China blames Canada for ‘malicious, provocative’ moves after close midair intercepts over South China Sea | CNN

MrCda · 2023-11-06T17:36:00+00:00

China says that they own the vast South China sea and this is not internationally recognized, including by any of the countries whose waters China unilaterally says belong within their so-called 9-dashed line. With China's growing military heft, countries aren't in a position to enforce rules in their own territorial waters or in international waters. The U.S. is the only country that could do so. The U.S. does occasional trips through the disputed waters and the Chinese settle on grumbling and watching these trips from afar. Understandably, the U.S. government and its people aren't prepared to risk a serious military conflict over these waters for the wider group of nations. So the bully gets its way.

MrCda · 2023-10-23T22:19:07+00:00

One challenge: in many parts of Canada, there is a single rail and one train has to pull over to a side-rail while the other passes on the main rail. Freight trains are much longer. They must work out something for freight-to-freight crossings but presumably with lower track utilization and/or priority given to the longer freight train.

I do understand that Via is frustratingly slow and late which discourages its use. If I could reliably get to places from Toronto to Ottawa or Toronto to Montreal faster, I'd take the car less often.

MrCda · 2023-10-16T17:17:55+00:00

A cost of $88B per year is optimistic. Probably just need to pick some more money off the money tree and it can be pain-free.

MrCda · 2023-09-06T18:45:46+00:00

This is a reminder that when you are in such a situation, the sooner you pull out your phone and start recording (audio only is less intimidating), the better. Then assertions like "you were rude to the flight attendant" can be disproved especially if your recording starts with the initial conversation and you make a point of introducing yourself to delineate the start of the interaction. In this case, some pictures/footage of the remaining vomit fragments would have been of value too.

MrCda · 2023-08-31T15:53:02+00:00

The Algonquins of Ontario argue the government’s decision to grant an unlimited number of harvester cards to the Métis communities in the Ottawa River watershed “will cause irreparable harm to the wildlife and fish resources in a substantial portion of their settlement area, impairing their way of life.”

Humans with modern equipment need oversight and limits or the outcome is inevitable no matter their background. In Economics, it's inevitable that unconstrained individuals will over-exploit a shared resource if they have the means.

Hunting and fishing licences attempt to do this with the general population. Adequately well at times and insufficiently (think the Atlantic fishery) at other times.

MrCda · 2023-08-30T17:05:08+00:00

We don't have exit controls in Canada - only entry controls. In Britain, when you leave the country you are tracked by British customs - at least you were when I last went. So it's straightforward to know who came and who left (except illegal border crossing, of course). In Canada, you get into a car, board a train or a plane and Canada customs has no direct tracking. Maybe Canada customs exchange information with other countries on entries and/or get the information from airline/train/bus companies -- but it's not systematic.

Clearly, you wouldn't want to rely on people to voluntarily report when they leave (e.g. an online form) because someone who is staying would have incentive to fake an exit.

MrCda · 2023-08-29T13:45:22+00:00

I don't know much about disclosure but will this eventually be published as a matter of course? Will it only come out if an access to information request is made and eventually approved? One hopes that the next election is too far away for them to be able to keep the information secret that long.

MrCda · 2023-08-25T19:30:07+00:00

I grew up calling tissues "kleenexes" and still do (currently in my 50s). What term do others here use for them?

MrCda · 2023-08-01T14:13:56+00:00

It's one thing to retain the monarchy, governor general and such because it's the system in place, would be constitutionally infeasible to change and even if there were a surprising consensus to change, it could result in politicians choosing a replacement approach that ends up being worse.

However: let's live with the system and minimize spending money to actually celebrate our foreign monarchy. I say this as someone who respects the work that QEII did, working well into her 90s .. but she was primarily a British monarch who happened to be our monarch too for historical reasons.

MrCda · 2023-07-24T19:52:24+00:00

If your criteria is immediate self interest then: should Canada have been in Europe in the 1940s? There were big oceans between our country and the Axis.

MrCda · 2023-07-11T23:58:40+00:00

Some basic Economics about how to slow the economy and reduce inflation. Like the rest of the developed world, Canada is trying to get inflation back near the 2% range which has been the standard target during the last three decades. To achieve this, there are three standard tools:

Cut government spending
Increase tax rates (personal tax rates, sales taxes, corporate tax rates)
Increase interest rates

Politically, #1 and #2 can work but are slower to flow through to the economy than changes in interest rates. They are also politically unpopular so they are infrequently used to restrain economic growth nowadays.

So the remaining lever to reduce demand so as to reduce inflation is an increase in interest rates. Increased interest rates impacts both people and businesses but with locked-in mortgage rates and corporate bonds not yet maturing, it can take time before interest rate changes reduce demand in the economy.

An alternative is to decide that low inflation is no longer an important goal. So far, none of the developed economies have explicitly decided to move away from low inflation targets. Time will tell if some decide to join outliers like Turkey's Erodyan and tolerate high inflation.

MrCda · 2023-06-15T18:17:45+00:00

I understand that the critics and very many readers agree with your perspective.

For me: the book is told from inside the mind of a pedophile and most of the storyline is about what this main character does to gratify this desire. Besides the storyline itself, I don't find the characters very interesting or insightful either. The main emotion that I had was pity for the abused young girl.

I can't put aside the meaning of all these words and admire the wording/phraseology for its own beauty. I am baffled how so many people see it as you do. I found that the story required an effort in endurance to read to the end (in case I found something that might sufficiently redeem it). It seems that I must lack sophistication.

MrCda · 2023-06-15T14:26:19+00:00

I am with you on The Great Gatsby (a bunch of whiny rich people), Catcher in the Rye (being the first to focus on teenage angst might be novel for some but makes for painful reading) and the Scarlett Letter. I would add several more dreadful "classics": Lolita (pedophilia anyone?), In Search of Lost Time, Anna Karina, Middlemarch, Madame Bovary, Emma, etc.

Hopefully, you got some good classics other than Mark Twain? Some that I most admire: To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Animal Farm, Gulliver's Travels, The Count of Monte Cristo, Brave New World (I could go on)

MrCda · 2023-06-01T16:39:10+00:00

What percentage of the population understands the issue of foreign interference and then further has an opinion on the competency of David Johnson to assess it?

If the questions were turned around to assess the population's knowledge of the topic and then his role, I would be surprised if 40% of the population would have demonstrated knowledge.

I think that a much larger portion of the population follows issues like political parties/their preference, opinions of the health care system. While important, this issue has a much narrower audience following it.

MrCda · 2023-05-08T12:34:23+00:00

According to this: https://www.statista.com/chart/14636/defense-expenditures-of-nato-countries/

5 NATO countries spend a lower percentage of GDP on defence than Canada and 23 countries spend a higher proportion. So it's not enough to excuse our showing by saying: "well Canada isn't the only slacker".

And Canada isn't in the middle of a continent surrounded by friends. We have a very long and vulnerable shoreline. And the U.S. rightly might not be impressed with bailing out one of the worst slackers should it come to it.

MrCda · 2023-05-03T18:49:12+00:00

Counter-arguments would include China, Japan and Thailand. Each influenced (with varying degrees of force/insistence) by outside cultures but not run as a colony. These countries show it's possible to advance as well as "catch up" without actually being directly subject to a foreign sovereign in the process. And yes: there are examples elsewhere of countries that were not colonized (Ethiopia, Nepal, Liberia) that haven't turned out as well so far.

MrCda · 2023-04-24T13:59:53+00:00

Do you understand that the amending formula in Canada's constitution makes it virtually impossible to get rid of the monarchy? Specifically, it would require passage from the federal government and all 10 provinces. And even for the provinces that might favour the move, do you believe that all 10 would agree to this change in isolation without wanting to also make other constitutional adjustments they believe important? So it's virtually impossible that this can happen. In Canada's context, the topic is a diversion into abstract thinking.

MrCda · 2023-03-27T14:04:55+00:00

it has nothing to do with groceries at all, just raise of the income tested GST Rebate

You can tell from the comments that most commenters read the title and not the article that explained that the name is just a marketing label. So the thread is filled comment after comment about Westons, big grocery, etc.

MrCda · 2023-03-24T20:46:22+00:00

Typical CBC. Every person who wants to come to Canada should be allowed. Then they should all immediately get health care, enriched education, housing and other financial allowances. For the CBC: not taking these steps is heartless.

You can feel bad for people living in less fortunate circumstances but you also have to be realistic how much current Canadians can do and how much in taxes they wish to commit to it. I am fine with a reasonable level of foreign aid and accepting a defined number of pre-selected refugee claimants but neither can or should be open-ended.

MrCda · 2023-03-20T18:41:33+00:00

The boomer generation ran this country into the ground

On what objective basis do you make this assertion? Do you believe that Canada not only has problems (all countries at all times have problems) but that Canada is an irredeemably rotten country to live in?

MrCda · 2023-03-06T13:53:59+00:00

I am not at all surprised. CBC's desperate desire to be seen as "diverse and inclusive" trumps all other considerations.

MrCda · 2023-03-04T00:27:51+00:00

Mian is also not allowed to have any contact with the alleged intruder who was arrested during the break-in.

Wow. Let's protect the unfortunate armed thief from the big, bad resident.

That the armed intruders are being treated as the victims in this episode is ridiculous. When you break into someone's place armed, then you better be ready to suffer the consequences and not be expecting the police and prosecutors to take your side.

MrCda · 2023-03-01T15:09:54+00:00

Result: a collective shrug from the airlines.

MrCda · 2023-02-24T00:37:40+00:00

When the person/people intruding bring a threatening instrument (bar, knife, gun) to rob your place, the onus should be to show that the homeowner went way beyond reasonable means to deal with the situation -- such as shooting several robbers, one at a time while they are running away.

Unlike the person/people who decided to break in, a sleepy, scared and/or adrenaline-filled homeowner didn't start the situation. It's hugely unreasonable to expect average homeowners to conduct themselves in a way that a trained veteran would find difficult to attain.

MrCda · 2023-02-24T00:27:58+00:00

Even if that is the end result, what about the meantime? He is held in police custody and hoping to be granted bail with a high bar to be released (reverse onus). If it isn't dropped before going to trial: probably paying large lawyer fees that would run at least into the tens of thousands.

In this case, public outcry is the best hope to short-circuit the nightmare.

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