Solutions To Ensure The Survival Of Canada

[Oleg Bach]

Partisanship and more bickering serve no purpose at this point - but it is habitual to be advesarial and all to human to aqcuire more blind power and glee from the vanquishing of others. What I propose in this thread are ideas that will unite all parties in Canada and get them on track to achieving success for all Canadians - let us be a light and example to all the world. So lets see if we here are as talented as we imagine. Any ideas on how to fix the place? GO FOR IT!

[ToadBrother]

Partisanship and more bickering serve no purpose at this point - but it is habitual to be advesarial and all to human to aqcuire more blind power and glee from the vanquishing of others. What I propose in this thread are ideas that will unite all parties in Canada and get them on track to achieving success for all Canadians - let us be a light and example to all the world. So lets see if we here are as talented as we imagine. Any ideas on how to fix the place? GO FOR IT!

Resist the urge to simply tout the party line. It's far too easy for humans to simply follow a leader, to hang on to an ideology and repeat it's basic tenets like a mantra without any consideration of where those tenets come from, and how they effect other people.

Or to put it another way; it's politics, not religion. The guy who runs your fave party isn't Jesus Christ. He or she isn't all-knowing, and frequently doesn't have the answers. Just as often, the leader is often mixing up his own personal ambitions and necessities with that of the larger movement.

As well, try not to look at those of differing political beliefs as evil or stupid. I guarantee you that if you think the guy who is a member of the opposition party is a crook or a moron, that you won't have to look very hard in your own party to find similar individuals.

As Bob Dylan said "Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters".

Edited December 10, 2008 by ToadBrother

[Jerry J. Fortin]

Problem number one in Canada at this point in time is economic, so the first move is to design a package that serves the purpose of providing economic stimulus without spending tax dollars. Unfortunately that is not actually possible, however it can be made possible if you simply forgo some future revenue stream in the form of personal income tax reduction.

How do we do this you ask? Simple, allow individuals to deduct interest payments from their major investment, their own homes. This will spur the housing industry and provide personal tax reductions which in turn will allow individual consumers to use those additional funds to purchase other consumer goods.

Create a made in Canada policy that eliminates GST from goods produced and purchased in Canada.

Provide tax incentives for the purchase of all green technology produced in Canada.

the list goes on and on..............

[eyeball]

Problem numero 1 is official transparency or a lack thereof on most senior levels of government but at the PMO level in particular.

The only solution is total public awareness and a system of souveillance that would make Orwell blush.

[noahbody]

As far as the auto industry goes, what Canada and the US should do is make auto purchases tax exempt (i.e. GST or state tax in US) for 2009 only. This would provide an incentive for those who are in the position to buy to buy now. This would give the auto industry needed sales and more importantly help create a positive atmosphere around the economy. Governments should also accelerate the capital cost depreciation for new automobile purchases for a limited time.

Consumer level incentives benefit the consumer, dealer, and manufacturer. Giving money to the top really isn't a stimulus at all. But that's likely what we'll end up doing as the opposition parties are demanding a package like other countries. Sigh.

[TCCK]

"How do we do this you ask? Simple, allow individuals to deduct interest payments from their major investment, their own homes. This will spur the housing industry and provide personal tax reductions which in turn will allow individual consumers to use those additional funds to purchase other consumer goods.

Create a made in Canada policy that eliminates GST from goods produced and purchased in Canada.

Provide tax incentives for the purchase of all green technology produced in Canada."

Great ideas, I would also add a few:

1) Give tax breaks to companies that on their own choose to put in place MAJOR enviromental safety practices and protection systems.

2) Tax breaks to companies that are doing well that continue to hire new employees and invent/patent new creative products that will help the world enviromentally, health, and to change 3rd world countries to be able to sustain themselves. (IE: a device that turns infertile soil fertile and helps plants grow with less water in countries like Ethiopia.)

3) Cut the power of the unions to control companies and force them to waste money on burdensome pensions, benefits that go to far.

4) Some how transfer the aboriginal people from a burden on Canadian society by not working and still collecting a pay check in the form of status indian pay to normal productive Canadian citizens that are fuilly integrated into the country, respected by their fellow Canadians for their input and ideas. (I know not all Aboriginal Canadians are bad unfortunately a majority are.) Settle the land claims, pay for all to goto school for 4 years and cut off the checks from the government. Sorry I do not get free hand outs from the government and I was born here, my family was on the FIRST French settlement boat to Canada so one of the oldest in Canada that is not Aboriginal so why do I not get a free hand out?? (I don't want one either!)

5) Equal representation across the country in Federal Parliament for every area based upon a mix of revenue in tax dollars and population so no one province or territory can have a tilted representation to manipulate national elections.

6) Crack down on crime, and drugs as it causes a major downward spiral for any society that allows it to go unmanaged. (This may include bringing back the unpopular CAPITAL PUNISHMENT to help deter people from them.)

7) Mandate parents are fully responsible for the actions of their kids until the kids are the age of legal adulthood (18 across the country I believe) so the parent swill place boundries and begin to care about what their kids are doing again thus bringing back the parental responsibilty or consequences for raising a juvenile delinquent.

8) Cut the political 1 term so you get a pension for life and make it based on the time you served pays a certain amount.

9) Get rid of the country clubs we have for prisons and make the prisoners learn how to work and be productive members of society and earn the priviledges they now just expect as benefits of being in prison. Do nothing but lift weights, watch TV and play basketball or volleyball all day, get free room and board guaranteed. THAT IS WRONG, why should the hard working tax payers of this country have to pay for their laziness and crappy life choices.

Okay I could go on for another few pages but I will let others contribute some ideas too.

[speaker]

Base every decision whether political, economic, financial, social, or environmental, on sustainability. I don't mean municipal sustainability, everyone knows that cities can't sustain themselves. Or health system sustainability, it doesn't work that way.

Canada is just this patch of ground. Those of us fortunate enough to live on this part of the Earth and can afford all these petty power struggles and squabbles need to be more concerned with keeping our resource base, the forests, farmland, fisheries, water, and energy capabilities in condition that Canadians can be successful.

Priorities are always the determining tools. Do we want that new 72" flat screen so that we can watch more commercials about what we really should be buying next? Phasing ourselves out of the consumer society and into a sustsainable one would be a success in itself.

We have spent so much of the last 60 years trying to not be a resource based economy that we have a hard time recognizing that it is our resources that make us rich. True it is the consumerism that has allowed many of us to spend ourselves into national recession, but is that what is really important?