cowofwar posted:

If all these people died one night would their absence affect the world in any way? They just emit carbon pollution and lovely policy. Carbon pollution and societal acid rain.

cowofwar posted:

If all these people died one night would their absence affect the world in any way? I am a big dumb dumb and genocide against the rurals is cool. As long as I get to keep playing sonic 2 in my apartment while heating up chicken fingers.

infernal machines posted:

I think there's a bit of irony in the fact that some form of GMI is probably necessary and unquestionably helpful to the sustainability of small town Canada, but somehow everything between Sarnia and Ottawa outside of the major cities voted OPC.

zapplez posted:

Kill the rurals. wow. edgy

cowofwar posted:

I develop methods for cancer detection and my wife saves lives and improves patient care/hospital utilization; unlike rurals we are useful members of society and contribute in numerous ways instead of demanding all its privileges while refusing to contribute meanwhile posting garbage comments on cbcnews.

Postess with the Mostest posted:

Man, my Christmas wish is that everybody thought the same as you. Not so much the stereotyping but definitely the hardcore meritocrazism.

infernal machines posted:

Don't you push buttons for a living?

EvidenceBasedQuack posted:

Also at whoever thinks transit in the GTA is better than Montreal.

PT6A posted:

Is "these people provide insufficient value to society, let's do away with them" really a road we want to go down?

I mean, poo poo on the rural people who are causing significant problems and/or burning crosses by all means, but let's see if we can't avoid advocating for Nazi social policy in the process.

infernal machines posted:

Don't you push buttons for a living?

infernal machines posted:

Farmers Feed Cities

I don't know what the other 99% of rural peoples get up to but I'm sure it's at least marginally useful in their communities if not elsewhere.


Don't you push buttons for a living?

cowofwar posted:

I develop methods for cancer detection and my wife saves lives and improves patient care/hospital utilization; unlike rurals we are useful members of society and contribute in numerous ways instead of demanding all its privileges while refusing to contribute meanwhile posting garbage comments on cbcnews.

infernal machines posted:

I think if there's one thing this thread has taught me it's that medical professionals are pretty darn okay with sterilization and euthanasia when it suits them.

cowofwar posted:

I develop methods for cancer detection and my wife saves lives and improves patient care/hospital utilization; unlike rurals we are useful members of society and contribute in numerous ways instead of demanding all its privileges while refusing to contribute meanwhile posting garbage comments on cbcnews.

James Baud posted:

When they're being grumpy they just wander around their day repeatedly thinking "I could end this motherfucker right now!" about everyone they encounter and picture themselves intentionally overdosing that person, severing an artery with a scalpel, or whatever else if their creative juices are flowing.

zapplez posted:

"kill the rurals, no really, i dont think its a joke, kill the rurals "

- half the posters in this thread

Postess with the Mostest posted:

I'm amazed someone ate a sixer for it, I think we can all surely agree that political correctness has now gone too far

The Guardian posted:

Revealed: oil giants pay billions less tax in Canada than abroad

Data shows companies made much higher payments to developing countries in 2016 than to Canadian, provincial governments

Canada taxes its oil and gas companies at a fraction of the rate they are taxed abroad, including by countries ranked among the world’s most corrupt, according to an analysis of public data by the Guardian.

The low rate that oil companies pay in Canada represents billions of dollars in potential revenue lost, which an industry expert who looked at the data says is a worrying sign that the country may be “a kind of tax haven for our own companies.”

The countries where oil companies paid higher rates of taxes, royalties and fees per barrel in 2016 include Nigeria, Indonesia, Ivory Coast and the UK.

“I think it will come as a surprise to most Canadians, including a lot of politicians, that Canada is giving oil companies a cut-rate deal relative to other countries,” said Keith Stewart, an energy analyst with Greenpeace.

Companies like Chevron Canada paid almost three times as much to Nigeria and almost seven times as much to Indonesia as it did to Canadian, provincial and municipal governments.

Chevron used to run its Nigeria and Indonesia projects out of the U.S., but after allegations that they evaded billions in taxes, their operations were moved to Canada.

According to data collected by the Guardian, Suncor also paid six times more taxes to the UK, and Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) paid almost four times more to Ivory Coast.



The revelations emerge as tax reforms proposed by the Liberal government to curb the use of loopholes by wealthy Canadians continue to be hotly debated and opposed by business lobby groups.

Even with the low rates, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has been lobbying the federal government for more tax breaks to improve their “competitiveness.”

The Guardian used a new extractive sector database launched in June, 2017, after a law passed by Stephen Harper required oil, gas, and mining companies in Canada to disclose for the first time payments they make to governments around the world. The Guardian compared payment figures for 2016 to oil production levels.

The result of a global push for “publish-what-you-pay” corporate transparency, the Canadian law was billed as a way to empower citizens in developing countries to ensure more tax revenue is collected for much-needed social programs. While it was supported by Canada’s mining industry, oil companies fought against full disclosures.

“Publish-what-you-pay was set up to help fight corruption in the developing world, but ironically this data reveals that it’s Canada who is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the public’s share of oil revenue,” said Stewart. “The Trudeau government should be demanding that oil companies pay at least as much tax here as they do abroad, and use that money to fund a transition to green energy.”

According to resource governance expert and UBC geography professor Philippe Le Billon, neoliberal policies in Canada and across OECD countries have resulted in lower taxes and royalties for companies.

“Companies in Canada will point to the jobs they are creating rather than acknowledge they could be sharing more of their profits, which mostly goes to shareholders who are not even in the country,” he said. “In key jurisdictions like Alberta, this has come about after decades of rule by Conservatives who are very cozy with oil interests. The numbers reveal a poor tradeoff: high emissions for not much revenue. It’s long-past time for Canada to follow a model like Norway’s, which captures far more revenue from oil production.”

While royalty rates in Newfoundland are the highest in Canada, in Alberta they have fallen from a 40 per cent high during the 1970s to less than four per cent, and a complex system of exemptions ensures companies often pay even less. The NDP government in Alberta backed away from a pledge to hike them.

Le Billon said the tax gap between Canada and developing countries has also been influenced by lower prices for Canadian crude and higher production costs.

“[Production in Africa] generated positive segmented earnings, therefore generating higher associated payments to the local Governments. In contrast, last year our Canadian conventional operations were generating operating losses, hence lower payment levels to Canadian governments,” a spokesperson for CNRL said. They reported losses of $204 million last year but have made $1.07 billion in profits in their latest quarter in 2017.

Chevron Canada did not directly address the discrepancy in tax rates, but a spokesperson said its reporting to the extractive sector database “are one of many important roles that Chevron Canada and our industry peers play as we produce safe and reliable energy and partner with communities and first nations [sic].” They reported losses of $497 million in 2016 after making $4.6 billion in 2015.

Suncor, which reported profits of $1.9 billion in 2016, did not return a request for comment. All three companies pay massive dividends to shareholders every year.

Natural Resources Canada referred questions to the Finance Ministry, which did not respond to questions.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government and the provinces also continue to give $3.3 billion in yearly subsidies to fossil fuel producers in the country, despite having pledged to phase them out.

Arabian Jesus posted:

less than three posted:

I don't even have a witty remark.

Jan posted:

Pope is Catholic, bears poo poo in the woods, water is wet, Canadian government promises to fight carbon emissions while subsidising the oil industry.

Danaru posted:

If Albertans had forethought none of this would be happening