I see now I have misunderstood and all was said in jest...carry on.. Wait...are we going to hold hands now?...I do not do that (only with Wifey)! ES
@achilles28: Very good list, and I agree. But do you have any solutions to solve these issues, or are we just bitching here?
Bitching. It's more fun Solutions? I got 'em. Fat chance they'll see the light of day. My short list: - Reduce immigration by 75%. Skilled workers only. No refugees. Extend probation time before newcomers can apply for citizenship to 7 years. Dependents can migrate only if workers post bond to cover the anticipated social service cost incurred by each dependent (healthcare, education etc). We can call it, "Pay your own way". Encourage Canadians to have children. Pay a Federal or Provincial stipend to *married couples* that have children (3-4K, per child, per year). Set a new population target of 100 million by 2040. Canada needs to grow and has a tonne of room to do it ! Encourage immigration from nationalities that are underrepresented in the commission of crime, and overrepresented in wages and income. Import talent, not problems. - Institute two-tier healthcare. It's ridiculous well-heeled Canadians (and their wallets) travel abroad to receive priority treatment when those dollars could be kept at home, employing for-profit Canadian doctors, surgeons and diagnostic services. Imagine a MRI in one week, instead of 3 months? This would open up a gigantic new labor market, while taking pressure off the already overtaxed healthcare system and reduce wait times. Also, adopt a flat-fee for doctor visits. Say 20 dollars to discourage the hypochondriacs and abusers who clog up the system. For normal business hours (9am - 7pm), institute a similar fee (say 50 bucks), to discourage emergency room visits for trivial issues (tummy aches, scraped knees, dumb stuff). Eliminate the tyranny and accredit more medical schools to graduate more doctors and surgeons! There's a bottleneck in MD's and surgeons, designed by the CMA, who dictate supply, to keep upward pressure on doctors wages. End it and get more doctors working in the field! - Welfare, housing and foodstamps should be administered at the Provincial level. Not by the Federal Government. Cheaters need to be sussed out, cut off and prosecuted. Liberal use of fraud investigators are needed and stiff penalties imposed as a deterrent. As for welfare, people who can work, should. There shouldn't be any welfare for single mothers. This encourages the wrong types (fatherless families) to procreate. Ideally, only those with a physical disability, severe mental or physical illness, and the elderly should receive support. As for unemployment insurance, seasonal workers (like golf course keepers, construction, fisheries and the like), shouldn't qualify. It's a taxpayer subsidy to seasonal industries, and encourages people who only work half the year, to sit on their butts for 6 months, at our expense. UI should only be temporary. Perhaps 8 weeks max. After that, cut them off. This forces people to look for work, and take jobs, even if they're "beneath them". Part of life. - Taxes need to be cut, dramatically. Gas, Provincial, Federal. No income, corporate, dividend or capital gains tax. In my perfect world, a consumption tax would be nice. Maybe 20%. 5% goes to the Feds. 5% to healthcare. 10% to the provinces. The economy would take off like a fricken rocket. Think Singapore or Hong Kong. A torrent of FDI would flow into the country, and Canadians would invest and start new business at a furious pace. Salaries and benefits for public workers should be indexed to the private sector LESS 20 percent. Job security, low stress, and generous vacation is more than enough compensation for bureaucrats. If they don't like it, they can get a job in the private sector and WORK for a living. Boo hoo. - Eduction. K-12 education should be public voucher, private school. Legalize competition. Let teachers and schools compete for education dollars in parents hands. Excellent schools and teachers are rewarded, under performing schools and teachers are weeded out. Parents decide which school is best for their child, and schools have more freedom to specialize (maths&sciences? the arts and music? grammar and english? athletics?). The quality of education would increase dramatically, curriculum wouldn't be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, gifted children are challenged, those with special needs at the appropriate school etc etc. And think, Teachers wouldn't unionize cause they're in the private sector now! No more holding taxpayers and their children at ransom for 90K a year, 3 months vacay, and a 5 million dollar pension. Sorry, you gotta EARN your keep, bitches. Universities and colleges. Accredit more of them. Like medical schools, a small number of post secondary institutions enjoy a stranglehold on the market and tuitions reflect it. Introduce more competition for student dollars, choice and quality goes up, tuition comes down. - Crime and punishment Re-institute capital punishment for murder. Mandatory "life sentences" should be extended to ~35 years. What Rafferty did to that little girl....Or Pickton? 25 years is a joke. Parole after 8 years for murder, or child rape is disgusting. Eliminate these Justices of the Peace (civil servants who have NO legal or judicial degrees, but take an 8 week course..) who preside over bail hearings and traffic courts. Lets take these jokers to the wood shed. Hire more cops and force departments to redirect funds to detectives who solve actual crimes, than beat cops who write traffic tickets (raise revenue). Decriminalize drugs, legalize prostitution and gambling. This keeps the Government out of our business, and decimates the mafia and gangs empowered by drug criminalization. Crime rates in Portugal dropped 50%, after they decriminalized. Treat non-violent addiction as a mental illness (it is), and not a indictable offense. - Economy. Eliminate the oligopolies and regulatory monopolies (wheat, dairy, chicken, banking, telcom, wirless, tv, insurance etc). They suck lifeblood from consumers to benefit a few vampires at the top who know how to buy regulators. Return mineral and resource rights to Provinces and Land Owners. End all transfer payments. Let provinces stand on their own two feet. We live in the 2nd largest country in the world, with vast natural resources. And "have not" provinces bitch about being poor. There's so much untapped wealth beneath our feet, it's incredible. Start dispositions of Federal and Provincial land. 89% of all land in Canada is owned by the Government - not for sale. This is excessive. Divest all crown corporations. With the elimination of capital gains, income, corporate and dividend tax, growth and prosperity would explode. A resurgence in vertical integration would happen in the resource sector, and reindustrialization all over the Country. This blueprint could be used for America, as well. Same effect.
Sounds like some very good solutions to me. You should be a politician, dont know what your doing here. lol. Very well thought out solutions though.
Thanks. Like another poster mentioned, we've got an entitlement culture up here. Who would vote for me? But you know what? My Moms friends with Tony Clement, a higher up in the ruling Conservative Government. Maybe I'll ask her to email it to him