Canadian consumer confidence rises on real estate views (released May 9, 2016)

Posted on May 9, 2016 by CanucksBanter

Travel Advisory – VIA Rail reaching out to residents of Fort McMurray

Posted on May 8, 2016 by CanucksBanter

Residents in need can book complimentary seats on trains departing from Edmonton

MONTRÉAL, May 8, 2016 /CNW/ – In order to help those affected by the fires in Fort McMurray, VIA Rail is offering complimentary travel on both eastbound and westbound trains departing from Edmonton, beginning tomorrow, May 9^th. Passengers in need may book travel through to their final destination, including connections to other trains.

Reservations can be made on the following trains:

Train #1, westbound out of Edmonton, departs on the following dates:
May 10, 13 and 15.

Train #2 eastbound out of Edmonton departs on the following dates:
May 9, 11 and 14.

At this time, seats can be reserved by residents affected on a first come first served basis. Pets will be accommodated, according to availability.

Fort McMurray residents wishing to make train reservations may do so by calling 1-877-747-0707.

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada’s national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and its 2,600 employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and safely transports nearly four million passengers annually. The Corporation was awarded seven Safety Awards by the Railway Association of Canada over the last eight years. For more information, visit: viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.

Stay connected with VIA Rail
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SOURCE VIA Rail Canada Inc.

For further information: Information: Mylene Belanger, Advisor, Public Relations, VIA Rail Canada, 1 877 393-8787, media@viarail.ca

Trail Firefighters’ Silver City Days Parade 2016 Photos

Posted on May 7, 2016 by CanucksBanter

Trail Firefighters’ Silver City Days Parade
Saturday, May 7, 2016

Silver City Days 2016 Parade, Trail B.C. May 7, 2016

Prime Minister welcomes Twenty-Third Annual Report on the Public Service of Canada

Posted on May 7, 2016 by CanucksBanter

Toronto, Ontario

6 May 2016

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, Friday welcomed the Twenty-Third Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada from Michael Wernick, the Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet, and Head of the Public Service.

The report outlines the Clerk’s priorities and expectations of the Public Service for the coming year, and emphasizes the need to improve mental health and well-being in the workplace, and boost efforts to attract, retain, and develop talented public servants.

The report also highlights a number of success stories from the past year that made a real difference in the lives of Canadians, including efforts to:

Work with partners at all levels – international, federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal – to bring Syrian refugees to Canada, and help them resettle as quickly as possible;
Help move goods across the longest international border, at a rate of over $1 million per minute; and,
Process 82 per cent of all tax returns electronically, making tax filing faster and easier for Canadians.

The report is available on the Clerk of the Privy Council’s website: www.clerk.gc.ca/report.

Quote

“A modern, professional Public Service plays a vital role in our democracy. The Clerk is taking important steps to renew this important institution. By working together, I am confident that we can build an even better, more capable, and effective Public Service – one that addresses the needs and expectations of the Canadians we serve.”

– Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Quick Facts

Michael Wernick was appointed the 23^rd Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet on January 22, 2016, by the Prime Minister to help the government deliver its agenda and to renew the Public Service.
The Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada—a requirement under section 127 of the Public Service Employment Act—was first introduced in 1992.
The Public Service of Canada is the country’s largest employer, with approximately 257,000 employees. It is also the country’s most diverse workforce, including administrative, scientific, engineering, medical, and enforcement professionals, among others.

Source: Prime Minister welcomes Twenty-Third Annual Report on the Public Service of Canada | Prime Minister of Canada

Fraser Institute thinks sending your kid to university counts as “child care”

Posted on May 6, 2016 by CanucksBanter

MAY 05, 2016 by Press Progress

Apparently when the Fraser Institute hears “child care,” they seem to think about sending young adults off to university.

When most Canadians hear “child care,” they probably picture toddlers in daycare.

But when the Fraser Institute hears “child care,” they seem to think about sending young adults off to college or university.

In their latest report examining “child care in Canada,” the right-wing think tank sets out to calculate just how much money Canada spends on child care every year.

But a closer look at how they came up with their numbers shows a few interesting surprises!

What surprises?

Well, although the cover of the report features a photo of a tiny infant struggling with a set of building blocks, the report itself says it counts saving for university as a “child care” cost.

In calculating child care costs in Canada, the Fraser Institute includes the $800 million Canada Education Savings Grant program that the report itself describes as something designed to help parents “save for their child’s post-secondary education.”

Which only begs the question: is it reasonable to include the cost of saving for college or university as a “child care” program?

The Fraser Institute has a few other “child care” costs that may stretch the definition of “child care”:

• The former Conservative government’s Children’s Fitness Tax Credit, eliminated in the Liberal government’s 2016 budget, which deducted up to $150 for kids under 16 involved in organized sports. Canada Revenue Agency said that includes “strenuous games like hockey or soccer, activities such as golf lessons, horseback riding, sailing and bowling.”

• The Canada Child Tax Benefit, a means-tested grant aimed at lower-income families to “help them with the cost of raising children under 18 years of age” – although it’s a direct-payment that is not explicitly tied to child care costs.

• The former Conservative government’s Universal Child Care Benefit, also eliminated in the 2016 budget, which was a direct-payment of between $100 to $160 per month for everyone under the age of 18 – it too was not explicitly tied to child care costs.

The Fraser Institute includes all of these in their estimate of what Canada spends on child care.

If any of this seems a bit off from what most Canadians think when they hear “child care,” the Fraser Institute has an explanation:

“It is important to explain the distinction between child care and daycare as those terms are used in public policy discussions in Canada. Child care is the broader term and encompasses a range of services and benefits that flow to children. It includes daycare programs, but also covers cash benefits flowing to families to assist them with raising their children.”

But it’s not clear whose “distinction” that is, though.

A 2014 Statistics Canada report on child care limited their scope to “nannies, home daycares, daycare centres, preschool programs and before and after school services.”

Quebec’s government defines child care programs as “childcare centres, private day care centres and home childcare services.”

Meanwhile, Canada Revenue Agency defines a “child care expense” as any amount you pay “to have someone look after an eligible child” under the age of 16 because you have to work or go to school.

Saving for university or subsidizing a teenager’s sporting activities are also notably absent from “discussions” about “child care” here, here, here, here, here and here.

What’s else? One of the citations hiding at the end of the report pegs child care costs in Canada about $20 billion lower than the Fraser Institute’s own estimate.

$20 billion is roughly the amount the Fraser Institute’s report pegs as the combined cost of the CESG, CCTB and UCCB.

That might not be a big surprise.

The right-wing Institute’s annual reports on how much average Canadians pay in taxes have also been criticized for including things that average Canadians don’t actually see on their tax bills, like corporate taxes and oil and gas royalties.

As the former editor of The Walrus John MacFarlane once noted:

“Critics of the Fraser Institute report have also pointed to a bias in its definition of taxes, in terms of what it included in its calculation of the average tax bill. Are royalties on oil and gas revenues taxes? Are import duties taxes? Are taxes on goods and services, property, vehicles, fuel, alcohol, and tobacco — so-called consumption taxes — as burdensome as those applied to income? Is it reasonable to include corporate taxes in the total that Canadian families pay?”

But despite what the Fraser Institute thinks, in reality, child care costs for Canadian families who actually have young children to worry about are still out of control:

^{Photo: robtowneo. Used under Creative Commons license. Shutterstock.}

Source: Fraser Institute thinks sending your kid to university counts as “child care”

Andrew Phillip Chernoff

The Outer Limits To The Inner Depths

Category Archives: News

Canadian consumer confidence rises on real estate views (released May 9, 2016)

Travel Advisory – VIA Rail reaching out to residents of Fort McMurray

Trail Firefighters’ Silver City Days Parade 2016 Photos

Trail Firefighters’ Silver City Days Parade
Saturday, May 7, 2016

Prime Minister welcomes Twenty-Third Annual Report on the Public Service of Canada

Fraser Institute thinks sending your kid to university counts as “child care”

Andrew Phillip Chernoff

The Outer Limits To The Inner Depths

Trail Firefighters’ Silver City Days Parade Saturday, May 7, 2016

Trail Firefighters’ Silver City Days Parade
Saturday, May 7, 2016