Free Money? No Thank You!

She complains that Prime Minister Trudeau hasn’t even picked up the phone to tell her what he has in mind.

Since July 2021 the fed’s engagement included 17 roundtables with industry, unions, and experts, 30,000 submissions, and meetings (still ongoing) with the provinces, territories and Indigenous groups. Perhaps the Alberta government was too busy enjoying the Best Summer Ever to attend.

If Smith wants to know what’s on offer she can read the “Just Transition” discussion paper: the feds have committed to investing billions to deliver 500,000 new training and work opportunities, decarbonize industry and identify skills for the future, etc.

It should be noted that Stats Canada reports that total employment in Alberta’s oil and gas sector is down by 25% compared to where it was in 2014. Which brings us back to the original question: Why wouldn’t the Alberta government support a federal proposal designed to help unemployed oil and gas workers transition to another job? |Read more https://susanonthesoapbox.com/2023/01/08/free-money-no-thank-you/|
#abpoli #JustTransition #FreeMoney #jobs #training #FederalDollars

Who Says Grocers Aren’t Fleecing You?

Well, you know… does it really seem that odd that rich corporations are paying rich media publishers to tell you, that you are not being ripped off? Hmmm…. might have to think about that one….

“While it’s easy to get angry at the grocer, there’s very little evidence that the grocers are actually taking advantage of the situation,” Professor von Massow told me. New York Times article #gouging #fleecing #grocers #supermarkets #profit #food #starvation

A new year’s resolution for federal pension funds: Stop financing fossil fuels

Patrick DeRochie is senior manager for Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a charitable initiative that works to protect pensions and the climate by bringing together beneficiaries and their pension funds to engage on the climate crisis.

Come the first day of 2023, Canada’s federal government will essentially end financing for oil and gas internationally.

The policy is the fulfillment of a key 2021 election promise https://ukcop26.org/statement-on-international-public-support-for-the-clean-energy-transition/ by the governing Liberals to align international public financial support for the clean energy transition. Yet while Canadians’ tax dollars will no longer go toward financing fossil fuels abroad, their hard-earned retirement savings still do. Canada’s largest pension funds, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB), continue to finance oil and gas expansion abroad.

This inconsistency must be addressed. It underscores the need for greater climate-related regulation of the financial sector, including public pension plans. |Read more https://www.corporateknights.com/category-finance/a-new-years-resolution-for-federal-pension-funds-stop-financing-fossil-fuels/|
#cdnpoil #pensions #FossilFuel #investment

Paving The Way to Private healthcare

I read on Twitter this morning about Loblaws/Shoppers becoming a primary care network in Ontario. A Bloomberg article from March of this year says Shoppers Drug Market unit is buying Lifemark Health Group in an $845-million all-cash deal.

Lifemark provides physiotherapy and massage therapy, among other services, at more than 300 clinics across Canada https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/loblaw-bulks-up-shoppers-with-845m-lifemark-health-takeover-1.1737228.

Last year in 2021 Loblaw announced their services as primary-care https://www.loblaw.ca/en/shoppers-drug-mart-to-expand-managed-health-clinics-to-cities-across-ontario and family practice clinic, providing patients with convenient, one-stop access to medical services and trusted advice.

Perhaps it isn’t too hard to see why public health care is crumbling across Canada. After all, Canada spends more than $300 billion annually https://www.cma.ca/news/health-care-funding-canada on health care. In order for the public to agree to private healthcare, public healthcare will need to keep collapsing for a few more years.

That’s about 13% of our GDP – the second highest among OECD countries.

More than half of health spending goes to three areas: hospitals (25%), drugs (14%) and physicians (13%).

More than 70% of health care spending is publicly funded through general tax revenues.

The provinces and territories generate 78% of the cost, with the federal government providing the rest through the Canada Health Transfer (CHT).
#cdnpoli #healthcare #primaryCare #GDP #cost #politics

Danielle Smith runs the idea of an Alberta pension plan referendum in May up the flagpole – then yanks it halfway down again

From time to time, Calgary Herald columnist Rick Bell has been used by Alberta Conservatives to float their trial balloons.

So when Mr. Bell reported yesterday morning https://calgarysun.com/opinion/columnists/bell-smith-says-alberta-pension-plan-vote-could-be-as-early-as-may that Premier Danielle Smith was thinking about holding a referendum on whether Alberta should dump the Canada Pension Plan and set up its own pension scheme as early as May 2023, he created an instant buzz.

Mr. Bell’s column didn’t mean the United Conservative Party actually planned to hold a referendum in May. There’s a pretty good argument that would amount to political suicide.

After all, say what you will about cranky old Boomers, they get out and vote, even if astonishing numbers of them ignore their own interests and vote Conservative.

But when CPP recipients and those about to retire started to realize that if Ms. Smith got her way, their pensions would almost certainly end up being transferred into a new plan that is smaller and less secure, had higher unfunded liabilities and was probably badly managed, that would scare the beejeepers out of large numbers of otherwise reliable Conservative voters with predictable results in the polling booth. |Read more https://albertapolitics.ca/2022/12/danielle-smith-runs-the-idea-of-an-alberta-pension-plan-referendum-in-may-up-the-flagpole-then-yanks-it-halfway-down-again/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=danielle-smith-runs-the-idea-of-an-alberta-pension-plan-referendum-in-may-up-the-flagpole-then-yanks-it-halfway-down-again|
#abpoli #CPP #pension #ucp #smith #may2023