Canadian Politics Thread

[Elias Pettersson]

So Trudeau is at $57,210 per day. PP is at $18,644 per day. By my calculations, voting for PP would save Canadian taxpayers $38,566 per day. 

Edited March 12 by Elias Pettersson

[Satchmo]

3 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

So Trudeau is at $57,210 per day. PP is at $18,644 per day. By my calculations, voting for PP would save Canadian taxpayers $38,566 per day. 

This is a typical tit for tat discussion with no clear winner.

 

The only thing I can add to it, as trivial it may be, and about as trivial as some other comments that have been made, is to ask if you have ever spent more on vacation than you usually do day to day at home?

[King Heffy]

13 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

So Trudeau is at $57,210 per day. PP is at $18,644 per day. By my calculations, voting for PP would save Canadian taxpayers $38,566 per day. 

Maybe Trudeau wouldn't need to spend as much on the security detail if PP wasn't openly supporting domestic terrorism.

[Duodenum]

3 hours ago, Captkirk888 said:

Trudeau's Montana holiday cost taxpayers much more than reported

Price tag for trip came to $228,839 — far higher than sum disclosed to Parliament

Elizabeth Thompson · CBC News · Posted: Oct 05, 2023 1:00 AM PDT | Last Updated: October 5, 2023

The Yellowstone Club near Big Sky, Mont., north of Yellowstone National Park. Big Sky's skiing and snowboarding trails attract wealthy tourists from around the world. (Erik Peterson/AP)

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Easter weekend vacation in Montana cost taxpayers nearly a quarter of a million dollars, CBC News has learned — far more than the sum reported to Parliament.

The price tag for the April 6-10 trip comes to more than $228,839, once the costs carried by the Canadian Armed Forces, the Privy Council Office and the RCMP are included.

That sum does not include the regular salaries of the RCMP officers tasked with protecting the prime minister, the Royal Canadian Air Force aircrew or the Privy Council official who normally accompanies the prime minister with the equipment needed to communicate securely.

That price tag is far higher than the figure the government reported to Parliament two weeks ago. In answer to a question placed on the order paper by Conservative MP Luc Berthold, the government disclosed $23,846 in spending on the trip by the Canadian Armed Forces and the Privy Council.

That lower figure did not include the $204,993 the RCMP spent on overtime and costs such as accommodations, meals, incidentals and travel associated with Trudeau's holiday. That spending was revealed only this week, in response to a question to the police force from CBC News.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and son Xavier depart New Delhi, India on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

The government's answers reveal little about where exactly Trudeau went and what he did during his long weekend in Montana.

 

THATS $57,210 PER DAY!

During Q1 of 2023, Pierre Poilievre spent a total of $1,298,257.15 on salaries, travel, hospitality, and contracts for his role as the leader of the opposition, his official residence Stornoway, and his role in the National Caucus Research Office. Of the $1.2 million figure, $100,842.22 was just for travel, and $11,840.84 was for hospitality.

 

For comparison, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a total of $522,968.31 for all categories, and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had $308,301.84 respectively. It’s important to note that the Prime Minister's travel and hospitality are part of a different budget, as he travels on official plans, motorcades, and his security is paid for by the RCMP and the PPS.

 

Regardless, Pierre Poilievre has spent $775,288.84 more than Trudeau and more than both Trudeau and Singh combined. This raises the question of where this money is going. Since he became the Leader of the Opposition, Pierre has been traveling across the country hosting rallies and events to boost his message, one of which is tied to conspiracy theories and misinformation.

 

Now, Elections Canada has rules around campaigning outside of election time, and Pierre and his staff are aware of this, stopping these events just on the line of being an official campaign event. One of those loopholes is not labeling it a campaign event paid for by the party's donations and fundraising but making it a “Government event” and billing the taxpayers for the cost, making it a cost within the office of the opposition.

 

Pierre and his team know that the only people who will notice this are political science and data nerds like myself, and the general public will not even see these reports released by the House of Commons. Furthermore, with there being no limit on what a person can bill the government for, there are these extreme multimillion-dollar figures.

 

The irony and hypocrisy of all this are that Pierre and the Conservative party he leads are pushing a narrative that Trudeau spends too much taxpayer dollars on vacations and time off, all seemingly trying to hide these inevitable reports that come out every few months. We went through this same rotation three months ago when this same report was released.

 

The evidence is clear that the Conservative party is using taxpayer dollars to campaign and spread their message across the country. This message includes saying that the current government is spending recklessly and wasting taxpayer dollars. I'm sure a lot of Canadians believe that this extreme expense bill is also reckless spending and it needs to be investigated and checked for its legitimacy.

 

Something I found online, unsure of accuracy.

https://canadianpolitics101.substack.com/p/pierre-poilievre-spent-129825715

[bishopshodan]

1 hour ago, Satchmo said:

This is a typical tit for tat discussion with no clear winner.

 

The only thing I can add to it, as trivial it may be, and about as trivial as some other comments that have been made, is to ask if you have ever spent more on vacation than you usually do day to day at home?

I didn't understand the PP meme thingy on the other page...that is his vacation per day amounts? it says something about  over 6 months?

 

He went for vacation for 6mths..?  

[Satchmo]

13 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

I didn't understand the PP meme thingy on the other page...that is his vacation per day amounts? it says something about  over 6 months?

 

He went for vacation for 6mths..?  

Nope.   It's not really clear to me what PP was up to or how the money was spent.   It is clear that the money being being talked about for JT was spent on his vacation in Montana. 

[RupertKBD]

Gotta say.....I'm really disappointed in Justin.....

 

.....a vacation in Montana?

[Elias Pettersson]

3 hours ago, Satchmo said:

This is a typical tit for tat discussion with no clear winner.

 

The only thing I can add to it, as trivial it may be, and about as trivial as some other comments that have been made, is to ask if you have ever spent more on vacation than you usually do day to day at home?

Yes this is “very” trivial. Almost like I was making a sarcastic joke.
 

You guys take things way too seriously in here. You should spend more time in the hockey threads. Much more fun and entertaining.  

Edited March 13 by Elias Pettersson

[D.B Cooper]

On the plus side, his vacations should be a lot cheaper now that his wife is shacked up with a doctor.     Lol

Are we going to be on the hook for his alimony payments too?

[bishopshodan]

7 minutes ago, D.B Cooper said:

On the plus side, his vacations should be a lot cheaper now that his wife is shacked up with a doctor.     Lol

Are we going to be on the hook for his alimony payments too?

 

I wish he could marry that Taylor Swift girl.

 

The entertainment value of watching right wing head's explode would be worth such an annoying union. 

 

[Elias Pettersson]

8 minutes ago, D.B Cooper said:

On the plus side, his vacations should be a lot cheaper now that his wife is shacked up with a doctor.     Lol

Are we going to be on the hook for his alimony payments too?

Didn’t Trump’s daughter Ivanka have a thing for Justin?  Maybe they hooked up in Montana. Probably why he was so over budget. I heard she’s an expensive date.  

 

[RupertKBD]

25 minutes ago, D.B Cooper said:

On the plus side, his vacations should be a lot cheaper now that his wife is shacked up with a doctor.     Lol

Are we going to be on the hook for his alimony payments too?

 

Yep. Us BCers will have to cut back on the weed...

 

Folks in Alberta and Saskatchewan might have to sell one of their banjos....

[D.B Cooper]

7 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

Yep. Us BCers will have to cut back on the weed...

 

Folks in Alberta and Saskatchewan might have to sell one of their banjos....

You’ll have to pry my dooby from my cold dead lips

[RupertKBD]

1 minute ago, D.B Cooper said:

You’ll have to pry my dooby from my cold dead lips

 

Well, I personally would never do such a thing....

 

....I don't believe in going off half baked....

[Spur1]

4 hours ago, RupertKBD said:

 

Well, I personally would never do such a thing....

 

....I don't believe in going off half baked....

Oh…going out maid. 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

9 hours ago, bishopshodan said:

I didn't understand the PP meme thingy on the other page...that is his vacation per day amounts? it says something about  over 6 months?

 

He went for vacation for 6mths..?  

 

More like campaigning on the taxpayer's dime while not officially campaigning.  Because that would be bad and against election rules.  And illegal.  Or something like that.  

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

9 hours ago, RupertKBD said:

Gotta say.....I'm really disappointed in Justin.....

 

.....a vacation in Montana?

 

As @ronthecivil once said, "Montana is a great place to take a whizz."  And it's true.  The roadtrips I've taken through there have definitely proven that statement for me.

[RupertKBD]

7 hours ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

As @ronthecivil once said, "Montana is a great place to take a whizz."  And it's true.  The roadtrips I've taken through there have definitely proven that statement for me.

 

I view it as evidence of Trudeau's secret love for Alberta....

 

I'm guessing the thought process was something like, "Where can I go that has thousands of inbred hicks, miles and miles of nothing at all, some lame attractions, but without all the Fuck Trudeau signs?"

[Kootenay Gold]

On 3/10/2024 at 5:08 PM, Boudrias said:

Estimated that 25% of the people in my town have no family doctor. How difficult would it be that Interior Health would maintain a list? I suspect they don’t for political reasons. How much this cost society should be a bigger concern than it appears to me. How long do people wait? I met a guy the other day who said he was going on 8 years.

The number of people in my town without a family doctor has increased due to a couple of GP's leaving

for greener pastures. The patients that were under the care of these doctors are struggling to find doctors that will take them on as many are already at capacity for their practice.

[Boudrias]

2 hours ago, Kootenay Gold said:

The number of people in my town without a family doctor has increased due to a couple of GP's leaving

for greener pastures. The patients that were under the care of these doctors are struggling to find doctors that will take them on as many are already at capacity for their practice.

This problem has existed for at least 10-15 years. Across a number of administrations of different political parties and yet it doesn’t get fixed. My son says people working inside IHA are very disillusioned. I was talking to a  nurse the other day who said she could work double shifts 7 days a week is she wanted. She currently works 4 double shifts a week. She feels an obligation to patients but says it is hurting her family life.

 

To some extent I conclude there is an unclear representation of the situation to the public. Gathering of data should not be an issue. Measuring how well problems are being dealt with down to the hospital level should be routine and results available to the public. I ask my local mayor and he says they don’t get much other than doctor availability. To me it smacks of healthcare rationing. If that is true then government should be up front and explain the problem.

Edited March 13 by Boudrias

[the destroyer of worlds]

8 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

This problem has existed for at least 10-15 years. Across a number of administrations of different political parties and yet it doesn’t get fixed. My son says people working inside IHA are very disillusioned. I was talking to a  the other day who said she could work double shifts 7 days a week is she wanted. She currently works 4 double shifts a week. She feels an obligation to patients but says it is hurting her family life.

 

To some extent I conclude there is an unclear representation of the situation to the public. Gathering of data should not be an issue. Measuring how well problems are being dealt with down to the hospital level should be routine and results available to the public. I ask my local mayor and he says they don’t get much other than doctor availability. To me it smacks of healthcare rationing. If that is true then government should be up front and explain the problem.

 

The whole reason why the Northern Medical Program at UNBC/UBC was created was to address doctor shortages in my neck of the woods.  The first students in that program began their studies in August 2004.  

 

The addition of turning our hospital in PG into a teaching hospital was done to also help.

 

So, it's not like governments over the years haven't been trying to alleviate the problem.  Just their steps weren't big or bold enough. 

[Kootenay Gold]

1 hour ago, the destroyer of worlds said:

So, it's not like governments over the years haven't been trying to alleviate the problem.  Just their steps weren't big or bold enough. 

One of the issues is that many young doctors are leaving Canada to go work in the States. I know of two in Bouds town that left and are now in N. Dakota. They probably have better working conditions and better pay. Until that improves in Canada we will continue to lose them to the States much like we lost many top end aeronautical engineers to the States after the cancelling of the Avro Arrow, as the remaining jobs were at lesser pay than what they could fetch South of the border.

[the destroyer of worlds]

5 minutes ago, Kootenay Gold said:

One of the issues is that many young doctors are leaving Canada to go work in the States. I know of two in Bouds town that left and are now in N. Dakota. They probably have better working conditions and better pay. Until that improves in Canada we will continue to lose them to the States much like we lost many top end aeronautical engineers to the States after the cancelling of the Avro Arrow, as the remaining jobs were at lesser pay than what they could fetch South of the border.

Not new.  We had a world class orthopedic surgeon here in PG in the 90's that left for the States.  I know this because my mom got surgery from him.

[UnkNuk]

7 minutes ago, Kootenay Gold said:

One of the issues is that many young doctors are leaving Canada to go work in the States

 

Any idea how many are many?

 

If this is a substantial problem then Canadian taxpayers should be asking:  Why are we subsidizing the education costs of US-bound doctors?

[aGENT]

2 hours ago, Boudrias said:

This problem has existed for at least 10-15 years. Across a number of administrations of different political parties and yet it doesn’t get fixed. My son says people working inside IHA are very disillusioned. I was talking to a  nurse the other day who said she could work double shifts 7 days a week is she wanted. She currently works 4 double shifts a week. She feels an obligation to patients but says it is hurting her family life.

 

To some extent I conclude there is an unclear representation of the situation to the public. Gathering of data should not be an issue. Measuring how well problems are being dealt with down to the hospital level should be routine and results available to the public. I ask my local mayor and he says they don’t get much other than doctor availability. To me it smacks of healthcare rationing. If that is true then government should be up front and explain the problem.

 

Not to downplay other issues like higher pay in the private system down South, or very real systemic issues that contribute to the problem, but this is going to be the case for literally EVERY industry moving forward, due to an aging population. We simply do not have the bodies to replace the ones retiring/dying.

 

Hopefully AI provides some relief in the near-mid term. I'd imagine suitably capable AI powered body scanners could reduce a LOT of workload on doctors, nurses, technicians etc in the medical field.