Category: nannystate

Sparky Car Circus

Climate Cult nannystate 16 Comments

When the Liberals abruptly cancelled EV rebates, they apparently forgot about rebate claims that hadn’t yet been submitted. Guess who’s on the hook for that.

The program provided up to $5,000 toward the purchase of a new zero-emissions vehicle. But with the abrupt suspension of the program — only three days after the government suggested it would be paused when the funds were exhausted — hundreds of dealerships were forced to swallow the cost of any rebate claims they hadn’t yet submitted.

He said that, collectively, dealers are out about $11 million.

“If every storm or cloud is the storm of the century, none are.”

nannystate 12 Comments

About the Texas floods.

One of the many lies promoted (suspect the social media version of JournOlist was running hot and heavy) was that no warnings were given because of DOGE cuts, short staffing, etc. All were lies as any cuts don’t take place until the FY, the NWS had extra staff on hand per SOP, and warnings were given in a timely manner. Not once, but no less than three times.

But, there does lie part of the rub. Texas was indeed right to criticize the NWS, as Todd Starnes pointed out on X. Back after Katrina, the NWS was (rightfully) criticized for not updating warnings and giving accurate warnings. The bureaucratic mind being what it is, the decision was made to treat every storm as the storm of the century and warn accordingly such that they could never be criticized again for not issuing strong enough warnings. Besides, that is easier, and easier to justify, that in having people show mature judgment and professionalism and update warnings if and as warranted. No thought, no muss, and it totally screws disaster preparedness planning and actions right in the keester.

Circling The Drain

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing nannystate 19 Comments

In addition to the many reasons why DOGE failed, I would add this: John Q. Voter likes deficit spending and he will punish nearly any politician who begs to differ.

“The federal government is not a business, and the executive branch has very limited authority with respect to spending,” explained Ditch. “While there is tremendous waste and dysfunction within the federal budget, the largest problem is the government doing too many things it shouldn’t and subsidizing nearly everything under the sun. Congress has primary responsibility for the size, scope, and spending of the federal government.”

“The outcome fell short of expectations in European capitals…”

Art Of The Deal nannystate 32 Comments

Conservative Treehouse;

The intransigent European Union are hitting a dead end with immovable Trump on the issue of tariffs. The resulting dynamic is what we would expect given 75 years of the Marshall Plan (European Recovery Plan) as part of the EU’s only point of reference.

In order for the EU to maintain their socialistic form of government, they need to continue the economic benefits from one-way tariffs that exploits the American consumer market. President Trump’s plan to force reciprocity is against their entire economic foundation. The EU simply cannot fathom life without the status quo.

In many ways the EU is in the same position as Canada. From their perspective, economic reciprocity is not sustainable; they would have to change their social compacts. This is the core of the conflict.

The EU trade delegation hit a brick wall in Washington DC, as the U.S. trade team reiterated the baseline tariffs are not something within the negotiation dynamic.

Ain’t Gonna Happen

2025 Federal Election Military nannystate 7 Comments

Despite all the promises to increase defense spending to not only replace what was shipped off to the Ukraine but to meet the new GDP targets, expect one of two outcomes: either the targets will be perpetually postponed or the definition of “defense spending” will be stretched to include funding for sewage treatment plants and community centers and anything else you might imagine.

In a new analysis released Thursday, the think tank said it expects Canada’s deficit to top $92 billion this fiscal year, given Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan to meet NATO’s defence spending target of two per cent of GDP.

C.D. Howe expects deficit growth to slow after this year but predicts deficits will still average around $78 billion annually over four years — more than double the level forecast by the parliamentary budget officer before the spring federal election.

 

Common Pool Goods

nannystate There Goes The Narrative 8 Comments

It’s often said that certain services like public transit have to be publicly owned allegedly because they are “common pool goods”. Most of these services run at a considerable financial loss as well. Rather than turn a profit, the response is almost always to force taxpayers to cover the deficits, however much they grow. But it doesn’t have to be that way. As the folks at the Mises Institute point out, private ownership of mass transit was actually a reality at one time:

For example, the golden age of the New York City subways was at the beginning in 1904. That’s when a private management company built much of the system—because the city was at its debt limit and couldn’t do it—and made a lot of money, helped clear slums in Lower Manhattan, and created what was called “an engineering marvel” by author Robert Caro in the book The Power Broker, a biography of uber-builder Robert Moses.

Later the subway system was taken over by the government because the private management system—over 37 years—was never able to raise the nickel fare. The government took over and started to wreck the system.

Cartel Clout

Canada’s Bolsheviks Cronies nannystate 16 Comments

If anyone wonders why Canada’s trade negotiations aren’t moving as quickly as hoped, the reason will become obvious before too long.

While Blanchet and his Bloc colleagues have remained focused on currying favour with Quebec dairy farmers, there has been a sea change in the geopolitical context, most notably a dramatic deterioration in the Canada-U.S. relationship, with Trump targeting dairy import restrictions among the many trade assaults he’s been directing at Canada. For Parliament to raise this protectionist fence higher is downright foolish — as was emphasized by experts over and over again during the debate on C-282 — and would seriously jeopardize our relations with the U.S. at this very sensitive juncture.

The Invoice Is In The Mail

Canada’s Bolsheviks nannystate 16 Comments

It’s polls like these which demonstrate why Canada is not a serious country. Most voters would be happy to entertain national bankruptcy rather than let go of any aspect of the nanny state.

The poll of about 4,000 adults conducted from June 2 to June 8 said 59 per cent opposed selling Canada Post while 29 per cent favoured selling it. The margin narrowed when it came to privatization, with 47 per cent against the idea and 38 per cent for it, though that only related to certain parts of the crown corporation.

 

National Bankruptcy For All!

nannystate Tommy Douglas: Not Dead Enough 27 Comments

Whether the medical system is American or Canadian, there are all sorts of medical procedures whose costs are not currently borne by the state. As is typical these days, there’s never any mention of ways in which free markets could lower these costs. Instead, the implied solution is that the magical entity known as “others” should simply assume all of the burden. In other words, let’s deal with the problems of a mostly Sovietized system by fully Sovietizing the same system. What could possibly go wrong?

A growing number of retirees, like Morton, are grappling with healthcare debt due to medical bills. Medicare, which provides health insurance coverage to more than 66 million people, covers the lion’s share of the cost of medical care, but not all.

On average, a 65-year-old who left the workforce last year may need $165,000 in savings to cover out-of-pocket healthcare expenses throughout retirement.

 

Captive Audience

Cronies nannystate 26 Comments

Opening up the Canadian telecom industry to foreign competitors is well overdue, particularly when the CEOs of our politically favored service providers start to openly take their customers for granted.

The company said the drop was due to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices “in response to more intense marketing and promotional price competition targeting both new and existing customers,” along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

“We have to change the psychology within the industry as it relates to marketing and sales. We have a wireless industry where we have to have price competition parity and I, for one, don’t understand that,” said Entwistle.

 

Groupthink Now!

Freespeechers Insufferable Twits nannystate 36 Comments

So Ottawa is worried that Canadians have a lot of different opinions. In reality, they’re worried that many of these opinions don’t conform to the dominant collectivist narratives.

The presentation called on session participants to come up with ideas to make Canadian society more cohesive by reversing the trend toward polarization, building trust in government agencies and fighting the swelling tide of misinformation and disinformation.

Still, the document says officials at the November meeting planned to talk about how to ramp up efforts to “engage and ‘bring back’ groups veering away from democratic norms.”

Mmmmm….Pork!

Canada’s Bolsheviks nannystate 34 Comments

In the coming months, everyone should prepare themselves for a massive expansion of what constitutes a “nation building” project.

At a meeting in March with the premiers, Carney asked them to identify “nation-building projects.” Ford’s letter sets out his list of areas he wants the federal government to prioritize “that would be transformational for Canada’s economy.”

But the “nation-building” project drawing the most attention is a driver and transit tunnel expressway under Highway 401.

 

Socialized Dentistry

entitlement generation nannystate Tommy Douglas: Not Dead Enough 49 Comments

Carney announced this morning on social media that his government will be expanding government subsidized dental care dramatically. This is exactly how Medicare got started, with the state footing the bill for some expenses and insurance which gradually morphed into a complete prohibition on any private payments. How long will it be before cash strapped governments throttle payments to dentists, resulting in people being unable to find a dentist at all? Probably not that long.

 

Narrative Contradictions

Climate Cult nannystate Y2Kyoto 6 Comments

Who would have thought that a warmer climate could create more frequent spring frosts? It’s not as if you can expect fewer frosts in a cooler climate. But maybe that’s just my bourgeois logic at fault. If you find that people aren’t buying that argument anyway, you can always just blame Trump.

Traditionally, the plants’ buds break out in spring, emerging with colorful grapes that range from the cabernet franc’s deep blues to the soft greens of the region’s most popular grape, riesling. However, a warming world is making that happen earlier, adding to uncertainty and potential risks for farmers. If a frost comes after the buds have broken, growers can lose much of the harvest.

Political tensions, such as tariffs amid President Donald Trump’s trade wars and the administration’s rollback of environmental policies, are also looming problems.

Nothing Better To Do

47 Little Known Facts nannystate 14 Comments

It beggars belief that the federal government actually involves itself in determining the correct number of lanes for city streets, but that’s the state in which we now find ourselves. I’m reminded of an episode of The Simpsons where Homer becomes the Springfield Safety Czar and pegs the downtown speed limit at 5 miles per hour.

Federal transportation officials once heralded road diets for cutting crashes by 19% to 47%, but criteria for an upcoming round of road safety grants say projects aimed at “reducing lane capacity” should be considered “less favorably,” the administration said.

Another Mass Formation?

2025 Federal Election It's Probably Nothing nannystate The Libranos 45 Comments

Back in the days of the pandemic, I ran across the analysis of Belgian psychologist Mattias Desmet who argued that a mass formation was developing in Western nations whereby public discourse was dominated by a peculiar type of absurdist groupthink. Those who dared to challenge the narrative were subjected to a barrage of criticism while strange ritualistic behaviors became the order of the day. I recently applied Desmet’s analysis to the current Canadian election and came to this conclusion: Canada is in the grip of another mass formation.

The problem is that this focus of anxiety, this latest mass formation, has led to the psychological obliteration of the Liberal Party’s governance record of the last decade. The palpable disappointment and sense of betrayal among voters which previously led to Justin Trudeau’s own cabinet publicly demanding his resignation has seemingly vanished. The new object of anxiety, Donald Trump, demands every bit of the masses’ attention to the exclusion of all other considerations. What matters is not that Canadians think critically, but that they think together, even if that thinking embraces blatant contradictions.

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