Canada doesn’t matter to the rest of the world - and it’s our own fault

[markppcli]

I am a PR, applied January 2023. All tests done, pre-sec clearance for Lv II began in January 2024. That's one year from when I applied. Was told I should wait 18-24 months for the results. While I can understand that the standards of background checks must be met, I wonder why the CAF decided to allow permanent residents to join if they don't have the network or infrastructure to quickly screen people and get them in. I wonder if anyone had actually had to wait 18-24 months to get in. No matter how enthusiastic you are, it dies down with that long wait. Shocked even for born Canadian citizens it sometimes take a year as well. Have a cousin who moved to the US as PR, has lived in several countries before. Within the first 6 months of his stay in the US, he was already sworn in. Even the Defence minister mentioned this long wait makes no sense...

It’s even sillier when you consider we already have mechanisms to remove people who lose their clearance.

 

[OldSolduer]

Canada - us - also becomes irrelevant when you welch and delay shipments of military equipment to a supposed ally but generously fund the UNRWA who were complicit in the 7 October attack on Israel.

 

[Good2Golf]

CIBC sees Ottawa's bond issuance rising 22%

Ottawa will end up tapping the bond market for around $250 billion in debt next year, CIBC says. Find out more.

financialpost.com

Again, I'm going to ask this question rhetorically... (But if anybody has the answer, feel free to help me out)

On April 1st, the carbon tax goes up. Again. And until just last week, they were going to increase the beer & liquor tax also - so not only is going out on a dinner date more expensive, but that glass of wine you order will be sure to compliment your now more expensive meal.

Not to mention the gas you put in your car to get to dinner was more expensive - as were the utilities you used while getting ready for your dinner date.

You still pay taxes on every paycheck, slightly more now than you did a few years ago.



And yet somehow...somehow ...we're running how big of a deficit in the upcoming budget? Oh only a few dozen billions of dollars? Whew, good...

for a minute there I thought maybe Freeland's constant reassurances that things are going sooooooooo good were a bit overly optimistic

And people wonder why there is little trust of this government when it comes to all things money…they have demonstrated very little understanding or competence as to how finances work.

Add in this recent look at how the Liberals’ (particularly Trudeau’s) lack of understanding of finances has manifested itself over the years, specifically related to the Government trying to influence (because it hasn’t legislated it….yet) major pension funds (CPP, OTFF, OMERS) to invest in Canadian (unproductive) infrastructure, using a split of shaming (you should invest in Canada, not internationally) and sweet talking (with taxation benefits promises, but no meaningful related legislation).

A particularly poignant quote from the article below, regarding the level of understanding (or not) of the government…

An additional point they [Canadian pension executive] made clear is that institutional investors such as pensions were different from governments in that they would need to be compensated for the risks they were taking. They would also require long-term predictability around factors that influence returns, such as tax and trade policy and regulation.



“I told Trudeau all of this,” said one source. “He did a decent impression of listening.”

Why the Liberals' 'dangerous' pursuit of Canada's pension billions keeps falling flat

Facing pressure to invest at home, Canada's largest pensions say the fund comes first and math on risks and rewards has to add up. Read on.

financialpost.com

 

[CBH99]

And people wonder why there is little trust of this government when it comes to all things money…they have demonstrated very little understanding or competence as to how finances work.

Add in this recent look at how the Liberals’ (particularly Trudeau’s) lack of understanding of finances has manifested itself over the years, specifically related to the Government trying to influence (because it hasn’t legislated it….yet) major pension funds (CPP, OTFF, OMERS) to invest in Canadian (unproductive) infrastructure, using a split of shaming (you should invest in Canada, not internationally) and sweet talking (with taxation benefits promises, but no meaningful related legislation).

A particularly poignant quote from the article below, regarding the level of understanding (or not) of the government…

Why the Liberals' 'dangerous' pursuit of Canada's pension billions keeps falling flat

Facing pressure to invest at home, Canada's largest pensions say the fund comes first and math on risks and rewards has to add up. Read on.

financialpost.com

You can't openly state you are against further development of the oil & gas industry, any industries that require mining, state that there is no business case to develop LNG when an entire continent comes asking us for it, are against farming, and tax everything so heavily that your local economy can't be vibrant because everybody is borderline broke...

THEN turn around and shame pension funds for not investing in the shitty economy you oversee. Like c'mon!



The only reason why Freeland & Trudeau are making noise about pension funds investing domestically is because somehow the government keeps finding itself short of money to pay for things, and would love it if a partner stepped in to lend them more money...but they can't really say that part out loud.

 

[Good2Golf]

The only reason why Freeland & Trudeau are making noise about pension funds investing domestically is because somehow the government keeps finding itself short of money to pay for things, and would love it if a partner stepped in to lend them more money...but they can't really say that part out loud.

Which would tube the growth rate that on the other hand Freeland is so quick to refer to to point out why Alberta shouldn’t break from the CPP.

The dichotomy between reality for most Canadians, and the sunny world that Trudeau and Freeland live in, even if she has *given up Disney+, is staggering.

 

[OldSolduer]

Why the Liberals' 'dangerous' pursuit of Canada's pension billions keeps falling flat

Facing pressure to invest at home, Canada's largest pensions say the fund comes first and math on risks and rewards has to add up. Read on.

financialpost.com

this is no different than a business raiding the pension fund, passing it out as bonuses to useless executives, giving huge dividends to the owners and then declaring bankruptcy. Unethical at the best, criminal at worst.

Rebellions have occurred over less.

Sears are you listening? Oh you went broke didn't you thanks to unethical CEOs. And NO ONE was ever held to account.

Ensis and Crocus Funds - the money we invested I may as well have burnt.

 

[ArmyRick]

this is no different than a business raiding the pension fund, passing it out as bonuses to useless executives, giving huge dividends to the owners and then declaring bankruptcy. Unethical at the best, criminal at worst.

Rebellions have occurred over less.

Sears are you listening? Oh you went broke didn't you thanks to unethical CEOs. And NO ONE was ever held to account.

Ensis and Crocus Funds - the money we invested I may as well have burnt.

This whole Trudeau brand of Liberals and self destruction of Canada could end very badly.

5 years ago, my friends and family scoffed at the idea that Canada could end up in a civil war or total collapse. Now those same people are asking what they should do.

For my family and I, we started about a ear and a half ago shopping around for which country we want to move to, and leave this dumpster fire of a nation. The very country I call home and served as a soldier for.

Right now, minor pause, pending outcome of next election.

 

[OldSolduer]

This whole Trudeau brand of Liberals and self destruction of Canada could end very badly.

5 years ago, my friends and family scoffed at the idea that Canada could end up in a civil war or total collapse. Now those same people are asking what they should do.

For my family and I, we started about a ear and a half ago shopping around for which country we want to move to, and leave this dumpster fire of a nation. The very country I call home and served as a soldier for.

Right now, minor pause, pending outcome of next election.

I am sure the USA would take two old soldiers and there families into North Dakota. Extended family too.

 

[Good2Golf]

I am sure the USA would take two old soldiers and there families into North Dakota. Extended family too.

…I would like to see Montana…

 

[ArmyRick]

…I would like to see Montana…

And raise rabbits? Where an American wife will cook them for you?

 

[rmc_wannabe]

This whole Trudeau brand of Liberals and self destruction of Canada could end very badly.

5 years ago, my friends and family scoffed at the idea that Canada could end up in a civil war or total collapse. Now those same people are asking what they should do.

For my family and I, we started about a ear and a half ago shopping around for which country we want to move to, and leave this dumpster fire of a nation. The very country I call home and served as a soldier for.

If it weren't for the fact Italy is also in its own death spiral politically, I might investigate citizenship (as a First Gen, I can apply).

Australia and the UK are looking appealing to the wife and I.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

this is no different than a business raiding the pension fund, passing it out as bonuses to useless executives, giving huge dividends to the owners and then declaring bankruptcy. Unethical at the best, criminal at worst.

Rebellions have occurred over less.

Sears are you listening? Oh you went broke didn't you thanks to unethical CEOs. And NO ONE was ever held to account.

Ensis and Crocus Funds - the money we invested I may as well have burnt.

Sears....

This was taken by me at their clearout/closing sale in Kingston.

Selling DND socks .... no wonder they went under

 

[FJAG]

If it weren't for the fact Italy is also in its own death spiral politically, I might investigate citizenship (as a First Gen, I can apply).

Australia and the UK are looking appealing to the wife and I.

You need to spend a month or two reading the Daily Mail Online and any desire to go to the UK will be beaten out of you.

Re Australia - a humongous amounts of venomous spiders and 21 of the world's top 25 venomous snakes live there.

I'd stick with Italy. Buy one of those cheap abandoned houses in an old village on a mountaintop in Tuscany and spend the rest of your life fixing it up and eating well.

 

[Cloud Cover]

This whole Trudeau brand of Liberals and self destruction of Canada could end very badly.

5 years ago, my friends and family scoffed at the idea that Canada could end up in a civil war or total collapse. Now those same people are asking what they should do.

For my family and I, we started about a ear and a half ago shopping around for which country we want to move to, and leave this dumpster fire of a nation. The very country I call home and served as a soldier for.

Right now, minor pause, pending outcome of next election.

There’ll be no civil war, of the fighting variety.
But the country is destined for break up much sooner than anticipated.

 

[Quirky]

into North Dakota.

If the nukes start flying at least it'll be quick.

The US has it's own problems, I'd start looking further south...

 

[dimsum]

I am sure the USA would take two old soldiers and there families into North Dakota. Extended family too.

I’d wait to see what happens after November first. I have family there seriously considering moving to Canada. They were ready to pull the trigger during the 2016-2020 timeframe but just ended up moving within the US. The outcome of the next election might do it though.

You need to spend a month or two reading the Daily Mail Online and any desire to go to the UK will be beaten out of you.

Re Australia - a humongous amounts of venomous spiders and 21 of the world's top 25 venomous snakes live there.

I'd stick with Italy. Buy one of those cheap abandoned houses in an old village on a mountaintop in Tuscany and spend the rest of your life fixing it up and eating well.

If it weren't for the fact Italy is also in its own death spiral politically, I might investigate citizenship (as a First Gen, I can apply).

Australia and the UK are looking appealing to the wife and I.

Australia isn’t a place I’d want to be right now, mostly because the housing market is as nuts (or worse) there than in Canada. It’s also close to absolutely nothing, and Perth is actually the most isolated city on the planet.

Reading the Daily Fail…uh…daily would give me eye-cancer. It’s like reading the Toronto Sun with a splash of National Enquirer.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

There’ll be no civil war, of the fighting variety.
But the country is destined for break up much sooner than anticipated.

I remember learning about this in Grade 9 Geography.

The 19th century of amalgamation of smaller states into larger ones was a result of the first "arms race" and industrialization.

As we have seen Globalization and the Information Age in the 21st shrink the world both economically and politically, the odds of the regional needs trumping national ones is already present in places like Alberta and Quebec. Sovereignty in the federation is at risk due to the centralist approach to governing nationally.

Unless things change 180 in Ottawa, I see "Canada" becoming a historical concept like Yugoslavia.

 

[Cloud Cover]

20,000 Canadian soldiers learned it in the 90’s in Yugo. It’s going to happen and probably is happening in baby steps.

 

[TacticalTea]

This whole Trudeau brand of Liberals and self destruction of Canada could end very badly.

5 years ago, my friends and family scoffed at the idea that Canada could end up in a civil war or total collapse. Now those same people are asking what they should do.

For my family and I, we started about a ear and a half ago shopping around for which country we want to move to, and leave this dumpster fire of a nation. The very country I call home and served as a soldier for.

Right now, minor pause, pending outcome of next election.

Feeling the same. Some reprieve that PP might alleviate certains issues, but so far he isn't had the courage to really speak up about fundamental issues until silence became untenable, and he really hasn't said anything about constitutional reform, without which a return to Trudeauism is inevitable in post-PP Canada.

 

[TacticalTea]

You need to spend a month or two reading the Daily Mail Online and any desire to go to the UK will be beaten out of you.

Re Australia - a humongous amounts of venomous spiders and 21 of the world's top 25 venomous snakes live there.

I'd stick with Italy. Buy one of those cheap abandoned houses in an old village on a mountaintop in Tuscany and spend the rest of your life fixing it up and eating well.

Australia had a commonwealth military poaching program, in recent years. If it's still in effect I might take it up.

Yes, it has its problems too, as other commenters have noted. But it's also warmer and takes national defence somewhat more seriously.