Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Kirkhill]

Further to my previous...

https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/documents/p81514/138782E.pdf

Western Energy Corridor — Home Page

www.westernenergycorridor.ca

Prince Rupert Port Authority Signs Global Memorandum of Understanding on Multi-Port Multi-Jurisdiction Green Shipping Corridors | Prince Rupert Port Authority

December 6, 2023 The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) signed the Global Memorandum of Understanding on Multi-Port Multi-Jurisdiction Green Shipping

www.rupertport.com

https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/port-of-churchill-charts-new-course/

Manitoba could Become Europe's Weapon Against Russia | Maverick Party

Back in April of 2022, Peter Mackay wrote an article on the port of Churchill titled: “Manitoba could become Europe’s not-so-secret weapon against Russia”. I have been saying for many years in local circles that Western Canada should be making better use of the Port of Churchill, and it is an...

maverickparty.ca

New Canada, Finland, and the United States partnership

Canada, Finland, and the United States have together formed the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact). The ICE Pact recognizes their joint priority of upholding safety and security in the Arctic, including the continued protection of long-standing international rules and norms.

www.pm.gc.ca

A Green Power Corridor from Prince Rupert to Edmonton to Churchill. Rail, Highway, Pipelines, Powerlines. Ships at both ends. Korean built freighters in the Pacific. Finnish designed ice-freighters in the Bay and the Atlantic.

The Grand Twin Track - or the Short Trans-Canada Route.

By-pass Vancouver, T-Bay, Montreal and the St-Lawrence. As well as the US of A.

Still further to....


2300 km corridor (red line in the yellow zone)
From Prince Rupert to Port Nelson
Rich in Hydro Dams, Uranium Mines, Oil Sands and Natural Gas

7-10 days from Port Nelson or Churchill to the LNG terminals at Milford Haven in Wales
7-10 days from Prince Rupert to the LNG terminals at Hakodate in Japan and Busan in S. Korea.

And nobody home.

Great place for servers for search engines too.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Devils Advocate here - are we this because of the fate of geographically - both in terms of what bounties our land holds and based on the fact that we have in essence 1 and only 1 neighbour who has been 'like' us cultural, religiously and ethnically since the very beginning - and NOT based our on ability to achieve anything really remarkably?

I look at a country like Holland - tiny in size, lacking in alot of natural resources, surrounded in the past with many many larger rivals, population about the size of Ontario - and I ask myself, why do they have sooo many internationally recognized business and a standard of living at a minimum on par with ours and we dont' have even more than we do? Why are we Canadians still 'drawers of water and hewers of wood'?

Colonial mindset since our inception.

We were always tending and harvesting our orchard for some other landowner: French, British, and eventually, American.

With that, we had no desire to innovate, increase yield, and relied on someone else to defend the crops.

Until we believe we are an economic powerhouse that is made to compete, we are left to augment others; as we have for centuries

 

[IKnowNothing]

The CPPIB is one of the best run sovereign pension funds in the world. By increasing the salary contribution threshold it takes the lack of planning/foresight out of the hands of those less able to manage their retirement and allows of the better financial situation that they end up being in when they hit 65yrs of age.

Sure it is. But the earners who are making enough to "benefit" from the higher threshold don't need it, and it forcing a higher match on employers would be a drag on the economy. It's a solution looking for a problem.

OAS is 'funded' through the general tax revenue that the Federal Government receives each year. By reducing that payout, it would allow for the Federal Government to reduce the amount of tax required in order to generate the 68$ billion in 2022 it costs to fund it.

Agreed- OAS clawback thresholds (both initial and final) should be lowered significantly. We could save a lot of money by giving welfare to only those retirees that need it.

 

[Kirkhill]

Sure it is. But the earners who are making enough to "benefit" from the higher threshold don't need it, and it forcing a higher match on employers would be a drag on the economy. It's a solution looking for a problem.

Agreed- OAS clawback thresholds (both initial and final) should be lowered significantly. We could save a lot of money by giving welfare to only those retirees that need it.

If we're going to continue nattering about government money can I get my EI contributions back. 50 years worth with no draw plus interest.

And am I really getting value for my money from DND?

 

[dimsum]

If we're going to continue nattering about government money can I get my EI contributions back. 50 years worth with no draw plus interest.

And am I really getting value for my money from DND?

I mean, I don’t like to pay for fire and EMS services, until I need them. Then I’m glad I do.

That’s my take on DND.

 

[Kirkhill]

I mean, I don’t like to pay for fire and EMS services, until I need them. Then I’m glad I do.

That’s my take on DND.

Is the overhead justified?
What is the serviceability rate like?
What is the call out rate like?

I support an armed force. But if we are going to start rejigging finance and social contracts then I want everything on the table.

 

[Kirkhill]

Or we can solve our problems by finding more money from the sale of our resources to willing buyers.

 

[IKnowNothing]

If we're going to continue nattering about government money can I get my EI contributions back. 50 years worth with no draw plus interest.

Completely unrelated- it's quite literally an insurance policy that you were fortunate (though we all influence our own luck) enough to never have to make a claim against.

OAS is welfare.

 

[QV]

Or we can solve our problems by finding more money from the sale of our resources to willing buyers.

Ding ding ding!! We have found the solution!

 

[IKnowNothing]

Ding ding ding!! We have found the solution!

Tax and spend on wasteful social programs? Justin? is that you?

 

[dimsum]

Is the overhead justified?
What is the serviceability rate like?
What is the call out rate like?

I support an armed force. But if we are going to start rejigging finance and social contracts then I want everything on the table.

I don’t follow the “callout rate”. Do you mean how many times we go on operations?

I’m not sure that the CAF should go in operations just to justify its existence in a metric.

And as for serviceability, part of that is the lack of budget for parts, etc. So if you’re saying “less serviceability = less need to fund it” then I think it’s backwards. Less funds = less serviceability.

…and here I thought that the 1980s / 1990s model of treating the CAF like a business was debunked during Afghanistan…

 

[George Wallace]

Agreed- OAS clawback thresholds (both initial and final) should be lowered significantly. We could save a lot of money by giving welfare to only those retirees that need it.

There is no OAS Clawback. It is a cessation of the "Bridge Payment" once you begin OAS. The "Bridge Payment" is a "luxury" that the majority of Canadians are not entitled too. In most cases, when the "Bridge Payment" ends and OAS begins, you are getting slightly more. There are rare cases where someone may get less.

Bridge benefit - Plan information - Retired member - Canadian Armed Forces pensions - Canada.ca

Pension benefits available to members upon retirement.

www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

 

[IKnowNothing]

There is no OAS Clawback. It is a cessation of the "Bridge Payment" once you begin OAS. The "Bridge Payment" is a "luxury" that the majority of Canadians are not entitled too. In most cases, when the "Bridge Payment" ends and OAS begins, you are getting slightly more. There are rare cases where someone may get less.

Clawback is an accepted colloquial term for the OAS Recovery Tax, which is currently 15% starting at the outrageously high personal (not household) income of $90,997.

 

[Remius]

I mean, I don’t like to pay for fire and EMS services, until I need them. Then I’m glad I do.

That’s my take on DND.

In fairness he asked if he’s getting value for money.

I don’t think we as Canadians get much value for what we spend on the CAF. Most of our budget goes to pay and benefits and not on capabilities…

 

[George Wallace]

Clawback is an accepted colloquial term for the OAS Recovery Tax, which is currently 15% starting at the outrageously high personal (not household) income of $90,997.

AH! You learn something new every day........Damn Taxman!

Old Age Security pension recovery tax - Canada.ca

 

[dimsum]

In fairness he asked if he’s getting value for money.

I don’t think we as Canadians get much value for what we spend on the CAF. Most of our budget goes to pay and benefits and not on capabilities…

Fair.

But that is a bit of a chicken/egg thing. If we don’t pay people enough, they don’t join. We can have all of the gear in the world but it’s pointless if people aren’t there to use them.

So if we have all of the physical (gear) capabilities and not enough people, I’d argue that’s even less value for money. And instead of adding to the budget, we cut bait?

 

[Furniture]

In fairness he asked if he’s getting value for money.

I don’t think we as Canadians get much value for what we spend on the CAF. Most of our budget goes to pay and benefits and not on capabilities…

I've said it many times before, the only reason pay and benefits take up so much budget is because they can't easily be cut.

If we cut pers and benefits, the money wouldn't go to capabilities, it would fo to free daycare for left handed Pastafarians born on a Tuesday, or some other special interest social programme.

 

[Remius]

Fair.

But that is a bit of a chicken/egg thing. If we don’t pay people enough, they don’t join. We can have all of the gear in the world but it’s pointless if people aren’t there to use them.

So if we have all of the physical (gear) capabilities and not enough people, I’d argue that’s even less value for money. And instead of adding to the budget, we cut bait?

We are one of the best paid forces in the world and we can barely deploy 3000 troops consistently without it nearly breaking us. And how many of those are the pointy end guys? How many are being paid to actually do military things? How many can we actually deploy?

Re-role and transfer funds.

 

[Remius]

I've said it many times before, the only reason pay and benefits take up so much budget is because they can't easily be cut.

If we cut pers and benefits, the money wouldn't go to capabilities, it would fo to free daycare for left handed Pastafarians born on a Tuesday, or some other special interest social programme.

Doesn’t change the value for money issue though.

 

[Furniture]

Doesn’t change the value for money issue though.

It doesn't when you need the people... kit can be bought/borrowed, expertise can't.