I have been waiting for the swing back vote from the public saying "no! Don't cut everything, just raise taxes a little". I think that they have been too, but it doesn't seem like it's going to come. I guess people will deal with not having as many services as before.
The thing that gets me is how the public wants to have their cake and eat it too. They want the good things, but not the bad. "Yes, we want the cheap power from a nuclear power station / dam / something big and ugly or dangerous, just don't build it near me". Yes, they want the cities budget balenced, but they don't want anything to change. Ummm, there is a reason why it got to be not balanced in the first place.
I think the issue that ticked me off was that the people who live in the city say to cut rural services, while the people in the country say to cut city services. People all seem to just look at things how it is best for them and hardly ever consider the big picture. It often amazes me that we have been able to not wipe this planet of life so far. But you never know, there's always tomorrow.
Listening to: Moby - Flower
But we have been able to wipe this planet of life. Just not human life. Think of the fishies! Think of the Bison!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, yeah, this is basically the problem that lead to Ontario's massive provincial debt this year. People don't want services cut or taxes so the gov't borrows money and expects to have someone else have to back later.
Honestly I'd rather see them raise taxes slightly now than have to make cuts like they're talking about. Especially to OCTranspo.
I was listening to Lowell Green this morning, and a caller had an interesting point: many of the services the are cutting is where it will hurt the most vulnerable: the disabled, the elderly, the veterans and the children. Of course they present this doom and gloom scenario in the hopes that we will welcome tax increases instead of this as the alternative.
ReplyDeleteI realize that I'm not really offering helpful alternatives, and I don't know what the answer is. I'm just wondering if the city officials really think we can't see through this ploy.
The question is: why taxes can't stay the same and services stay the same also? Did Ottawa lose some provincial benefits or something?
ReplyDeleteThey are cutting down the services and I don't know how did we manage to have them last year with exact same taxes. Maybe I am missing some pieces of information.
In any case I would increase the taxes if necessary. This is what Canada is all about: providing equal services to everyone. Sure, we are young now, but what happens when we get old or injured. I say "Up with the taxes if there is no other alternative".
One problem that I see with this city is that roads are horrible. Then we see on a daily basis big 50-ton trucks driving on them. I say, if you're a store that needs to transport something with this kind of vehicle then pay the road tax for fixing it. Equation:
amount of money spent on fixing the roads * 0.7
This is to be paid by businesses who used these vehicles. Then divide equally by looking in their books to see how many trucks each business used. This should save couple of millions. I multiply by 0.7 because I assume that some damage comes from other vehicles too.
Peter, don't worry. The guys in power are not sitting idle, and you can rest sure that these guys are looking into it right this moment. I am talking about wiping the life of the planet of course (including the human life). So sit back and relax, it will get done by someone. Meanwhile, try to enjoy life as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteAlex, one thing that I think will help keep the roads in okay condition would be to use the trains to ship goods long distance. Trucks would still be needed for intercity travel.
ReplyDeleteAnd asking the businesses to pay for the roads just means that the consumers pay for it because prices would sky rocket.
There are no easy answers.