[Northern Light]

The problem for Freeland and the Liberals is that the term had some use in the US, where the economy is truly hot and real incomes are rising for most people, but people seem to think the economy is bad. The main indicator cited for this is that when people are asked about their personal financial situation, most people say it's good and getting better. But ask them about the economy as a whole, and most people say it's bad. They just have a vibe that things aren't good out there.

In Canada, real incomes are not rising for most people, so the view that the economy isn't great is not a vibe, it's reality.

Agreed, but lets add a hard stat to that, in Toronto the unemployment rate is 8% (current to October '24). That's based on people actively looking for work, and doesn't include those who are long-term out of the workforce.

In Canada, because of the way we calculate that statistic, we always show a higher number than the U.S. in similar circumstances. But our lowest unemployment rate, and one which drives wage growth is sub-6%.

So we're well above that in Toronto, nothing vibey about it.

***

Additionally, its important to note that while CPI is declining, to a more normative level, a certain amount of damage is done, and that number continues to under-weight housing.

So even if we get some real wage growth per capita, it would take several years to catch up to the increase in core costs (housing and food) experienced by most Canadians.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Re: Carbon Tax - that is in fact how it is supposed to work. You're incentivized to reduce your carbon footprint, so the less carbon you emit, the more you'll get back.

But we haven’t reduced our carbon footprint. It’s like giving me an incentive not to kick a ginger . I wasn’t doing it anyway.

 

[evandyk]

I think to a lot of people, $250 promised at Christmas time is a meaningful boost and reduces some of the stress people feel in January when the Christmas bills come due. I still think it's a nakedly stupid policy, though.

 

[Admiral Beez]

They have a right to feel betrayed, because the government did shaft them.

International students say they feel betrayed by Canada

Frustrated students and union leaders call on Ottawa to extend expiring work permits and provide them with a pathway for permanent residence.

www.thestar.com

Paywall free: https://archive.is/viOMY

But outside of strategically needed postgraduate or doctoral studies, the international student program should NEVER have been seen as a back door to permanent residence in Canada. If I go to France to get my MBA at INSEAD, or to Britain to get my DVM at the Royal Veterinary College it’s not because I want to gain permanent residency in France or Britain, but so I can obtain an excellent education with some adventure, and then return to where I came from. But Canada and its complicit provinces, universities, colleges and unregulated immigration consultants have essentially run a scam upon the subcontinent (to be fair no one is better at scamming us, so touché) and much of the developing world in order to keep tuition and education funding artificially low for Canadians. Those days of underfunding while expanding post-secondary education are rapidly coming to a close.

Every Study Permit application should have the three below terms and conditions:

1. Purpose of the Visa: This student visa is issued solely for the purpose of pursuing your studies at [Institution Name] in Canada. It is a temporary visa, and its primary function is to allow you to study and engage in academic activities. It is not a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship in Canada.

2. Temporary Nature of the Visa: Your student visa is valid only for the duration of your enrolled academic program or course of study. Upon the completion of your studies, you are required to leave Canada immediately, unless you apply for and are granted a different visa that legally allows you to remain, such as a work visa.

3. No Pathway to Permanent Residence: This student visa does not confer eligibility for permanent resident status or citizenship in Canada. You are not permitted to apply for permanent residency or citizenship while holding this visa. If you wish to apply for permanent status in Canada, you must do so separately and in person at your country of origin in accordance with the immigration laws and procedures of Canada.

 

[afransen]

All the EV building stuff is out of Trump's control. It's part of the Inflation Reduction Act authorized and funded by Congress. Unless that bill is amended or repealed. And in that case, our tax breaks and production subsidies are directly tied to the IRA, so they would expire automatically. That doesn't mean a death to the battery plants though. It's the way the industry is heading. It's probably a slowdown at worst.



That's because so much Team Trudeau came from Team McGuinty and Team Wynne. It's the same clueless lot.

There is some aggressive interpretation of presidential powers with the thinking being that the executive is not obliged to spend funds authorized by Congress. Expect litigation on the issue. This is what Musk/Vivek are hanging their hats on with their DOGE government dismantling program. Trump nominated a hard right ideologue who co-authored Project 2025 to head the budget office.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/22/politics/russell-vought-office-management-budget-director/index.html

 

[afransen]

But we haven’t reduced our carbon footprint. It’s like giving me an incentive not to kick a ginger . I wasn’t doing it anyway.

The incentive to reduce your carbon footprint is the price of fossil energy, both retail and embedded.

 

[adys123]

But we haven’t reduced our carbon footprint. It’s like giving me an incentive not to kick a ginger . I wasn’t doing it anyway.

The incentive to reduce your carbon footprint is the price of fossil energy, both retail and embedded.

And the level of carbon tax required is too high to be politically palatable at first blush, which is why as the price increases over time, it will drive you to reduce your carbon footprint (given that you were on the low end already)

 

[kEiThZ]

There is some aggressive interpretation of presidential powers with the thinking being that the executive is not obliged to spend funds authorized by Congress. Expect litigation on the issue. This is what Musk/Vivek are hanging their hats on with their DOGE government dismantling program. Trump nominated a hard right ideologue who co-authored Project 2025 to head the budget office.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/22/politics/russell-vought-office-management-budget-director/index.html

I find it hard to believe that a bunch of red states who have just been gifted a bunch of high tech manufacturing will simply roll over on it to please Trump. But then again, America these days....

 

[afransen]

I find it hard to believe that a bunch of red states who have just been gifted a bunch of high tech manufacturing will simply roll over on it to please Trump. But then again, America these days....

Either Trump will bow to public pressure or will want to have a legacy of radically dismantling government in the two years he has free reign until the.midterms. The Republican Congress is likely to be the first to blink as they become the ones that will pay the price for what will be very unpopular policy coming from Trump.

I'm not sure what way things will break. Trump loves to be loved, but he is also a petty, resentful man who hates the Washington establishment and has a lot of enablers who want to help him do it.

 

[evandyk]

And the level of carbon tax required is too high to be politically palatable at first blush, which is why as the price increases over time, it will drive you to reduce your carbon footprint (given that you were on the low end already)

Carbon tax was never going to have much of an impact on behaviour of people living in small houses in downtown Toronto (other than encouraging moving from carbon-based heating/cooling to electric, maybe updating windows and insulation, etc.). But as it creeps up, it would have a significant impact on people living in suburbs and rural areas, making it cheaper to stay in a smaller house in the city, but a smaller/electric vehicle, make fewer car trips, etc. Using a broad-based tax is the ideal (conservative) vehicle for this because it allows each individual to make the trade-offs that are most worth it in their own personal situation.

But suburbanites hate being asked to lead a more sustainable lifestyle, which dooms the policy in a country where swing suburbs currently win elections.

 

[jje1000]

Agreed, but lets add a hard stat to that, in Toronto the unemployment rate is 8% (current to October '24). That's based on people actively looking for work, and doesn't include those who are long-term out of the workforce.

In Canada, because of the way we calculate that statistic, we always show a higher number than the U.S. in similar circumstances. But our lowest unemployment rate, and one which drives wage growth is sub-6%.

So we're well above that in Toronto, nothing vibey about it.

***

Additionally, its important to note that while CPI is declining, to a more normative level, a certain amount of damage is done, and that number continues to under-weight housing.

So even if we get some real wage growth per capita, it would take several years to catch up to the increase in core costs (housing and food) experienced by most Canadians.

In the end, vibecession is a condescending, Tiktok-flavoured term that ignores both income stagnation, high unemployment among segments of the population, and inflation in Canada, in a "don't believe your lying eyes" sort of sense.

No wonder that most Canadians rolled their eyes at it, considering how little faith many of them have in the Liberals these days.

 

[evandyk]

In the end, vibecession is a condescending, Tiktok-flavoured term that ignores both income stagnation, high unemployment among segments of the population, and inflation in Canada, in a "don't believe your lying eyes" sort of sense.

No wonder that most Canadians rolled their eyes at it, considering how little faith many of them have in the Liberals these days.

I really don't know why Freeland thought it was a good idea to use the term in Canada. It is a useful idea in the US, where there is a real disconnect between the objective state of the economy and people's view of how the economy is doing. In Canada, the economy is mostly stagnant. I think the last official figures available show that the median income in 2022 was down almost 2% from 2021 after adjusting for inflation. That didn't happen in the US once the economy started to recover from the pandemic.

 

[gabe]

Though I am not likely (!!) to vote for the current version of the Conservative Party, I must say that Pierre Poilievre comes across as a really very unpleasant and angry person who would NOT be a good PM. This statement is typical of his over-the-top and shoot from the hip rhetoric.

Conservative Party of Canada, had noted that Trudeau was attending a Taylor Swift concert while the riot occurred. “Justin Trudeau refuses to condemn the antisemitic riots in Montreal,” Poilievre wrote minutes before Trudeau posted his comment. “He has time to dance and do selfies. But he’s too busy to condemn a violent Hamas takeover of our streets.”

“Violent mobs riot and rampage through beautiful Montreal, typifying the chaos that is engulfing our once-peaceful country after nine years of Trudeau’s radical, divisive agenda,” Poilievre wrote on Friday night. “Trudeau fiddles while Montreal burns.”

Poilievre comes across as an angry shady used car salesman. He's portraying himself as a friend of the working class, but his record shows he is not. In the past he supported American style union busting legislation. "workers freedom" ending forced unionism. Kill unions and drive down wages.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Poilievre comes across as an angry shady used car salesman.

I find myself asking, is this the best we can do for opposition to Trudeau? Maybe Trudeau will get lucky and take out Poilievre just as he did Harper, Scheer and O'Toole. But I think his lucky streak may be over.

 

[PinkLucy]

I find myself asking when it comes to almost every politician, is this the best we can do? But then I remember that it really is a crappy job, and talented people can get fantastic jobs elsewhere that offer higher salaries and less annoyance.