CanPol Megathread: Big Changus

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vyelkin: Jan 2, 2011

Do it ironically posted:

Thought this was a nice quote from Kasparov

Hmmm yes, Bernie Sanders, renowned for his support for Soviet-style communism rather than European-style social democracy. Good point.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:10

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 20:05

DariusLikewise: Oct 4, 2008; You wore that on Halloween?

Let's delve into some Muncipal politics!

Winnipeg's former Mayor Sam Katz is under investigation for fraud. He received large personal cheques from the head of the construction firm chosen to renovate and build the new Police HQ. The same Police HQ which went 75 million over budget

Also the cities preliminary budget just came out that raised fees and property taxes are 25% to "cover shortfalls from previous budgets"

http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/rcmp-documents-allege-forged-inflated-invoices-found-in-winnipeg-police-hq-investigation-1.2797643

quote:

Newly unsealed RCMP documents suggest the owner of Caspian Construction wrote cheques to former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz.

The information is contained in search warrant papers filed days before police raided the construction firm in December of 2014.

RCMP alleges Caspian forged, inflated, and manipulated invoices for work on the Winnipeg police headquarters -- a project that's more than $75 million over budget.

According to court documents, a former accounting department employee from Caspian told investigators that Sam Katz received two personal cheques from the company's owner worth as much as $6,000 each.

The accountant did not know why Katz received the money and noted it wasn't related to any specific job.

However, other employees with the firm told police money paid out to the former mayor was for Winnipeg Jets and concert tickets at the MTS Centre.

CTV contacted Katz who says the cheques were for tickets and had absolutely nothing to do with the police headquarters project.

"Absolutely not, OK. Absolutely not. Anything that was in there was specifically repaid for tickets to events and I'm sure there's a record that shows that," said Katz.

The former employee also told RCMP that Caspian billed the city for personal family items and invoiced it to the cost of the police building.

A $25,000 swimming pool, house renovations, and a septic tank cleaning were included. The documents also allege the construction firm billed cost overruns from the Winnipeg Transit garage project and invoiced that to the police station in order to guarantee profits on the bus building.

The RCMP began its investigation after audits at city hall found red flags with the police headquarters construction.

RCMP asked a judge to make copies of Caspian's computer files.

CTV contacted the owner of Caspian Construction for comment. Armik Babakhanians tells CTV he strongly disputes all allegations.

None of the allegations in the documents have been proven in court.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:11

CLAM DOWN: Feb 13, 2007

Marxism-Leninism =/= European-style Socialism, jesus loving christ it's not loving hard

e:fb haha

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:11

Jan: Feb 27, 2008; The disruptive powers of excessive national fecundity may have played a greater part in bursting the bonds of convention than either the power of ideas or the errors of autocracy.

Do it ironically posted:

Thought this was a nice quote from Kasparov

Oh, yeah, I'm glad we cleared up Kasparov doesn't support one of our upcoming Canadian presidential candidates.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:13

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

And The Donald =/= an actual fascist, but I think people have a right to be concerned with how close he is, just as someone who lived through Soviet socialism might be concerned with how close Bernie is getting to it.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:14

vyelkin: Jan 2, 2011

PT6A posted:

And The Donald =/= an actual fascist, but I think people have a right to be concerned with how close he is, just as someone who lived through Soviet socialism might be concerned with how close Bernie is getting to it.

Please tell me how close Bernie is getting to Soviet communism.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:15

Agnosticnixie: Jan 6, 2015

Yes, I'm sure Kasparov is an expert on milquetoast social democrats.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:15

Do it ironically: Jul 13, 2010; by Pragmatica

Probably more so than any of the posters in this forum, I would think.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:20

ocrumsprug: Sep 23, 2010; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

The real irony is him lecturing current American citizens about the merits of capitalism.

:ironicat:

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:27

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

I'm pretty sure the SJWs in this thread would say something stupid like we shouldn't criticize bacha bazi because we must respect other cutlures or something

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:29

Helsing: Aug 23, 2003; DON'T POST IN THE ELECTION THREAD UNLESS YOU JOE BIDEN

"Regulating predatory lending or food purity is bad because Stalin"

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:39

Femtosecond: Aug 2, 2003

Actual Canadian Politics news:

quote:

Ottawa willing to impose carbon price if impasse drags on

The federal government is prepared to impose a national price on carbon if Canada's premiers fail to come to an agreement on their own, CBC News has learned.

Putting a price tag on pollution would pit Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government against some provincial premiers who see the move as another blow to an enfeebled economy.

Trudeau is meeting with premiers and territorial leaders today in Vancouver.

A senior official close to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Liberal government campaigned on environmental change and won a majority.

"We feel that we've got a mandate to do it. And we want to do it in co-operation with the provinces," the official said. "But at the end of the day we are going to do it."

Federal action isn't imminent, but Ottawa won't allow carbon price talks to drag on indefinitely.

"This should be a conversation about how we are going to price carbon, not whether," said the source.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has been the loudest critic of a carbon tax, saying it will only hammer an already sluggish energy sector.

Wall told reporters on Wednesday that he wasn't alone in his position, and that's been backed up in public and private statements by officials from other provinces here in Vancouver.

"You're going to hear a lot more about carbon management than carbon pricing," said one premier in explaining the view in their private meetings.

Five provinces already have a price on carbon. Penalizing polluters financially is aimed at curbing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

The recognition that the premiers won't reach a consensus on a carbon price means the focus in their talks has shifted to areas where there is broad agreement with Ottawa. Provincial sources said they are working to find ways to advance Trudeau's environmental agenda as a sign of good faith to a willing federal partner.

The provinces are collating a list of major projects that will help advance the climate change agenda. Each project will come with a price tag attached � which will require federal money � but also a tally of the greenhouse gas emissions each project will displace. It would be a menu of things the provinces can do fairly quickly and that would help create jobs.

It is something the federal government is willing to consider, but not without taking a hard look at the projects.

"We have to be funding the right projects, not just everybody's pet projects," said the federal source.

One common theme in conversations with officials and politicians from several provinces is that there is a clear desire not to validate the approach of former prime minister Stephen Harper, who avoided these kinds of meetings entirely.

So while the provinces and Ottawa likely won't be able to agree on a carbon price, the focus will be to stress the areas where they have made progress and highlight the value of continuing to hold regular first ministers meetings.

"Why come out with the same dissent as when they had a prime minister who wouldn't deal with them?" said one senior provincial official.

But multiple provincial officials all stressed a need for the federal government to be flexible in these talks and allow the provinces to tackle climate change in a way that's appropriate to their own local circumstances.

"The main thing is that the provinces would have flexibility to reduce carbon as they see fit," said Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball.

This article makes it sound like Brad Wall is the only critic, but this article made it sound like many Premiers, even those with carbon pricing were opposed.

quote:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing stout provincial opposition to his proposal for a national floor price for carbon as premiers urge him to focus on areas of agreement in his effort to forge a climate strategy.

Provincial and territorial premiers met Wednesday ahead of their climate summit with Mr. Trudeau, and found no support for a federally mandated minimum carbon price.

�There�s no consensus on that,� British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said after the meeting.

�We need to focus on the things we do agree on � funding for green infrastructure and transit,� she said �Canadians expect us to come out of this meeting with some agreement on things we can do to reduce emissions.�

Notley is in favour.

I honestly can't tell if Christy Clark is or not, but it sounds like she must be as she's stating that British Columbia should be a model for carbon tax

quote:

B.C. Premier Christy Clark says a national carbon tax should be modelled after B.C.�s groundbreaking levy, including being used to fund tax breaks.

As premiers and territorial leaders gathered in Vancouver ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, where Ottawa�s proposal for a national price on carbon is shaping up as a key issue, Ms. Clark said she would welcome other provinces taking some very specific lessons from British Columbia�s approach.

The province introduced its carbon tax in 2008, making the policy revenue neutral by using the money to pay for tax cuts elsewhere.

�If anybody is planning to raise any taxes on the carbon side, we better figure out how we�re going to lower taxes and protect citizens, because I don�t think you can build support for environmental protections that make people poorer,� Ms. Clark told reporters on Wednesday.

�You can only build support and consensus around these kind of changes if they allow people to become wealthier.�

Clark has been getting a great deal of criticism for the fact that BC carbon emissions have actually been going up while the carbon tax has been frozen, so she's floating the idea of raising it.

http://www.straight.com/news/651246/premier-christy-clark-says-it-might-be-time-raise-bcs-carbon-tax

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:51

BattleMaster: Aug 14, 2000

I guess Kasparov comes from the same school of "no you shut the gently caress up dad" as Ayn Rand and every other Russian who slammed hard to the right because their failed state was ostensibly left wing.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:51

jsoh: Mar 24, 2007; O Muhammad, I seek your intercession with my Lord for the return of my eyesight

he also hates putin!

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:53

flakeloaf: Feb 26, 2003; Still better than android clock

Femtosecond posted:

Actual Canadian Politics news:

This article makes it sound like Brad Wall is the only critic, but this article made it sound like many Premiers, even those with carbon pricing were opposed.

Notley is in favour.

I honestly can't tell if Christy Clark is or not, but it sounds like she must be as she's stating that British Columbia should be a model for carbon tax

Clark has been getting a great deal of criticism for the fact that BC carbon emissions have actually been going up while the carbon tax has been frozen, so she's floating the idea of raising it.

http://www.straight.com/news/651246/premier-christy-clark-says-it-might-be-time-raise-bcs-carbon-tax

If it were Harper saying this, I'd creech because it was undemocratic bulldozing of what should be a rational consultation process.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 18:56

Fried Watermelon: Dec 29, 2008

DariusLikewise posted:

Let's delve into some Muncipal politics!

Winnipeg's former Mayor Sam Katz is under investigation for fraud. He received large personal cheques from the head of the construction firm chosen to renovate and build the new Police HQ. The same Police HQ which went 75 million over budget

Also the cities preliminary budget just came out that raised fees and property taxes are 25% to "cover shortfalls from previous budgets"

http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/rcmp-documents-allege-forged-inflated-invoices-found-in-winnipeg-police-hq-investigation-1.2797643

Don't worry, I'm sure the Investor's Group Field, CMHR, and True North Towers will cover the shortfalls from previous budgets

# ? Mar 3, 2016 19:04

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

sliderule posted:

What does the ridiculously low audio bitrate represent?

Cognitive function

# ? Mar 3, 2016 19:05

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

Justin claims oil pipelines will pay for our transition to a green economy, much the same way as a 12" Philly Cheesesteak from Quiznos will ease my transition to a low-cal diet.

quote:

�We want the low-carbon economy that continues to provide good jobs and great opportunities for all Canadians," he told a crowd of hundreds of business, civil society, and science innovators.

"To get there, we need to make smart strategic investments in clean growth and new infrastructure, but we must also continue to generate wealth from our abundant natural resources to fund this transition to a low-carbon economy.�

# ? Mar 3, 2016 19:27

Vintersorg: Mar 3, 2004; President of
the Brendan Fraser
Fan Club

I hope Katz lands in jail for being a scummy bastard.

$30,000 cheques to pay off tickets for various events. Go gently caress yourself you bastard.

Now because of all that bullshit Mayor Bowman looks like a villain recouping costs. Just like Trudeau is being held over the flames for Harper loving everything up.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 19:36

Geoid: Oct 18, 2005; Just Add Water

Vintersorg posted:

I hope Katz lands in jail for being a scummy bastard.

$30,000 cheques to pay off tickets for various events. Go gently caress yourself you bastard.

Now because of all that bullshit Mayor Bowman looks like a villain recouping costs. Just like Trudeau is being held over the flames for Harper loving everything up.

I was ready to hate Bowman but he's done a fairly reasonable job cleaning some of Katz' mess up.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 21:34

Furnaceface: Oct 21, 2004

Vintersorg posted:

I hope Katz lands in jail for being a scummy bastard.

$30,000 cheques to pay off tickets for various events. Go gently caress yourself you bastard.

Now because of all that bullshit Mayor Bowman looks like a villain recouping costs. Just like Trudeau is being held over the flames for Harper loving everything up.

Except he really isnt outside of a (very) loud minority?

I think most of the criticism he draws here is pretty fair. Tripping all over himself to sign the TPP as quick as they did, ignoring C-51, rushing and loving up bringing over the refugees, handing Bill loving Blair any kind of power at all, etc..

# ? Mar 3, 2016 22:21

eNeMeE: Nov 26, 2012

jm20 posted:

quote:
Levant says he asked to resign a couple of years ago, since he hasn't practiced law in 13 years and moved from Alberta years ago to pursue other interests, including a stint at Sun TV and creation of the conservative website The Rebel.

In a statement to the society, Levant said he kept renewing his membership out of "habit and sentimentality."

I don't understand. He has to ask to resign and has to renew his membership? That doesn't seem possible. That's not possible, right? Am I losing what's left of my mind?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 22:25

Blade_of_tyshalle: Jul 12, 2009; If you think that, along the way, you're not going to fail... you're blind.

There's no one I've ever met, no matter how successful they are, who hasn't said they had their failures along the way.

Eh, I had to ask a clothing store to cancel my account. It's a question in the sense that I said "hey, can you stop taking my money every month? I don't want you to send me clothes anymore" but they have to do what I say, it's just called asking to be polite.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 22:34

Legit Businessman: Sep 2, 2007

Legit Businessman fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Sep 9, 2022

# ? Mar 3, 2016 22:55

Morzhovyye: Mar 2, 2013

Frosted Flake posted:

I'll own that. I study Late Antiquity - my views on Vandalic Africa are surprisingly nuanced.

You should pop in to the ancient history thread in A/T, there's not a lot of info on the late antiquity there but I'm sure there's a demand for some.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 23:53

Dreylad: Jun 19, 2001

BattleMaster posted:

I guess Kasparov comes from the same school of "no you shut the gently caress up dad" as Ayn Rand and every other Russian who slammed hard to the right because their failed state was ostensibly left wing.

And then using that experience to justify opposing radical ideas like "a $15/hour minimum wage," "parental leave laws that exist almost everywhere else in the world," and "a functioning public healthcare system."

# ? Mar 4, 2016 02:31

Pinterest Mom: Jun 9, 2009

Femtosecond posted:

Actual Canadian Politics news:

[Carbonchat[

aaaaand they've agreed to table the issue and come back to it in six months, see how they feel.

Who could have predicted??

# ? Mar 4, 2016 02:47

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

We really need to get consensus from poo poo rear end provinces like Manitoba u guys

Hey Manitobans, y'all get hosed

# ? Mar 4, 2016 03:57

T.C.: Feb 10, 2004; Believe.

The concept of things like carbon taxes being revenue neutral over the long term is super weird. Fine, when you institute it you can reduce some other tax and point at how they equal out... but after that it becomes even more pretend. It's not like you budget things and then after the budget is set go "well, better remember to reduce the taxes this year by the amount of the carbon tax!"

If you put in a carbon tax, reduce income tax by that amount and then raise MSP premiums or something, you get to call it revenue neutral. Hell, you could increase income tax by the amount of the carbon tax and still call it revenue neutral when you subtract it back out. It's all meaningless because that reduction becomes part of the baseline revenue assumptions when you are budgeting.

You can put a line item in the budget that subtracts the carbon tax revenue out of some other income source, but it's just playing with numbers.

# ? Mar 4, 2016 08:56

BallsFalls: Oct 18, 2013

If you keep repeating things like "revenue neutral" it gives the impression that the guberment isn't out to steal are money and Canadians for the most part seem stupid enough to buy into it

# ? Mar 4, 2016 12:07

DariusLikewise: Oct 4, 2008; You wore that on Halloween?

Fried Watermelon posted:

Don't worry, I'm sure the Investor's Group Field, CMHR, and True North Towers will cover the shortfalls from previous budgets

Katz's corruption is so obvious looking back on all the dealings he had with his best friends handing out construction deals like candy. Paying off a million P3 partnerships really set up our city for success.

Vintersorg posted:

I hope Katz lands in jail for being a scummy bastard.

$30,000 cheques to pay off tickets for various events. Go gently caress yourself you bastard.

Now because of all that bullshit Mayor Bowman looks like a villain recouping costs. Just like Trudeau is being held over the flames for Harper loving everything up.

The biggest amount of backlash I've heard so far is people saying they need to cutback on public servant salaries and pensions so OUR TAXES don't increase. The same people who talk about how important police are to our society and how we need to honour their sacrifices.

# ? Mar 4, 2016 18:40

Geoid: Oct 18, 2005; Just Add Water

Cultural Imperial posted:

We really need to get consensus from poo poo rear end provinces like Manitoba u guys

Hey Manitobans, y'all get hosed

Manitoba might be worried about GHG emissions from hydroelectric reservoirs. Blame the governments in the 1960s and 70s

edit:

DariusLikewise posted:

The biggest amount of backlash I've heard so far is people saying they need to cutback on public servant salaries and pensions so OUR TAXES don't increase. The same people who talk about how important police are to our society and how we need to honour their sacrifices.

The same people also whine about wait times on 311 and potholes and how if we installed bike lanes it would bankrupt the city.

# ? Mar 4, 2016 18:40

Hexigrammus: May 22, 2006; Cheech Wizard stories are clean, wholesome, reflective truths that go great with the marijuana munchies and a blow job.

Cultural Imperial posted:

We really need to get consensus from poo poo rear end provinces like Manitoba u guys

Hey Manitobans, y'all get hosed

I'm trying to think of a province that isn't poo poo right now ......

..... nope, everything east of Spuzzum is still beyond Hope.

# ? Mar 4, 2016 19:33

DariusLikewise: Oct 4, 2008; You wore that on Halloween?

Geoid posted:

Manitoba might be worried about GHG emissions from hydroelectric reservoirs. Blame the governments in the 1960s and 70s

edit:

The same people also whine about wait times on 311 and potholes and how if we installed bike lanes it would bankrupt the city.

If we stopped putting in bike lanes we could add more lanes to roads which would alleviate traffic because road space. Also stop the BRT and add more buses.

DariusLikewise fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Mar 4, 2016

# ? Mar 4, 2016 19:37

CLAM DOWN: Feb 13, 2007

DariusLikewise posted:

If we stopped putting in bike lanes we could add more lanes to roads which would aliveate traffic because road space. Also stop the BRT and add more buses.

Thought I was in the Cities Skyline thread for a second

# ? Mar 4, 2016 19:38

Square Peg: Nov 11, 2008

CLAM DOWN posted:

Thought I was in the Cities Skyline thread for a second

# ? Mar 4, 2016 19:53

EvilJoven: Mar 18, 2005; NOBODY,IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, HAS ASKED OR CARED WHAT CANADA THINKS. YOU ARE NOT A COUNTRY. YOUR MONEY HAS THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND ON IT. IF YOU DIG AROUND IN YOUR BACKYARD, NATIVE SKELETONS WOULD EXPLODE OUT OF YOUR LAWN LIKE THE END OF POLTERGEIST. CANADA IS SO POLITE, EH?; Fun Shoe

One of the infuriating things I've found in Manitoba is around here people think that it's their divine right to get from A to B in their personal vehicle unimpeded. The thought of a bus or bike or pedestrian holding them up is infuriating. Also, Manitoba drivers are selfish pricks that will go out of their way to make sure you can't merge in front of them.

# ? Mar 4, 2016 19:57

Do it ironically: Jul 13, 2010; by Pragmatica

my favourite is when im walking around downtown and i see a biker on the road blocking traffic and slowing cars when actual literally there's a dedicated bike lane beside them but nope gently caress that i NEED to use the road cause its mah rights

# ? Mar 4, 2016 19:57

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

quote:

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2016/03/04/taxi-driver-gets-prison-term-for-longboarders-road-rage-death.html

Taxi driver gets 4 years for longboarder�s �road rage� death

Adib Ibrahim used his cab as a weapon to fatally injure cyclist Ralph Bissonnette, judge says at sentencing hearing.

those pedestrians on long boards taking up lanes for my vehicle

# ? Mar 4, 2016 20:00

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 20:05

ZShakespeare: Jul 20, 2003; The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose!

Do it ironically posted:

my favourite is when im walking around downtown and i see a biker on the road blocking traffic and slowing cars when actual literally there's a dedicated bike lane beside them but nope gently caress that i NEED to use the road cause its mah rights

Slowing cars should be punishable by death

# ? Mar 4, 2016 20:12

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