Federal Government & Politics II

[Truenorth00]

^ We'll see. I do think this is wish casting. Trump's only ideology was Trump. That's what allowed him to be flexible. Poilievre is not like that at all. He's literally never had a job outside politics. He's rabidly ideological to the core and he's about to be rewarded for being that way with the keys to the kingdom. And he's backed by a strong base that even has a bit of a nihilist streak. I don't see why he wouldn't do things to really go after not just Trudeau's policies but the broader LPC legacy in Canada.

[Truenorth00]

I was in High School when Mike Harris ran against Bob Rae. And I remember a whole lot of teachers quietly wishing Harris would win. They particularly despised the "Rae days" of extra unpaid days off.
"He's a teacher. He'll understand us. Sure, he's talking about cuts. But they won't apply to us." Boy did their views on him flip quite soon after the election. I was a kid and I still couldn't fathom the depths of their naivete at the time. Seemed strange to me that they would support a politician pledging to cut government and then somehow expect their own paycheques to be exempt from the cuts. I see a lot of similar wish casting here.

[thewave46]

At least Mikey was honest.

Plainly said what he was going to do.

And he did it, awful as it was.

The current CPC doesn't strike me as so intellectually honest. Which is disappointing and probably an indictment of politics in general at this juncture.

I just want an honest adult conversation, mostly. What do we want and what are we willing to pay for it.

Sadly, I expect an external shock to dictate our course in Canada. I make my plans accordingly.

[Marshsparrow]

Originally Posted by thewave46

At least Mikey was honest.

Plainly said what he was going to do.

And he did it, awful as it was.

The current CPC doesn't strike me as so intellectually honest. Which is disappointing and probably an indictment of politics in general at this juncture.

I just want an honest adult conversation, mostly. What do we want and what are we willing to pay for it.

Sadly, I expect an external shock to dictate our course in Canada. I make my plans accordingly.

Parties don't put out platforms with enough time to have good debate. The election is nothing but soundbites. Running for party leader you can buy your way out of appearing in debates. And then they wonder why cynicism is high and participation is so low... the change in government will be just the same as the current one except with a bunch of science deniers, religious zealots and Harrison Butker/Trump wannabes.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I was in High School when Mike Harris ran against Bob Rae. And I remember a whole lot of teachers quietly wishing Harris would win. They particularly despised the "Rae days" of extra unpaid days off.
"He's a teacher. He'll understand us. Sure, he's talking about cuts. But they won't apply to us." Boy did their views on him flip quite soon after the election. I was a kid and I still couldn't fathom the depths of their naivete at the time. Seemed strange to me that they would support a politician pledging to cut government and then somehow expect their own paycheques to be exempt from the cuts. I see a lot of similar wish casting here.

Interesting. A friend's mother who is a teacher told a similar story (she characterized it as a few foolish (male) teachers) at an Easter event as several civil servants professed their plan to vote for PP. I don't think any said he won't cut civil servants but more the he will cut the lazy ones or the recently hired or the.... I honestly don't know how even a Realtor or other small business owner sitting in Ottawa could not see the danger. to their livelihoods. And I say all that as someone very decided to vote Conservative. Wish casting indeed!

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

^ And if two tier is inevitable then so is flooding the job market with FMGs. No more quotas. Just a licensing exam. Like the US MLE. Maybe quotas for those who get paid directly, like those employed in the public system or in certain specialities. But beyond that, it's going to be hard to argue that the profession should be substantially protected as it is now.

I suspect eventually we'll evolve to a system like the NHS in the UK. And I see that British GPs average £90-100k with that two tier system. That's certainly less than most Canadian GPs after conversation, and they live in a country with a higher cost of living.

GP's in the NHS however get pensions and just ask Moncton Rad what Canadian doctors get. Higher salaries but the expenses of everything.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Dartguard

GP's in the NHS however get pensions and just ask Moncton Rad what Canadian doctors get. Higher salaries but the expenses of everything.

Pay data was the average for all GPs. Not just NHS. Do their private sector GPs get pensions too? NHS GPs are supposedly between £69-105k. So their pension is not putting them higher than the average Canadian physician.

[casper]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Absolutely. There is always a lot of fear mongering with Conservative governments and secret agendas. But having nearly universally Conservative premiers (BC 50-50 to make it a nearly clean sweep) a huge deficit, a landslide and an rabidly ideological prime minister really is the perfect storm.
They don't even need to cancel the Canada Health Act just continue the lack of enforcement.

All that said Polievre doesn't seem like he wants to do thankless hard work and he talks like he wants to be a populist conservative so a lot of his base would be hit hardest by almost all of these cuts and benefit only marginally from tax cuts. It's possible we get something more like Trump blowing up the budget pushing tough decisions off for someone else.

I think balancing the budget is core to the conservatives DNA in this case. They are not going to come in with a rational plan that shows the budget balanced in a a decade. They will fast-track whatever changes need to happen to achieve it.

There are some easy targets for them, e.g., the CBC, foreign aid, external affairs, de-carbonisation.

Health care is a easy one for them. They simply stop increasing the budget and turn it into the provinces problem.

On the defence side, I see them playing games. Take existing programs and simply delay delivery so it pushes expenses out into future years.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Pay data was the average for all GPs. Not just NHS. Do their private sector GPs get pensions too? NHS GPs are supposedly between £69-105k. So their pension is not putting them higher than the average Canadian physician.

It's clearly dramatically less than in Canada. We could easily bring in many doctors from France and UK with almost no effort. They'd need a little bit of training as we are bit more reliant on tech/advanced depending on how you view it. NHS style two tier healthcare seems risky in the Canadian context where we pay doctors so well.