Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "14% De
Facto":
The unemployment number normally relates to those who
are actively seeking employment.
Then there is a percentage of the
population who used to work, who lost their jobs or quit, and are not actively
seeking employment. This number is difficult to estimate but a figure must be
added to those seeking work in order to provide a far more accurate statistic
for a country's labour situation.
George Baker is an idiot if he said
that 14% of the population is in jail. Canada's population is upwards of 33
million; 14% of that is 4,620,000. This is greater than the combined population
of the three prairie provinces.
Possibly Mr. Baker should resign and go
back to school. He could then teach courses on matters political to prison
inmates so that when their sentences have been fully served they can enter
politics, run for public office and become legitimate thieves, the way so many
politicians seem to end up.
By the way, check out Maureen in today's NYT.
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You don't win any points by refuting George Baker's statement by calling him an idiot.
Maybe I heard him wrong.
Your figures certainly makes the jail population percentage even more unbelievable than when I heard him say14%.
So, how hard can it be to determine what it actually is ?
Have you nothing nice to say about federal M.P.'s proposal to cut their pensions?
I take it you have no concern either about what we are not accomplishing in the education system?
Or that petty crime incubates while spending millions and at the same time withholding options for those who need them most.
I will read the Irish colleen now.
That proposal will not likely be introduced until it gets checked by the Supremes and then it will only be retro-active, not applying to those already on board. So there is no intent to cut ' their ' pensions. That would make too much sense.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletePossibly I wasn't trying to win points.
What I was doing is suggesting that Mr. Baker is dumb and should not express a very specific opinion about something that he obviously knows nothing. Possibly he is not an idiot, merely ignorant. Far too often politicians speak before they think.
A case in point is the Republican candidate for the US presidency. Mr. Romney seems to be a one-man wrecking crew with respect to his own campaign; the latest video relating to the 47% of Americans who survive solely on the basis of federal government largesse and who are beyond redemption.
M.P.'s are grossly overpaid for what they do. Bev Oda's pension, to which she is, I believe, immediately entitled, amounts to something on the order of $55,000 per annum. For how many years was she an M.P.? How long would a Ford assembly line worker or a primary school teacher have to work to receive this? Would they ever?
Our education system is completely broken. The provincial Minister fights with the Boards of Education
who fight with the teachers unions and with the teachers themselves. Parents use the school system as a baby-sitting service and refuse to become involved with the system that seems to be failing that most precious of commodities, our children. These are the hope for the future.
Yet no one seems to approach education with any sense of responsibility when all have important roles to play in its design and implementation. To see what can be accomplished study the German and Scandinavian systems. They produce young people who are well educated in broad terms and also specifically to meet the jobs requirements of their countries.
I will pass on the crime subject for now.
Can we take it from your lack of comment on the subject that there were no speed bumps at the Council meeting? I noticed from the Mayor's column that streaming, whatever that is, of meetings was to start - a trial - in the fall. It is now the fall. I would bet that cheque has been cashed.
ReplyDeleteTry .14. That's more like it. You're welcome.
ReplyDeleteThat colleen wrote an article back a few years about her American family Thanksgiving celebration. At the time, one of her brothers was working for W. To cut to the chase, the only individual speaking to everyone in the house was her Mom. I fear the Americans are going to do it again.... can't write to my cousin in Florida - sending a generic card ' Thinking of You '.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous 9-19 3:56pm
ReplyDelete"M.P.'s are grossly overpaid for what they do. Bev Oda's pension, to which she is, I believe, immediately entitled, amounts to something on the order of $55,000 per annum. For how many years was she an M.P.? How long would a Ford assembly line worker or a primary school teacher have to work to receive this? Would they ever?"
I must respectfully disagree with this. MPs are not overpaid. In fact I think that they are underpaid. Granted, those that are sitting in House now may be paid more than what they are worth. I am a firm believer that if you made the wage of an MP a competetive rate to those in upper management of successful companies, I think that you would be able to attract a much better qualified person into public service.
If you could make the position of MP attractive enough to business leaders, I think that they would have less reluctance to run for office. With higher quality candidates, you would eliminate more of the fringe candidates that seem to occupy the ballots.
As far as the pensions are concerned, again if you made the job attractive from a monetary point of view, the pension amount would be realistic. There are not many polititans that are in the job for 25+ years - and that is a good thing! While we are at it, I would suggest that term limits should be legislated too.