyrocketing (due to the Liberal Green Energy Act):

http://opinion.financialpost.com/201...ter-into-debt/

One person's story of waiting for hip replacement surgery in Ontario (may or may not be somewhat common):

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...5946/?page=all

[edit: wait times in Ontario newspaper article (note: Liberal gov't has its own wait times website):

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/12...-report-finds/

]

[Garland Best]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Every political party says they intend to reduce hospital wait times including the liberals. Promising it and actually delivering on it are two different things, and the issue is not easily solved. It's a balancing act of services versus money.

Reducing the provincial deficit requires SERIOUS cuts, hence less services. Voters aren't willing to listen.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Every political party says they intend to reduce hospital wait times including the liberals. Promising it and actually delivering on it are two different things, and the issue is not easily solved. It's a balancing act of services versus money.

Reducing the provincial deficit requires SERIOUS cuts, hence less services. Voters aren't willing to listen.

Some cuts, maybe, but austerity measures aren't working out well in poor European countries, for example. Eliminate waste and incompetence/corruption, stimulate manufacturing, infrastructure improvement and R&D and then you will easily begin to lift up the Ontario economy without much worrying about the deficit.

[edit: I seem to recall hearing that unnecessary beauracracy, e.g. LHINs, is the biggest obstacle to improved wait times in Ontario]

[edit: here's the PC's ideas on improving Ontario wait times:

http://timhudakmpp.com/wp-content/up...alth-Care1.pdf

]

[edit: I went back and made correction/addition to link #2 in my post #181 on this page of this thread]

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Every wannabe government brings out the "we will balance the budget without lowering your living standard by eliminating corruption, incompetence and waste" platitude coupled with the "spend more on R&D and infrastructure" plan. It's the equivalent of saying we can eliminate global warming but still drive our SUVs to the corner store to buy a pack of cigs and a bag of Doritos if only we use bags made of vegetables and gas made from corn. It implies that wholesale changes to the way we do things can come without personal sacrifice. We live in a society where large numbers of people believe in magical thinking and so elect those who share their magical beliefs. Shockingly usually not much of substance ever happens.

Eliminate waste and incompetence/corruption, stimulate manufacturing, infrastructure improvement and R&D and then you will easily begin to lift up the Ontario economy without much worrying about the deficit.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Hi Kevin,

Likely you realize there is no guarantee you will be pain free after a hip replacement or replacing both hips. Many aren't. Sometimes one leg is shorter than the other and a lift is needed in a shoe. They wear out and need to be replaced again. It's not uncommon for a replaced hip to simply break. That happened to an elderly relative.

A bigger problem in Ontario is the shortage of doctors and nurse practitioners prescribing medications.

From what I've been seeing the cons are too binary with no middle ground. You have the left ear, the right ear and nothing in between. A person doesn't get elected to the top job simply because he lusts for it. There has to be something in it for the voter and he's not telling us what it is.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Every wannabe government brings out the "we will balance the budget without lowering your living standard by eliminating corruption, incompetence and waste" platitude coupled with the "spend more on R&D and infrastructure" plan. It's the equivalent of saying we can eliminate global warming but still drive our SUVs to the corner store to buy a pack of cigs and a bag of Doritos if only we use bags made of vegetables and gas made from corn. It implies that wholesale changes to the way we do things can come without personal sacrifice. We live in a society where large numbers of people believe in magical thinking and so elect those who share their magical beliefs. Shockingly usually not much of substance ever happens.

Just the Stimulus alone seemed to work better for Obama and the US than austerity has for Greece so far, for example:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhart...est-president/

[edit: like I wrote to Garland, some cuts may be fine, but all out austerity sure hasn't worked well, e.g. for Greece, so far, though they were forced to do it because of being in the EU. In Ontario we may not get all the ensuing riots and deaths the Greeks have suffered, but Dalton sure set things up so that any subsequent PC gov't that gets tough on the debt through mainly austerity would quickly get booted out of office. However just reversing many of the Liberal policies/corruption would put a big dent in the deficit, if not the debt. Hopefully if the PCs get a majority they won't download much of the debt onto municipalities, the way Chretien and Martin did to the provinces (who then scrooched the municipalities, at least in the case of Ontario).

I grant you that something at least resembling serious austerity may be necessary at some point. The US is so hosed by their debt alone that the sequester seems a necessary evil to me - at least thanks to the gridlock down there.]

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Hi Kevin,

Likely you realize there is no guarantee you will be pain free after a hip replacement or replacing both hips. Many aren't. Sometimes one leg is shorter than the other and a lift is needed in a shoe. They wear out and need to be replaced again. It's not uncommon for a replaced hip to simply break. That happened to an elderly relative.

A bigger problem in Ontario is the shortage of doctors and nurse practitioners prescribing medications.

From what I've been seeing the cons are too binary with no middle ground. You have the left ear, the right ear and nothing in between. A person doesn't get elected to the top job simply because he lusts for it. There has to be something in it for the voter and he's not telling us what it is.

Hi Gary

I recently heard that there being a shortage of doctors in Canada (and perhaps thus Ontario?!) is a popular myth.

Here's a link discussing the supply of doctors in Ontario:

http://www.ices.on.ca/file/mod2rp1.pdf

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Hi Kevin,

Likely you realize there is no guarantee you will be pain free after a hip replacement or replacing both hips. Many aren't. Sometimes one leg is shorter than the other and a lift is needed in a shoe. They wear out and need to be replaced again. It's not uncommon for a replaced hip to simply break. That happened to an elderly relative.

A bigger problem in Ontario is the shortage of doctors and nurse practitioners prescribing medications.

From what I've been seeing the cons are too binary with no middle ground. You have the left ear, the right ear and nothing in between. A person doesn't get elected to the top job simply because he lusts for it. There has to be something in it for the voter and he's not telling us what it is.

I'm not happy with my choices as an Ontario or Canadian voter in the next elections. In fact I'm tempted to spoil my ballots with a big 'X' across them (I don't believe in not voting, nor wish to 'decline' my ballot out loud in front of my neighbours). However I still believe in choosing the lesser evil - act as if yours is one of the few votes that matters, else an extreme party might get in almost by default if everyone else didn't vote for anyone.

In the case of Ontario the Liberals are definitely the worst evil of the major parties. It's just deciding between the NDP and the Cons. I like the NDP for their petty blackmailing of the Liberals into not dropping 1% annual increases on ODSP disability payments (the @@##ing bastard Liberal crooks could easily save much more money by not being so damn corrupt and wasteful ). However the NDP is shameful for not forcing an election on principle, and Bob Rae's government is still in memory. Plus the NDP I still suspect are at least Communist-lite in sheep's clothing. Both the Liberals and the NDP give the unions whatever they want usually, too. The PCs have a pathetic leader in Hudak. They also will probably squeeze the poor, like me, first, e.g. with an ODSP freeze, should they get a majority. Otherwise they would be my most principled choice to vote for based on their past tendencies. Hence I'll either vote for a relatively harmless fringe party (except Green) if they have a candidate in my riding, e.g. the Family Coalition sometimes runs a guy here, or else be altruistic and vote PC.

In the case of the Federal government, Trudeau II as PM would be terrible. Nor have I forgotten the Sponsorship scandal - although I'm not liking the Cons now either since too many years in power has likely corrupted many of their souls as well (certainly at least some). The NDP, as usual, has problems similar to what I described concerning their Ontario cousins. Hence I'm afraid if there is no harmless fringe party to vote for other than Green in my riding federally, I'll have to hold my nose and vote NDP based on the fact they haven't become corrupted yet AFAIK.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

Hi Gary

I recently heard that there being a shortage of doctors in Canada (and perhaps thus Ontario?!) is a popular myth.

Here's a link discussing the supply of doctors in Ontario:

On the one hand you tell me wait times are too long and now you tell me there are enough doctors in Ontario and Canada. If you are correct on this then how do you explain the long wait times? Are the doctors working too slow? ;)

Can it really be both ways?

One important question. Are you satisfied with the health care you are receiving?

It's really all that's important. As an example, if you need emergency surgery today and you get it, do you really care who got bumped so you could live? It's really that simple. Those who need it more urgently often get it quicker.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

I happened to hear one commentator (maybe the same guy who said there was a glut of doctors?!) describe the main problem concerning Ontario wait times to be as I wrote in a previous post, namely bloated bureauracy. I think he was the same guy I heard saying that whole countries have less health $ to manage their systems with than Ontario. Perhaps the link(s) I posted on Ontario wait times weren't conclusive/convincing enough? Maybe Hudak is genuinely thinking that it's the main problem too, as is suggested by the link I gave earlier concerning the PC ideas about improving wait times.

[edit: I can't recall exactly how too much bureacracy is supposed to cause delays, but my guess is that permission to operate, do MRIs, etc. is simply delayed unnecessarily, e.g. by paper work delays, boards of bureaucrats having closed leisurely sessions deciding arbitarily who gets preferential treatment... one can imagine endlessly, I suppose, what political hacks (e.g. one guy who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in Ottawa) that are appointed to LHINs do all day]

Just a guess, but I imagine Ontario and Canada in general have one of the highest (and unnecessary) per capita ratios of bureaucrats to general population in the world.

[edit: here are a three links regarding bureacracy:

http://www.fcpp.org/images/publicati...han%20Most.pdf

http://www.thecanadaguide.com/bureaucracy

http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/20...ersposner.html

]

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls

To repeat. Are you satisfied with the health care you are receiving?

A surgeon who isn't seeing patients and doing surgery isn't generally getting paid. So why would they kill time discussing in what order to treat people?

Also, I don't think you're up to date on permission for surgery. The surgeon I saw about a month ago handed me the permission sheet after he told me what I needed done. Part of the office visit.

Is the health care system in Ottawa really that awful? I can only imagine the doctors must be MP's or Senators. ;)