Argus Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 The problem lies on both sides - Unions for demanding too much - and government for giving in for political expediency. What's the result? Relatively secure jobs with top notch benefits and pensions should have moderated wages to be no more than equal to the private sector but in reality, a bit less. Employer groups like the Canadian Federation of Business like to make sweeping comparisons between the public and private sector. But they ignore the fact the private sector includes a lot of no-skill, minimum wage jobs which drag down the overall income and benefit levels. The federal public service most certainly does NOT have top notch benefits. Many of the larger private sector groups do quite a bit better, and of course, no one has benefits which are the equal of MPs. We've got wages that are for the most part higher than the private sector - and benefits and job security that exceed the private sector. If you compare actual jobs you'll find they're really not much different, bearing in mind the comparison should be between two similar unionized jobs which require the same skills with large employers. Of course, that's not the type of comparison business generally like to make. What you'd find out is that at the lower end public workers tend to make more, and at the medium/upper end they tend to make less. It's simply time for a correction - long overdue actually. Do you think the Unions will play ball? Maybe if the government phrases it properly, and says, "You see, we slashed taxes for rich corporations by billions and bilions and billios of dollars, so we need to make some of that up by cutting your health care benefits. That's okay, right?" It takes courage to take on the Unions - it's not a vote-getter. Uh, if there is one thing the Harper government is most definitely NOT known for, it's courage. Taking on the unions is not courageous for them. Their red-meat base loves to have them bash 'lazy, overpaid' public servants. They'll be delighted. That's why the Tories are doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 I love how the left just loves mentioning that gazebo, but yet had no problem with the taxpayer putting in a million dollar fountain in chetien's home town. The left can be so funny at times. lol Here's the funny thing about that. I had problems with the fountain AND the gazebo. How about you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 more of your made-up bull-shyte, hey PIK! Try $200K associated with a development grant for that fountain... if you'd really like to have a tit-for-tat go at pork-barrelling from that Harper Conservative "G8 Legacy Fund", Clement's gazebo is nuthin! Try the $1.2 million that found its way to Baysville for "downtown revitalization".... hey PIK, what did that have to do with the G8 and border security? To be honest, there is no real comparison between the vast amount of money Chretien gifted to his riding and anything Clement or any other Tory has done in terms of sheer bold, crass, in your face patronag. You know, one of Canada Revenu's biggest tax processing centers is in ... Shawinigan. Guess why it's in such an out of the way place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldo Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 To be honest, there is no real comparison between the vast amount of money Chretien gifted to his riding and anything Clement or any other Tory has done in terms of sheer bold, crass, in your face patronag. You know, one of Canada Revenu's biggest tax processing centers is in ... Shawinigan. Guess why it's in such an out of the way place. pork-barrel diversification? In any case, it's always heartening to read Harper Conservative supporters never taking accountability for their favoured party... and for continually rationalizing actions/behaviours on perceived actions (rightfully or wrongfully) of prior (Liberal) governments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 Getting people into the skilled trades is the best way to lower unemployment. The US is already focusing on these STEM jobs.The trades are not STEM fields. STEM is the sciences, particularly R&D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 To be honest, there is no real comparison between the vast amount of money Chretien gifted to his riding and anything Clement or any other Tory has done in terms of sheer bold, crass, in your face patronag.So is that the benchmark now? We take something that happened 20 years ago and when patronage and pork-barreling doesn't quite match it, we just shrug our shoulders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 The trades are not STEM fields. STEM is the sciences, particularly R&D. False...STEM jobs include many technical trade jobs, like CNC machine operator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topaz Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 Those E- cigs, I rather have people smoke those than the real stuff but the tobacco lobby is probably behind trying to get rid of the E-cigs. I think sometime down the road the feds will ban tobacco when so many people have quit and not much profit and more health expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimG Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 (edited) I think sometime down the road the feds will ban tobacco when so many people have quit and not much profit and more health expense.Is that because bans have worked so well for drugs? Also the conspiracy theories are not helpful unless you argue that the WHO is the pawn of tobacco companies: The World Health Organization (WHO) states that as of July 2013, the efficacy in using electronic cigarettes to aid in smoking cessation has not been demonstrated scientifically. They recommend that "consumers should be strongly advised not to use" electronic cigarettes until a reputable national regulatory body has found them safe and effective.If e-cigs are effective the scientific evidence will come. It is just not there yet so governments are right to be cautious. Edited February 12, 2014 by TimG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 Those E- cigs, I rather have people smoke those than the real stuff but the tobacco lobby is probably behind trying to get rid of the E-cigs. I think sometime down the road the feds will ban tobacco when so many people have quit and not much profit and more health expense. If the tobacco lobby was behind it, why can you simply go to a kiosk in the US and buy the nicotine version? Isn't the US all about the big business? It's about tax revenue, pure and simple. It's like with alcohol, governments raise alcohol taxes because they want to peddle the lie of "social responsibility" but continue to allow alcohol to be marketed to people. BTW not everyone that consumes tobacco is addicted to it, so no banning tobacco would not be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
On Guard for Thee Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 What I'm getting a big chuckle out of todays is that I can imagine that as I type Harper is taking Flaherty to the woodshed after the latter strayed so far from his talking point with regard to "income splitting" If you happenned to tune into QP today I think you'll agree you've never seen Harper spend so much timne on his feet, while our finance minister spent the time sitting on his hands, the day after a budget speech. Read the tea leaves on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 So is that the benchmark now? We take something that happened 20 years ago and when patronage and pork-barreling doesn't quite match it, we just shrug our shoulders? I wasn't the one who raised the comparison. And fyi I can't stand Clement and never could. I regard him as the epitome of the sleazy political weasel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 I wasn't the one who raised the comparison. And fyi I can't stand Clement and never could. I regard him as the epitome of the sleazy political weasel.Worse than Fantino or sycophants like Poilievre and Alexander? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacee Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 I love how the left just loves mentioning that gazebo, but yet had no problem with the taxpayer putting in a million dollar fountain in chetien's home town. The left can be so funny at times. lol And you wish Harper to be like the Liberals? Aspire higher! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
On Guard for Thee Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 We have all seen scenarios where politicians shoot themselves in the foot. Now Harper and Flaherty have shown us how they can shoot each other in the foot. Ain't politics fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 Worse than Fantino or sycophants like Poilievre and Alexander? Comparisons to Fantino are difficult. Clement is a lot smarter than Fantino, but then, who isn't? I see Clement as more generally mean spirited and nasty than Fantino, while Fantino comes across as a blundering oaf who only targets those who disagree with him. If you just ignore Fantino, he'll ignore you. But Clement will seek you out to attack you if he thinks he can gain anything from it. Poilievre is a yappy poodle eager to get his master's attention and, like all the other Ottawa area conservatives (including Baird), will probably be out of office next election. Alexander hasn't made himself known to me one way or another for good or bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConcernedCitizen Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 Tony Clement makes my flesh crawl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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