TooLong
ReadAnywayVille
One of the last of the single shingle bloggers from the original American Left Blogistan, and a spawn of the late, great Steve Gilliard, Driftglass, has something important to say about where he and his fellow liberals are 12 years after the re-election of post-Iraq invasionist, Bush the Younger:
...(T)welve years later, we who have been right about the Right all along have no need to apologize or explain ourselves to anyone. We have earned our Bachelor's and PhD's in "Dead Wrong All Along" Wingnut studies the hard way, grinding it out, doing our homework, reading and writing day after day, year after year. And we know from bitter experience that it is not enough for the Republican candidate to be profoundly unqualified, or for him to sh*t himself in public over and over again. We know that the Right really are a basket of deplorables who are beyond the power to reason or civic redemption. We know from bitter experience that the media -- who should have been reporting the Right's descent into madness with escalating alarm every day over the last twelve years -- have abandoned their posts and sold us out for money and ratings.
Once again we find the only thing we can count on is each other. Getting the unregistered to get registered. Getting the souls to the polls.
Once again, it falls to the dirty hippies to help protect America from its worst impulses and ugliest demagogues...
And if we Canuckistanians of a certain persuasion think were are safe from this scourge and/or the good Mr. O'Leary for now and forever in the wake of our temporary rush to the center to elect Trudeau the Younger, do not forget that his reign (like that of that other pseudo-centrist Barry O) will someday end.
OK?
.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Why Anyone Who Cares About Democracy Should Be Listening To Cathy O'Neil
SmartPeopleStillCount
MaybeNowMoreThanEverVille
From Ms. O'Neil's recent interview with Jacobin about her book 'Weapons Of Math Destruction, How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threaten's Democracy':
"...I wrote the book because I think there is considerable harm being done by destructive algorithms, and as a mathematician I’m in a unique position to explain those harms. I worked as a hedge fund quant during the 2008 financial crisis and as a data scientist at the height of the big data revolution. So I have been living behind the scenes, and I know how this stuff works.
At the same time, I’m an occupier. I joined Occupy in October 2011, forming and facilitating the alternative banking group, which has met weekly at Columbia University since then. Our weekly discussions have established a lens through which I’ve learned to examine the world, especially as it connects to money and power.
So now when I come across an automated decision-making system, I always wonder who is benefiting from that system, and who is suffering. And the conclusion I keep coming to when considering systems that rely on algorithms, is that poor people, black and brown people, and the mentally ill are consistently being shut out by these algorithmic black-box structures..."
Ms. O'Neil's thoughts regularly appear over on left side-bar under the title of her blog 'Math Babe'.
It's stuff well worth paying attention to.
_______
And, just in case you missed it, Ms. O'Neil's book is a best-seller with a bullet in....Canada.
.
MaybeNowMoreThanEverVille
From Ms. O'Neil's recent interview with Jacobin about her book 'Weapons Of Math Destruction, How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threaten's Democracy':
"...I wrote the book because I think there is considerable harm being done by destructive algorithms, and as a mathematician I’m in a unique position to explain those harms. I worked as a hedge fund quant during the 2008 financial crisis and as a data scientist at the height of the big data revolution. So I have been living behind the scenes, and I know how this stuff works.
At the same time, I’m an occupier. I joined Occupy in October 2011, forming and facilitating the alternative banking group, which has met weekly at Columbia University since then. Our weekly discussions have established a lens through which I’ve learned to examine the world, especially as it connects to money and power.
So now when I come across an automated decision-making system, I always wonder who is benefiting from that system, and who is suffering. And the conclusion I keep coming to when considering systems that rely on algorithms, is that poor people, black and brown people, and the mentally ill are consistently being shut out by these algorithmic black-box structures..."
Ms. O'Neil's thoughts regularly appear over on left side-bar under the title of her blog 'Math Babe'.
It's stuff well worth paying attention to.
_______
And, just in case you missed it, Ms. O'Neil's book is a best-seller with a bullet in....Canada.
.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Harvey And Barry O Both Go Full Metal Union.
MindMeldsAndTheStrangenessOf
BedfellowsVille
From Mr. Oberfeld's blog:
...I found Obama was at his intellectual best (during his speech to the UN General Assembly) in recognizing and dissecting a bigger world-wide problem … the growing dissatisfaction by workers in MANY developed nations with globalization of trade … and the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us...
{snip}
...“I do believe there’s another path — one that fuels growth and innovation, and offers the clearest route to individual opportunity and national success. It does not require succumbing to a soulless capitalism that benefits only the few, but rather recognizes that economies are more successful when we close the gap between rich and poor, and growth is broadly based.
“And that means respecting the rights of workers so they can organize into independent unions and earn a living wage. It means investing in our people — their skills, their education, their capacity to take an idea and turn it into a business. It means strengthening the safety net that protects our people from hardship and allows them to take more risks — to look for a new job, or start a new venture.”...
Imagine that!
.
BedfellowsVille
From Mr. Oberfeld's blog:
...I found Obama was at his intellectual best (during his speech to the UN General Assembly) in recognizing and dissecting a bigger world-wide problem … the growing dissatisfaction by workers in MANY developed nations with globalization of trade … and the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us...
{snip}
...“I do believe there’s another path — one that fuels growth and innovation, and offers the clearest route to individual opportunity and national success. It does not require succumbing to a soulless capitalism that benefits only the few, but rather recognizes that economies are more successful when we close the gap between rich and poor, and growth is broadly based.
“And that means respecting the rights of workers so they can organize into independent unions and earn a living wage. It means investing in our people — their skills, their education, their capacity to take an idea and turn it into a business. It means strengthening the safety net that protects our people from hardship and allows them to take more risks — to look for a new job, or start a new venture.”...
Imagine that!
.
Monday, September 19, 2016
This Election Year In Clarkland...The Double Gouge.
DoubleDoubleToilAnd
HiddenTaxationTroubleVille
On the weekend we noted that the egregious gouging of the British Columbian citizenry via the regressive MSP premium will account for direct revenues of 2.5 billion dollars this fiscal year.
Which, of course, is more than the entire BCLiberal 'surplus'.
Which is bad enough given how regressively this money is collected from the citizenry, even with the so-called recent 'fixes'.
But then an Anon-O-Mouse chimed in with the following in the comments:
...$2.5 billion does not represent the total take of the government resulting from charging MSP premiums. Regardless of whether that $2.5 billion is paid by individuals or by their business or employer, that represents real dollars into the treasury.
This is an assumption:
If 50 percent of individuals have their MSP premiums paid by their business or employer, 50 percent of the $2.5 billion appears as a taxable benefit on their T4-slips. The amounts appearing on T4-slips equals $1.25 billion.
Now MSP premiums paid on behalf of an individual is a taxable benefit and income tax is paid at the highest marginal tax rate by that individual. Assuming an average British Columbia marginal tax on net income for affected individuals as 15 percent, 15% of $1.25 billion is paid as income tax to the provincial government. That equals $187 million in additional government revenue totaling $2.6875 billion. I doubt the income tax generated from MSP as a taxable benefit is segregated as MSP revenue. For affected individuals, this is double taxation...
Gosh, that extra $187 million further gouged out of the backs of the citizenry sure does sound 'complicated', does it not?
Well, given that...
Where did I hear our fine Premier tell us how it is so very difficult to scrap the regressive MSP premium because everything associated with it is just so darned 'complicated'?
Ah, yes, I remember now.
It was in a conversation Ms. Clark had with the Dean of the Legislative Press Gallery back in ancient times as far as BCLiberal party policy goes (i.e. it was in August of this year):
...“The things that I said (before about MSP premiums), I still believe them,” she told me during an interview on Voice of B.C. on Shaw TV Thursday. “It’s not progressive. It’s complicated. And it’s another burden that we put on families.”
Then the caveat: “Unfortunately, it’s turned out to be a very complicated thing to try and change, which I guess is why no government has ever done it or never really tried.”...
Now.
Leaving aside that Clarklandian guess about why no 'government' (without the term 'BC Liberal' in front of it) has done anything either fair or equitable, what, exactly, is that 'complicated' stuff all about, anyway?
Shall we head back to the Dean's chambers to see if our fine Premier can give us a word salad-addled hint:
...(A)s Clark noted, one of the challenges here in B.C. is that many working people don’t actually pay them. Rather, premiums are paid by their employers as part of labour contracts or other terms of employment, albeit as a taxable benefit.
“This is one of the complications,” said the premier. “You’re talking about large employers. If we were to roll all of it into the tax system, none of those large employers would pay anymore.”...
Oh boy.
Even when she almost kinda/sorta tells the truth the good Ms. Clark can't quite bring herself to say (or see?) that it is the average Joe and/or Jill that is really getting screwed.
Families first!
_______
And how much might the double gouge cost the average Jack or Jill?...Norm Farrell chimed in with the following in the comments: "For people who have employers paying half the cost of family medical coverage, the result may be up to $432 a year in extra income tax."
.
HiddenTaxationTroubleVille
On the weekend we noted that the egregious gouging of the British Columbian citizenry via the regressive MSP premium will account for direct revenues of 2.5 billion dollars this fiscal year.
Which, of course, is more than the entire BCLiberal 'surplus'.
Which is bad enough given how regressively this money is collected from the citizenry, even with the so-called recent 'fixes'.
But then an Anon-O-Mouse chimed in with the following in the comments:
...$2.5 billion does not represent the total take of the government resulting from charging MSP premiums. Regardless of whether that $2.5 billion is paid by individuals or by their business or employer, that represents real dollars into the treasury.
This is an assumption:
If 50 percent of individuals have their MSP premiums paid by their business or employer, 50 percent of the $2.5 billion appears as a taxable benefit on their T4-slips. The amounts appearing on T4-slips equals $1.25 billion.
Now MSP premiums paid on behalf of an individual is a taxable benefit and income tax is paid at the highest marginal tax rate by that individual. Assuming an average British Columbia marginal tax on net income for affected individuals as 15 percent, 15% of $1.25 billion is paid as income tax to the provincial government. That equals $187 million in additional government revenue totaling $2.6875 billion. I doubt the income tax generated from MSP as a taxable benefit is segregated as MSP revenue. For affected individuals, this is double taxation...
Gosh, that extra $187 million further gouged out of the backs of the citizenry sure does sound 'complicated', does it not?
Well, given that...
Where did I hear our fine Premier tell us how it is so very difficult to scrap the regressive MSP premium because everything associated with it is just so darned 'complicated'?
Ah, yes, I remember now.
It was in a conversation Ms. Clark had with the Dean of the Legislative Press Gallery back in ancient times as far as BCLiberal party policy goes (i.e. it was in August of this year):
...“The things that I said (before about MSP premiums), I still believe them,” she told me during an interview on Voice of B.C. on Shaw TV Thursday. “It’s not progressive. It’s complicated. And it’s another burden that we put on families.”
Then the caveat: “Unfortunately, it’s turned out to be a very complicated thing to try and change, which I guess is why no government has ever done it or never really tried.”...
Now.
Leaving aside that Clarklandian guess about why no 'government' (without the term 'BC Liberal' in front of it) has done anything either fair or equitable, what, exactly, is that 'complicated' stuff all about, anyway?
Shall we head back to the Dean's chambers to see if our fine Premier can give us a word salad-addled hint:
...(A)s Clark noted, one of the challenges here in B.C. is that many working people don’t actually pay them. Rather, premiums are paid by their employers as part of labour contracts or other terms of employment, albeit as a taxable benefit.
“This is one of the complications,” said the premier. “You’re talking about large employers. If we were to roll all of it into the tax system, none of those large employers would pay anymore.”...
Oh boy.
Even when she almost kinda/sorta tells the truth the good Ms. Clark can't quite bring herself to say (or see?) that it is the average Joe and/or Jill that is really getting screwed.
Families first!
_______
And how much might the double gouge cost the average Jack or Jill?...Norm Farrell chimed in with the following in the comments: "For people who have employers paying half the cost of family medical coverage, the result may be up to $432 a year in extra income tax."
.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
This Sunday In Clarkland...The Factinator.
ConsiderThe
(Real)SourceVille
Looks like our fine Premier, who is scared to get her clock cleaned, again, by David Eby in Vancouver Point Grey next May, has decided to play fast and loose with the latest developments in Real Estate Bubble Town.
Emily Lazatin of CKNW has the story about how Ms. Clark is Winnie-The-Pooh-Poohing the fact that Mr. Eby recently demonstrated that there are 'students' with big Canadian bank-backed mortgages who own multi-million dollar homes in Point Grey:
...“You know I also question the facts (Clark said), you (sic) got to question the source a little bit there. So, I don’t know if the fact (sic) are correct.”...
Oh ya?
And when, exactly, did Ms. Clark stop stiffing her West Kelowna sommelier?
If you get my drift.
Sheesh.
______
As Bob Mackin points out on the Twittmachine, Mr. Eby's documentation-backed 'facts' came straight outta Ms. Clark's Compton (a.k.a. the Land Title and Survey Authority)....Double sheesh.
.
(Real)SourceVille
Looks like our fine Premier, who is scared to get her clock cleaned, again, by David Eby in Vancouver Point Grey next May, has decided to play fast and loose with the latest developments in Real Estate Bubble Town.
Emily Lazatin of CKNW has the story about how Ms. Clark is Winnie-The-Pooh-Poohing the fact that Mr. Eby recently demonstrated that there are 'students' with big Canadian bank-backed mortgages who own multi-million dollar homes in Point Grey:
...“You know I also question the facts (Clark said), you (sic) got to question the source a little bit there. So, I don’t know if the fact (sic) are correct.”...
Oh ya?
And when, exactly, did Ms. Clark stop stiffing her West Kelowna sommelier?
If you get my drift.
Sheesh.
______
As Bob Mackin points out on the Twittmachine, Mr. Eby's documentation-backed 'facts' came straight outta Ms. Clark's Compton (a.k.a. the Land Title and Survey Authority)....Double sheesh.
.
Are Liar Loans Helping Inflate The Vancouver Real Estate Bubble?
It'sAnAsset-Driven
WorldVille
A Joanne Lee-Young piece in Postmedia suggests that might be the case. Here is her lede:
The prospective buyers of a $2.46 million Richmond home put down a $120,000 deposit. When they were turned down at three major national banks for financing to complete the deal, an employee at RBC Royal Bank of Canada and a real estate agent at Richmond-based Metro Edge Realty advised them to exaggerate and/or fake assets in China in order to qualify for a mortgage here, according to a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court. None of the allegations in the claim have been proven in court...
The real estate company concerned has denied each and every allegation.
The bank concerned has declined comment.
It will be most interesting to find out what comes out in court.
.
WorldVille
A Joanne Lee-Young piece in Postmedia suggests that might be the case. Here is her lede:
The prospective buyers of a $2.46 million Richmond home put down a $120,000 deposit. When they were turned down at three major national banks for financing to complete the deal, an employee at RBC Royal Bank of Canada and a real estate agent at Richmond-based Metro Edge Realty advised them to exaggerate and/or fake assets in China in order to qualify for a mortgage here, according to a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court. None of the allegations in the claim have been proven in court...
The real estate company concerned has denied each and every allegation.
The bank concerned has declined comment.
It will be most interesting to find out what comes out in court.
.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Stop The Presses...The Felice Brothers Are Coming!
They're in Toronto tonight at the Horseshoe.
And they'll be in Lotusland Friday night Oct 14th.
Get your tickets now!
_________
And the bonus when they get to the Cobalt in Vancouver?....The opener is Aaron Lee Tasjan...Me thinks the stars just may be aligning for thee and me.
.
This Fiscal Year In Clarkland: You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two...
...To Bring In $2.5 Billion Dollars.
Never mind that 4 percent MSP increase removal for 2017 thingy that the Clarklandians have bamboozled the Lotuslandian proMedia into focussing on over the past few news cycles (Ooooooh! Look! Shiny!!!)...
Because Dermod Travis of Integrity BC has instead noted the fee-for service gouging that has been going on during the entirety of the years of Clarklandia:
Moving out from individuals to the entirety of the British Columbian citizenry, the prediction by Cookie Dough Mike and his minions is that MSP will bring in a collectively regressive $2,549,000,000 this fiscal year (see pg 127).
Now....
First: No other government in Canada hauls in money in this completely non-progressive way.
Second: Take away that $2.5B gouge/regressive pretend-it's-not-a-tax and Cookie Dough's new prediction of a $1.9B surplus is completely gone.
Assuming, of course, I still know how to do the new anti-Clarklandian math which is based on fee-for-service subtraction.
So.
Given all that, should we be surprised that the good Ms. Clark is suddenly running around (again) saying that she is going to reform things (for absolute sure this time) because she says "I really don't like the way MSP works."
And, even more so, should we be surprised that proMedia organs like the CBC play this codswallop straight-up?
Sheesh.
_______
For those not from BC, those premiums above are monthly...Annual fees are $900 for individuals and $1,800 for families.
.
This Weekend In Clarkland...The Heartlessness Of Cookie Dough Mike.
TheTrueMeasureOf
ASocietyVille
The Clarklandian Finance Minister on why he and his leader (and, presumably, their patrons who pay for all that they do) forced the bus pass claw back on our fellow citizens who need our help most:
“They’re exercising a new-found freedom and choice that heretofore didn’t exist,” de Jong said. “So that was the whole purpose of the exercise: to give people choice.”
I mean, even the Tin Man...
______
Tip-O-The-Toque to Laila Yuile on the Twittmachine.
And, I for one, couldn't help but note how the proMedia 'round here focused almost exclusively on the 10% of the folks who need our help chose food over their bus pass...Why?...Because that means that 90% made the 'choice' to do the opposite...Think about that flip-side for a minute.
Quote is from Bob Mackin's piece in BIV.
.
ASocietyVille
The Clarklandian Finance Minister on why he and his leader (and, presumably, their patrons who pay for all that they do) forced the bus pass claw back on our fellow citizens who need our help most:
“They’re exercising a new-found freedom and choice that heretofore didn’t exist,” de Jong said. “So that was the whole purpose of the exercise: to give people choice.”
I mean, even the Tin Man...
______
Tip-O-The-Toque to Laila Yuile on the Twittmachine.
And, I for one, couldn't help but note how the proMedia 'round here focused almost exclusively on the 10% of the folks who need our help chose food over their bus pass...Why?...Because that means that 90% made the 'choice' to do the opposite...Think about that flip-side for a minute.
Quote is from Bob Mackin's piece in BIV.
.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Who Might Be Helping To Fold All That The Vancouver Real Estate Laundry?
FollowThe
YouKnowWhatVille
Following up on the discussion we had yesterday about who might benefit from any and all laundering 'round here, Sam Cooper of Postmedia has been good enough to delve into this a little more in his latest piece:
...In a new report, the Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based intergovernmental group that makes recommendations for fighting money laundering, said Canada has improved standards since the agency’s last evaluation in 2007. But “law enforcement results are not commensurate with the money laundering risk, and asset recovery is low."...
{snip}
...A major theme of the agency’s report is that compared to other countries, Canada is at significant risk for money laundering because in 2015 Canadian lawyers won a Supreme Court case exempting them from financial reporting rules that professionals such as bankers and realtors must follow. The constitutional challenge was launched by lawyers in B.C., using client confidentiality arguments.
The agency report suggests that money laundering in real estate and services provided by lawyers, such as creating investment vehicles that can shield true ownership of property, go hand-in-hand...
Gosh.
Say it ain't so Sam.
Say it ain't so.
.
YouKnowWhatVille
Following up on the discussion we had yesterday about who might benefit from any and all laundering 'round here, Sam Cooper of Postmedia has been good enough to delve into this a little more in his latest piece:
...In a new report, the Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based intergovernmental group that makes recommendations for fighting money laundering, said Canada has improved standards since the agency’s last evaluation in 2007. But “law enforcement results are not commensurate with the money laundering risk, and asset recovery is low."...
{snip}
...A major theme of the agency’s report is that compared to other countries, Canada is at significant risk for money laundering because in 2015 Canadian lawyers won a Supreme Court case exempting them from financial reporting rules that professionals such as bankers and realtors must follow. The constitutional challenge was launched by lawyers in B.C., using client confidentiality arguments.
The agency report suggests that money laundering in real estate and services provided by lawyers, such as creating investment vehicles that can shield true ownership of property, go hand-in-hand...
Gosh.
Say it ain't so Sam.
Say it ain't so.
.
This Day In Clarkland....Thirty-Six Dollars.
HeyRubes!
LookOverHereVille
The following is lifted straight from Finance minister's latest bit of PAB-Botian puff-fluffery:
...Higher revenues also mean the B.C. government is cancelling the planned 4% increase to MSP premiums, and those eligible for Regular Premium Assistance will see a 4% reduction of their premium beyond what was announced with Budget 2016. Cancelling the January 2017 premium increase and keeping regular MSP premiums at 2016 levels will save adults up to $36 per year...
Hmmmmm....
A temporary reduction on the already ridiculously egregious?
Gosh.
How did that Clarklandian gambit, pre-election 2013, ultimately work out for theRubes....errrr....fine upstanding citizens who are forced to use the ice-bomb bridge everyday, especially for those who are late with their 'payments'?
.
LookOverHereVille
The following is lifted straight from Finance minister's latest bit of PAB-Botian puff-fluffery:
...Higher revenues also mean the B.C. government is cancelling the planned 4% increase to MSP premiums, and those eligible for Regular Premium Assistance will see a 4% reduction of their premium beyond what was announced with Budget 2016. Cancelling the January 2017 premium increase and keeping regular MSP premiums at 2016 levels will save adults up to $36 per year...
Hmmmmm....
A temporary reduction on the already ridiculously egregious?
Gosh.
How did that Clarklandian gambit, pre-election 2013, ultimately work out for the
.
My Morning Ride...
AboundVille
Noticed this morning....
Riley Park sure is looking park-like these days.
______
30th and Ontario, across the street from Nat Bailey and Hillcrest pool.
.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
When You Do A Whole Lot Of Laundry Aren't You Going To Make Bubbles?
LetAThousandSpotlights
ShineVille
Regarding the Lotuslandian RealEstate situation, it sure is amazing what a little concerted shining of light into the corners of a real story by the proMedia can do, eh?
And three of the carriers of the biggest flashlights have been Ian Young of the SCMP, Kathy Tomlinson of the Globe and Sam Cooper of Postmedia.
Yesterday, in the wake of the latest revelations, Mr. Cooper had this to say on the Twittmachine:
Now that is some bombshell if Mr. Cooper has the documentary evidence to back it up (and so far, he always has had the goods).
But then, downthread, in response to a conversation with a guy that is not me, Mr. Cooper went one step further:
So.
I guess the real question is...
If this is really the case, why has no one been held to account?
Or, put another way...
Who benefits from such a lack of accounting?
_________
And, just to be clear, it's not just proMedia members who have been carrying the high wattage flashlights...
.
ShineVille
Regarding the Lotuslandian RealEstate situation, it sure is amazing what a little concerted shining of light into the corners of a real story by the proMedia can do, eh?
And three of the carriers of the biggest flashlights have been Ian Young of the SCMP, Kathy Tomlinson of the Globe and Sam Cooper of Postmedia.
Yesterday, in the wake of the latest revelations, Mr. Cooper had this to say on the Twittmachine:
Now that is some bombshell if Mr. Cooper has the documentary evidence to back it up (and so far, he always has had the goods).
But then, downthread, in response to a conversation with a guy that is not me, Mr. Cooper went one step further:
So.
I guess the real question is...
If this is really the case, why has no one been held to account?
Or, put another way...
Who benefits from such a lack of accounting?
_________
And, just to be clear, it's not just proMedia members who have been carrying the high wattage flashlights...
.
HydroVille...Can Those IPP Contracts Be Canned?
InAndOut
CronyTown
In the wake of Norm Farrell's excellent Tyee piece on Hydro and his follow-up visit with Jon McComb on CKNW, we've had a bit of discussion around here about whether or not we can dump those most egregious IPP contracts that are costing us billions.
As a result, a sharp Anon-O-Mouse had this to say:
...Yes the "throwing out of signed contracts" can easily be done, as was done then. Indeed the use of "orders in council" to remove what can be deemed as unreasonable or questionable contracts, in terms of taxpayers ability to fund and or pay for them, could be used. The legal ramifications? Not many, if at all. While the bluff factor may be employed by the IPP's, I believe the risk they took initially, probably takes this into account...
A most interesting POV don't you think?
.
CronyTown
In the wake of Norm Farrell's excellent Tyee piece on Hydro and his follow-up visit with Jon McComb on CKNW, we've had a bit of discussion around here about whether or not we can dump those most egregious IPP contracts that are costing us billions.
As a result, a sharp Anon-O-Mouse had this to say:
...Yes the "throwing out of signed contracts" can easily be done, as was done then. Indeed the use of "orders in council" to remove what can be deemed as unreasonable or questionable contracts, in terms of taxpayers ability to fund and or pay for them, could be used. The legal ramifications? Not many, if at all. While the bluff factor may be employed by the IPP's, I believe the risk they took initially, probably takes this into account...
A most interesting POV don't you think?
.
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
This Day In Clarkland...Where Are The Data Mr. De Jong?
PolicyByPoll
NumbersVille
So.
Just where are those foreign buyer numbers Cookie Dough Mike promised us?
After a speedy start, it seems it’s taking much longer for the province to release new data on homes being bought by foreign nationals than it has in the past.
New numbers haven’t been released since mid-July, even though the finance minister had agreed to produce the data monthly...
Meanwhile.
Why are Canadian Banks furiously pumping helium into the Lotuslandian Real Estate Bubble?
______
First linked story from Jill Drews of CKWX 1130.
Second linked story from Kathy Tomlinson of the Globe....Ron of all obviousness has a follow-up...Here.
.
NumbersVille
So.
Just where are those foreign buyer numbers Cookie Dough Mike promised us?
After a speedy start, it seems it’s taking much longer for the province to release new data on homes being bought by foreign nationals than it has in the past.
New numbers haven’t been released since mid-July, even though the finance minister had agreed to produce the data monthly...
Meanwhile.
Why are Canadian Banks furiously pumping helium into the Lotuslandian Real Estate Bubble?
______
First linked story from Jill Drews of CKWX 1130.
Second linked story from Kathy Tomlinson of the Globe....Ron of all obviousness has a follow-up...Here.
.
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