10 THOUGHTS
WASTED MONEY - If I took any amount of money from you, call it $20, and then flushed it down the toilet on purpose and didn’t offer to give the $20 back to you, most of us would be very upset. Well, just because you don’t see the government flush thousands of your hard earned money down the sewer doesn’t mean they aren’t doing it. With the recent teachers’ dispute with the Saskatchewan government, I did some research as to how much ‘per capita’ we spend on Education as well as Health seeing as how a lot of Canadians don’t seem to want to risk jeopardizing their ‘free’ medical coverage, often citing that despite the pitfalls of long lineups in the ER, long distances to travel for some to have a baby, long waiting lists to see various specialists, and so on that it’s worth it because we really don’t spend that much on it. To the best of what I was able to uncover, each Saskatchewan resident spends about $600 a month on Education, but that’s assuming every single person contributes taxes and we know they don’t, so the cost is probably closer to $800 a month. Ask yourself if you think that $800 could be spent better. Are you in favor of paying more without seeing an uptick in quality of education for your child? I don’t mind people getting raises, but what does my child get? As far as Health goes, the number is closer to $1000 a month. Are you okay with $1000 a month and a six month waiting list to get an MRI or a two hour drive to have a baby? If you are, you are a liar. There are countries that charge citizens half of that amount and the healthcare and education is infinitely better.
GOVERNMENT MISMANAGEMENT - I’ve challenged people that I’ve come into discussion with over the last few weeks to show me an entity where government is in control or provides funds for and they do a good job with it. Any level of government. Federal, provincial, municipal. There isn’t one. Governments, without exaggeration, waste most of our money, sometimes on purpose so that they can enjoy lavish lifestyles. The lack of respect for money that isn’t theirs should appall us all and yet the sentiment I get is that we are just numb to it and don’t seem to care. Taxes are high, productivity has never been lower, and we are going to get hit with more increases I assure you.
MORE PEOPLE, MORE TAX PER PERSON - I look at the Saskatchewan government, where they brag about population increases. When I moved here in 2001, Saskatchewan had well under a million people but now less than 25 years later, we are in the range of 1.2 million. That should mean more people paying taxes, but for some reason with more people the taxes have gone up and the issues surrounding Health, Education, Policing, Social Welfare, and Transportation have never been in a worse state. What can possibly be the explanation to having a bigger tax base, only to raise the taxes on everybody, and then giving back even less than what we had in 2001? I know a lot of you love the SaskParty government, but just because they are the best of a bad lot of governments in Canada shouldn’t exempt them from scrutiny. If you compared them to governments in North and South Dakota, they’d be graded with an F.
DIFFERENCES IN TAXATION - In Saskatchewan, the provincial income tax rate is about 12.5% North Dakota’s is 1.95% according to various Google searches I conducted this morning. The average cost per family for health insurance in the United States is $1152 per month. Canadians spend about three times that much (but just don’t see it actually broken down on an itemized budget or invoice) and don’t get nearly the same quality. Yet, many criticize the American model and those who live here are brainwashed to fear that going to a private system will mean they’ll be vulnerable and not receive care. But, that’s already happening! A lot of Canadians don’t even have a family doctor. I won’t proclaim to be an expert on American healthcare, but there is a hospital in Denver lobbying for a government bailout because they’ve been providing for migrants; which tells me that even if you can’t afford health insurance you do still get looked after but maybe not to the extent that someone who does have coverage would.
TORONTO VISIT - I was in Toronto last weekend for work and here are a few interesting tidbits from the visit. The trade show I was at had an area for exhibitors and attendees to socialize. When folks asked me where I was from, the topic of Justin Trudeau was brought up immediately; presumably because of the well known hatred there is for him here. I can tell you that there may be just as much hatred for him in southern Ontario. The sentiment was similar to that of two years ago when I spent a bit of time in London and talked to citizens in that city. I think the big difference between southern Ontario and Saskatchewan is that people in southern Ontario really don’t take the time to visit with one another the way they do here so you really don’t know what your neighbor may think like we do here. Trudeau does as good a job as anyone at dividing people over fake issues like sexual preferences, culture wars, radical religions, and racism. The truth everywhere, it seems, is that nobody cares what someone else is doing but nobody wants to be branded a bigot or a racist either. I think in Saskatchewan, most of us are over it all and ignore these fake labels. I don’t know if that's the case in southern Ontario. Just an observation.
MANNERS - My Uber driver on Saturday night said she could tell I wasn’t from southern Ontario because I was way too polite. I chuckled and said, ‘politeness isn’t something I’m known for in Saskatchewan; so people here must be extremely rude’.
LEAFS GAME CASHLESS - I went to the Leafs-Avalanche game on Saturday night and relished in Toronto blowing a 3-0 lead in losing 5-3. The game was highly entertaining and the venue was fantastic to watch NHL. It is a cashless venue so if you go with actual paper money, you may as well put Monopoly paper in your pocket. It’s worthless. Personally, I’m greatly concerned about the move towards a cashless society. There is all sorts of wrong with going that direction but Canadians seem to be quite apathetic about it. I also find it ironic that sports arenas/venues were one of the last to install debit and credit machines so fans often made it a point to withdraw cash from the ATM before going so that they could purchase food and drink but now these same venues are the first to eliminate cash as an option to pay.
LEAFS PREGAME - The hour pregame show on the jumbotron had a major focus on discrimination and how it won’t be tolerated. There also wasn’t a single white male involved in any of the onscreen features aside from the players themselves. In fact, I found the aggressive verbal pushing of diversity, equity, and inclusion to be a major turn off but I also think that’s reality in southern Ontario. As much as we see it in Saskatchewan, you can multiply that by ten in Toronto. Having it in your face is as common as a drink of water. Nevertheless, after puck drop in the first period there wasn’t a single mention of it so I think people are immune to it and have come to just accept that if you want to go out and have a good time doing something, you have to subject yourself to a certain amount of left wing aggressiveness and that’s just the way it is.
SEAN STRICKLAND - If you are one of the few that have not seen viral video clips of MMA fighter Sean Strickland this week, do yourself a favor and watch a couple. I can do without the constant F bombs, but it’s nice to see someone standing up for the common Canadian even if it is from someone who is from California. I can’t help but wonder how fast an NHL player would be suspended for saying the same thing as Strickland. Free country though, right?
SUDDEN DEATHS - It’s been a bad week or so for sudden deaths. In Australia, longtime tennis reporter Mike Dickson passed away suddenly while covering the Australian Open. While it could be unrelated, Dickson heavily criticized Novak Djokovic for declining the Covid vaccine calling it ‘a strange hill to die on for a player so desperate to be loved’. Djokovic has managed to navigate life, traveling the world, and still maintaining his status as, perhaps, the best tennis player ever without getting seriously ill while Dickson is one of many passionate pro-vaxxers who have died unexpectedly. There will never be an investigation as to whether the vaccine could have contributed to these deaths so we are left with speculation. Canadian pole vault champion Shawn Barber died this week at the age of 29. The only clue on cause was that it was from ‘medical complications’. Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died from a heart attack this week at the age of 46. Again, speculation and some of you will scoff but if you are 4-5-6 doses deep in the Covid vaccine….I would be nervous that each day would be my last if I were you. The simple reality is that these weird deaths amongst adults that are young didn’t become normal until the Covid vaccine was introduced.