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Northern Light said:
Population decline might be considered a negative. Though how much of that is real given erroneous counts is a material question:

Source: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning...es/population-trends-2023-Jun2024-release.pdf

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When looking at unemployment, and near-term City finances (current year and fiscal '25) the numbers are reasonably positive. Though there are some issues beyond that, they don't appear severe:


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On NYC's office space vacancy rate (better than ours, but comparable in many ways, relatively low in class A prime, but higher in less quality space and locations)

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I work here in Toronto for a bank based in Chicago in the investment side of the business and I deal regularly with a lot of people from other firms based in New York as a part of my work.
The number of times I've heard from one of my regular contacts about being offered relocation of their job out of New York and accepting it has been staggering.

A notable one I heard from a contact at a very large and well known US brokerage was that they opened a new office space in Nashville and offered to move up to 300 employees there from New York (amount of expenses covered was by position, but everyone would get something if they agreed to move). She said they had around 1,000 applications to move and so they expanded the office space to 600 employees, she was one of the chosen and got paid moving cost bonus--something like $5,000--plus group rate on company hired movers. That firm apparently isn't the only one, Nashville has cropped up as a very popular new alt-centre for the financial industry. Atlanta too. Interestingly those cities are also seeing sky rocketing real estate prices in the suburbs.
 
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Richard White said:
I plan on visiting Family in Hungary next June/July and I am setting boundaries.

I thought about visiting Australia or Brazil but the cost of a hotel is too expensive for two weeks. One week is not enough to see anything when you factor in travel time.

The conclusion I came to after a two week $15000 vacation to London last year is that visiting family can save a ton.

Even if I give my cousins money it is still only costing me 5000 dollars after the flight. That's what it would cost for a two week stay in a hotel.
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I did a two-week tour (actually 16 days) of London and Scotland for around half of $15,000 for two people in 2022.

Vacations are as expensive as you make them to be. I mean, London is just wildly expensive so I'm not surprised it costs that much.. but like NYC it's probably one of the single most expensive vacation destinations there are.
 
Richard White said:
Not to get further off topic but for context..

It was myself and my mother staying near Paddington while doing museums, a theatre show, visiting York and Windsor while still checking out other things. The hotel alone came to $4800.00

My mother wanted to enjoy her vacation, not sit in the hotel room or walking into local shops.

When I last went to Hungary I stayed with cousins and paid just over $600.00 to stay with them for 3 weeks. Given the currency conversion, it was relatively cheap to see things.
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MODS: Time to drag us back to the (unpleasant) reality of Doug Ford's Ontario!
 
If someone had told me in 2018 that in 2025 Doug Ford would be a seemingly sensible trade and diplomacy spokesperson to the US media for all of Canada during a vacuum of leadership from Ottawa, I’d say GTFO, Ford is Captain Canada?!

www.thestar.com

Éric Blais: Doug Ford emerges as Captain Am-Can and shows he’s currently our top defence against Trump

In the absence of a strong response from Ottawa, it’s Premier Doug Ford — and to a lesser degree Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — who have emerged as Canada’s most
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com
Paywall free: https://archive.is/GxSwB
 
Richard White said:
It's an election year.
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Not any more (EDIT, I might be wrong). The Federal election taking place sometime between April and October 2025 will have taken all the public appetite for elections. If he pushes his luck, Ford may end up like PM Joe Clark or Premier David Peterson, both of whom misread the public sentiment, called unnecessary or early elections and paid the price. The next Ontario election must occur by early June 2026. I expect Ford will wait until after Christmas and call an election for March 2026.
Richard White said:
He's likely trying to look good in front of the cameras.
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He’s a politician. That’s part of the job.
 
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Admiral Beez said:
I expect Ford will wait until after Christmas and call an election for March 2026.
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And yet, he keeps talking about how he “doesn’t have a mandate” to juice up Ontario to fight against Velveeta Voldemort.

One would think being elected as premier of Ontario would itself imply that one’s job is to protect the interests of Ontario. However, the fact that he’s talking about needing a mandate—something he hasn’t specifically “required” for many, many unpopular pieces of legislation—it sounds like he’s gonna move for an election sooner rather than later.
 
zang said:
And yet, he keeps talking about how he “doesn’t have a mandate” to juice up Ontario to fight against Velveeta Voldemort.
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If Ford does call an election now when it's not due until June 2026, the smart move for Crombie and Stiles would be to agree to a non-compete, running only a OLP or NDP candidate in all ridings. The goal is to kneecap Ford for his Peterson-like arrogance and at least force him into a minority government where one of Crombie or Stiles will hold the strings. I'm always astonished that the Left and Centre-Left parties across Canada always split their vote to the Right's benefit.
 
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christiesplits said:
Lots of chatter about an early election, potentially as early as next week.

Ford’s office sends internal email signalling early Ontario election is imminent | Globalnews.ca

According to an internal memo, the Ford government appears ready to dissolve the Ontario legislature and call an early election, using Trump's tariffs as the justification.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
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I've been hearing the same thing.

On the polling I get it.

But ...I remember David Peterson doing the same thing.............and Bob Rae ending up Premier....to his own surprise.

He might be perfectly safe and sound to make the call..............but there is definitely a gamble here.

He's been unable to declare an opening date for Crosstown or Finch.

GO 2.0 is vapourware, GO 1.0 barely exists.

Healthcare waittimes remain excessive.

Even low-hanging fruit seems to be a challenge.................

1) Ontario is one of only 2 provinces not to allow pharmacists to prescribe contraception. Sure, I gather its not an issue for most I expect, mainly an issue for those lacking a family doctor and/or teen girls having a conservative, religious family
and family doctor that goes with...........still........seems dumb.........

2) Ontario despite its alcohol reforms doesn't have wide supermarket distribution (less than 1/2) due to the recycling (take-back) requirement which is out of line w/most provinces. Equally, despite, in theory, allowing retailers to under-price the LCBO, they failed to remove minimum sale prices for wine, which mean a host of popular LCBO carried wines can't be carried in mainstream supermarkets. They also failed to approve private-label wine and beer excise tax reforms widely expected in December To be be clear, I don't think these are world-beating issues by any means. But they reflect poorly on a gov't seemingly dedicated to convenience and populist appeal.

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Their great advantage remains Bonnie-Who? (aka Ford-Lite)..........vs Marit-Who....(aka,Merit Who) ......

But I'm not sure they're up to that meager challenge............we shall see.
 
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One of the potential benefits for those not favourable of Ford is that an early election may well reduce the years of the Ford regime. If Ford waits until June 2026 to call an election and then won a majority we’d have over five more years of Ford (2025-2030), But if he calls it now, we might only have four years (2025-2029), as it’s quite possible that at the end of either mandate the people of Ontario demand change.
 
Admiral Beez said:
One of the potential benefits for those not favourable of Ford is that an early election may well reduce the years of the Ford regime. If Ford waits until June 2026 to call an election and then won a majority we’d have over five years of Ford. But if he calls it now, we might only have four years, as it’s quite possible that at the end of either mandate the people of Ontario demand change.
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No election is ever settled until election night. Sure, Ford is leading in the polls, but calling an early election is a risk for him
 
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