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Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

The Russian leadership is said to be oligarch. What does that mean?

From link.

An oligarch is one of the select few people who rule or influence leaders in an oligarchy—a government in which power is held by a select few individuals or a small class of powerful people.​
Oligarchs can be the actual leaders, or they can influence or control the decisions that the leaders make (meaning they’re the ones “pulling the strings” behind the scenes).​
Oligarchy is never used as an official term for a form of government (like monarchy is, for example)—it’s almost always applied as a criticism of such situations. It is frequently used as a way of pointing out the influence of the wealthy and powerful in politics and government—an influence that’s typically used to benefit themselves. Oligarch is used in the same way.​
A country (or province or city) that is thought to have an oligarchic government can also be referred to as an oligarchy, as in Many outsiders view the nation as an oppressive oligarchy.
Oligarchy can also refer to the class of people who have the power in this kind of system, as in The country was run by an oligarchy consisting of a few powerful industrialists.
The word oligarch can refer to a person who’s a part of an oligarchy in any of the senses of the word.​
The word oligarch is especially associated with and applied to Russian figures known for their wealth and political influence. These figures are frequently called Russian oligarchs and are sometimes referred to collectively as the Russian oligarchy.

In Russia, (Ras)Putin government is an oligarch.

In USA, the Trump family is an oligarchy.

In Ontario, the Ford Nation is an oligarcy.
 
The Russian leadership is said to be oligarch. What does that mean?

From link.

An oligarch is one of the select few people who rule or influence leaders in an oligarchy—a government in which power is held by a select few individuals or a small class of powerful people.​
Oligarchs can be the actual leaders, or they can influence or control the decisions that the leaders make (meaning they’re the ones “pulling the strings” behind the scenes).​
Oligarchy is never used as an official term for a form of government (like monarchy is, for example)—it’s almost always applied as a criticism of such situations. It is frequently used as a way of pointing out the influence of the wealthy and powerful in politics and government—an influence that’s typically used to benefit themselves. Oligarch is used in the same way.​
A country (or province or city) that is thought to have an oligarchic government can also be referred to as an oligarchy, as in Many outsiders view the nation as an oppressive oligarchy.
Oligarchy can also refer to the class of people who have the power in this kind of system, as in The country was run by an oligarchy consisting of a few powerful industrialists.
The word oligarch can refer to a person who’s a part of an oligarchy in any of the senses of the word.​
The word oligarch is especially associated with and applied to Russian figures known for their wealth and political influence. These figures are frequently called Russian oligarchs and are sometimes referred to collectively as the Russian oligarchy.

In Russia, (Ras)Putin government is an oligarch.

In USA, the Trump family is an oligarchy.

In Ontario, the Ford Nation is an oligarcy.
You give Ford too much credit .
 
You give Ford too much credit .
Most likely "Oligarchs can be the actual leaders, or they can influence or control the decisions that the leaders make (meaning they’re the ones “pulling the strings” behind the scenes)". Doug Ford does not have the "brains", but he is likely doing what others are telling him to do.
 
So what does Alberta do with all that revenue from crude oil sales coming in?

Alberta to temporarily drop 13-cent-a-litre gas tax to provide some relief at the pumps


Kenney also announced a rebate of $150 that will be applied directly to electricity bills

From link.

Albertans will receive 13-cents-per-litre worth of relief at the pumps starting on April 1.

Premier Jason Kenney made the announcement on Monday, noting the full elimination of the provincial gas tax will be activated when the price of West Texas Intermediate is more than $90 per barrel. When the price of WTI is below $80 per barrel the fuel tax will be in place.

WTI is currently hovering around $118 per barrel.

“Here we are, after two years of often having lived apart, isolated as a result of the pandemic restrictions, just when life is starting to get back to normal, and now all of a sudden people are worried about how they are going to pay to fill up their gas tank and buy their groceries,” said Kenney, who estimates the savings to Albertans on the fuel tax to be worth approximately $1.3 billion.

Kenney also announced a rebate of $150 that will be applied directly to electricity bills, though there is no real timeline attached to the rebate, just that it will be applied once the government passes the required legislation. The program is expected to cost the province about $280 million.

The rebate program will consist of three $50 monthly rebates to cover high costs during January, February and March. It will be applied right to electricity bills.

“If you pay an electricity bill, you will see this rebate on it,” said Dale Nally, Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity.

Last week, Kenney said he would consider such programs if the federal government delayed the implementation of the carbon tax increase. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not committed to any change to the carbon tax program and the increase this year is expected to cost Albertans an additional 2.2 cents per litre.

Kenney said this will leave the net difference of about 10 cents per litre. The removal of the gas tax will be re-examined on a quarterly basis.

There is no guarantee that gas will be cheaper, as there is nothing requiring gas stations from leaving prices where they are and collecting the 13 cents per litre themselves. Kenney said they will do what they can to pressure them to ensure the savings are there and noted market pressures should help in the process as well.

Alberta currently has the lowest gas prices in the country, according to GasBuddy.com, with an average for regular gas at $1.58.9 per litre. B.C. has the highest prices in the country at $1.94, while Newfoundland and Labrador is at $1.91.8. The national average is $1.79.6. The average cost per litre in Calgary is $1.59.9, up 12.6 cents per litre over the past week and is the highest ever recorded in the city.

Trevor Tombe, an economics professor at the University of Calgary, said delaying the carbon tax would have very little impact on the cost of gas, that the biggest driver is the global price of oil.

The price of gas will impact the cost of living dramatically he said. He estimated for every increase in global oil prices of $10 per barrel, it raises the overall inflation rate about by 0.4 percentage points.

“We could easily see gasoline alone contributing a full percentage point or two to inflation, just for March,” said Tombe. “That would be like the entire year’s inflation target crammed into an entire month, just for March.”

He added, opposed to focusing in on interfering with markets, the best thing the government can do to offset the spike in cost of living is to put cash in the hands of Albertans. He said the province did that with the electricity rebate.

NDP Energy Critic Kathleen Ganley called the two programs “woefully inadequate” to address the financial impacts on Albertans as they grapple with rising energy costs. She also reiterated capping natural gas at $6.50 per gigajoule, as announced in the budget, will impact very few.

“We’re pleased to see action on fuel prices, I think that is a step in the right direction,” she said. “But overall, I think we’re not satisfied with what’s been brought in and I think that Albertans deserve and need more.”

Energy prices continue to skyrocket with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and will only continue to go up when coupled with other supply chain issues.

This is also accounting for much of the upward pressure on the international natural gas markets as Europe struggles to cut ties with Russia.

Kenney said this should be an impetus for the U.S. and other countries to turn to Canada for oil and gas as opposed to other dictators in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran. He will attempt to leverage this into a renewed commitment to revive the Keystone XL pipeline.

Tombe said while this is policy that should be given more thought, Alberta is not in position to flip a switch and supplant the Russian oil supply.

“It’s not to say we shouldn’t pursue aggressive sanctions in this case, but we shouldn’t dilute ourselves into thinking it will offset the increase in energy prices we are seeing,” he said.

For Alberta, they might be wishing that crude oil prices stay high. If they fall again, Alberta will be in trouble again.
 

Viral tweet about making less than a Toronto parking space per hour really hits home


From link.

What has two thumbs — as well as a brain and an entire body, actually — but still earns less per hour through their labour than a parking space in downtown Toronto? This guy, and a whole lot of other people in the city, too, according to the viral success of a new tweet.

The post from two weeks ago is still making its rounds on social media, apparently resonating with tens of thousands of residents who have come to the stunning realization that they, too, make around or even less at their job than a small chunk of asphalt with lines drawn on it.

"A parking space in downtown Toronto makes $27/hr," the poster pointed out, defeated. "I, a real person with thoughts and feelings, capable of suffering, makes less than a goddamn parking space."


The simple statement really hits home in a city where the minimum wage is $15 but the lowest wage a person needs to actually be able to afford to live here is $22.08, the highest in the province.

And it's no wonder, given that the average T.O. home is now $1.2 millionover $2 mill for a detached house, making us the most expensive city in Canada and pricier than New York, L.A. and countless other major metropolises — and the market is only slated to keep jumping to new record highs.

Housing stock for the population is also lower in Ontario than any other province and at its worst in the GTA, and available affordable housing? Forget about it.

Even tiny shoeboxes in the sky are selling for about $740,000, and those hoping to escape to a cheaper nearby suburb will find that they're likely priced out of those quickly-rising markets, too.


Toronto tenants, too, are SOL, needing to work more than full-time (180 hours a month) to be able to earn the over $110,00o it takes to afford to rent a typical apartment here — one-bedrooms have now hit an average of more than $2,000 while two bedrooms are nearly $2,800.

You could totally swing that if you had a downtown parking spot to sell, as some of those are going for upwards of $120,000, while even outdoor spaces are renting for many hundreds a month.

The purchase price of these spots may have been where this tweeter got their $27/hr figure from, though one can assume they're also being hyperbolic to prove their point.

As many have discussed on both Twitter and Reddit (where the tweet was reposted), parking in Toronto can definitely be expensive, but is more in the range of $5 an hour in most areas, which can still add up to more than $40 during a typical workday.

Some lots, such as Royal Bank Plaza, Bay Adelaide Centre and Scotia Plaza, charge as much as $15 an hour, which equates to minimum wage before taxes. Many more have daily rates of around or over $30. And parking for major events can be a flat fee of far more for just a few hours.


Even if the numbers aren't completely accurate, the message of how unaffordable the city is and how little its resident workers are generally paid still clearly rings true for many, with the tweet garnering 88,200 likes, 11,000 retweets and hundreds of quote tweets.

And there is indeed a huge swath of people in minimum-wage positions who are literally making the same per hour as many downtown parking spaces — and even less after taxes.
 
From link.

Wheat Exports by Country


1647275886187.png


Russia's exports are being banned. Ukraine's exports likely unavailable. Canada could produce more... if the farmlands in Ontario were not being bulldozed for highways (IE. Highway 413) or urban sprawl (IE. Greenbelt being turned over to single-family houses on sprawling lots). Expect to see the price of bread, buns, and other wheat based products to go up.

Doug Ford's likely response...

Let them eat cheesecake.
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From link.
 
Last edited:
275772863_130295396203998_3155516234071290595_n.jpg
From link.


Dated November 21, 2019

Doug Ford 'proud' of tearing up hundreds of green energy contracts​


Documents show Ford government spent more than $230 million to cancel renewable energy projects

Premier Doug Ford said Thursday he is "proud" of his decision to tear up hundreds of renewable energy deals, a move that his government acknowledges could cost taxpayers more than $230 million.

Ford dismissed criticism that his Progressive Conservatives are wasting public money, telling a news conference that the cancellation of 750 contracts signed by the previous Liberal government will save cash.

"I'm so proud of that," Ford said of his decision. "I'm proud that we actually saved the taxpayers $790 million when we cancelled those terrible, terrible, terrible wind turbines that really for the last 15 years have destroyed our energy file."

Later Thursday, Ford went further in defending the cancelled contracts, saying "if we had the chance to get rid of all the wind mills we would."

The NDP first reported the cost of the cancellations Tuesday, saying the $231 million figure was listed as "other transactions," buried in government documents detailing spending in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
The Progressive Conservatives have said the final cost of the cancellations, which include the decommissioning of a wind farm already under construction in Prince Edward County, Ont., has yet to be established.

The government has said it tore up the deals because the province didn't need the power and it was driving up electricity rates, and the decision will save millions over the life of the contracts. Industry officials have disputed those savings, saying the cancellations will just mean job losses for small business.


Ford Government Pays $2.8 Billion for 3 Fossil Power Plants

From link. Dated April 30, 2020
Ontario Power Generation — 100% owned by the Government of Ontario — has just spent $2.8 billion to buy three gas-fired power plants.
The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) projects that under the Ford government’s electricity plan, emissions from gas-fired power plants will rise by more than 300%. This is essentially throwing away one-third of the climate pollution reductions Ontario achieved by phasing out coal-fired power.

There are far better ways to keep our lights on, starting with maximizing our energy efficiency efforts, making a deal with Quebec for low-cost water power and developing cost-effective renewable energy projects right here in Ontario.

These actions would allow Ontario to phase out polluting gas-fired power and create a strong foundation for a green economic recovery from our current covid-19 crisis. Instead of spending $2.8 billion to increase greenhouse gas pollution, Ontario should be embracing the opportunity to develop a 100% renewable electricity system.

We recently looked at this better approach in a Zoom webinar you can watch, or view the powerpoint slides here. We have also spelled out how Ontario can phase out its gas plants in a new report.

If you think we have better ways to spend $2.8 billion than buying polluting gas plants, send a letter to Doug Ford and the leaders of the opposition parties here: OntarioClimateAction.ca.

Thank you for making the time.
-Angela Bischoff, Director
 
Oops. Since we're in election time, I think this is pertinent to this thread and will make its way into political circles somehow:

A day after Unifor president Jerry Dias announced his sudden retirement, the union revealed it has been investigating the now former president since late January.
Canada's largest private sector union said in a statement Monday that secretary-treasurer Lana Payne was sent a complaint about Dias on Jan. 26 that alleged he engaged in a breach of the union's constitution.
 
College faculty now have a strike mandate for as early as Friday morning.


Didn't we just have a long college strike a few years ago? Looks like they didn't really settle much last time, but I'm out of the loop on the issues here. I'm sure they are squeezed for money though as I believe like the Universities they rely on high fees from foreign students for many programs and they have not enrolled while COVID plays out.
 
Wow, what a shock. Big unions are corrupt.
Maybe, Dias has never been one to play by the rules. He was also involved in the hostile take over with local ATU that represented the TTC. Diaz was in cahoots with Bob Kinnear president of local 113 ATU. Loads of shady business…
 

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