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  #161  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 4:00 AM
Corndogger Corndogger is offline
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Originally Posted by milomilo View Post
In reality people aren't left or right wing, even if they vehemently claim to be, or claim not to be the opposite. They will always have a diverse range of opinions that do not fit into a neat political box. Unfortunately, most people don't even realise this and can't see it in themselves, so subscribe to arbitrary political affiliations that often don't represent their wishes, and they then often take on more polarised views which they never really deeply held.
Or maybe people do see that which is why so many people don't vote. I always vote because I feel it's an important right that we should not take for granted but I often wish there were better choices to vote for. The 2017 municipal election in Calgary being a prime example.
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  #162  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 4:02 AM
Corndogger Corndogger is offline
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Originally Posted by Loco101 View Post
I'm very aware of that. As someone who works in the federal public service, I see it a lot.
Do you and your colleagues openly talk about politics?
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  #163  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 4:05 AM
milomilo milomilo is offline
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Or maybe people do see that which is why so many people don't vote. I always vote because I feel it's an important right that we should not take for granted but I often wish there were better choices to vote for. The 2017 municipal election in Calgary being a prime example.
I agree, which is why I'd like a completely different system for electing governments closer to PR. However, this is anathema to the population for some bizarre reason, they prefer the system is less fair and produces results less representative of their viewpoint.
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  #164  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 4:20 AM
Corndogger Corndogger is offline
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Originally Posted by milomilo View Post
I agree, which is why I'd like a completely different system for electing governments closer to PR. However, this is anathema to the population for some bizarre reason, they prefer the system is less fair and produces results less representative of their viewpoint.
TED-Ed released a fascinating video on voting systems last week. Well-worth the 5:32 it takes to watch.

Video Link
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  #165  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 4:24 AM
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Loco101 Loco101 is offline
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Do you know you Doug Runchey is? I've been reading a lot of articles written by him. He apparently worked for Services Canada for 32 years and is a CPP and OAS expert. Some of the nonstandard situations can sure get complicated!
I don't know him personally but I've heard of him.
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  #166  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 4:31 AM
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Do you and your colleagues openly talk about politics?
Not much at all in the workplace. It's a general rule that we don't. We'll sometimes talk about Trump or other countries but stay away from Canadian politics.
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  #167  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 4:36 AM
milomilo milomilo is offline
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
TED-Ed released a fascinating video on voting systems last week. Well-worth the 5:32 it takes to watch.

Video Link
That's a good video, but it only really concerns elections at a constituent level with a singular result. IMO, when I am voting for representatives at the federal level I don't care much that they live in Calgary Confederation - I'd rather vote for someone in Nunavut that represented my values at the national level.
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  #168  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 2:51 PM
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lubicon lubicon is offline
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
During what time has life expectancy gone by over two years? I've been doing a lot reading on the OAS, etc. at financial websites lately and it's probably not as bad as some think. To qualify for the full amount you need to have lived in Canada for 40 years after the age of 18 otherwise the amount gets prorated. Given how much immigration we've had over the last 40 years or so there must be a sizeable number of people who are not getting the max. Based on the comments I'm reading to financial articles I'd say a lot are not even close to collecting the maximum.

I disagree with you that the number of seniors collecting OAS should not be increasing. That makes no sense given a rising population. Raising the age limit is not the solution to keeping costs in line--it's clawing back the amount starting at a lower income and ending it much sooner than ~$128K. Too many people have to retire before 65 let alone 67 out of no fault of their own. What purpose is served by increasing poverty in that age category? More than likely they'll end up on other assistance which will cost way more than ~$600/month.
I was ballparking a date of around 1965-1970 a a baseline since that is when CPP and most of our retirement 'plans' were brought in. I know there has been some for of OAS since the late 20's but let's assume 1970 for a starting point. Life expectancy then was in the low to mid 70's, it is now in the low 80's so it has increased at least two years since then (actually more).

You misread my post. I do not mean fewer people should collect, I mean people should collect for fewer years. Basically we need to reset the time from retirement to end of life periodically to stay consistent. In 1970 it was ~ 8 years (retire at 65, die at 73). Now it's about 15 years and that is not sustainable. Bump back the age to begin collecting (ie retirement) to more closely match the target range we are wanting to pay out (10 years or whatever we decide it is going to be on average).
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  #169  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 3:18 PM
Zmonkey Zmonkey is offline
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Do you and your colleagues openly talk about politics?
At my firm, it really is politics around certain issues vs politics as a whole if that makes sense. No one really talks about Trudeau or Ford but if they have kids they talk about policy changes in education. Or if they are getting close to retirement policies around that. If they are young, it is likely to transit, TFSA's or housing affordability etc.

We work in the pharma/health care area so that naturally comes up as it directly impacts our firm. Basically everyone thinks every government gets this wrong.
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  #170  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2020, 3:22 PM
wave46 wave46 is offline
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Originally Posted by lubicon View Post
You misread my post. I do not mean fewer people should collect, I mean people should collect for fewer years. Basically we need to reset the time from retirement to end of life periodically to stay consistent. In 1970 it was ~ 8 years (retire at 65, die at 73). Now it's about 15 years and that is not sustainable. Bump back the age to begin collecting (ie retirement) to more closely match the target range we are wanting to pay out (10 years or whatever we decide it is going to be on average).
Old age programs that somewhat follow actuarial tables would be politically unpopular, but a wise decision.

If there was a way to transition people out of the workforce without the hard-stop of complete retirement, it would be handy. Admittedly, there are some professions where this is possible, but there's many where this isn't.

I could see someone in their late 60s still working, but not wanting a grinding work schedule.

In human societies, the idea of a time of one's life to basically 'sit and do nothing' is unusual. In most societies, the elderly were transitioned to a less physically demanding role - typically educating the young. I don't know how we accommodate such a transition in the future.
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  #171  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2020, 6:39 PM
whatnext whatnext is offline
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Here's one area that is apparently going to get some scrutiny:

Canada Revenue Agency threatens audit in real-estate sector
Sun Media
Published: June 17, 2020

The building trades are being put on notice by the Canada Revenue Agency.

Assistant Revenue Commissioner Ted Gallivan told the Commons finance committee that workplace safety violations may lead to a tax audit, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

Gallivan said auditors have used accidents and injuries data to get into the books of contractors.

“They pick up intelligence from things like worker safety, you know this idea that a construction company that plays fast and loose with the safety of its employees may not be all compliant with their tax obligations either,” said Gallivan.

Since launching special audit teams in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto in 2019, Gallivan said the CRA had identified more than $1 billion in unpaid taxes....

...Among the items were unreported capital gains from private cottage or investment property sales and “money made on real estate flipping.”

“I think the real property community, the real-estate agents and lawyers involved, have gotten the message,” said Gallivan: “We were starting to move a little bit higher in the food chain, away from flips and individual real-estate agents, maybe to the broker or developer level.”


https://torontosun.com/news/national...-estate-sector
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  #172  
Old Posted Jun 22, 2020, 2:08 PM
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SaskScraper SaskScraper is offline
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Originally Posted by CityTech View Post
I'd like to see a suite of broad temporary tax hikes (GST, income tax, business tax) that aim to raise $50B a year and expire after six years. That would raise $300B, enough to pay off COVID debts.
I don't really approve of paying extra taxes, especially if it's propping up businesses for people who flaunt their extravagant lifestyles but expect the government to cover the risk if their businesses are in trouble.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté got a 10% tax break on paying to be a space tourist by calling his trip in Russian Soyuz TMA-16 rocket to the International Space Station a "Business Expense".

Yet in May of this year the Quebec Government, with $200 million US is bailing out the hard hit by CoVid Cirque du Soleil company which Guy Laliberté wants to buy back for a steal.

https://nationalpost.com/news/cirque...se-court-rules

https://globalnews.ca/news/6992675/c...l-loan-quebec/
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  #173  
Old Posted Jun 22, 2020, 2:14 PM
kwoldtimer kwoldtimer is offline
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Originally Posted by SaskScraper View Post
I don't really approve of paying extra taxes, especially if it's propping up businesses for people who flaunt their extravagant lifestyles but expect the government to cover the risk if their businesses are in trouble.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté got a 10% tax break on paying to be a space tourist by calling his trip in Russian Soyuz TMA-16 rocket to the International Space Station a "Business Expense".

Yet in May of this year the Quebec Government, with $200 million US is bailing out the hard hit by CoVid Cirque du Soleil company which Guy Laliberté wants to buy back for a steal.

https://nationalpost.com/news/cirque...se-court-rules

https://globalnews.ca/news/6992675/c...l-loan-quebec/
The Federal Court reversed the tax court's decision in that regard, no?
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  #174  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2020, 5:41 PM
swimmer_spe swimmer_spe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaskScraper View Post
I don't really approve of paying extra taxes, especially if it's propping up businesses for people who flaunt their extravagant lifestyles but expect the government to cover the risk if their businesses are in trouble.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté got a 10% tax break on paying to be a space tourist by calling his trip in Russian Soyuz TMA-16 rocket to the International Space Station a "Business Expense".

Yet in May of this year the Quebec Government, with $200 million US is bailing out the hard hit by CoVid Cirque du Soleil company which Guy Laliberté wants to buy back for a steal.

https://nationalpost.com/news/cirque...se-court-rules

https://globalnews.ca/news/6992675/c...l-loan-quebec/
Maybe it is time to get rid of being able to write things off as a business expense. Mind you, that would hurt people who work from home.
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  #175  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2020, 5:50 PM
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lubicon lubicon is offline
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Originally Posted by swimmer_spe View Post
Maybe it is time to get rid of being able to write things off as a business expense. Mind you, that would hurt people who work from home.
It would also hurt every single business, large and small. Not a good idea.
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  #176  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2020, 1:23 PM
SkeggsEggs SkeggsEggs is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaskScraper View Post
I don't really approve of paying extra taxes, especially if it's propping up businesses for people who flaunt their extravagant lifestyles but expect the government to cover the risk if their businesses are in trouble.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté got a 10% tax break on paying to be a space tourist by calling his trip in Russian Soyuz TMA-16 rocket to the International Space Station a "Business Expense".

Yet in May of this year the Quebec Government, with $200 million US is bailing out the hard hit by CoVid Cirque du Soleil company which Guy Laliberté wants to buy back for a steal.

https://nationalpost.com/news/cirque...se-court-rules

https://globalnews.ca/news/6992675/c...l-loan-quebec/
The corporation did not deduct any of the costs of the trip for tax purposes. The issue was whether the trip is considered a shareholder benefit. He originally included $4 million as a shareholder benefit hoping it would satisfy CRA. Ultimately it was decided that 10% of the trip was for business reasons, so $37.6 million was a shareholder benefit.
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  #177  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2020, 8:12 PM
Zmonkey Zmonkey is offline
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Originally Posted by lubicon View Post
It would also hurt every single business, large and small. Not a good idea.
It also doesn't make any sense. Are people suggesting that we go from taxing business based on revenues vs profit?

That is an entirely new system of taxation.
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