Canada’s Debate

Well I’m here, which is to say that I’ve arrived not that I have settled in or figured this place out. At the moment internet access is kind of sketchy so I may not be able to post photos as soon as I had hoped, sorry. I will update one way or the other tomorrow though.

I don’t know why I’ve been putting it off, but I’ve been meaning to post here for about a week now. I’m moving far far away. Ok, I’m not moving that far… just to Alberta. I have taken a job in Lake Louise, specifically in the Alpine Lodge hostel. Rest assured I will still have regular internet access while I am out there. Anyways, I thought I would share with you some of my goals for the summer:

1. Get a tan for the first time in 13 years
2. Lose the jelly-roll that I’ve been carrying around since university
3. Break my six and a half year writer’s block
4. Get my career ambitions back on track

Here’s hoping…

Anyone who has spent a great deal of time with me knows that I am at heart a “geek” of sorts. I do hold the writings of Tolkien in relatively high esteem (I even managed to shoehorn parts of The Silmarillion into an essay.) However, I am not obsessed and I am able to reasonably pass judgement when it comes to the various interpretations of his work. As such, I have to say that Lord of the Rings: The Musical is a failure. I say this not as a rebuffed fanboy but as someone who has seen enough theatre to know good from bad, and knows the books well enough to understand what they mean and what they have to say; and the show failed in both regards. Despite these failures I was certainly able to enjoy the show, as most everyone who has seen it so far has done. Regardless, this is a deeply flawed presentation. (Continue reading…)

Well, budget day came and went, and not surprisingly everyone is heaping praise on the new government for their “bold” plan. Front and centre in this new budget is the GST reduction, from 7% to 6% starting July 1st. This is an interesting idea for several reasons. One, the current Finance Minister (the one that in theory sets the budget and presents it to Parliament) says that GST reductions are ill-advised. Don’t believe me? Cerberus noted this about a month ago in this post:

Hon Mr Flaherty: The member opposite again raises the question of reducing the sales tax. I must say that with respect to tax cuts, I agree with Paul Martin. With respect to reducing the GST federally and the RST provincially, I also agree with the federal minister, and we’ve talked about this. All you get is a short-term hit, quite frankly. You accelerate spending. You pull it ahead by a month or two. It has no long-term positive gain for the economy.

Now, I said several months ago that the GST cut was ill-advised, and it has been repeated elsewhere by just about everyone that understands economics and government financing; at least as far as a means of tax-reduction. I certainly didn’t know that Jim Flaherty himself agreed with me. Then again, it doesn’t surprise me either. (Continue reading…)

Well I’m off to see the much-talked about Lord of the Rings musical tonight. Originally I wasn’t entirely interested in seeing this particular show but my grandmother, being the wonderful eccentric that she is, purchased tickets for the whole family and we’re off. I’ll post a review tonight, or attach a smaller one to my budget post tomorrow.