Thursday, December 06, 2007

The high cost of 'Family Day'

The next time Dalton whines for money, let's throw this one back at him:


A media request to McGuinty's office about whether the province would help municipalities with the extra cost was forwarded to the Ministry of Labour.

"The government believes that Ontario's economy is strong enough to accept an extra public holiday," said spokesperson Bruce Skeaff.


Well! That's good to hear. No new taxes, right? No more griping about infrastructure and rapid transit either.

And I trust that the ROC shouldn't have to worry about Dalton's hands in your pockets.


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Unrelated: Going to take a bit of time off to catch up on reading, etc.

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7 comments:

Jeff said...

And I trust that the ROC shouldn't have to worry about Dalton's hands in your pockets.

methinks you've got that backwards. last time i checked ontario was kicking far more into the federal coffers than any other province.

if a tory had thought of family day, you would have been all over it.

sour grapes.

the average ontarion isn't going to have a problem with another holiday.

Lord Kitchener's Own said...

I do worry that we're going to fall apart economically due to Family Day, just like Alberta has.

Oh, wait...

It is worrying though to see that Ontario will now have just 3 fewer holidays than most U.S. states rather than 4. Working 4 more days a year than most Americans was a HUGE competitive advantage for Ontario. I don't know if we'll be able to keep up only going to work 3 more days a year than most Yanks!

Anonymous said...

The unions that own Dolton want another paid day off - they bought him, they get to play with him.

The rest of Ontario gets to pay them.

Anonymous said...

"I do worry that we're going to fall apart economically due to Family Day, just like Alberta has.

Oh, wait..."

Oh yeah, Ontario's economy is just as robust as Alberta's. I'm sure the thousands of manufacturing jobs being lost has nothing to do with companies wanting or needing to be more cost efficient or competitive. I'm sure the automakers will have no problem paying employees another day off, and losing thousands of vehicles produced.

And I'm sure the biggest whiners like McGuinty and Miller will have no problem paying another days holiday pay to to all the city and provincial workers and still whine about needing more federal cash.

Yep, things are so good we have Toronto councilor Adam Vaughan buying $300 cappucino machines on the taxpayers dime, and Mayor Miller spending $600 on rulers to give away at city hall.

And I'm sure the manufacturers only care about the number of statutory holidays when opening up shop LKO. Things like tax rates, location, hydro rates, etc. never factor into the decision.

And hey Jeffy, you do realize that another party put forth a motion for this holiday a few years back, and some guy named McGuinty voted against it, right???

paulsstuff

Gayle said...

I really do not follow Ontario politics, but from things I have seen some people are complaining about paying health care premiums and now Family Day.

As LKO points out, we have had Family Day here in Alberta for years. At first I opposed it, but not for the reasons you are. A lot of people opposed it for the same reasons you people here are talking about. It is now one of the most popular holidays of the year. I think you need to relax and give it a chance - you may be pleasantly surprised.

As for the extra holiday/year thing - I know that federal employees do not get FD off unless they agree to forgo the August long weekend.

I have been paying health care premiums for as long as I can remember. In fact, Alberta has imposed all kinds of fees for all kinds of services that once were fee. I think they used the money to pay for Ralph's corporate jets. :)

Anonymous said...

"I really do not follow Ontario politics, but from things I have seen some people are complaining about paying health care premiums and now Family Day."

The problem Gayle is McGuinty ran on a campaign promise of no new taxes, then within months rammed this tax through. Not to mention the tax hits lower income earners harder.

As for Family Day, I'm sure everyone likes an extra day off. The problem is the Ontario economy, particularly manufacturing, is going down the tubes with thousands of jobs lost, whereas Alberta is booming. Many manufacturing jobs are being lost to countries with lower costs such as China, and forcing businesses into another statutory will not help things.

I'm not sure, but I think China has fewer paid statutory holidays than Ontario LKO:0)

Gayle said...

"The problem Gayle is McGuinty ran on a campaign promise of no new taxes, then within months rammed this tax through. Not to mention the tax hits lower income earners harder."

Pretty much the same thing happened here - and all this occured during a recession so it was particularly difficult for the poor. Klein also reduced welfare to $371/month for singles - a rate that still exists today. It is reduced if you do not live alone. This is in part the cause of the massive homeless problem in our cities now.