• 7 Posts
  • 14 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: December 18th, 2021

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  • Somebody needs to just enact PR. I think with the most recent BC election, there’s no reason Greens shouldn’t attempt to force PR. The Greens should be aggressive and use their balance of power, otherwise they might face extinction under Duverger’s law.

    I’ve also thought it might be a good idea if parties work together, not to split the vote. So for BC, Greens could get the island (and not run candidates in the mainland), while NDP for mainland (and not run candidates on the Island). They are more alike than they are different.

    I like the general strike idea, but it needs to be coordinated. We’ve been too conditioned to accept our broken FPP system.

    I’ve also been thinking about PR for civil society for example with the Council of Canadians.


  • I’d agree with referendums, if they were widely used in other issues. Like, what would the referendum on the Greenbelt look like? What about Ontario Place? What about the sneaking privatization of our public healthcare systems? What about Doug Ford himself?

    Referendums for electoral reform are really just a way for the government/establishment to look like they are fulfilling a campaign promise, without actually improving the system. It’s worse than virtue signalling, cause after a (failed) referendum, it harms the PR movement. Even though it can be demonstrated that PR is mathematically superior to FPP…

    And also, why do we pay our representatives in the first place? It’s their job to understand the policies and issues such as proportional representation, then act in the best interests of their constituents. Obviously, ensuring every vote counts, and no group holds disproportionate power is something that improves our democratic institutions, and improving democratic institutions benefits constituents.

    Anyway, that’s why I keep pushing. PR proponents are holding the torch until that fateful day comes where PR is enacted.









  • I am not denying that the upper class may pay a lesser percentage of their wealth. What I am saying is that even if it is true, this is not relevant to the discussion on carbon pricing because that is not the objective in the first place.

    The point of the carbon pricing is to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.

    Wealth redistribution is well deserving of its own discussion. However, on its own wouldn’t be a very effective tool to address the climate crisis as it does not hit the core of the issue, which is greenhouse gas emissions.


  • Under the current carbon pricing scheme, there is no such thing as purchasing of carbon credits. This might be the case under a cap and trade system, which currently only exist in places like Quebec and California (and formerly Ontario). Additionally, if corporations were exempt, there would be no need to buy carbon credits.

    There are special areas such as home heating where there is a temporary hiatus on the carbon pricing.

    The carbon tax rebates apply uniformly. But remember that carbon pricing punishes those who heavily rely on carbon based fuels (e.g. people with multiple vehicles, homes, etc).

    Carbon pricing is not intended to redistribute wealth. So the point about the upper class paying a lesser percentage of their wealth is not relevant and we also don’t have evidence of this.


  • Do you have evidence that the carbon pricing scheme as implemented disproportionately affects the middle/lower class? I would legitimately like to know. Keep in mind that while it’s often referred to as the carbon tax, there is also the carbon tax rebate that goes hand in hand with the implementation. The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) did an analysis and found the following:

    Relative to disposable income, our estimates of household net carbon costs continue to show a progressive impact that is, larger net costs for higher income households.

    As for the wealth of the economists that signed the letter, unless there is evidence of such, please don’t make claims you have not substantiated. I look forward to healthy, civil discussion.