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Originally Posted by YYC338
By the way, is the deficit higher because of reckless spending or declining revenues from the oil industry and an economy in general that's been in the toilet since the NDP (not NPD) took office?
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This is unfair. And no, I didn’t vote NDP in or voted for Trudeau. Things started going downhill in the third or fourth quarter of 2013 and the **** hit the fan outright in 2014. Has nothing to do with NDP, nada. In my honest opinion, the economy would be in the toilet regardless of the party in power. And with due respect, to state otherwise is either silly or simply dishonest. Furthermore, looking at the budget that was recently released, we would be much deeper down the drain had this government taken office then. The latter part is speculation on my part, yes, but it is an educated one.
What do I think of the current government? I am disappointed. Looks like there are some blind cuts being made without any consideration for the future. I think uninspired, dull (as in not at all inspirational), and very shortsighted people are running the show. I haven’t seen or heard anything about looking into the future. First half of post 6 and what jstubbs said in post 8 are on point.
Also, do we have a shortage of people with trade skills in this province? Why would we spend millions on trades training and cut infrastructure projects that provide jobs for these very people at the same time? Kind of boggles my mind. While we are at it, we are going to increase the cost of secondary and post secondary schooling. I read in one of the threads a few days ago that people with IT skills are in demand. Anyway...
Cutting wages of public workers is also not very far fetching. I don’t work in public sector. However, my wife and my sister do. My wife is a mental health therapist for child and youth. Except for this past Monday, I don’t remember the last time she came back home on time. No, she is not cheating on me, lol. She doesn’t get paid for the extra hours she spends at work. Add to this the **** she has to deal with on daily basis, she is definitely not overpaid. My sister is a nurse practitioner working at least (and “at least” is highlighted in a very very bright colour) 10 hours a day while getting paid for only 8 of those hours (maybe 7.5 but I am not sure). They both spent at least 6-7 years of their lives in school after high school. My wife was working for two or three years two part time jobs that paid $18 to $20 per hour after she was done with her schooling (the latter is a stretch because she still pays significant amount of money out of our pocket every year to further develop her skills in order to be most beneficial to her clientele). And I’ll tell you, stuff she has to deal with... Anyway, I feel like this belongs in the other thread about cutting public sector wages.
As for the cut, cut, cut, well. There are expenses and there are investments. It appears that the current government is indiscriminate between the two.
I will also say that everyone seems to conveniently avoid the little diagram posted by Flatlandliver, which is this:
Lastly, to answer RandyBoBandy‘s question, I will quote myself from the other thread.
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Originally Posted by fishnguy
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Originally Posted by WhiteTailAB
Hey maybe now some provincial employees will feel the pain that the private guys do.
Isn't it like every 1% or 2% public sector raise equals 270,000,000 bucks that tax payers have to pick up.
Suck it up, tough times for all.
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Lol.
CBC: Why Alberta's corporate tax cut might not keep investment at home
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A prime example is Husky Energy, which saw a $233-million benefit from the Alberta tax cut in its second-quarter results.
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That’s just before letting hundreds of people go. But yes, take it from the public workers, education, health care, infrastructure, etc and give it to Husky, et al. There went your “suck it up”. That’s just one company and that’s just the second quarter results. 1-2% cut to public sector paid almost entirely for it (that’s your number, I don’t actually know how much 1-2% of public sector is). Either way, that’s $230 mil taxpayers have to pick up. But this one is ok, right, because it bring all the jobs.
CBC: 'It's the smart thing to do': Canadian oil driller moves all its rigs to the U.S.
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The best pieces of equipment seem to be the first to leave Canada.
"Those are the best drilling technology in the world," Mark Scholz, president of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors, said of the newer rigs.
"Those rigs are gone. I don't anticipate they will come back."
The modern rigs can cost more than $25 million and the financial returns in Western Canada aren't high enough, he said.
There are many reasons why drillers are moving rigs to the U.S., said Scholz, including the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar, which is about 30 per cent higher than the loonie. The day rates for drilling rigs are also about 30 per cent better in the U.S.
Crews can work year-round in the southern U.S. and the regulatory environment is less burdensome, he said.
In 2014, before the oil price crash, there were about 900 drilling rigs in Western Canada. Now, there are about 550. Since only about half of those are currently active, Scholz expects more of them will be sent to the U.S.
As the best equipment leaves the country, the Canadian oilpatch could become less efficient, said Hoffarth, since "It takes longer to drill those wells now because you're doing it with a tier-two or tier-three rig."
Citadel Drilling still has a shop and equipment yard in Nisku, just south of Edmonton, although the property is largely empty.
The company may leave Alberta altogether, but at least for now, Hoffarth said he will keep its headquarters in Calgary.
"At this point, yes."
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Yep. |