Regina Construction IV

[BrutallyDishonest2]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

I really don't understand why anyone would think that the direction of our society should go 100% with the free market or wherever the most profit can be made. You can't simultaneously have personal freedoms while also letting outside forces dictate the way we live. This is how we end up with a soulless society that serves only one purpose: making other people rich. It is possible to have a sustainable economy and a society that is fit for the people that call this place home but that is not what the SaskParty wants for us. They want power for them and their friends only (and an industry such as that for film is not their friend). You can see their authoritarian rise in the premier's Covid press conference from last week where we weren't even able to hear the reporters asking them questions while blaming all of our Covid problems on Trudeau and First Nations people while lying the entire time and giving misleading data. It's getting pretty scary to be honest and it doesn't seem like our media and political opposition is strong enough to push back. We really are turning into the Alabama of Canada.

No we're not.

Look, I'm fine with government supports to a point, but the idea that Saskatchewan needs a large film industry is just ridiculous. There is no justification that we need to subsidize one specific industry like film. It's literally an industry that can't exist without HUGE subsidies. And it's also an industry that is a pure race to the bottom between markets willing to give more and more and more to attract the film industry. Let them have it.

The money would be much better spent on almost anything else.

[blacktrojan3921]

Originally Posted by BrutallyDishonest2

No we're not.

Look, I'm fine with government supports to a point, but the idea that Saskatchewan needs a large film industry is just ridiculous. There is no justification that we need to subsidize one specific industry like film. It's literally an industry that can't exist without HUGE subsidies. And it's also an industry that is a pure race to the bottom between markets willing to give more and more and more to attract the film industry. Let them have it.

The money would be much better spent on almost anything else.

Every industry is a race to the bottom; under that logic, we shouldn't be giving government subsidies to the fossil fuel and mining industries, as well as the agricultural industries.

[BrutallyDishonest2]

Originally Posted by blacktrojan3921

Every industry is a race to the bottom; under that logic, we shouldn't be giving government subsidies to the fossil fuel and mining industries, as well as the agricultural industries.

Fun fact, I think we should cut ag subsidies just like New Zealand did in the 1980s.

But no, it is simply incorrect to say that every industry is a race to the bottom. It is difficult to determine the exact subsidy levels, but O&G is not subsidized like the film industry was.

[one_brick_at_a_time]

Price tag growing for 11th Avenue downtown revitalization plans
Initial funding totalling $750,000 was approved in the 2021 budget. An additional $250,000 has been requested through the 2022 budget process.



The work includes rehabilitation of underground and surface infrastructure, including water mains, sewers, roads, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, pedestrian ramps, traffic control signals, streetscape and shallow utilities. It is expected to take place in three phases over three years beginning in 2023.

The engineering consulting budget for the revitalization is tax-funded, says the report, but the project construction (estimated at $7 million) will be funded through a combination taxes, utility fees and development levies.

https://leaderpost.com/news/local-ne...mpression=true

So happy about this! 11th Avenue absolutely needs an overhaul.

[blacktrojan3921]

Originally Posted by BrutallyDishonest2

Fun fact, I think we should cut ag subsidies just like New Zealand did in the 1980s.

But no, it is simply incorrect to say that every industry is a race to the bottom. It is difficult to determine the exact subsidy levels, but O&G is not subsidized like the film industry was.

Really?

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/governme...and-gas-sector

https://www.iisd.org/system/files/20...els-canada.pdf

In the 2018/19 Fiscal Year, we (as in the province of Saskatchewan) gave over $200 million dollars in subsidies to the Oil and Gas industry.

[yveseluj]

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

So happy about this! 11th Avenue absolutely needs an overhaul.

and a tree

[one_brick_at_a_time]

Originally Posted by yveseluj

and a tree

Yeah! I want tons of trees in tree cells planted!!! It would be a miracle! Lol

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

Yeah! I want tons of trees in tree cells planted!!! It would be a miracle! Lol

No. Only 1. And it must shrivel and die out of neglect within 2 years.

[one_brick_at_a_time]

Originally Posted by Nathan

No. Only 1. And it must shrivel and die out of neglect within 2 years.

Hahahah!! :p

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

Hahahah!! :p

I don't make the rules.

[BrutallyDishonest2]

Originally Posted by blacktrojan3921

Really?

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/governme...and-gas-sector

https://www.iisd.org/system/files/20...els-canada.pdf

In the 2018/19 Fiscal Year, we (as in the province of Saskatchewan) gave over $200 million dollars in subsidies to the Oil and Gas industry.

Yes.

The O&G sector still has a massive amount of private inputs and their subsidy is a much smaller proportion of economic output. The film credit literally subsidized up to 30%.

I'm 100% fine with cutting the O&G subsidy to $0, but the film industry deserves the same: nothing.

[Draftsman]

Originally Posted by Nathan

No. Only 1. And it must shrivel and die out of neglect within 2 years.

Well that's simple! Just assign care of the tree to Harvard Developments, and Voila, bye bye tree!

[yveseluj]

With my new bike arriving, I was finally able to take the new Albert street mixed-use path to work. Gotta say, it's super convenient. When Pasqua's path is done, it'll make biking downtown from the south end even better.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^That is not how I would interpret BrutallyDishonest's statement. If you've actually read their posts over any length of time they are not about 100% market and certainly not against subsidies, but they are about getting a reasonable return on what tax dollars are spent on. Propping up oil and gas a bit has an economic payoff. Propping up the film industry at a rate higher than other industries is not getting a reasonable return. I don't know the numbers, but I believe that is what they are getting at.

I stand to be corrected, but there is way too much assumption in what people are thinking based on one statement.

[The mayor]

https://leaderpost.com/news/local-ne...054781080/amp/

New industrial business park being developed north of Regina
Siemens Transportation Group Inc. is planning to turn what used to be a farmer’s field into a new heavy industrial business park.
Siemens is building its own new terminal for its company Kindersley Transport in the park, as well as a new 40,000 square foot warehouse.

The company is subdividing the rest of the land into 20 separate lots that range in size from 2.5 to nine acres. According to a posting on Colliers, the lots start at $180,000 per acre.
Parker Siemens, who works as a property manager for the company, said what the warehouse will be used for is still up in the air. However, they feel there will be a need for warehousing in the area in the future.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Assuming the worst in everyone's statement is not generally helpful.

I should have said economic or social payoff. There are many things I support that have no hope in chance of generating a profit, but that doesn't make them valueless and not worth supporting. Libraries and education fit into that for me, so does health.

But it's a discussion, it should go back and forth because I know underneath most of the exterior there is a lot of common ground.

[Kegger]

Apologies if this has been discussed and I missed it, but. What is the status of the Brandt building in Wascana Park?! Last I heard it was supposed to be filled in by the end of June, however I drive by it regularly and it looks like it is still an open basement with the whole area fenced in.

Did they get another extension? Is the city (or PCC) going through some sort of enforcement now that hasn't been made public? Was the fill in order just a recommendation and not an order?

[blacktrojan3921]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

GTH anyone?

Normally, this would be a sign of great economic opportunity, but considering the fact that we already have the GTH, the fact that Siemens is basically building their own hub north of the city shows how much of a god damn boondoggle that whole hub was from the start.

Originally Posted by Kegger

Apologies if this has been discussed and I missed it, but. What is the status of the Brandt building in Wascana Park?! Last I heard it was supposed to be filled in by the end of June, however I drive by it regularly and it looks like it is still an open basement with the whole area fenced in.

Did they get another extension? Is the city (or PCC) going through some sort of enforcement now that hasn't been made public? Was the fill in order just a recommendation and not an order?

According to the Leader-Post back in July, Brandt was denied another extension.

https://leaderpost.com/news/local-ne...-cnib-building

[Kegger]

Originally Posted by blacktrojan3921

Normally, this would be a sign of great economic opportunity, but considering the fact that we already have the GTH, the fact that Siemens is basically building their own hub north of the city shows how much of a god damn boondoggle that whole hub was from the start.



According to the Leader-Post back in July, Brandt was denied another extension.

https://leaderpost.com/news/local-ne...-cnib-building

Fair enough, I guess that was what I was thinking of (thanks for the right date and article). So right now they have no extension, and are just bag holding accumulating fines for a few months? Or is this like a Capital Pointe speed enforcement process?

[BrutallyDishonest2]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

Just to try and understand you... you're against all subsidies and believe that the free market should 100% decide the direction of our economy and society? And I assume you are against any kind of public funding of services like health care or public transportation, or is there a distinction there? Remember that family doctors own their own clinics so essentially we are subsidizing family doctors, for example.

That's not really a coherent criticism.

I think that moderate government investment in necessary industries can be beneficial and not disruptive/inefficient.

I'm am not a market fundamentalist in the sense of privatizing everything, but I do strongly believe in markets. And having a strong market means we can have a strong base to fund healthcare, social programs etc.

If O&G had all of its subsidies cut tomorrow, virtually nothing would change. The film industry proved it literally could not exist huge government supports. There are plenty of industries that exist in other places (furniture in Quebec, automotive in Ontario, wineries in BC) that we do not need to emulate simply because they exist.