Monday, January 30, 2006

Canada's Two Solitudes

No not Quebec and Canada or Alberta and Canada. This is the economic solitudes, where the corporate elite get the baked Alaska while the average Canadian has to work more than one jobs because of low pay. Where unionized workers fight hard for a piddly 2.5% wage increase and still face hostile management that wants concessions, while Bank Executives get wage and benefit increases of 24%.

Low-paying work the downside of jobs picture
Toronto Star - 4 hours ago
The growth of low-paying and part-time work is taking the shine off a 30-year low in Canada's unemployment rate, according to a CIBC World Markets report.
Job quality remains weak: CIBC Globe and Mail
Canadian job creation high but quality low-CIBC Reuters
Ottawa Business Journal - all 12 related »


Bank executives' pay mirrors 2005 results
Toronto Star - 27 Jan 2006
Top executives of Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal saw their 2005 pay packages move in different directions last year, reflecting the state of affairs at their two operations.
The RBC dynasty continues Globe and Mail
RBC pays CEO C$9.5 mln for 2005 Dose.ca
Globe and Mail - all 5 related »

And don't forget Big Oil and their record profits. Makes Alberta' Prosperty Bonus look like peanuts. Heck it makes Alberta's royalities and taxes off oil and gas look like peanuts.

Record profits spark new backlash against Big Oil
Reuters - 2 hours ago
It's hard to celebrate a profit of nearly $11 billion when almost no one wants you to enjoy it.
Exxon adds it all up: $36 billion International Herald Tribune
HOUSTON Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. energy company, posted Monday the highest profit in U.S. corporate history, amplifying concerns over the good fortune of oil companies while soaring energy prices pressure consumers


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Canadian Nationalists Weep

The crying and gnashing of teeth you here is the sound of Canadian nationalists bemoaning the sale of Canadian cultural and economic heritage icons.

The Hudsons Bay Co., whose HBC blanket colours are the official colours of Canada's Winter Olympic team,.

And Fairmont Hotels the privatized former CN Hotel Chain which includes the great rail hotels like the Banff Springs, Lake Louise and The MacDonald hotel in Edmonton.

 Yep they have been sold off to the highest bidder, in the case of HBC to an American vulture venture capitalist, and in the case of the Fairmont Hotel Chain to a Saudi Prince.


Now before folks started dribbling tears of national grief over their beer, don't forget that Labatts is owned by the Belgium Interbrew and while Molsons remains Canadian owned its shareholders includes the Coors family.

And while the picturesque Mountie in the Mountains picture is one of our familiar icons today the Disney chain owns the rights to all promotional materials for the RCMP.

Welcome to neo-liberal globalization. Whatever can be sold off will be sold off. Heritage, whats that? Remember all those little flags Shelia Copps gave out were made in China.

Next time the Fraser Institute or the Conservative hacks talk about neo-liberalism, free trade, and pirvatization is good for Canadian business remember business is global. Not national. What ever isn't nailed down will be sold! And of course Canadians and Canadian workers don't benefit its Canadian capitalists and corporate bosses do. And when it comes to capitalism, money knows no nation.


Fairmont's Fatt sees no counterbidders; praises Icahn
Reuters - 2 hours ago
William Fatt, chief executive of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (FHR.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), said he's not expecting counterbids to the agreed $3.9 billion offer ...
Palliser, Chateau Lake Louise part of Fairmont sale CBC Calgary
Fairmont finds white knight Globe and Mail


Hudson's Bay bows to Zucker's new C$1.5 bln offer

Throwing in the pelt
Edmonton Sun, Canada - 2 hours ago
... An assistant management trainee for the Hudson's Bay Company trading furs for groceries in a remote outpost of the world's oldest company. ...
Canada bemoans loss of Hudson's Bay Co New Zealand Herald
Canada Losing A Piece of Its Past Washington Post
all 15 related »

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Our Troops In Afghanistan Are Fighting For Timmies


What would Conservative MP Monte Solberg do without his coffee from Timmies (Tim Hortons)? We would never get a sound bite out of him.

Now some of his pals over at the Blogging Tories have begun a campaign to get Timmies to open a store in Afghanistan to supply our troops with REAL coffee, none of that Americun stuff.

Updated!

Canadian Soldiers Just Want A Double Double
Canadian Soldiers deployed in Kandahar, Afghanistan are looking for a familiar taste from home. What is more Canadian than a "double double" Tim Hortons coffee? Tim Hortons leaps in to the story! Stay caught up! Have your say!

When it comes to coffee these guys who are normally America Rah Rah types suddenly turn into Canadian Nationalists. Must be Timmies Maple donuts.

True Folgers and even Maxwell House are blah coffee, hence the success of Starbucks. And Timmies makes a great cup of Columbian joe. Though it's owned by the American fast food chain Wendy's.

These pro war Blogging Tories are upset that Timmies isn't willing to go into the war zone to open a franchise. Guess they believed those Timmies ads about supplying that kid in Oxford with his Timmies care package. If its good enough for an Oxford scholar it must be good enought for our troops.

As for the politics of all this, I say that the troops don't really need a Timmies franchise in the war zone.

Standing on guard in Kandahar war zone
Aggressive and dangerous mission marks a major change in Canada's approach to warfare, MICHAEL DEN TANDT reports
By the end of February, Canada will have about 2,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, including a new group at the PRT. Some 700 soldiers will replace an American force, Task Force Bayonet, that has been fighting Taliban remnants in the more remote areas of Kandahar Province.

We should withdraw our troops from Afhghanistan and have them drink their Timmies coffee in the safety of the bosom of Canada.

Afghanistan: The NATO Quagmire


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Beer and Popcorn in Alberta


So all those Conservative parents who think that there should be no state funded day care and damn them they know what is best for their kids, so just gimme my money and I will spend it .

Conservatives got all upset about Scott Reid's election comment on them spending their government baby bonus checks on beer and popcorn.

Making them sound like the stereotypical welfare or AISH recipient that they like to accuse of doing just that, guess if the shoe fits.....

Well here we go lookee here at how all them thar Conservative parents are spending their Ralph Bucks. Not on daycare thats for sure.....

Albertans eager to spend prosperity cheques
CBC Calgary - 3 hours ago
Cash registers were ringing this weekend as Albertans flocked to retailers to spend their $400 provincial resource rebate cheques.
Bucks boost stores Calgary Sun
Business booms as Albertans spend Ralphbucks StarPhoenix
CBC News - Globe and Mail - London Free Press - all 9 related »


But not on beer and popcorn only cause the Brick has a sale with double Ralph Bucks. Yep buy a hide-a-bed on sale with your Ralph Bucks and they will match it. Perfect for when baba stays over to babysit.



Also see: Alberta Surplus

Funny Money Flashback


The Return of Funny Money


Whose Family Values

Day Care

Defend Public Day Care

Harper Lies About Child Care


Conservatives Vision of Ideal Day Care


Go West Liberals,Thar's A Boom Out Thar



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Showdown at the OK Corral

Put up or shut up Pardner. Well will it be a good old shoot out between the Feds and Ralph at the Saddledome? Two cowboys go at medicare, will it survive the Calgary treatment?

Alberta health-care reforms must obey medicare, Tories say
Globe and Mail - 27 Jan 2006
Ottawa - Alberta can go ahead with all the health reforms it likes -o long as it stays within the rules of the Canada Health Act, says a spokesman for the incoming Conservative government.
Health-care fight heats upToronto Star


Also see:

Klein My Way Healthcare Reform

Klein Dares Harper

Beware the Boogey Man


Two Tier Alberta


Alberta Cowboys Hijack Health Care


Whose The Real Rodeo Clown


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