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2018 Ontario Provincial Election Discussion

Following the latest revelations on AggregateIQ, I note that this bombshell from Gizmodo not only links to the big players in the media (NYTimes, Guardian, Channel 4, etc) but also has one to the Globe and Mail.

The Globe has dived into this head-first, they smell a huge rat, and the other Cdn pubs are just doing second-hand follow-on stories. I suspect the Globe has coupled with the NYTimes/Guardian partnership on this, and well they should.

I'm expecting some Ontario bombs down the line, hopefully before June 7:
AggregateIQ Created Cambridge Analytica's Election Software, and Here’s the Proof
Dell Cameron
Yesterday 12:50pm

See also:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/data-breach-exposes-cambridge-analyticas-data-mining-tools/
https://www.upguard.com/breaches/aggregate-iq-part-one
https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/27/f...cts-substantially-more-than-50m-claims-wylie/

Note that small tech operatives are rising to the surface in huge numbers. This has not only touched a nerve in the major press as per politics and morals, it's rubbed a lot of tech-nerds the wrong way, and that's to our benefit. All sorts of shid is going to be spilled in the next while...
 
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At this rate, I expect a government announcement that will shell out money for single middle income people in *knock on wood* excellent health with full time jobs by the end of next week!

....or am I dreaming?

I want a government programme paid for by debt to help me take more time off work so that I don't get stressed out and am able to be more productive at work thereby increasing my contribution to society and the economy. All I need is a few thousand dollars every summer to take July and August (and January for ski season) off work so that I can refresh and come back 75% more productive. It'll be revenue neutral after you factor in the extra government revenue generated by my increased productivity! "Trust me".
 
MTown said:
At this rate, I expect a government announcement that will shell out money for single middle income people in *knock on wood* excellent health with full time jobs by the end of next week!

....or am I dreaming?

I want a government programme paid for by debt to help me take more time off work so that I don't get stressed out and am able to be more productive at work thereby increasing my contribution to society and the economy. All I need is a few thousand dollars every summer to take July and August (and January for ski season) off work so that I can refresh and come back 75% more productive. It'll be revenue neutral after you factor in the extra government revenue generated by my increased productivity! "Trust me".
Click to expand...

As discussed in the World Happiness thread Ontario (and Canada writ large) are well behind in minimum provisions for paid vacation.

Not only well below other OECD countries, but below many developing ones as well.

I would very much favour bringing the paid vacation mandate to 4 weeks, as is the case for the entire E.U.

Something Australian you might like to import is their sabbatical program.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_service_leave

Essentially, after 10 years, you can take extraordinary time off, beyond your normal vacation entitlement.
 
Whoah, the Aussie one would work for me! I've been at my employer since 1999 (though only since 2005 FT)! We're already allowed unlimited holidays but only 3 weeks are paid which makes it useless for me. In fact, my use of the unlimited holidays allowed us during my 20s is what got me into the 35K debt I'm in now. hahahaaaaa....aaaah, man, totally worth it....good times, good travels, good friends. If I could go back and do it all again, I'd just spend even more money on even more adventures!

I was just riffing on the fact that single middle income workers have no entitlements and are never catered to by vote-buying politicos even though we are massively net contributors to everyone else's entitlements and the politicos' salaries. All I want in return is legal drugs and three months off a year so I can canoe, climb, and ski and music festival...and drink and write and psychedelics on the beach. It's not a lot to ask for. Give me this and you can raise my taxes 10% to actually pay for all your campaign promises without putting us into more debt. Deal?

Though, in reality, all I really want is for politicians to stop throwing around policies that aren't paid for without first finding a way to pay for them that isn't called debt. Me going into debt in my 20s so I could "live a little" (or a lot) isn't the same as us collectively going into debt to pay for services that upon implementation become necessities. I mean, I'll take the legal drugs and wine on a beach and three months off to pursue my sports without interruption, but I'll settle for this to start.
 
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Admiral Beez said:
If any of them stood on their own merits they would have been proposed after the last election, not before the next.
Click to expand...

The timing of the onslaught is so shameless that it's sort of comical. It's starting to look very much like things that go on in such places as Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, Bolivia, and on and on.

A subsidy here, a subsidy there.

Maybe they'll go full Egypt....wait for the bread subsidy announcement in two weeks to make up for the collusion perpetrated by Loblaw et al.
 
Videodrome said:
I get four weeks vacation, but I had to work at the same place for a long time to get it. Sick days are something that need to change as well. Where I work, we have a very generous plan, but my wife barely gets any...
Click to expand...

Nice one!

I've never been sure about sick days. Why should an employer pay for me missing work due to illness? I've never understood the benefit. Chronic illness is one thing, but paying for people getting the flu, cold, hangover....
The benefits to productivity and good mental health provided by ample holiday time speak for themselves, but if employers are going to be covering sick days then they should just cover nutrition and fitness classes instead.
There should obviously be allowances for missing work due to illness, but paying those days.....I don't think I've ever had this concept explained to me.
 
MTown said:
Nice one!

I've never been sure about sick days. Why should an employer pay for me missing work due to illness? I've never understood the benefit. Chronic illness is one thing, but paying for people getting the flu, cold, hangover....
The benefits to productivity and good mental health provided by ample holiday time speak for themselves, but if employers are going to be covering sick days then they should just cover nutrition and fitness classes instead.
There should obviously be allowances for missing work due to illness, but paying those days.....I don't think I've ever had this concept explained to me.
Click to expand...

There are 2 arguments to paying for sick days.

One is the issue of the low-income worker, surviving cheque to cheque and the serious damage that can be done if they miss a few days pay. (ie. can't pay the rent)

The other which affects a broader group of workers, is that many people come into work sick rather than miss a day's pay. The downside is that they may then spread
their illness to others on the job site.

In other words, you want people to choose to stay home when sick.

Of course, there's a balance to strike.

Right now, Ontario is mandating 2 paid sick days (personal days) per year.

Quebec has just done this.

Currently no other provinces do.

About 9 U.S. States are currently mandating paid sick days, with several others likely to go there in the next year.

In the U.S. the norm has been to mandate 5 paid days.

However, they also have no minimum paid vacation at all, which is part of their consideration.

You could address the issue via paid vacation here as well, but obviously we would need a lot more of it; and the option to take at least one week (5 days of it) in one-day or 1/2 day increments so it could serve the intended purpose.

I personally feel the vacation mandate being raised to 3 weeks minimum is the higher priority. But I also feel that if paid sick days are a separate item, people need more than 2.
 
MTown said:
Nice one!

I've never been sure about sick days. Why should an employer pay for me missing work due to illness? I've never understood the benefit. Chronic illness is one thing, but paying for people getting the flu, cold, hangover....
The benefits to productivity and good mental health provided by ample holiday time speak for themselves, but if employers are going to be covering sick days then they should just cover nutrition and fitness classes instead.
There should obviously be allowances for missing work due to illness, but paying those days.....I don't think I've ever had this concept explained to me.
Click to expand...

I can earn up to 85 sick days. Last time this year, I got a bad case of pneumonia and was off work for close to a month. I was at the maximum 85 at the time and used 14 of them. It was a good thing I had those banked up!

The system at work is that if you get a long term injury, you first use up all those sick days, then go to short term disability. When that runs out, you are switched to long term disability.
 
MTown said:
Nice one!

I've never been sure about sick days. Why should an employer pay for me missing work due to illness? I've never understood the benefit. Chronic illness is one thing, but paying for people getting the flu, cold, hangover....
The benefits to productivity and good mental health provided by ample holiday time speak for themselves, but if employers are going to be covering sick days then they should just cover nutrition and fitness classes instead.
There should obviously be allowances for missing work due to illness, but paying those days.....I don't think I've ever had this concept explained to me.
Click to expand...

This is why (dated February 13, 2018). From link.

Unusually harsh flu season — blamed for 130 deaths in Canada — now at 'peak levels'

Your "just the flu", can kill.


See link for:

FluWatch report: March 11 to March 17, 2018 (week 11)

To date this season, 4,220 influenza-associated hospitalizations were reported by participating provinces and territories. Among the hospitalizations, 2,986 (71%) were associated with influenza A, and 2,883 cases (67%) were in adults 65 years of age or older.

Additionally, 412 ICU admissions and 207 deaths have been reported to date. Adults aged 65 years of age or older accounted for the greatest proportion of ICU cases (43%), followed closely by adults aged 20-64 (40%). Adults aged 65 years of age or older accounted the majority of deaths (84%).

fig6-eng.jpg
 
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