Canuck2fan

 

 

It is not just through attrition. My co-workers wife was laid off from Sick Kids hospital. If fact, her whole department was eliminated. That was before this year; but it was still during the McGuinty/Wynne years when they were supposedly restoring all of the cuts by Mike Harris.

 

As far as the increase in the total number of nurses. How does that compare to the increase in population? Ontario's population has increased significantly since 2003; obviously, we will need more nurses.

If your friend's department had 20 nurses that were laid off, but 30 more were hired in another new department is that is an increase or a decrease in the number of nurses. Without knowing the staffing levels of the entire hospital before and after any such changes it is impossible for anyone to say with accuracy.

As for the number of nurses being increased by the same percentage as the population, that is a fine question, feel free to look it up. I know no matter what anyone else finds out and posts the numbers you will just challenge it anyways LOL.

The whole point I was trying to make is that the government, the union and hospital administrations are all using nurses as pawns to push an agenda. At the same time the public will always resent any cut in numbers but only about 100th as much as having taxes raised by one red cent... The nurses get caught in the middle of it all. Do you think the pols, union reps or ceos are going to take a pay cut to have more nurses on the floor, not bloody likely, so the money to pay them has to be fought over, and it is...

My next door neighbour just bought a mid 90's 16 ft side console springbok with 20 hp 2 stroke Yamaha, trailer, fish finder, trolling motor for 2900.00. Very decent boat he has already painted it, and redid the carpeting said that cost him just over 300.00.... Now if the wind would ever die down when he is off we might get out fishing in it before the snow flies.

Spin, spin spin....

So the government claims there are 24000 MORE nurses now than when they took office in 2003.

The nurses union claim 409 nursing positions have been cut this year, mainly due to ATTRITION.

The government claims they have moved some nursing positions from the hospital out into the community to help shorten hospital stays....

The union says that is stupid because nurses can get patients out of the hospital quicker if they are in the hospital directing care and instructing patients how to leave the hospital faster....

The public wants more nurses, but doesn't want the deficit or taxes to increase.

Hospital administrators are dealing with only a 1.1 increase in funding year over year this year.

That INCREASE in percentage dollars because of inflation is a freeze or even a cut in hard dollars.

It has to be noted public doesn't give a crap about inflation when it comes to having their taxes raised... under no circumstances are increases acceptable LOL.

So it would be factually correct to say the Liberals have increased the number of nurses in Ontario, while at the same time cutting positions lately due to attrition in hospitals. It is too early to know if those positions are being transferred to the community as intended.

It is all about whether you want the story to spin right or left.

The dogs in the public opinion fight, the union, hospital administrators and provincial government don't really seem to care about the individual staff. Who, from what I have seen personally, in the last few years seeing my elderly family members being cared for. I see nurses, psws and even utility staff are doing a lot more just to try and keep up, and at some point the breaking point in endurance will be reached.

Colorado has answered how to handle quite a few concerns mentioned here and dealing with the issues is a work in progress and constantly evolving. If you want to see how some of the problems with production, licensing and the sale of pot is administered check out Pot Barons of Colorado on youtube.

As for use in public here is a site on how that is handled.

http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2014/07/is-it-legal-to-be-high-in-public.html

As for driving under the influence, it will be societal pressure more than anything else that help keep it under control. Having draconian laws only goes so far. The big strides against drinking and driving have come from people who stop other people and general awareness. The same thing can work for pot, texting and other distractions. Of course it will still happen no matter what but hopefully to a lessor degree.

 

Agreed on the value of hemp. However, I'm not truly sure we will see an increase in use based on the legalization of marijuana. (hope I'm wrong)

I hope the politicians are smart enough to allow it, it would it could be a great product to develop quite a few jobs around. Bio fuel, natural food products and remedies. News print used to be a big plus but print media is dying....

of course it will be a financial one.

 

i'm not sure your correlation between the legalization of pot and the potential increase in hemp production however.

Steve I mention it only because once the taboo on the THC version is lifted, hopefully we will have leaders with enough brains to let farmers that want to go back to growing hemp. Like they did before refer madness took over... Of course I realize the lawyers, and cops will have to try to keep it out so there will big legal hassles about legal pot vs illegal pot, but hemp makes sense for so many reasons....

I find it interesting that no one has mentioned what will be the main impetus for legalizing pot.....

The tourism industry here will eventually DEMAND it happen, as more States close to our border legalize we will have to do it to compete for the stoner trip dollar (pun intended). Like during prohibition it will make no sense to have different laws across a border, as lawless chaos will result.

In the end it won't be a moral, financial or medical decision it will be a financial one. Also once pot is legalized then hemp production can be ramped up for cloth, edible oils, paper and bio diesel.

Link to his email on this page.... or you can do it the old fashioned way with the snail address.

https://openparliament.ca/politicians/justin-trudeau/contact/

For those that missed the 680 All News Toronto opinion poll running all morning the question was:

(Not verbatim) - Were you satisfied with the Election Results.

 

53% NO

47% YES

 

@12:30pm today

 

I suspect the 47% er's were in the Golden Horseshoe......

Now here is where the spin meets the road in politics....

Conservative command central, this morning hungover and mad about losing, while dismantling the office sees this poll and immediately releases a statement. 53 PERCENT of the population want Harper back!!!!

Liberal staffers after cleaning up from getting blitzed on weed, (which will be coming to a corner store near you soon) and ecstatic about their historic romp to power. Release a rebuttal. The POLL actually means 53 PERCENT of the population are upset that we didn't win by MORE and that the Conservatives got any seats at all.

NDP staffers while trying to find the 2.3 million they will have to pay back by breaking into vending machines at the their headquarters. Release a statement 53 PERCENT of the population are MAD that we didn't keep as many seats as we won in 2011.

The Green Party releases a statement on twitter. 53 percent of the population is unhappy we weren't able to win enough seats to reach official party status.

Given the vagueness of the question and the unscientific method of the poll all 4 statements are statistically factual but probably NONE of them is entirely true.

I don't believe that it will get better for the average Joe no matter who's in charge. The global economy is bad for us Canadians . With housing prices as high as they are, incomes need to be high as well. They have been going down relative to our costs but we have to be " competitive " don't we? More free trade seems to mean lower wages for all but a few lucky ones. No party has the answer to this problem do they?? We used to turn raw materials into value added products to export in the past but all too often today we just ship the raw materials to third world countries that in turn sell us products we should make for ourselves... Good luck Justin..

Everything you say is true.... Think about how much more productive any worker here whether white collar or blue collar has to be, to offset a MONTHLY price increase in the cost of single family dwelling of 8600.00. That is how much those types of homes went up by averaged over a year in Toronto. I don't care how hard anyone works it isn't sustainable in any field to out compete the rest of the world with those types of cost increases for accommodation. (I realize that Toronto is a high extreme but the trend is the same pretty much the same a slightly slower pace anywhere there are good employment opportunities.)

A lot people will say, yeah but my house has appreciated so much I am getting rich. Which is only true if you can sell it for more so you can then live somewhere for less. Otherwise you are just on a treadmill, that a price crash or interest rate increase can bring to a screeching halt.

Well Canuck you seem to have all the info at your finger tips....how about giving us a rundown of Federal Liberal faux pas during their last tenure and if your are not too tired from all the typing...throw in the provincial Liberals amazing record....

Why haven't you have listed all the mistakes the federal Liberals made time and time again?

No need to list anything about the provincial liberals because we can't VOTE them OUT tomorrow.... It is best to concentrate on sending Harper off on the rubber chicken circuit first. Plenty of time to air the facts on Wynn's tenure when she is actually on the ballot... Also some of the court cases might be settled by then. Assuming the Ontario Conservatives can run a candidate that isn't a complete failure like the last 2 times, it should be a land side of epic proportions.

I weighed the entire rod at 200 grams, with the tip section coming in at a whopping 22 grams.

That is amazing the lightest rod I own that is 11.5 ft is a swan company noodle rod and it is 275 grams...

 

First off. The Canadian Taxer Payers Federation would support any government that limits taxation and spends the taxes they do take in a "responsible manner".

The fact that they garner a large amount of support among conservatives is due to this fact. The numbers in this report are based on the individual promises made by each party and the costs attached to these are also provided by the parties. The CTF simply added them all up for us. Even if you want to dispute some of the individual costs, one can't deny that there's a big difference between 10 billion in new spending verse 256 million in fiscal 2016/17, not to mention the vast differences in the following 3 fiscal years after that.

If any member of the CTF could do math they sure wouldn't be recommending Harper to run anything where money was involved.

156 Billion in new deficit spending after vowing before he was elected to pass a law guaranteeing balanced budgets. Still waiting for law after 4 yrs of him the absolute power to do so. Don't worry though his finance minister is on the record as saying that Harper's granddaughter will pay that off in the future with her mystical credit card.

Responsible for the worst trade deficits in Canadian history, coupled with the LOWEST corporate tax rates in Canadian history.

Gave Canadian banks a 114 Billion dollar bailout during the recession and has denied doing it every since.

Highest youth unemployment rate in Canadian history since we kept stats.

Drove the dollar to it lowest level in over 10 yrs making almost everything more expensive for everybody and still the trade deficit grows LARGER.

Has allowed oil companies to gouge us at the pumps to the tune of over 5 BILLION dollars and said not a word.

Has let Canadian companies hide 200 Billion in profits offshore so they paid no Canadian tax on that money. What did he do about that? He gave the company representing the tax cheats against the CRA a huge government contract as a reward for fighting the CRA in court...

He has also tried to sneak through multiple pieces of legislation he was told WOULD BE struck down by the courts costing us the taxpayer millions in unnecessary court costs.

How in anyway shape or form could that horrible record of what Harper ACTUALLY did in the last 9yrs lead anyone to think the conservatives are good with our money? I know OOOOH look a boogey woman is over there. LOL

If they are selling to foreign interest because they have excess, I would think they should first and foremost sell to Canadian residents at a lower rate (off peak hour rates) all the time instead of thumbing their noses at those who subsided them in the first place.

 

Bottom line is that GREEN energy means MORE GREEN their pockets and less in our pockets. Soon or later people will wake up one day and see the light.

I agree we deserve the cheapest rates...

"Their pockets" being lined with green who are they?

You do realize that a TON of staunchly rural conservatives sell green energy to us.... I happen to know a few, they were farmers or rural land owners wealthy enough to jump on the steal of a deal solar panel program.

Hell anybody who could have afforded to get in to it when the contracts were offering sky high returns would have been stupid not to have taken the money.... BECAUSE CAPITALISM LOL

 

 

Lastly, I also downloaded the Hourly Ontario Electricity Price for 2015 year to date. What shocked me the most were the huge fluctuations in the hourly cost of electricity. For instance, the hourly price of electricity at 9 AM on 2 Oct 2015 was 1053.11 cents/kWh while the price on the same day at 8 AM was 34.3 cents/kWh. Can you shed any light on the cause for such huge fluctuations.

It is not because electricity is a commodity and is "traded" constantly by the minute or hour? Since there is no place to "store" it, once it is produced it is basically a use it or lose it commodity as well. That is also why we sell excess to the States and other provinces for cheap, it is either that or get absolutely nothing for it. The only way to have a flat price would be to be able to produce exactly just enough at exact time it is needed. Pretty much an impossible task to guess that closely.

Always enjoy seeing what an artisan can create...

Can I ask what does the entire rod weigh, without a reel?

do some reading.

 

you might be surprised.

 

we are contracted to purchase a minimum amount of nuclear power, regardless if we actually purchase it.

 

which means, in periods of low power consumption, we are still paying nuclear producers a minimum amount, regardless if we use it....at those periods, the cost per kw is higher than any form of energy currently produced.

I can see how that would be, because my limited understanding is, you don't just turn reactors on and off. So they have to be going all the time even at low idle?

 

likely not.

 

it'll be spun one way or another.

 

best is to read from all sides and form your own opinion(s).

But the SPIN Is the fun part LOL. Just like any controversial topic.

 

Any idea what price our government pays for nuclear power?

 

And any idea of the fix guaranteed contract we gave the nuclear power plants to purchase their power, whether we actually purchase it or not?

 

I suggest some folks do some reading, and some learning, so that you become much better informed.

Is that information actually available without spin from either side? LOL

 

I agree in general, but the situation in the past was so different from what it is now or likely to be in the future that there are limited lessons to be learned. If there is a lesson, it's that decisions should be made based on economics rather than politics but, as I said, I just don't see that happening. I agree that it was partly economic in the past----a stable power supply at cost was a major factor in the industrialization of Ont. OTOH, a large part of the D'ton overrun was due to D Peterson putting the plant on hold after Hydro had purchased major eqpt and was paying the mid-teen interest rates current in the mid-eighties.. Which is not to say there was no mis-management---always lots of that to go around in the past as well as today.

If only we could separate the politics from the issue of Hydro LOL.

You are quite correct in that a large part of the over runs at Darlington were due to interest rates being high during the project. NO ONE foresaw them, ever going that high. Inflation was rampant, workers demanded more just to fall behind a little less... Wicked times financially.

That spike in interests rates is kind of like how no one expected oil to be sub $45.00 a barrel ever again when the contracts were signed for renewables at the high prices they were signed for at.

What bites is no matter what happens with bizarre market conditions or governments making bad decisions we KEEP having to pay for the mistakes of judgement.

 

That's your version of history. Others have their own version. I don't think there is a lot to be gained by looking back at the history and pointing fingers. No danger of the proverbial 'history repeating itself' here because times have changed so much. Past decisions were made for political rather than economic reasons and I don't see that changing any time soon. Do you?

You are right it is just my version... What is yours? I believe if we don't learn from past mistakes we will just repeat them... I totally disagree past decisions were made for solely political reasons, big users were charged less because it seemed to make ECONOMIC sense.

Lower rates for big users were supposed to keep heavy manufacturing here in Ontario. Providing jobs with a good living for workers. Those employees would spend money, on houses, cars, and the necessities of life all while also paying taxes. It seemed like a good idea to all concerned, until the businesses left anyways for various reasons.

How do you think we can really and truly pay less than we are now?

 

Why the Harper sniping??? it's provincial , talk about agenda and ulterior motive .

The Harper "sniping" as you call it, was because according to Joe Oliver debt is OK because, Harper's granddaughter will put it all on this mythical credit card in the future... So I took the liberty of hoping it would work equally as well for ANY debt.... LOL No sense of humor in here I see.

Hydro has always been a disaster in Ontario.... For decades we under charged businesses, to keep them here with cheap rates. That really worked out great didn't it. My home town has rows upon rows of factories that left long before, the cost of juice increased and the current government came in. Does your home town have the same rows?

Along, the way we gave a monopoly the ability to issues bonds, so they could run up massive debts. EVERY project under EVERY government in Hydro's history went massively over the projected cost... Check out the nukes at Darlington as an example

The sad thing about the push for renewable sources, is that it was started in earnest at the worst possible time. Oil was at the high $100.00+ mark, meaning gas plants were going to cost more to run. Talk of climate change was indicating new gas plants were the way to go long term. Remember when smog alerts were a lot more numerous in the GTA? NIMBYS had shown they weren't going to allow any damn gas plant to happen anywhere near their grossly over inflated property values. Governments at every level in Canada wouldn't dare put up a parking meter without having 10 consultants do 20 different studies, much less form a new strategy, for creating renewable sources of energy.

Business and the consultants saw the opportunity, along with a weak government stung by every decision they had made about Hydro. So they sold them on offering huge incentives to create MORE energy, at the most expensive rates ever. Though in time those rates would be more in line with the price of non renewables because oil was only going to go up in price..... oops.

Weak governments, greedy businesses are never a good combination when it comes to a necessity that is traded as a commodity.

Now we have the sale of part of a great public asset, from a weak government to greedy businesses, as if that will somehow magically lower our rates? I hope it will, but have my doubts for historical reasons...

The only way any government in Ontario can lower Hydro rates from now on for rate payers is to subsidize it by having the taxpayers pick up the tab. Doesn't work for me because I am both a rate payer and taxpayer...

Alternately, a government could artificially freeze rates, run up debt and we could have our kids pay it off, with interest. I wonder is there still room on Harper's granddaughter's mythical credit card, maybe our kids could sweet talk her when the times comes to pay up.

They could also go in and seize every asset, fire everybody, hire new people to do the exact same jobs for a lot less money. Run it is a ministry providing a necessity. Tell any debt holder, enjoy your hair cut you aren't getting a dime. Strictly, monitor the cost and charge not a penny more for the juice. Have no unions, safety training or environmental concerns, cheap juice trumps any worries about the damage to the planet. Legally mandate the bare minimum for maintenance and infrastructure improvements. Jail time, for any CEO who company is working on a project that goes over budget. If we need a new plant built, build it where it makes sense. Let the NIMBY's squawk, but post their names and addresses on a website saying these are the few people who are driving up everyone else's hydro costs. After all the law suits settled, it might be cheaper maybe not...

In short we are going to pay more no matter what....

 

Not true. Health care transfers will increase by the greater of 3% or average rate of growth in GDP over the last three years. It may be less than the 6% annual increase that they have received since 2006 but it is not a cut.

 

The cuts to health care transfer occurred in the mid 90s when the Liberals were in power. Health and social transfers were $18.9 billion in 1993 and $12.5 billion in 1997.

 

http://www.fin.gc.ca/fedprov/his-eng.asp

LOL so 300 million more in hard cash from the Liberals over 3 yrs is a CUT according to the Sun, but the Feds giving provinces up to 3% less a year, than they have been giving for the past 10 years isn't a cut?

Somebodies math must be from the new curriculum... because it doesn't add up to me.

That is why I love politics though it is all about the spin...

With the respect to the transfers being cut in the 90's. Why do you make no mention of the fact the IMF said if we didn't stop the run away spending of the Mulroney years we would be in the situation Greece is in now.

So the government had not choice to cut at ALL levels. The feds forced cuts onto provinces Harris downloaded cuts on to municipalities, because in the end there is only one taxpayer and we were living way beyond our means.

Unfortunately, for the kids today we still are at all levels of government.

Only in Sun media could this become a cut LOL?

“Our budget for physician compensation is going up by more than $100 million each year for three years,” said Hoskins’ spokesman Shae Greenfield in an e-mail.

300 million MORE over 3 yrs is nothing to sneeze at. Especially with the feds poised to cut health transfers in less than 2 yrs...

 

 

 

Funny; you claim that Harper should have given Canada great economic numbers during a world wide recession; but make excuses for Ontario doing worse than the other provinces.

 

Alberta and Newfoundland had oil when Ontario was leading Canada in economic growth. And Ontario would always be a 'have not' province too if it did not have resourses resources either.

I don't excuse Ontario's poor economic performance either... I was merely pointing out the fact that Ontario which you labeled a have not province still put in 11 billion more to the federal coffers than we took out. Seems sort of wrong to me to be labeled a taker when in fact we were giving more than we got. But whatever floats your boat.