Canada's Future

[Truenorth00]

The thread was going just fine until one individual decided to make it his soapbox about how Indians are the worst people ever. And that was followed by whining about his persecution complex. And then the usual hangars on about moderation being too strict.

It'd be really fucking great if every thread doesn't get hijacked by somebody's personal rant about xyz religious or ethnic group. Followed by the usual whining when the ranter inevitably faces discipline.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Thought about a little more, and decided I don’t really care. It’s a discussion forum, so you’re going to get off topic posts. To put it in the same, direct way that some posters use, “deal with it”.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I fear this as well. Canada will be a paradise compared to the hellhole that most of the rest of the world will be in 50 years time.

We are about to see a migration crisis worse than the one that toppled the Roman Empire in the fifth century. You ain't seen nothing yet..........

I don't see any reason to expect this. Global population is going to fall off a cliff. China alone is going to lose 400 million people in the next 50 years.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Build.It

Things seem to be getting heated. I guess this means we need to close this thread as well, before somebody's feelings get hurt.

You've bailed on this forum before, feel free to do so again.

[Build.It]

This time it was my sarcasm that was missed.

[MolsonExport]

no it wasn't.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Fair point. I just looked. Subway ridership is down 30% relative to 2019. And overall TTC ridership is down 25% relative to 2019. But that's using 2023 numbers.

https://www.ttc.ca/transparency-and-...ansit-planning

Yet, when I look at the numbers I see weekend numbers catching up while weekday ridership is down 34%. That leads me to believe that it's less about safety than simply a change in employment patterns. Especially when I see that GO is down a similar amount. And given trends, they'll probably be back to pre-Covid ridership in 2025.



More than just Vancouver. There's some 905 systems that already recovered. Most famously Brampton hitting a record high last year.




That's the beauty of RER. It'll spread out your suburban friends and the crazies over both rail networks.

On post-pandemic transit ridership recovery, I'd say that in Ottawa-Gatineau the "captive" transit market is back and maybe even higher than before, but the "choice" transit market is still just a shadow of its former self.

By captive I mean people who tend to live in apartments and not have access to a vehicle. Or maybe they do but parking costs are prohibitive to them.

By choice I mean people who have a vehicle or vehicles, often live in SFHs and have the means to pay for parking. But choose transit instead.

My neighbourhood is the latter and transit use dropped off a cliff here.

I base my assessments on taking transit myself (so does my wife), how full the vehicles seem to be, how many people are waiting at stops, and what my entourage is telling me.

There are tons of people paying for downtown parking these days that used to take transit here.

Now, next week the feds will up the weekly days in the office for their staff from 2 to 3 (and to 4 for execs), so we'll see if that has an effect on things.

[shreddog]

I recently came back from a 2 week visit to Canada, after living abroad for 14 months. Though this is not my first expat adventure, and I’ve stayed away from Canada for longer periods, this time was definitely the most impactful. During my visit, I spent days each in Ottawa, Toronto and a small town on lake Huron. While I haven't spend much time in Ontario since 2021, I can honestly say Canada feels very different than when I moved away last summer.

The biggest change was undoubtedly the “pulse” of everyone I spoke with. During my visit I met a full cross section of Canadians: family and friends, casual strangers and a cast of many at a family wedding.

While this is purely anecdotal, what I heard was that people feel that life is NOT better today than <<fill in the blank time period>>, immigration is way out of control and that the Liberals are “out of touch” with what they should be focusing on (even by LPC supporters). Again, this is all anecdotal, but I spoke with a wide variety of people across all stages of life and political leanings. DT Toronto was certainly quieter than pre-Covid and the homeless issue was definitely noticeable. It's annoying as hell that TD only opens their vestibules with ATMs during normal operating hours. While I am sort of used to that in DT, finding this at Kilping and Bloor is crazy! St James park wasn’t too crowded with tents (I had heard it was worse), but we saw way too many “heroin zombies” around St. Lawrence. Meanwhile in Ottawa, the Rideau centre seems quieter now than in 2021 and the Market seemed like a set from a bad dystopian movie. First time I had to be buzzed into a retail store that wasn’t high luxury. It’s sad how it’s just a shell of it’s former self. (We went there both on a Saturday and a workday). Ottawa now reminds me a US cities where the DT's are almost abandoned to the burbs! (Okay, maybe that's a little extreme, but in a Canadian context its getting there).

After this trip I am not feeling positive about Canada’s future. Given the focus of our current (and future) Federal governments, I’m not sure that they even have “concepts of a plan” to fix the situation. When I previously lived abroad, I always knew in the back of my mind, that it was an adventure and that I’d always come back “home” Now both my wife and I find ourselves toying with the idea of possibly not moving back to Canada. And that really makes me sad.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by shreddog

I recently came back from a 2 week visit to Canada, after living abroad for 14 months. Though this is not my first expat adventure, and I’ve stayed away from Canada for longer periods, this time was definitely the most impactful. During my visit, I spent days each in Ottawa, Toronto and a small town on lake Huron. While I haven't spend much time in Ontario since 2021, I can honestly say Canada feels very different than when I moved away last summer.

The biggest change was undoubtedly the “pulse” of everyone I spoke with. During my visit I met a full cross section of Canadians: family and friends, casual strangers and a cast of many at a family wedding.

While this is purely anecdotal, what I heard was that people feel that life is NOT better today than <<fill in the blank time period>>, immigration is way out of control and that the Liberals are “out of touch” with what they should be focusing on (even by LPC supporters). Again, this is all anecdotal, but I spoke with a wide variety of people across all stages of life and political leanings. DT Toronto was certainly quieter than pre-Covid and the homeless issue was definitely noticeable. It's annoying as hell that TD only opens their vestibules with ATMs during normal operating hours. While I am sort of used to that in DT, finding this at Kilping and Bloor is crazy! St James park wasn’t too crowded with tents (I had heard it was worse), but we saw way too many “heroin zombies” around St. Lawrence. Meanwhile in Ottawa, the Rideau centre seems quieter now than in 2021 and the Market seemed like a set from a bad dystopian movie. First time I had to be buzzed into a retail store that wasn’t high luxury. It’s sad how it’s just a shell of it’s former self. (We went there both on a Saturday and a workday). Ottawa now reminds me a US cities where the DT's are almost abandoned to the burbs! (Okay, maybe that's a little extreme, but in a Canadian context its getting there).

After this trip I am not feeling positive about Canada’s future. Given the focus of our current (and future) Federal governments, I’m not sure that they even have “concepts of a plan” to fix the situation. When I previously lived abroad, I always knew in the back of my mind, that it was an adventure and that I’d always come back “home” Now both my wife and I find ourselves toying with the idea of possibly not moving back to Canada. And that really makes me sad.

Thanks for sharing.