Carney’s finance minister has been promising to deliver “generational investments” in this budget — but at the same time, Carney has warned that his plan to transform the economy will involve “sacrifices.” These investments and sacrifices are distributed according to a peculiar logic.
For example: Carney has been publicly wringing his hands over the $10 million he claims Canada Post “loses” every day. In their analysis of that framing,The Breach pointed out that this number (an unusually high estimate) is tiny compared to the $169 million the military spends daily. That hasn’t stopped Carney from slashing the postal service’s activities, all while promising an extra $9.3 billion to the country’s armed forces by March.
Here we go again with Austerity.
Us millenials had “austerity measures” since two thousand fucking eight. What the fuck else do they want to cut? There’s nothing left!
God damn bean counters and corporatists have fucked up any chance this generation or the next will ever have at any sort of normal life or any form of progress. I’m this fucking close 🤏 to joining the communist party and starting an armed revolution. Fuck’s sake. I’m so fucking tired.
The ultimate form is basically what the US has done / is doing: Sell off everything to corporate interests and wash their hands of it.
I’m this fucking close 🤏 to joining the communist party and starting an armed revolution.
The material conditions are certainly evolving in that direction.
General strike until the billionaires are made to pay their fair share. I hope to see it in my lifetime for the next generation’s sake.
Why don’t we arm the postal workers so they count towards our NATO GDP commitments and we get additional rural sovereignty patrols. A little extra training and a small bump in pay and voila!
Not sure how serious you are…
But actually, yes, just not how you have described it.
A significant amount of what a military does is simply logistics. Basically what Canada Post is, is a logistics machine.
The military is important to have. Envisioning a synergy between the military apparatus and providing civil services is something we should seriously be considering. The military should be topping up pilot flight hours with medical helicopter transport. The military should be augmenting resource delivery to remote communities. The military should be involved in postal logistics.
Oh god no. I am full of shit for a joke. The military has a critical function to fulfil and they definitely don’t need a side hustle.
We also don’t need to amp up what going postal means.
The military does have a critical function to fulfill, no doubt.
That being said, I’ve personally lived this. Many years ago, I worked with a military contractor. We periodically needed to service equipment in very remote areas. Depending on the conditions we could either get there on our own steam, or depending on the equipment, hire civilian helicopters to get us there.
BUT, from time to time, our goals and military helicopter training goals would align. We and our equipment would stand in for whatever people and equipment the scenario was. In those cases, we’d hitch a ride. It was an absolute win-win.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking suggesting having postal workers going door to door strapped with a C7. And I recognize that it could slippery-slope where training objectives are compromised for business objectives.
BUT, there are real cases where collaboration could exist within the public sector. Search and rescue and medical transport are really low hanging fruit. The postal system has opportunities too, I’m sure of it.
I can see the appeal, but in my mind, it’s a bad idea. These opportunities of civilian services benefitting from military training for example just take away from the required investments in civilian infrastructure that turn into gaping holes when the military is called to action.
All good, we can agree to disagree. I think your objections are reasonable, but I don’t think they’re unmanageable. I think the line between military and civilian is A line to subdivide things, but I think public vs private is a better one. As well, expanded military spending to hit Trumps new unilateral benchmarks (which is happening) doesn’t necessarily demand a larger instantaiously deployable force. Resources could be earmarked to not leave massive gaps in other civil services. If it has to happen, still fine, dovetailing military out of those roles and backfilling with civilians (even transitioning through reserves) has a shorter turnaround time and more manageable than finding and training more recruits or god forbid a draft.
Anyhow, again, fine to agree to disagree. I hear your stated objections and agree they’re valid… I think where we disagree is on if they’re insurmountable or not.
Not even insurmountable. Just optimal.
As expected we are going to sacrifice all for increasing the military budget to please Trump and Nato spending
As part of NATO we have made committments to our partner countries in a mutual defense pact. During the long relative peace, we could get away with underfunding our military because there was no threat on the radar. If you haven’t noticed, Russia’s got a wartime economy and is marching west and our partners in Europe know the terrible risks brewing.
As far as Trump goes, he is THE major reason for the proposed hikes in NATO spending from 2% to 5. Americans are no longer trustworthy defense or trade partners. NATO was configured for a Pax Americana. Now NATO needs to stand on it’s own and that includes removing them as a supplier of choice in equipment. The US is effectively a rogue state without the rule of law and can NOT be counted on as a credible part of NATO.
I am for defending Ukraine but not in expense of Canadians. Canadian shouldn’t see all it’s services and social programs get downhill for a non eminent threat to Canada
That’s short term thinking. I totally get where you’re coming from, but the world has let Russia get away with too much already. They need to be stopped or it’s going to be so so so much more painful for all of us than the funding cuts we’re talking about. If Ukraine falls we won’t have a war on our doorstep tomorrow, but it’s a domino that will destabilize the peace we prosper from and may very well bring about the next big war. Clearly that’s bad for Canada.
Too often we find ourselves in these zero sum mindsets. If we do X we could have been investing in our own Y. We can and should do both. We don’t need to drag Canada into the war and start converting our automotive plants into tank factories, that’s way too far, but we do need to pay our fair share (the amount we agreed to if not more) to make sure that we keep this era of peace alive. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s good for Canada in the long run too.
The world is a complicated place with lots of things going on simultaneously. We have to be able to tackle multiple issues at the same time. If the Liberals are saying we need to cut our social programs to fund the military, then say fuck no, fund the military AND the social programs. Tax the wealthy more, nationalize an industry that has gotten too fat, find a way to bring in money not at the cost of citizens. If we have to cinch our belts a little in the short term so be it, but it’s not my preference and we shouldn’t let our politicians give us these binary options.
That’s what I meant . I’m not saying do not spend on the military and defense. I’m saying do not sacrifice other things for it which Carney is doing.
Tax the wealthy more
The NPD is the only one who support that. The libs will never do it
You don’t seem to have a firm grasp of mutual defense pacts like NATO. Our NATO spending commitments have nothing to do with Ukraine and everything about defending ourselves and our NATO partners from a clear and present danger (Russia) and an evolving threat (US going rogue/insanely stupid).
Poland has good reason to fear Russia and war is on their doorstep. As a member of NATO, their fears are our fears.
Poland has a good reason to fear Russia , Putin want the take back territory that was part of URSS. Canada doesn’t.
I want a reformed NATO completely out of the USA control and where each country should estimate how much they should spend. There is no reason for Canada to spend as much as Poland . I’m sorry the USA invading us is not eminent and not probable. There is no reason to sacrifice all our services and social program for it.
The real risk is the USA harming us economically and we are not doing enough to offset that
You have zero understanding of mutual defence pacts. If I were a Russian troll, I would say exactly what you are.
If I was pro Russia I would oppose NATO completely but I don’t I think we should stay in it and contribute but not on the expense of Canadian. There is zero reason again to spend as much as a country like Poland
I think it is you who don’t understand mutual defense pact because Canadian will not benefit at all from them. It’s the countries that have serious risk of being invaded by Russia that will benefits from it
You also have no sense of geopolitics, or good judgement in any way whatsoever.
I’d be fine with that if we were simply spending that money entirely within Canada. Invest in some infrastructure. Give me a new job building military death robots, at this point I don’t care as long as I get paid. I’ll work 16 hours a day building military death robots or winding rotors for drone motors for the national defense as long as it pays me enough to put a roof over my head and food on my table. This should not be a large ask. If we’re going to build affordable housing like we did in wartime and invest in defense like we’re already at war we may as well have a wartime economy to go with it. Break out the fucking food rations and government workhouses already.
But instead we let costs of living spiral wildly out of control and pretend inflation isn’t exploding because the only thing in the consumer price index which isn’t skyrocketing is the over-represented falling price of gas, which people aren’t using as much of anymore due to WFH and EVs. Then we blow our entire budget of countless billions of dollars on other countries’ designs and intellectual property and partnerships where they do all the skilled and value-added work and then we end up employing 1,000 people here if we’re lucky, while we have to ask permission to fix it and pay them to train us how to use it.
Yeah, it’s our own damn fault for cancelling, selling, giving away, or letting other countries sabotage any of our designs or intellectual property of value and letting our infrastructure for building any of it rot to dust for at least half a century, and there’s no easy way back from that. I get it. But knowing that doesn’t make it any less infuriating.
Hey, would you look at that, Canada has no liberal party! That thing that no one believes until it happens evey time.
We got what we voted for. The only thing that might stop a party being a valid choice is if they don’t have enough seats to win and even then that’s still not really an excuse because you should always vote for a representative if your riding that you actually believe in. The NDP could have won but it’s our collective idea that the Liberals are the default that fucks us over every time.
“I didn’t want the super conservatives so I spat in the face of the people I actually wanted so we could get the normal conservatives.”
Strategic voting is anything but. Strategy would imply planning ahead and foresight but what we do is just terrified, short-sighted, reactionary voting.
I know one sure fire way to save Canada 1-5 billion dollars, quit targeting licensed firearm owners and focus on the root cause of gun violence.
Put them elbows to work carney and give the US shit for their smuggling, repeat offenders should not be given the option for bail or house arrest.
Why the hell are we still spending so much on the Military? we’re not the US, no one is attacking us, we don’t need to defend anyone. I mean hell when someone DOES attack us and kills one of our citizens we don’t do anything about it and instead try to say sorry to the attacking nation.
It’s so god damn stupid. We cant afford to own homes, we can barely afford to rent, we can barely afford to eat, and this fucker is drooling over a possible 10mil when the military is spending 170mil DAILY!?
We need to general strike on these fuckers.
…we don’t need to defend anyone.
Canada is in NATO. So Canada has agreed on defending everyone in NATO. To do that, Canada has agreed to spend 2% of GDP on military. Canada has some freedom how that money is spent though. Canada could spend the money in Canada if Canada wanted.
Also Canada could end housing as an investment and also build homes.
There used to be a lot more wars and skermishes you know, like a lot. We are living in an age of relative peace, with the exception of the last few years. We need to get back on track or the world will start to destabilize and we’ll be back to wars being the norm.
Canada is a NATO partner and that comes with financial and military obligations. We need to keep up those obligations AND tackle housing and affordability. Canada has problems, you and I know we do, and we need to work on them, but things would be so much worse in a chaotic world where countries are invading each other all the time.
Sticking our head in the sand until problems are on our doorstep is NOT the answer. That’s what the US is currently doing and it’s absolute insanity. The US went through huge efforts to get the world on their currency, get military bases all over the world, fund aid programs, all to project soft power. It’s cheaper and better for everyone to not have the war in the first place. They used to understand this. Now they’re throwing all that into the woodchipper to become isolationists? They’re shooting themselves in the foot and we don’t want to reach for that same gun.
