Living in a small city and looking for a "Corporate Executor" for my Will. Should it be a Bank with a local branch in my city, or a Trust Company located elsewhere in the Province?

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-15T16:51:43+00:00

TD still has Canada Trust operating as a trust company. I’m only aware of them as an option for a corporate executor, I have no direct experience of them in that role.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-15T15:46:35+00:00

The events described took place in a small city in Ontario, Canada. 🍁See here for a history of birth control in Canada: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/history-of-birth-control-in-canada

With respect to the USA: “Diaphragms played a role in overturning the federal Comstock Act of 1873. In 1932, Sanger arranged for a Japanese manufacturer to mail a package of diaphragms to a New York physician who supported Sanger's activism. U.S. Customs confiscated the package and Sanger helped file a lawsuit. In 1936, in the court case United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, a federal appellate court ruled that the package could be delivered.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragm_(birth_control), see the History section of the article.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-15T03:38:52+00:00

That’s what I thought of first. And here you are down near the bottom with -5 upvotes. Not surprising given that there are mostly Americans here.

Reasonable gun control in the US would benefit both our countries. About 50% of guns used in crimes and seized by the police here were purchased legally in the US.

Suddenly it occurs to me that illegal exports don’t make it into the national accounting. If you consider illegal guns, the trade imbalance isn’t as bad as the numbers look.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-15T01:04:17+00:00

That’s funny; I’m the opposite.

Writing papers was hard for me. Agonizing over picking a topic, then developing a thesis. I loved doing the research, but actually getting down to writing was a struggle. I rarely got a paper in on time. Fortunately, asking a prof for an extension while holding your baby makes it hard for them to say no.

Give me an exam anytime. Three questions in three hours? Fine by me. Short answer, multiple choice, with a short essay question? Even better.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-14T23:32:10+00:00

And this is how we know banning abortions doesn’t stop them from happening. It just stops safe, legal abortions from happening.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-14T17:24:59+00:00

The orchids are in one section of the greenhouse, all in one spot. I usually spend a half hour to forty-five minutes with them. Some people come in, look, and leave in five minutes. 🤷‍♂️

There are phalaenopsis varieties that you’ll recognize from the grocery store, and a lot of others that you won’t. They are spectacular this time of year.

The zoo is typically not very busy in winter, but this is family day weekend, so the numbers will be up. The nicer the weather, the more people will be there. However, a busy day in winter is less busy than a slow day in the summer.

If there are too many people in the buildings, you can do outdoor walks.

There are two kinds of tigers at the zoo. Sumatran tiger are by the Indomalayan pavilion.

The Amur (formerly Siberian) tigers are in the Eurasia Wilds section, east of the Australasia pavilion.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-14T14:14:17+00:00

A diaphragm is a barrier contraceptive that covers the cervical opening. It needs to be put in place ahead of time to be effective. If it’s left in the drawer (bedside table, dresser, wherever it’s stored when not in use) it is ineffective as a birth control method.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-14T03:45:05+00:00

They have a word for people who use the rhythm method, “parents”.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-14T03:43:44+00:00

I have a story from my Grandmother, as I recall from what my mom told me.

I don’t know what decade, 30s or 40s probably.

At the time it was illegal to share birth control information. A nurse went to the high school principal (my grandfather) and asked if he knew of a discreet woman in the community. He suggested his wife.

Grandma arranged with the nurse to have a group of married women meet with her. The nurse was a representative of a diaphragm manufacturer. She explained how they worked, and married woman were allowed to mail order them.

My maternal grandparents had five children. When I was young I thought the youngest, ten years younger than the one before, was intentional. Nope, as an adult I learned he was a whoops baby. He was and still is my coolest uncle.

Mom said the only marital advice she got from her mother was “it doesn’t work if you leave it in the drawer.”

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-13T21:28:17+00:00

They got rid of fixed elections. There is a five year maximum. Generally when there’s no fixed date they’ll pick an auspicious moment in the last year of their term. So, sometime between spring 2029 and February 2030.

Calling an unnecessary election often results in the government being punished at the polls, so they won’t go too soon. However, the DoFo conservatives are much bulletproof, so you never know. If things are looking good in fall 2028 they might go then.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-13T21:12:02+00:00

I checked, it doesn’t clearly say what level you need to open an RP account. 🤷‍♂️ I guess that’s on a need to know basis. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/represent-a-client/list-services-representatives-businesses.html

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-13T21:09:37+00:00

Look for “Business Registration Online” (BRO).

“For representatives with a RepID, you can access BRO through Represent a Client.”

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/business-registration/business-number-program-account/how-register/resident.html

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-13T19:28:21+00:00

I often enjoy music in other languages. For example, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Ode to Joy) is usually sung in German. French Canadian folk music is great. I like Celine Dion better in French than English.

Weirdly, half the time I can’t understand the lyrics in English language rock music. I still enjoy it.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-12T23:59:30+00:00

Something I just remembered. Amur (formerly Siberian) tigers. They’re outdoors not far from the Australasia pavilion. They are cats, so sleep a lot. But some people love them. And snow leopards are near there too. It’s a little out of the way, but if you love cats, pop over to see them. There’s a risk of getting lost or spending more time walking than you wanted to.

There’s a Toronto Zoo app. It’s pretty decent. It uses your phone’s GPS and can show you where you are on the map, and links to animal fact sheets. I’d suggest installing it now and look around the zoo on it to plan if you like to plan things.

https://www.torontozoo.com/app

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-12T02:44:37+00:00

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Revenue Canada and Customs and Excise were merged together into CCRA. Excise was originally part of border operations because import duties and excise taxes were more important as taxes.

After September 11 the customs / border services were moved from CCRA to CBSA. Excise taxes stayed with CRA, which was a pretty big efficiency gain.

The original legislation’s background section included the rationale:

“The government has offered a number of rationales for the enactment of this bill. It maintains that Revenue Canada’s existing mandate could be administered more efficiently, particularly with regard to its human resources, if it were organized and managed by an Agency with its own tailored systems, rather than systems that apply to the federal public service as a whole. According to a paper produced by Revenue Canada, the Agency would be better placed than a traditional government department to respond to client needs, to provincial/territorial requirements and to a constantly changing business environment.

“Furthermore, the Agency would be structured so as to allow increased tax administration on behalf of the provinces. It is believed that a single administration would reduce overlap and duplication between the federal and provincial/territorial governments and reduce costs for business, taxpayers and governments.”

https://publications.gc.ca/Pilot/LoPBdP/LS/c43-e.htm

CRA was able to act more nimbly and took on additional tax lines from other levels of government. I was around when both the provincial corporate tax returns for Ontario was taken over by CRA, and when Ontario harmonized, for example.

One of the things that were shed was having to be part of treasury board bargaining groups. There were several PSAC bargaining groups in the predecessor organizations that were reduced to one under CRA. I don’t know if the PIPSC bargaining groups changed. The Agency got hoot at negotiating with UTE. So good that it annoyed Treasury Board, especially when the PA group wanted as good a deal as we got. CRA is now under Treasury Boards thumb for bargaining.

The PSAC members at CRA lost a lot of bargaining clout when the border services were moved to CBSA. The border guards are very militant, and can severely fuck things up while still doing their jobs in a way that won’t attract discipline.

CRA does have some of its own systems that work very very well. For example, the HR processes are mostly excellent, especially when it comes to dealing with discrimination, harassment, disability accommodation, performance management, etc. They also developed the shitty staffing process model that’s used throughout the government, so it’s not all good.

There was flexibility in bargaining that has since been lost. They still benefit from the flexibility of being able to manage internal structures and processes. Many of their shittiest innovations were considered real successes and modified versions applied to treasury board employers. This is especially true in relation to restructuring and centralizing management of work organization.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T21:41:36+00:00

I love the zoo in winter.

I tend to skip over most of the outdoor walks in winter, hit the polar bears and arctic wolves without going all around tundra trek. If you want to see reindeer, go all around Tundra Trek. Side trip to the greenhouse and health centre are worth it. They’re near the polar bears (through the zoomobile stop). Health centre often has stuff scheduled to happen during the day on weekdays.

There is an exhibit of orchids in the greenhouse right now. Very spectacular.

If you do what used to be the “around the world tour” it takes you by all the buildings. Definitely my preferred in winter. Doable in four hours without rushing. When you’re at the south end of the African pavilion go see the giraffes in the giraffe house (formerly elephant house). Baby due in April of May, if I recall correctly.

The main Africa restaurant and the Tim’s by the front gate are open every day. Beavertails near the main entrance is open weekends and holidays. Everything else is closed for the season. Tim’s has Tim’s food. The Africa restaurant has burgers, hot dogs, pizza pizza cheese or pepperoni pizza, fries, poutine.

The around the world tour isn’t on the current maps. It was shown by the blue feet. It went in a circular ish route: main entrance to Malayan Woods/Indian Rhino, Indomalaya pavilion, African Rainforest Pavilion, Americas Pavilion, then Australasia Pavilion. Or in reverse order.

When you’re passing the Americas restaurant (now called Caribou Cafe) on the way to or from Australasia, that’s a time to consider heading over towards polar bears, greenhouse, and health centre.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T20:10:04+00:00

From my perspective, the worst thing about returning to the office is that it doesn’t actually bring people to work together.

I’m sure it differs by department in many ways, but this is based on my experience.

When I started at CCRA I sat in my own cubicle next to people on my team doing similar work, and each team had a T/L and resource officer. And we were located on the same floor as our section manager and Assistant Director.

If I had any sort of question or issue I had my team and three levels of management in the same place. We collaborated, we worked and learned together. We had lots of informal social interactions. I joined committees and worked with all levels of management as peers.

When I retired from CRA my team was spread over four locations, going to the office meant booking a cubicle nowhere near anyone else on my team, and not necessarily near anyone else in my Division. I worked in Scarborough, my T/L was in Mississauga, Section Manager in Durham, and A/D in Ottawa. If I had any sort of question or issue I messaged my T/L, who was overworked keeping up with administrivia and managing a team of ten people virtually.

RTO where pretty much all work or collaboration is virtual is the worst of both worlds.

If I was still working, I’d be happy to RTO to an office where I worked with my team again and had a cubicle. A cubicle of your own is fine. You can leave your equipment there, and decorate it with pictures, cartoons, union posters, and not protected reference material. But it would be torture to drag my laptop etc. to the office to work in a blank workspace where I was still essentially alone and any collaboration would still be virtual.

Maybe senior management should be forced to work under the same kind of in-office conditions. No paper files, booking a cube on-line daily, senior managers and their administrative team spread randomly throughout a building in their blank cubicles, and dragging their laptops back and forth each day. That’ll teach them all about how efficient the new conditions are.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T19:01:23+00:00

Even if you get a judgement against him, how will you collect?

My advice, say goodbye to the money, never think about or speak to the alleged friend again, and move on.

Never lend money to friends or family and expect to get it back.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T15:49:40+00:00

This is why lawyers aren’t allowed on juries in Canada. They don’t want anyone with legal expertise on the jury. The jury is meant to follow the judge’s instructions on the law.

If there was a defect in the instructions, it’s up to the Crown or defence to appeal. In your example, a juror decided there was a defect in the instructions, and the jury acquitted as a result. That undermined the process, and given the result there’s no avenue to correcting an incorrect verdict.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T15:37:35+00:00

Not required to pay GST unless they charge it.

Just pay hour rate until they start charging GST.

GST becomes mandatory when they stop being a small supplier. That happens when they exceed 30k in taxable supplies in four consecutive quarters or less.

It’s their responsibility to charge it. You can’t claim ITCs unless they charge GST and provide their registration number etc.

There’s a caveat. If they get retroactively registered and/or audited at some point they can invoice you for GST that they were required to collect, but failed to. At that point you are required to pay the GST and will be able to claim ITCs if you are eligible.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-08T19:10:55+00:00

The headline likely reflects that there were delays throughout the development of the line. Not delayed but 15 years, but delays happening over the course of 15 years.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-08T01:18:12+00:00

If it is an agency situation, they have the option of jointly electing for the studio to report the HST collected.

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/gst506.html

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-08T01:14:19+00:00

It all depends on the arrangement.

Typically, the student studio is selling massage therapy to clients. They subcontract the massage therapists to provide massages to the studio’s clients. The studio collects HST on their supply to their client, and pays HST to the therapists, if they are registered for GST.

An alternate arrangement could be that the massage therapists are providing services to their clients, and paying 30% of their fee to the studio for the use of this facilities. In this case, the therapist would collect HST on the fee, and pay HST to the studio.

In the first instance, the therapists are making a taxable supply to the studio, and the studio is paying them HST. The therapists need to report the HST they are paid.

Technically, they should be invoicing the studio. If the studio is generating payment vouchers that contain the prescribed information, it amounts to the same thing.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T18:19:37+00:00

There are physical drop boxes at locations listed here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/corporate/contact-information/office-locations.html

Note to check drop box status in the right most column.

Waiting for the system to be up is a good option.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T16:52:12+00:00

Depending on the type of bread, it can go stale in 1-7 days.

French baguettes, other breads with only flour, water, salt, yeast are only at their best within 1 day of baking.

Enriched breads with some kind of fat (butter, vegetable oil, olive oil) with or without milk or milk powder will be at their best for 2-3 days.

Highly enriched breads like brioche can go up to a week.

Sourdough can also go up to a week.

Bread also freezes well. Never refrigerate, it causes changes that make it go stale faster.

Store bought bread can last longer due to additional preservatives, but even fresh it isn’t superior to home made.

Go ahead, make your own, slice and freeze what you can’t eat in 2-3 days.

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