Lol, wait, what?

Just… Walk me through how you think this would work, say as Canada’s inflation rate hit 8% in summer 2022. Who would you have taxed, what would you have done with said taxes and why you think this would somehow lower inflation?

Clearly, you are doing your part!

Ha, I quite like that!

I think there’s a reasonable balance between the nihilism of DOGE “FIRE EVERYONE” and this position where we can’t possibly imagine hiring more people for lifetime job from which it is almost impossible to get fired, might not be the best use of limited resources.

(I couldn’t help but laugh when during an interview Davies asked “will people want to wait half a year to hear back from the CRA? Take a year for their passport?” And then Kapelos adroitly pointed out that wasn’t the case back in 2021…)

Personally, I think it’s pretty silly when the Right screams “communism!” at anything that helps people.

Same principle here. It’s pretty silly that we can’t admit that maybe there are inefficiencies in the hundreds of thousands of public servants.

I don’t play many games etc but just wanted to say congrats on finishing it!

Also, cool subjects material!

Phew, I was thinking the same. I have no idea what you are trying to say.

Cheers.

I like how much of it is “save on office space.” In other words, let’s embrace cost savings inherent in remote work and let the office space get used by a company or for housing or anything that’s not sitting and taking zoom meetings.

Pretty easy win, despite Ford’s complaints.

It’s not like we’d have rail experts on the public payroll just sitting around.

And one of the mandates is to reduce consultancies (in large part because there’s been a lucrative pipeline of folks going through the public service, retiring, and then acting as consultants at a much inflated wage.)

Are all consultancies unnecessary? Absolutely not! But have all of them been necessary? Again, ask anyone who has worked in any sort of governmental agency and they’ll laugh as they regale you. (I still don’t know wether to laugh or cry at the guy who earned hundreds of thousands with the recommendation of “you should use this basic microsoft product.”)

Maybe re-read what you reaponded to?

It’s pretty nonsensical to claim that because you’re providing a public good you can’t do so more effectively.

No, that’s not at all how that works.

At all.

Not at all surprised to hear that! (The book is sitting on my shelf, unread and judging me.)

Dollars are not scarce items; the government can issue currency essentially at will.

Edit: You CAN drink a small amount of bleach. Just like you CAN print money during a generational event.

A small amount of bleach will burn a bit. A small amount of printing money caused inflation that we also haven’t seen in decades. It hurts families now but that’s the price we paid to help during covid.

That’s bold!

Covid, and emergencies like it, are entirely the point of fiscal responsibility!

In an emergency, you can max out your credit. If you do that on the regular, for non emergencies, not only will you end up paying an absurd amount of interest, but you won’t be able to borrow more when the next emergency happens!

the government can issue currency essentially at will.

Okay, sure, this is technically true. In the same way that technically, you can drink bleach it’s just a very bad idea.

I’ve found it’s easiest to add an appropriate emoji note to their profile. That way, I can still upvote any memes etc of theirs I enjoy while ignoring their comments etc.

Again, that’s a fine and valid critique of the budget.

The fundamental flaw is equating corporate efficiency with public effectiveness…

This position however, does not seem valid when the budget is putting in more than it removes from actual public services, 51 billion v 13.

Sure, you can dislike the military spending.

That doesn’t mean the budget isn’t investing more in the public than it is withdrawing.

They’re cutting 13 billion. 51 billion (over 10 years) is going to local infrastucture; housing, roads, health and sanitation facilities.

Yes, military got more (~82 billion) and I don’t love that. Though, one part I do love is that a chunk of that military is also dual use, so climate emergencies like wildfires, floods etc.

Applying this profit extraction model to public service

Getting back to 2019 spending levels over a few years is hardly hollowing out the government.

And what that freed up money is doing is investing in stuff that makes those services work better.

For example in healthcare, which is hanging on by a thread, I think a few billion are going to building and renovating hospitals and investing in a new medical school. Those all make the services more efficient and sustainable in the long run.

Edit: My goodness, the cuts are something like 13 billion out of a 500 billion budget.