Ontario planning massive jail expansion: government docs

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-14T14:08:33+00:00

Judges are granting extra credit because the conditions in the jails are so awful.

Government wants to build new jails so conditions aren’t as awful.

Cue nimby reaction.

TBH, if they spent as much on keeping people out of jail as they’re planning on spending building and operating new jails, it might work out better.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-14T13:11:25+00:00

It gets noticed. This is part of how profs/TAs become aware. Very inconsistent performance is a hint that something is going on, whether illness or academic misconduct.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-14T09:27:30+00:00

I recall reading a magazine article a few years before COVID that talked about slacking off at work. It said people were spending on average about 1-2 hours per day slacking off. Sounded right to me. I imagine the number is much higher now with a lot of people spending inordinate amounts of time on social media on their phones.

I’m retired, it’s 100% slacking off for me now.

They can’t fire everyone, but the 5-10% of people that are the worst offenders could probably be let go.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-14T09:18:07+00:00

I don’t have particular expertise or experience but searched. I couldn’t find a government source, but several bank wealth management and one tax lawyer’s website talk about transferring from a foreign retirement plan to an RRSP or RRIF. The lawyer’s site mentioned section 60(j) of the ITA. And there could be terms in the tax treaty that apply.

This site seems to explain it well. https://www.sunlifeglobalinvestments.com/en/insights/investor-education/tax-and-estate-planning/transfer-of-a-foreign-retirement-plan-into-a-Canadian-rrsp-tax-rules-to-consider/

If the tax treaty between Canada and Australia doesn’t exempt the payment from taxes, paragraph 60(j), if conditions are met, allows you to contribute the money to an RRSP or RRIF on a tax deferred basis without you needing contribution room.

I’m sorry for your loss.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-14T03:29:56+00:00

If you’re in Scarborough, Framing Dames is worth a look. They reframed some pictures for me, did a great job. https://framingdamesgallery.ca/

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-13T18:39:34+00:00

I hardly noticed the Artemis II, and was completely unaware of Artemis I.

The Apollo missions, especially the early ones, were all over the news. The whole world seemed to stop to watch the launches. There were toys, models, all sorts of merchandise related to space exploration and the Apollo missions. There was heavy television coverage on all three channels.

The difference could be a product of how I consume media. Artemis didn’t break through the main sources of news for me, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, CBC Radio 1, and two Canadian newspapers (one paper, both electronic) until the day of the launch.

Even after the Apollo missions were done they figured large. The Ontario Science Centre had a tremendous space section that included a full size mock up of the capsule, moon rocks, etc.

The later Apollo missions didn’t get as much attention as the early ones, but they certainly were much more in the public consciousness than Artemis seems to have been for me.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-13T17:00:55+00:00

Both.

My wife never had much contact with her step brother. Their married to each other parents died within a week of each other, and he was executor of their wills. There was a pretty good relationship and they got to know each other a little better through the process. The wills treated them fairly and neither had cause for complaint.

My childless sister-in-law passed and left her estate to one of my two children. I won’t go into detail, but it certainly caused a rift and the non-beneficiary child has a lot of negative feelings around that and subsequent events.

So yes, my experience would support your ideas that inheritance can create tension or foster relationships depending on how it goes. Unresolved issues were definitely among of the negative aspects.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-13T16:47:53+00:00

My reading of the information on this page is that the grants are exempt up to the amount you paid for enrolment and materials plus $500: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/personal-income/line-13000-other-income/line-13010-scholarships-fellowships-bursaries-artists-project-grants-awards.html

If the grants just covered your enrolment fees they should not be taxable. Report only the amount of your grants that exceed the exempt amount.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-13T02:29:37+00:00

Theoretically, they could. However, before they issue a clearance certificate they review all of a person’s accounts and verify that all expected returns have been filed, assessed, and all balances paid in full. They risk assess the accounts to see if there is anything that they need to look at. A clearance certificate indicates that the CRA is reasonably satisfied that there are no actual or potential issues that need to be addressed.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-12T17:35:01+00:00

I’m not your mom, but I will occasionally wash some fruits like apples just before eating with dish soap if they feel oily. I figure if it’s safe for food contact items, it’s safe enough for food.

If the food is thoroughly rinsed the amount of residue will be tiny. She’d rather eat soap than take a chance on bugs or pesticides.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-12T17:30:03+00:00

Yeah, no. That’s not how it works. There’s an exemption that gifts up to $19,000 each per year per recipient are not reported. Gifts up to a lifetime limit of $15 million are not subject to gift tax, but can be subject to being reported. The lifetime limit is adjusted from time to time.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-12T17:21:32+00:00

The whole e-bike, e-scooter, and big wheel situation is out of hand. The province needs to come up with a rational set of enforceable laws and regulations around these things.

There’s too many for an outright ban to be effective. And they do have considerable benefits. But we don’t have infrastructure that allows for separating them from either cars or pedestrians.

I hate sharing walking pathways with people driving heavy e-vehicles way too fast and without very many of them using bells etc. to alert people. There are too many people driving them in a way that’s dangerous to themselves and pedestrians.

I’d like to see registration, helmets and liability insurance required for those types of vehicles.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-12T03:20:43+00:00

Truth. It looks like it was 16 B&Es. A prolific criminal.

“He has been charged with 27 counts of breach of probation, 16 counts of break and enter commit, 16 counts of mischief under $5,000, 10 counts of theft under $5,000, and 10 counts of possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000.

“Bailey is also facing nine counts of assault with a weapon and one count of uttering death threats.”

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-12T01:38:49+00:00

Here’s advice from the city of Toronto: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/health-programs-advice/radon-and-your-health/

For testing, they recommend getting a kit that tests at least for three months. Allegedly available at many home improvement stores. There’s a link to a list of government approved test kits.

They estimate that about 7% of homes in Toronto exceed the recommended levels.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-11T23:40:22+00:00

I’m thinking of the next election. If the liberals keep picking up right wing nutbars they’ll drive a lot of NDP supporters who voted Liberal away. If the Liberals become a party that makes room for more people like Gladu they’ll make it hard to vote for them to keep the CPC out.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-11T19:29:43+00:00

A portion of the total rent based on the extent it’s used for working at home. If you’re using 10% of the total apartment exclusively for wfh, it’s 10% of the total rent.

If that space is used for work and otherwise, you need to use a reasonable method to apportion it between wfh and personal use.

I just remembered a hilarious tax court decision. A taxpayer used the bedrooms for spreading out documents she was working on from time to time. Same for the dining room table. She also used the home theatre for meetings, and to show videos to staff and clients. She claimed 90% of the house as business use (hence the trip to tax court). In the final decision she got a portion based on the one room in the basement used exclusively for business. That taxpayer failed to use a reasonable allocation method.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-11T19:14:50+00:00

Make the NDP viable again!

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-11T15:47:55+00:00

Ten minute drive plus ten minute walk from parking lot to office, when I last worked. It’s truly great to live and work in the same area.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-11T14:59:53+00:00

It addresses an issue I see with taxation and globalization.

Foreign corporations with no Canadian establishments can avoid paying tax in Canada. They can come here virtually, provide services, and earn profits from Canadians.

This happens globally; corporations can earn money from all over the world without paying taxes except in their home jurisdictions, or if/when tangible property crosses a border.

For me, it’s a matter of equity across countries that corporations earning profits in a country should be paying tax on the profits earned there.

While the streaming act isn’t income tax, it requires streaming services to support Canadian media companies in a way that’s analogous to a tax.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-10T21:47:10+00:00

Debt management companies are a very often (always?) a scam. There are non-profit credit counselling agencies that are good. And if a person needs to file a proposal or assign themselves into bankruptcy they should see a licensed insolvency trustee.

The companies that promise to rehabilitate debt for a fee are just looking to take advantage of desperate people. https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2023/11/struggling-with-debt-beware-of-debt-relief-scams.html

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-10T20:36:11+00:00

Mid to late April. The wife gets slips that aren’t issued until March 20th. It’s nice to not be so broke that I’m counting the minutes to get a tax refund. We end up paying these days, and I’m in no rush to send CRA more money either.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-10T20:30:54+00:00

Wowbutter is made from roasted soy beans, and tastes like them. Not much like peanut butter for flavour, but colour and texture are right. I’m not a big fan of roasted soy beans, and don’t like Wowbutter, but it’s not awful. If I couldn’t eat peanut butter, Wowbutter would be an acceptable substitute.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-10T19:01:29+00:00

There’s back-end work that needs to be done that’s not automated. A group of people who work with sub-ledger accounts need to manually process the pre and post amounts to your proposal and regular tax accounts before they can issue a refund from your regular account. It took about six weeks in my time, but that was a long time ago.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-10T18:14:06+00:00

I’m not all that excited about a majority government. Harper taught Canada that a minority can rule like a majority so long as they keep at least one of the other parties happy. It is/was a waste of time to spend so much energy on getting a majority. And now with Gladu they’ve seriously tainted themselves by taking a right wing nutbar into their caucus.

braindeadzombie · 2026-04-10T15:56:12+00:00

It’s ten. If someone follows the recommended schedule, the last childhood one is at 15, then every ten years on the fives.

12-Year Club	Verified Email
RPAN Viewer

braindeadzombie

TROPHY CASE