[kEiThZ]

It will be interesting to see for this (coming) administration what will be 'good enough'. Given DJT's distain for NATO, perhaps we should focus our efforts and money on NORAD and the arctic.

There's lots of focus on how much we'll spend on defence. Especially from defence bros online who have wishlists. I want to see discussion on how we're going to pay for this, especially if we're going through a recession at the same time, and we still have a deficit and the next government wants to hand out tax cuts.

I've said before OAS has to be cut. It's growing too quickly and crowding out the rest of the budget. But even that's not enough. There's other cuts that will have to be made too. Probably CCB. But those will be necessary to balance the books. And if the next government of giving tax cuts beyond that, well that will require even deeper cuts elsewhere. Finding $26B for defence and another $40B to balance the books ain't easy.

 

[lenaitch]

One problem with debating government spending and acquisition costs is their penchant for rolling in 'lifetime costs' into programs and public announcements. 'Holy heck - our new destroyers are five times anybody else's'. Sure, but they have included a projection of every widget for the next 40 years. I realize it is usually buried in an official release somewhere, but if they want the public to buy in, we the public need to be hit over the head with it. We don't buy our appliances like that.

 

[Admiral Beez]

We still have Orange Day parades in Toronto. Beez may not care about the problems of his motherland, but lots of people do.

Nice try. I am English, part of the wave of invisible immigrants who arrived after WW2.

I didn't know the Admiral was Irish.

Thank you, though as a Brit the Northern Irish are also countrymen. Your post reminded me of my visit to a supposed British pub. I asked, what British beers do you have on tap, and was told Guinness, and that everything else was domestic. To which I suggested they tell a Portuguese that he's a Spaniard.

 

[kEiThZ]

One problem with debating government spending and acquisition costs is their penchant for rolling in 'lifetime costs' into programs and public announcements. 'Holy heck - our new destroyers are five times anybody else's'. Sure, but they have included a projection of every widget for the next 40 years. I realize it is usually buried in an official release somewhere, but if they want the public to buy in, we the public need to be hit over the head with it. We don't buy our appliances like that.

Even accounting for lifecycle costing, we still spend multiples what other countries do for just construction or hardware purchase. And a lot of this is simply some Canadian contractor getting a cut.

But fundamentally the problem is that how do we ramp defence spending if Canadians aren't getting their cut?

 

[Admiral Beez]

But fundamentally the problem is that how do we ramp defence spending if Canadians aren't getting their cut?

One thing Greece did was move all their pensions and healthcare costs for ex-service members into defence spending.

Greece Military Spending/Defense Budget 1960-2024

Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are...

www.macrotrends.net

 

[kEiThZ]

One thing Greece did was move all their pensions and healthcare costs for ex-service members into defence spending.

Greece Military Spending/Defense Budget 1960-2024

Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are...

www.macrotrends.net

We already do this. There's a NATO definition for what counts and what doesn't. That's why you will see reporting that often exceeds most national defence budgets.

 

[lenaitch]

and that everything else was domestic

And those same people would include Coors and Budweiser in that category.

 

[IRT_BMT_IND]

We should learn from the past and avoid repeating mistakes in that case.

FYI these are linked to an Indian film movie theatre cartel running in Canada:

Which begs the question of the number of shadowly parallel groups (just like the ones that clashed at the temple) that have been allowed to grow beyond control and are working to challenge the safety and tolerance in our society.

The whole film distribution thing is old-fashioned racketeering, it's not some foreign conflict that originated in India. And what's happening is there is more interest in screening foreign films in general in the chain multiplexes for a bunch of reasons, and these guys are trying to use force to stop create a monopoly business (from the old days before digital projection when screening these films meant getting prints shipped from the other side of the world) that can't get undercut by the chains. The same way the mafia in the 50s would burn down a store if it opened in a neighbourhood and undercut existing guys.

The real problem is that the criminal justice system in Canada is very bad at handling crimes like this. If the old (fairly puritanical) Ontario Film Review Board rules still existed they could easily shut these guys down by revoking their exhibitor licenses.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I've said before OAS has to be cut. It's growing too quickly and crowding out the rest of the budget. But even that's not enough. There's other cuts that will have to be made too. Probably CCB. But those will be necessary to balance the books. And if the next government of giving tax cuts beyond that, well that will require even deeper cuts elsewhere. Finding $26B for defence and another $40B to balance the books ain't easy.

Millennials pay higher taxes for boomers’ retirement - and the burden is only going to increase​

Boomers will revolt. You can’t take away entitlements.

 

[kEiThZ]

Millennials pay higher taxes for boomers’ retirement - and the burden is only going to increase​

Boomers will revolt. You can’t take away entitlements.

OAS isn't really an entitlement. Not in the same way that CPP is (which was pre-paid). OAS is a prize for reaching old age. And it's pretty ridiculous. Doesn't get clawed back till $91k. And I believe doesn't get phased out till $140k. Child benefits start getting clawed back under $50k.

Here's the budget. I hope they tell us the obvious places to cut. And keep in mind there is still a $40B deficit, a housing crisis, healthcare shortage and increasingly child poverty again. And a quarter of the $120B spent by the federal government itself is already spent on defence and has to almost double by the end of the decade. Where is it going to come from, while addressing those other problems?

The 2024 Federal Budget at a Glance - HillNotes

The federal budget outlines the government’s revenue estimates and expenditure priorities for the fiscal year. It is a key component of the parliamentary financial cycle. The outlook for budgetary revenues and expenses can be found in tables A1.6 and A1.7 of Budget 2024.

hillnotes.ca

Finally, boomers alone don't have the numbers. They'll have to convince a majority of Gen X to vote with them. And if that happens (that we can't make the cuts to raise defence spending), there will be economic consequences.

 

[jje1000]

Joe Adam George: Khalistani-Hindu clashes product of Trudeau’s post-national experiment​

Liberal government offers newcomers little to no incentive to assimilate into Canadian society

Author of the article:
Joe Adam George
Published Nov 12, 2024

These outcomes are hardly surprising for a government obsessed with social engineering and virtue-signaling. Promoting post-national multiculturalism with pretentious statements like “You come here, you can be who you are” and “There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada,” offer little to no incentive to newcomers to assimilate into Canadian society in any meaningful way. On the contrary, multiculturalism undermines national unity, and equal individual rights as minority interests and rights are prioritized instead. Even Quebec Premier François Legault recognizes the threat multiculturalism poses to the French language and Quebec culture.

After years of appeasing certain groups and excusing the violence on the streets, the Trudeau government has succeeded in turning Canada into a dumpster fire for cultural grievances. Instead of enforcing the rule of law to deter rioters and pro-terror supporters, preachy platitudes like “This is not who we are as Canadians” are offered. Then again, appeasement politics, not law and order, has been the hallmark of the Trudeau government. Allies, not extremists, are abandoned if it translates into votes. These tendencies are also best illustrated by the Liberals’ willful blindness to the increasingly hostile pro-terror protests and attacks against the Jewish community that have continued incessantly for over a year.

Joe Adam George: Khalistani-Hindu clashes product of Trudeau’s post-national experiment

Liberal government offers newcomers little to no incentive to assimilate into Canadian society

nationalpost.com

Élie Cantin-Nantel: Canada’s ethnic conflicts are growing. Trudeau’s ‘post-national’ ideology, immigration agenda, and diaspora politics obsession are big reasons why​

ÉLIE CANTIN-NANTEL
9 NOVEMBER 2024

This situation highlights a concerning reality: Canada is witnessing diaspora grievances increasingly being expressed on its soil.

“Our national imagination gets carried off to different lands, part of the population is living psychologically elsewhere,” president of the Institute for 21st Century Questions Irvin Studin told The Hub.

Not only have our politicians allowed this to happen, but they have played into it.

“Politicians pretend to sympathize with that psychology for electoral gain,” Studin said.

I attribute this largely to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “post-national” ideology, his government’s large-scale immigration agenda, and a growing focus on diaspora politics across party lines.

Amidst this redefinition of Canada as a “post-national state” with no core identity, with large-scale immigration exploding and difference being touted as our biggest strength, the federal Liberals, along with the NDP, Greens, and even the Conservatives, have increasingly embraced diaspora politics.

It should be noted that engagement with Canada’s ethnic communities is not a new practice for politicians. There is certainly value in connecting with Canadians of diverse backgrounds by attending community events to meet the voters where they are at and talk about their party’s general platform. However, the line is drawn when politicians pander to these groups with pandering discourse and proposals are contrary to the greater Canadian interest.

Amidst this redefinition of Canada as a “post-national state” with no core identity, with large-scale immigration exploding and difference being touted as our biggest strength, the federal Liberals, along with the NDP, Greens, and even the Conservatives, have increasingly embraced diaspora politics.

It should be noted that engagement with Canada’s ethnic communities is not a new practice for politicians. There is certainly value in connecting with Canadians of diverse backgrounds by attending community events to meet the voters where they are at and talk about their party’s general platform. However, the line is drawn when politicians pander to these groups with pandering discourse and proposals are contrary to the greater Canadian interest.

Canada was once hailed worldwide for its success in integrating immigrants. Newcomers arrived from around the globe, with the expectation that they were to leave behind the quarrels of their home countries and embrace a Canadian way of life.

But what is the Canadian way of life when the prime minister says there is no national identity?

Canadian diasporas are increasingly told it is okay to stay in their “tribes,” while the political class increasingly views ethnic communities as distinct voting blocs, each with its own priorities and expectations of government.

“Diaspora politics are confusing us and not allowing us to advance a proper national interest in any respect, and are debilitating against the formation of real Canadian politics, Canadian identity, Canadian consciousness, and sensibility,” Studin, a member of the Jewish diaspora, told The Hub “We assume very dogmatic positions about the diasporas and then militate against real Canadian positions.”

In addition to harming Canada’s national unity and fueling ethnic grievances at home, the prioritization of diaspora politics has also damaged Canada’s reputation on the world stage.

Canadian leaders are now making foreign policy decisions aimed at pleasing domestic diaspora communities, rather than at maintaining relationships with our allies.

“Most of the time when I see the prime minister go abroad, he’s not speaking to foreign audiences. He’s not even speaking to a national Canadian audience. He’s speaking to diaspora audiences at home, and I think this has led him to make major missteps,” said Brian Lee Crowley, head of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, in an interview with the National Post.

Immigration has been essential to Canada’s growth, and newcomers should be encouraged to retain the best aspects of their culture—their language, religion, food, music, and fashion.

Studin noted, “I am of the diasporas. I love the diasporas.” But “they have nothing to do with the national interest. And it used to be that they understood that and we understood that very well.”

“You have to hold the line on that basic social compact in the country,” he added. “If you lose the line, which is very easy to do, then it’s very difficult to reconstitute.”

Our political leaders must reinstate the notion that immigrants leave behind ideas that conflict with Canadian values when they move to our great country. It’s a principle that was understood under previous governments, and one that must be restored.

Élie Cantin-Nantel: Canada’s ethnic conflicts are growing. Trudeau’s ‘post-national’ ideology, immigration agenda, and diaspora politics obsession are big reasons why

thehub.ca

 

[picard102]

Right wing rags playing into anti-immigration sentiment? Quelle Surprise.

 

[PL1]

Right wing rags playing into anti-immigration sentiment? Quelle Surprise.

I soon as I see National Post, I largely ignore...

 

[kEiThZ]

Pretending this is only a right-wing concern will yield results like we just saw in the US.

 

[Northern Light]

I soon as I see National Post, I largely ignore...

I understand the impulse; and to be clear, the columnist here shoots past the reasonable by a fair margin, more than once..........

However....... I agree with @kEiThZ here.

Just because, in this case, the messenger is problematic and the volume turned up a bit high.........doesn't mean the underlying issue doesn't have traction with a lot of voters.

Clearly the column is infused with some measure of partisan vitriol and is immoderate.......

But the loud, obnoxious voice speaks for a larger group, and one that isn't just white nationalists or capital-C conservative dilettantes.

Its people alarmed to see conflicts from back home, or their parents home migrating to Canada, and doing so at the scale of armed violence at times.

Its also people of all backgrounds getting an allergic reaction to their school board cancelling Halloween celebrations because its also Diwali, because many of the South Asian kids like Halloween too.

There is a need to be a bit more conscious of identity politics run amok and curb the worst excesses, before a plurality of voters lose their minds over this stuff and vote in some nut case who will swing the pendulum the other direction, way too far.