There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Long Overdueby Ryan McGreal, published June 30, 2021 in Commentary
(0 comments)
- Third-Party Election Advertising Ban About Silencing Workersby Chantal Mancini, published June 29, 2021 in Politics
(0 comments)
- Did Doug Ford Test the 'Great Barrington Declaration' on Ontarians?by Ryan McGreal, published June 29, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- An Update on Raise the Hammerby Ryan McGreal, published June 28, 2021 in Site Notes
(0 comments)
- Nestlé Selling North American Water Bottling to an Private Equity Firmby Doreen Nicoll, published February 23, 2021 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- Jolley Old Sam Lawrenceby Sean Burak, published February 19, 2021 in Special Report: Cycling
(0 comments)
- Right-Wing Extremism is a Driving Force in Modern Conservatismby Ryan McGreal, published February 18, 2021 in Special Report: Extremism
(0 comments)
- Municipalities Need to Unite against Ford's Firehose of Land Use Changesby Michelle Silverton, published February 16, 2021 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Challenging Doug Ford's Pandemic Narrativeby Ryan McGreal, published January 25, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- All I Want for Christmas, 2020by Kevin Somers, published December 21, 2020 in Entertainment and Sports
(1 comment)
- Hamilton Shelters Remarkably COVID-19 Free Thanks to Innovative Testing Programby Jason Allen, published December 21, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- Province Rams Through Glass Factory in Stratfordby Doreen Nicoll, published December 21, 2020 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- We Can Prevent Traffic Deaths if We Make Safety a Real Priorityby Ryan McGreal, published December 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(5 comments)
- These Aren't 'Accidents', These Are Resultsby Tom Flood, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(1 comment)
- Conservation Conundrumby Paul Weinberg, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Defund Police Protest Threatens Fragile Ruling Classby Cameron Kroetsch, published December 03, 2020 in Special Report: Anti-Racism
(2 comments)
- Measuring the Potential of Biogas to Reduce GHG Emissionsby John Loukidelis and Thomas Cassidy, published November 23, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(0 comments)
- Ontario Squanders Early Pandemic Sacrificeby Ryan McGreal, published November 18, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted January 16, 2011 at 15:07:22
goin'downtown >> I'm quite certain that Stat Can doesn't include benefits in their income figures
If you take a look around Hamilton you will realize that the people of Hamilton are not rich, in fact, they are poor by Canadian standards. If they made 106K in income and benefits, would our lower city look the way it does. If you are referring to free medical care and free education, keep in mind city employees get those as well and those aren't even included in their pay from the city. As for the time factor, GDP in Ontario has increased by less than 4% from 2006-09, which would increase median wages to $27.5K from $26.4.
So the difference between the average city employee and the median person (with income) is still $106.1K-$27.5K = $78.6K
Do you think the company paying the guy $12 an hour in cash also gives that person $39 in non cash benefits? Not likely?
I will be generous and assume that non cash benefits are equal to cash. This still puts median income/benefits at $55 a year vs $106k for the average city worker employed. How is it fair that city employees make this much more than the people who pay their bills, especially when they have far greater job security than the average private sector worker?
Seriously dude, other than Ancaster, most parts of Hamilton are poor by GTA standards. People don't make anywhere close to $106K in cash/benefits and yet there is a class of workers who do, they are called government employees. They prosper while the poor people downtown are lucky to have a new pair of shoes. Seems really fair.
realfreeenterpriser >> his predictable conclusion that if we just didn't have to pay taxes everything would be fine.
I never said that, but feel free to make things up if it makes your argument better.
>> Alberta DOESN'T have the lowest spending whether in total or per capita.
Poor choice of words, what I meant to say was Alberta has the lowest public spending as a percent of their economy.
Ontario 2009... $146.3B in public spending / $578.2B GDP = 25.3%
Alberta 2009...$49.2B in public spending / $247.2B GDP = 19.9%
Alberta's personal consumption per capita (3.7M people) in 2009 was $30K. Ontario's was $26.5K (13.2M people). Government spending per person was $11.1K per person, while in Alberta it was $13.3K per person.
So, yes you are correct, Alberta does spend more per person on government services than Ontario. But guess what? They can afford to because they have a more productive and more fully employed economy. They have this better economy because more of the investment decisions are made by people trying to save money (consumers, business owners), rather than government leaders who don't mind wasting money.
If you people think wasting money is good for Hamilton's economy your f-ing stupid. Look around this city and tell me that we have surplus cash to spend money on things like a $130M LRT, that by the way, will only reduce the trip from Eastage to McMaster from 32 minutes to 31 minutes. If that isn't the stupidest idea that has ever come out of this city in recent history I don't know what is.
Then people wonder why we have high taxes, job losses and high poverty, hmm, I wonder? It must be because we need more central planning from the government and less free market competition.
Permalink | Context