Good Riddance Puny Penny!

When it was first announced that the penny was being eliminated from circulation, I was skeptical. Rounding up or down to the nearest nickel is a less efficient unit of measure, and it won't take long for businesses to start setting their prices to exploit the inefficiency and take more of our money than they would have otherwise. Then there are all the charities who depend on people's disdain for loose change, people who are all too happy to drop those annoying pennies in the collection jar.


All that being said, here we are three days into the penny's official elimination, and I love it! I prefer cash transactions, and am very quickly becoming enamoured with our new penny free society. This morning stopping for breakfast on my way to work the cashier tried to give me 2 pennies, which I refused and said "sorry, I don't accept pennies anymore". Sure it cost me two cents, but it felt really good.

Good job Stephen Harper!

Will The Liberals Now Stop Complaining About Deficits?

For the last three years we've heard the opposition constantly complaining that the governing Tories were running a deficit. The Liberals in particular hammered this point at every opportunity, trying to paint the government as spending irresponsibly (even though it was the Liberals who demanded a multi billion stimulus package as a condition to supporting the 2009 budget in a minority parliament after a coup attempt). Fast forward to 2012 when the Tories have taken measures to reduce the deficit and cut spending, and suddenly they are accused of viciously attacking Canadians with allegedly draconian cuts. It's hard to please these guys. I suppose at the end of the day, that's what the opposition is here for, to complain.

The good news is that the CBC will have their federal funding cut by 10%. Maybe that's not enough, but it is a start and a move in the right direction. Of course as you can imagine, the CBC is none too happy about this budget. They are talking about it on Newsworld today under the headline "BUDGET FALLOUT". They'll either have to scale back their expenses, or charge a little more for advertising on their shitty programing. Can I recommend holding a telethon perhaps? It would be interesting to see how much money they could raise, if any. Most CBC employees are paid far far more than the average Canadian.

I like this budget. We could have used this last year, but the Tories campaigned on the minority budget that the opposition voted against to force the election. They were locked into last year's budget, this one is far better. We are still more than 3 years away from the next election, so we have a few more Tory majority budgets left.

Get used to it Liberals. Do the NDP have an opinion on the matter? Probably, but who cares?

What Happened To Kevin Page's "Demographic Time Bomb"?

Certainly I can't be the only one who remembers Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page hammering the Tory government's long term budget projections in 2010 because they did not take into account Canada's "demographic time bomb" (aka: our aging population). Fast forward to 2012 when we are debating pension reform and suddenly everything is sustainable and does not require change? Well Kevin, which is it? Is a bomb about to explode, or is everything sunshine and lollipops? Forgive my confusion, maybe Kevin has just been so busy booking Liberal fundraisers that he's taken his eye off the ball. Certainly Andrew Coyne thinks we have a very serious problem.

Canada's Relationship With China

Once upon a time when Stephen Harper criticized China for human rights abuses, the Liberals went bananas saying that it jeopardized our valuable trade relationship. Now that Harper is in China on a trade mission, Bob Rae is on the CBC saying that the PM should speak out against human rights abuses when Evan Solo asked him how he should deal with China. I believe Bob's exact words were that the Harper government must "become a more robust proponent" on human rights. Meanwhile the PM has gone so far in the past as to boycott the Beijing Olympics, which won him support in the Canadian Asian community.

Now Mark Holland is on criticizing the Prime Minister for once doing too much and now not doing enough. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Either way, China has a lot of money and we have a lot of resources to sell. Though 63% of Evan's audience does not think that we should "boost ties" with China while they support Syria. My poll question: how much trade should we seek with China? More, less, or the same?

The Soloman Show has a neat new feature that if you Tweet something with the hash tag #PnP during the show, it will pop up on the screen during the broadcast. Obviously there is a filter. I went 2 for 3 today. My Tweet asking if Mark Holland gets paid for panel appearances (and if so how much) did not make it to air. It was a surprise to see my Tweet "Anytime anyone even loosely affiliated with the Tories mentions abortion, Soloman has to dedicate half his show to it. #PnP" pop up on my television. Solo has really been pumping the Twitter hard.

Pension Crisis Deniers

While many on the left have been screaming that proposed public pension reform suggested by the Prime Minister would have catastrophic consequences, others have been arguing that there is no pending crisis at all. The argument presented by a union economist on the CBC's Soloman Show earlier this week was that funding public pensions would become more expensive for 10-30 years, but there is no crisis because eventually the baby boomers will "pass through the system". That's a gentle euphemism for "we'll be fine once the boomers are dead". Boy do I feel better, how about you? All we need to do is hunker down, wait for our parents and grandparents to die, and we're golden! It might take a couple of decades, but we'll just raise taxes in the meantime.

Now the accusations are coming from the NDP's Peter Julien that the Tories are manufacturing a crisis as a rouse to take money away from seniors. As Jane Taber Tweeted: "NDP finance critic Julian pushes on OAS, says Cons manufacturing a crisis to cut seniors benefits." I'd be curious to know why Mr Julien does not believe there is a crisis, because there is a strong chance that he'd cite the same report as the union dude. OAS itself isn't the biggest problem, it is just a piece of the puzzle. Public sector pensions are also a big part of the equation, including members of Parliament. The health care system is going to be strained, and we'll end up with too many critical holes in our labour force. To suggest that there is not going to be a problem and that pension reform is not required would make you a pension crisis denier.

UPDATE: I recommend reading John Ivison's piece in the Post today.

Preaching Pension Reform To Europeans

Why are some people so pissed off that Prime Minister Stephen Harper included pension reform in a speech to European economic leaders? Europe is on the verge of an economic collapse, due in no small part to an unsustainable public pension system and aging work force. The Canadian and European economies are closely linked, and if the Eurozone crumbles, it will have a significant negative effect on Canada. Frankly I'm happy that Mr Harper took that opportunity to discuss this globally important subject to that particular crowd. The NDP has been burning a lot of calories slamming the PM about where the words were spoken, but none of them have a decent answer for how we address these systemic problems.

There have also been gross exaggerations in the media and among opposition members about what exactly Harper said in Davos and the magnitude of the proposed changes. Brian Lilley wrote a great piece yesterday on his blog regarding this subject.

What About Canadian Pensions Needs To Change?

Stephen Harper's recent announcement that Canada's pension system needs an overhaul elicited an angry response from a number of different groups. Today I'd like to ask two poll questions: 1) Should the age of pension eligibility be slowly raised from 65 to 67? 2) Should public sector pensions be scaled back (including those of MPs)? The proposal that civil service pensions be reduced drew the ire of the usual suspects; while the suggestion that the retirement benefit eligibility age be raised produced criticism from across the spectrum. It would be very interesting to see how parliament would vote on legislation to reduce their own pensions. The NDP would surely vote against it, and the Conservatives could certainly gain significant respect for passing that bill.

Regardless of the changes, the government says they will be "grandfathered in" over time, not affecting those currently retired or nearing retirement age. The Tories are looking at the longer term, with Canada's population over the age of 65 expected to nearly double in the next 20 years. Canada currently spends %2.4 of GDP on Old Age Security, which is decent considering Italy spends %14 of GDP on public pensions.

I'm 32 years old. My greatest concern is what's going to happen when I turn 50 and 30%-40% of the Canadian population is retired. If we don't make some changes, we're not going to be able to pay for that.

Does Canada Need Pension Reform?

Today's poll question; does the Canadian pension system need to be reformed? Do we need major changes, minor tweaking, or no change at all? There are several options on the table, like bumping back the age of eligibility, reducing public sector pensions (which should include members of parliament), even making a major overhaul of CPP. Prime Minister Stephen Harper today addressed world leaders at Davos Switzerland and announced that there would be "major transformations" in the Canadian system coming soon. With any luck the world will take notice, as European financial collapse could be avoided if they follow Harper's leadership and "Canadianize" their own finances.

Wouldn't it be great if Stephen Harper were Prime Minister of the World? We are truly blessed to have him in control right now, and we've got him for at least 3 more years, regardless of the *bleep* complaining that comes from the opposition. Regarding pensions, one of the best things we can do is develop our resource infrastructure, where the CPP undoubtedly has an equity position. It will increase our national wealth by bringing in trillions of dollars in foreign money over the next 30 years. Filibustering the oil sands might be popular with the NDP, but it would have a serious negative impact on our country's financial future. If Meghan Leslie gets her way, we'll be unlikely to meet our existing pension obligations. Personally I don't think bumping back the age of eligibility is going to be very popular.

I asked this question in Oct 2010:

WHAT IS THE IDEAL AGE OF RETIREMENT?

70+ (23%)
55 (16%)
60 (15%)
30 (9%)
64 (8%)
68 (7%)
62 (5%)
66 (5%)
50 (4%)
40 (2%)

Environmental Radicals

Today Natural Resources minister Joe Oliver released an open letter about the development our oil infrastructure which included the "controversial" statement; "unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade." I'm not sure that the minister was trying to characterize all environmental groups as radical, but that is not how the CBC's Evan Soloman saw it today. This topic consumed most of his program with their question of the day being "is it fair for Joe Oliver to characterize environmental groups as radical?" Eventually it led to speculation that the government is waging war on the environment. Elizabeth May and Stephane Dion were lead guests, and Mark Holland even showed up for a rant.

For my poll question, I'd like to know if you think Elizabeth May is a radical. The word radical doesn't imply violence, but rather a person who advocates far reaching opinions. Certainly conservatives are often characterized as radicals by the left, so their furious response to the minister's statement is somewhat hypocritical. Stay tuned, Evan insists he's going to be following this story very closely this week, as parliament is in recess and he has precious little else to talk about. You might remember Mr Oliver from Meghan Leslie's "if being a grumpy old makes you an expert" comment in Question Period not long ago, though sources tell me he has not yet been called a piece of shit.

Are You Worried About Our Economy?

This morning on the CBC they were reporting a poll that many Canadians are pessimistic about the state of the economy, which the CBC financial analyst speculated could lead to a "self fulfilling prophecy". That even if the economy is strong relative to the rest of the world, the citizenry need only believe we are experiencing a catastrophe for it to become reality. Today's poll question; do you feel that Canada is in the midst of an economic catastrophe? I'm assuming that Tory supporters are more optimistic about Canada's economic reality than those on the left.

Ultimately the greatest concern for Canada is the potential collapse of the European economy and what the implications of that would mean for us here. But our financial system is very strong and our economy will endure any global crisis better than most countries. This is the time of the year when people are more likely to be pessimistic about their own finances once their credit card bills start coming in from Christmas and retail outlets experience a holiday hangover. But the sky is not falling. You don't need to run to the bank to empty your account, or start hoarding resources.

Canada will be fine, and the right people are in charge.

Where There's A Gas Tank, There's A Way...

A message for the many voices trying to end the Keystone and Kitimat pipelines; you can kill the pipelines, but you can't stop the flow of oil. We have substantial oil reserves and the world has an insatiable appetite for the substance. Short of the NDP forming government and making it illegal to harvest oil, it will continue to travel by the old reliable methods, tankers, roads, rail, etc. Do you think that a fleet of tankers is safer and cleaner than a pipeline? Seriously? That is today's poll question.

The people who are fighting to kill the pipeline from Edmonton to northern BC, the alternative is the status quo, an aged pipeline that runs under metro Vancouver. Do you think that is cleaner or safer? Pipeline to Kitimat, or pipeline under greater Vancouver that carries oil to Vancouver harbour? It is a no brainer. And if you kill the existing pipeline that will just mean more trucks and trains traveling through the mountain passes. Great, that never turns out badly...

You can't stop the flow. Your best hope is diminishing demand through technological innovations, but that won't stop demand to the developing world anytime soon. Perhaps we could put an electric car in every Canadian driveway (though watch what that would do to the price of electricity), but you can't deliver that to the whole world within a plausible timeline. Demand will continue, and even if it slowly diminishes, as supply diminishes prices will remain profitable.

We have trillions of dollars worth of this stuff under the ground. That value leads to jobs, which leads to economic activity which supports countless supporting businesses. It also funds billions of dollars in tax revenue for the government. The oil sands in Alberta helps pay for health care in Quebec and Ontario. How much money does the Canada Pension fund have invested in Canadian Natural Resources? Billions. How many Canadians collect cheques from CPP?

Should Canada build more oil refineries? Yes, absolutely. But if you shut down oil production, the economic consequences would be catastrophic. Come on people; give your heads a good shake!

The Death Of Occupy Vancouver

While I can't speak for all Occupy camps near you, judging by what's been going on at Occupy Vancouver, this so called "movement" is dying and will soon be at an end. This downward spiral of childish imbecility was entirely predictable when the decision was made right from day one to make it a permanent live in protest. You were sure to get big crowds on opening weekend with people of various left wing associations supporting any number of complaints against "the system", but you knew the people pitching tents would not be the sane and rational people from the original group. Some might call them the lunatic fringe, I prefer to call them clowns. In Vancouver it tends to be the same people, and I've seen their protests before.

Then, when the normal people went home to their jobs after their symbolic appearance on opening weekend, the people left speaking for the entire movement were the least desirable spokespeople you could possibly leave in charge. The inmates took over the asylum, and the tent city protests got substantial media coverage. Here's an idea, let's start a protest movement and leave the craziest among us in charge of it when we go home and see what happens! Now it has degraded to the point where they damned near need a mobile safe heroin injection site just to keep the protesters alive! There are a number of left wingers who are now frustrated, even angry, with the Occupy Vancouver protesters for taking legitimacy away from the original movement. People like my friend who initially supported the protest, but now believe it needs to be shut down because it has started hurting the cause.

If they won't leave peacefully. Make them leave. If the nuts throw temper tantrums, then deal with them accordingly. That's what tasers are for.

Occupy Heroin

It would appear that the Occupy Vancouver movement has developed a bit of a drug problem, as a woman died today of an alleged drug overdose. This comes two days after another person was rushed away by paramedics for overdosing on heroin. I'm not sure these are the kind of people we want dictating how our economy should function. At their next "general assembly", they should pool their collective minds to write the manifesto "economics for junkies" about the "evils" of capitalism. It is unfortunate that it takes the death of a young woman to expose what's really going on in tent city; getting stoned while being sanctimonious regarding something the protesters are ignorant about, our economy.

They need to shut this place down before more people die. They have proven unable to shoot heroin responsibly while deciding the future of the Canadian financial system.

Occupy Vancouver's "Run On The Banks"

On Saturday the Occupy Vancouver protest spilled into downtown banks so that protesters could close their accounts in what they called their "run on the banks". Miraculously, our banks and our entire financial system did not collapse as a result of this loss of wealth. I'd be interested to know just how much money the banks lost during this run on the banks. Are you even allowed to close your account if you have a negative balance?

Have fun living your lives without bank accounts guys and gals. I'm sure they'll all be back re-opening their accounts in the very near future so their parents have an easy way to send them money. It is unlikely that any of these clowns who went in and closed their accounts get direct deposit pay from an employer, if they even have jobs at all. The few people left camping out downtown seem to have a lot of free time on their hands. Occupy Vancouver does have a paypal account and are accepting donations. They are not a registered non-profit so they do not count as a charity.

Today's poll question; should banks be allowed to earn profit?

NDP Using Occupy Protests To Justify Higher Taxes

It is becoming clear why the leading NDP leadership hopeful came out so quickly to support the Occupy protests, because it is going to become his corner stone to justify increased taxation. It is the same reason that CUPE is paying to bus its membership to the protests, to keep taxes high so there's plenty of money to go around when it comes time to extort a better deal. If Brian Topp wants to run for office promising to raise taxes, have fun with that. In Canada the top 1% cutoff is around $180K per year. If his policy is to raise income taxes on the top 10%, you'll have many unionized workers taking a hit. He's going to find this tough sledding.

The problem for Topp is that the income gap is substantially smaller in Canada than the United States, despite what Topp said Friday on CTV news. He just kept blaming Conservatives, never mentioning the Obama administration, and then made the ridiculous claim that we have a larger income disparity. That's just not true. There's no reason for Occupy protesters to gather in downtown Vancouver banks because there's nothing fundamentally wrong with Canadian banks. Ours received no bailouts because they didn't need them. There were no CEOs getting fat bonus checks financed by tax payers. The Occupy Canada protests are coming from the same clowns who rioted at the G20 Summit and orchestrated those silly anti-prorogation protests.

I Am The 99%...

Judging by some of the hate mail I've received lately, I should probably clarify that I am not in the top 1% of wage earners in Canada. I am part of the bottom 99%, which entitles me to speak on behalf of all Canadians. All my complaints and everything I write is a representative sample of 99% of the country. I'm angry that I make less money than those fat cats at CUPE who are gorging themselves on tax payer dollars, and I want to go down to their nearest office, pitch a tent, and occupy their lobby until they are decertified. 99% of Canadians agree with me because I make less money than the top 1%.

Also, I have one "dedicated follower" in Toronto who keeps insulting me for being a security guard. Just to keep everyone current, I haven't worked security since 2009 and currently have a really cool job that I enjoy a great deal. It's pretty funny to have an Occupy supporter attack you for NOT being rich. Perhaps I'm just not allowed to have an opinion because I am a blue collar worker.

New Canadian Ship Building Contracts

Today's poll question; should the government spend $33 billion to upgrade the Canadian navy and coast guard? This morning it was announced that Halifax was awarded the bulk of this massive contract, with British Columbia getting the consolation prize and Quebec being awarded nothing (though they will surely see some of the money through parts manufacturing). This was not awarded by the Harper government, but rather an independent group that had support from opposition parties. It was not a partisan decision, though I'm sure you'll hear accusations that Nova Scotia won the contracts to get Peter MacKay re-elected. Canada requires a larger navy than most countries because we have a substantially larger coast line than any other country in the world.

Frankly I don't care which province won the contracts, just so long as they were the best bids. John Ivison is already upset that we did not accept foreign bids, which could have produced better vessels at a lower price. It is a fair argument, and perhaps will be my next poll question. If we sent the contract to Germany we could get boats that are 20% better for 20% cheaper, but would not receive the benefit of domestic economic activity (and the tax revenue it brings). Let's just hope that we don't end up with a bunch of Bricklins and Fast Ferries...

This has to be BC's largest ship building contract since the Pacificat Fast Ferry fiasco, so hopefully our local ship builders are able to do a better job this time. Christy Clark was really jazzed up at the press conference with over the top enthusiasm that was bordering on comical. You will rarely see that level of excitement for finishing in 2nd place, but this is the first good news of her tenure as Premier, so I'm not shocked by her outpouring of emotion.

The pundits were saying that this will cost the Tories more support in Quebec, even though they were not involved in the decision. Quebec deserved their fair share, even if their bid was lousy...

Does The Far Left Represent 99% Of People?

Surely I can't be the only one who finds it ridiculous that the far left are engaging in anti capitalism protests claiming to represent 99% of the population. In reality, the poeple doing this are in the fringes likely representing 5% - 15% of the population. Listen guys, if you want to set up permanent protests in major cities that's your business, but can you please stop claiming to represent 99% of society? Of course now every special interest group is trying to hitch their trailer to the gravy train to raise money.

When the Tea Party started, the left went nutty with homophobic jokes and ridicule. Now they are doing something eerily similar to those they scorned and expect respect or even reverence? Did you just get jealous and want your own party? That's fine, just stop saying that you are the 99% because you're not.

Occupy Protests Prepare Demands

Now that the Occupy Canada protests have begun, we can expect these clowns to start making demands in the near future. Today's poll question; what demand do you most expect to emerge from the Occupy protests? There are plenty of options to choose from. It could be changing the retirement age to 40, or even 25. They could demand bigger government, or they could demand no government at all. Perhaps they want to revive the soviet union? How does a 3 day work week sound to you? Should we shut down our stock exchanges and nationalize the banks? Maybe the government should pay off all your debt? What about guaranteeing every citizen at least $30,000 per year even if they choose not to work?

Have you noticed that the Occupy Wall street people are not protesting Obama's government? Obama has an election coming up soon and how long do you think it will take before the Occupy demands become Obama's election promises? Canada is in a safer position with the Conservatives holding a majority government, with the next election a few years away.

What Do Occupy Canada Protests Hope To Accomplish?

This weekend will see the "occupy" protests move north of the border into Canada, despite this "movement" being unable to clarify exactly what their complaints are or propose solutions to fix any of the "problems" they're complaining about. It's coming to Canada despite the Canadian financial system being far more stable and reliable than the United States, with lower debt and better employment numbers. I'm trying to figure out exactly what these people are trying to accomplish, and how those objectives change with big labour jumping into the game. When the protesters start demanding massive increases in government spending, then you know the union leaders are pulling the strings. The last demand you can expect to see emerge from these demonstrations is reducing government spending. That's not why CUPE is paying to shuttle members to the protests by the bus load.

One activist on CTV news today was complaining that a major problem is too many people having an unsustainable debt load. Canada is becoming wealthier, and yet too many Canadians have more debt than they can afford. Clearly the cause of this problem is banks extending too much credit to people who wont be able to pay it back. What's the solution? No more credit cards for low income people. If people can't pay their mortgage, then they should not be issued a mortgage. Banks need to be more uptight about who they loan money to, because regular people can't be trusted to balance their own finances. Should the government pay off everyone's loans? Then you are only shifting debt from people to the state, where sovereign debt is already threatening to collapse the global financial system.

There is a healthy dose of irony in people protesting a financial system that loaned them more money than they could responsibly afford to pay back. I'm mad at you bank! You loaned me too much money and I spent it! As @Dfildebrandt wrote on Twitter "If these freeloaders want free tuition, wealth redistribution, big bureaucracy, and earlier retirement, they should #OccupyGreece"

What demands do you expect to see emerge from the Canadian version of Occupy Wallstreet? This will make for a great weekend poll question; your suggestions (and sarcasm) are encouraged. So far possible demands are income redistribution, government pays off everyone's credit card bills, close the Toronto Stock Exchange, more government spending, retirement at age 40, work less get paid more, 3 day work week, minimum guaranteed incomes, arrest George Bush for ordering 9/11 attacks, etc, etc...