Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinion
So you "volunteer" to work or starve? I was going to make a snarky comment about idiot conservatives probably being in favour of gulags for the poor, then decided against it because that would be unreasonably snarky. Sad to see my cynicism was justified.
Welfare is like $700 a month. A lot of people using it legitimately can't work for reasons beyond their control. We are (or at least were) a country that cares for vulnerable people.
Why do you have that avatar? Should ask galeforcewind if you can borrow his.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Canadian Mind
I like the idea, but if it is volunteer, make it so the people who choose not to work don't get any money. We're emerging from hard financial times. Some would argue that we are still in it. either way, there is the grave risk of falling back into them again very soon. Why the hell should we as a society shoulder the burden of those who are outright unwilling to carry themselves.
Of course there are people who would be unable to work, but that's why I specified what I hope would be a very specific group of people.
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Re-read my post, my whole post. That "specific" group of people would be those who choose the option of not working at all, and therefore should receive no money. I know enough people who abuse the system to know these kinds of people are out there. In no way did I suggest taking welfare away from those who need it the most. I had hoped I was clear enough in that regard.
Further, I personally take offence to the "idiot conservative" comment. It is entirely unwarranted. I am a socialist at heart. And while some of my opinions may come across as outright neo-conservative, forgive me when I expect people who take from the system to give back to it at some point. The system simply will not survive if everybody takes. Just look at Greece!
With that, I expect an apology.
Carrying on, I like some of the other ideas coming up in this thread as well. The demand for workers up north is huge. Alberta is going to have around 300 000 new positions in the energy sector alone by 2015. That's huge, real huge. That figure doesn't unrelated industries. Not only will this put a demand on BC secondary industries to supply this energy mammoth with the resources it needs to develop it's energy industry, but we also have our own, smaller energy industry in the northeast of the province. It might not seem apparent in Vancouver, but there is a huge labour shortage in the north, and it's only going to get bigger. Plus the land is far cheaper, and companies don't like having to pay for round-trip tickets to Vancouver every two weeks. They'd rather hire "local," and if we can encourage more people to move north and become "local," the better off the resource companies, our economy, and our overall standard of living will be.
I'd like to see a broader subsidization program in place for education, but beyond the price of tuition. With these impending labour shortages, if the government and private sector could get together to fund a program whereby people's education and living expenses are subsidized (or outright paid for) while they go through school, followed by a period where they must work for a company in the north for an allotted number of years. During these years, the recipient of these subsidies must pay a portion of their wages back to the government, something like 1/4-1/3rd their wage. The objective wouldn't be to outright pay off their debt, but to help give back to what they withdrew from. As well, the companies would have to give the government extra money in exchange for producing educated, guaranteed workers. While the program would cost money on the grand scheme of things, the higher revenue generated from income and corporate taxes will offset the costs, if not lead to an overall surplus.
Along with this, I can understand relocating to the north can be difficult. Not just because of the costs, but because of the uncertainties of being somewhere new. Expanding on Cornholio's idea, have a separate but related program entirely dedicated to helping people settle in the north. Things such as government/government-subsidised housing for new residents, people dedicated to showing newcomers around the area & just being that go-to person when you have a problem, money for business startups, etc. Effectively, make the north easy to move to for as many people as possible.