Harpo says no tax hikes needed!!!!

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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By the way, things like the NDP's support for the autoworkers are what turns me right off socialism. It's a shame really, because, though I do lean more towards capitalism, I am generally open to certain socialist ideas when applied in moderation and, most importantly, justice. Supporing special rights for one industry and no one else just stinks of political opportunism for the NDP and the labour unions, reminding me of the final part of Animal Farm where the pigs and the men all look the same in the end. The Conservatives bribe investors, and the NDP bribe unions, and the Liberals bribe whoever can benefit them the most. All with our money of course.
 

Kakato

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Jun 10, 2009
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Going to school doesnt pay the mortgage payment or put food on the table.The govt. here has allways paid for oilfield training and tickets if your on EI.
I am skilled in pretty well anything industrial,there just isnt any jobs.
The 2 million they sent to my small community created zero jobs,in fact the one guy that landed half for "quad" trails laid off all his guys so he can milk that govt money on his own and the rest went to a consultant to decide if they should turn a dilapidated old coal tipple into some kind of discovery center.
 

YukonJack

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Dec 26, 2008
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"I am skilled in pretty well anything industrial,there just isnt any jobs."

A genious like you might have considered moving to where the jobs are.
 

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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Going to school doesnt pay the mortgage payment or put food on the table.The govt. here has allways paid for oilfield training and tickets if your on EI.
I am skilled in pretty well anything industrial,there just isnt any jobs.
The 2 million they sent to my small community created zero jobs,in fact the one guy that landed half for "quad" trails laid off all his guys so he can milk that govt money on his own and the rest went to a consultant to decide if they should turn a dilapidated old coal tipple into some kind of discovery center.

In that case, if there are no jobs in what you're skilled at, then maybe there are jobs in alternative fields. As for food on the table, I could see a possible increase to social assistance I suppose as a solution. And if there are no jobs in the oilfields, then retrain for what there are or will be jobs in.

If there are still no jobs, then allow salaries to drop a little. If we have deflation, then maybe dropping the Bank rate right down to 05 might be a solution, along with more co-operation between ministries of education to recognize each others' professional and trade credentials across provincial, territorial, and international boundaries.

I still think though that even a recession is not an excuse for budget deficits. If we need a tax increase to pay for increased social assistance payments and job training, then so be it. If we have both a 0% bank rate and deflation together, then we could even print some money, though those conditions would have to be met first of course.
 

Kakato

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Jun 10, 2009
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"I am skilled in pretty well anything industrial,there just isnt any jobs."

A genious like you might have considered moving to where the jobs are.

Well I have worked away from home since 1978 because there is no jobs here unless you work in the mines over the border in B.C.
So I can safely say there are allmost no mines doing exploration in the arctic this year,very few wells being drilled anywhere in Alberta,allmost no pipelines going into the ground in Alberta.

I work for some of the bigger outfits like Encanna,Agnico eagle,melidianne resources,flint energy,shell,cominco to name a few so I have a pretty good idea whats going on in the industry.
I also know lots of managment at syncrude as they started with shell back in 78 as labourers and I worked with most of them so I have lots of contacts and do keep in touch.

Good enough for ya bud?
 

YukonJack

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Dec 26, 2008
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Cockatoo, I am only trying to give you advice that comes from 50+ years of knowledge that I acquired by personal experience.

I left home when I was 17, not just to the next province, but across the ocean.
I worked in lumber camps.
I worked underground in gold, copper, uranium and iron mines.

I always went where the jobs were. Why? Because I had no Momma and Poppa to feed me when I was hungry.

In 46 years of my working life (1957-2003) I was unemployed (and enjoyed every second of it, because it was my choice ) for exactly six weeks.

I never complained, because I was just happy to be in Canada.
 

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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YJ, to be fair to Katako though, we need to recognize that the job market has become more knowledge intesive over the years, so unlike in the past where any amount of skill could guarantee one a job, today lack of skill can be a genuine deterrent to employment. Even a skilled and educated person today may find it difficult to switch to a new industry just because each industry will need its own set of skills. That may be the problem Katako has found himself in. He may be highly skilled in his particular industry, but now that jobs are dwindling there, he may not have the necessary skills to switch to another industry.

Just my guess of course.
 

Kakato

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Jun 10, 2009
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Cockatoo, I am only trying to give you advice that comes from 50+ years of knowledge that I acquired by personal experience.

I left home when I was 17, not just to the next province, but across the ocean.
I worked in lumber camps.
I worked underground in gold, copper, uranium and iron mines.

I always went where the jobs were. Why? Because I had no Momma and Poppa to feed me when I was hungry.

In 46 years of my working life (1957-2003) I was unemployed (and enjoyed every second of it, because it was my choice ) for exactly six weeks.

I never complained, because I was just happy to be in Canada.

Like I said,I have allways gone where the work is,my resumes get sent all over Canada and the world as the mining outfits I have worked for have operations all over the globe.This is the first year since 1978 that I havent worked the whole year and it's not for lack of trying.
Ive been on my own for many years and never asked for a handout or any favours but I get a tad pissed off when I see my tax dollars going to people or firms that have created zero jobs.

I also left high school to go work in the bush to help out my mom so she wouldnt lose her house so I dont have a grade 12.
Thats a killer these days and going back to school isnt an option,I have bills to pay.
 

Kakato

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Jun 10, 2009
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YJ, to be fair to Katako though, we need to recognize that the job market has become more knowledge intesive over the years, so unlike in the past where any amount of skill could guarantee one a job, today lack of skill can be a genuine deterrent to employment. Even a skilled and educated person today may find it difficult to switch to a new industry just because each industry will need its own set of skills. That may be the problem Katako has found himself in. He may be highly skilled in his particular industry, but now that jobs are dwindling there, he may not have the necessary skills to switch to another industry.

Just my guess of course.

I have the skills to do pretty well anything in Alberta as far as construction,reclamation,oil and gas leases,pipelines,powerline strutcures,dam construction,civil infrastructure,roadbuilding,logging etc.
I also have done QA inspections on the latter and hold a shifters ticket for the NWT and every oilfield,safety and environmental certificate you can get.
There just isnt any work unless your building houses in Calgary.
I have good news from 2 very big exploration outfits though that confidence in the mineral juinors is rising sharply so next year will be good for gold,uranium and diamond exploration and maybe a few new mines.
 

YukonJack

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Dec 26, 2008
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Machjo, I am confident that Kakato never faced the signs: "NO CANADIANS NEED APPLY" as I did, pertaining to Hungarians, of course, in the late '50's.

I am also sure he always had an easier time getting understood than I did in the same time period.

I am abolutely certain that finding a job today is no more difficult today than it as in the late '50's.

Desire and willingness might be much weaker, though.
 

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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I have the skills to do pretty well anything in Alberta as far as construction,reclamation,oil and gas leases,pipelines,powerline strutcures,dam construction,civil infrastructure,roadbuilding,logging etc.
I also have done QA inspections on the latter and hold a shifters ticket for the NWT and every oilfield,safety and environmental certificate you can get.
There just isnt any work unless your building houses in Calgary.
I have good news from 2 very big exploration outfits though that confidence in the mineral juinors is rising sharply so next year will be good for gold,uranium and diamond exploration and maybe a few new mines.

I'm happy for you then, so you're not suffering too much I gather, and I'm happy to read that.

My comments above are more out of concern for those who do fall into the vicious cycle of no skills to get a job to get the money to go to shchool to get the skills to get a job. They're the ones who find themselves in a tough pickle during a recession, and I do genuinely feel for them.

Now, having said that, and fully cognisant that they do need help, and that we ought to help them, I still don't agree with budget deficits. If we must raise taxes to help them, then I'd be more than willing to pay higher taxes. Now I say this with trepidation of course because I've also heard stories of retired civil servants opening private training schools and then getting deals through contacts getting rich off of the backs of taxpayers trying to help the unemployed, with the quality of education being poor at best.

One possible solution might be to give the unemployed a school voucher and allowing any school that meets certain clearly defined creteria to participate in the voucher programme, thus eliminating such corruption. And i'd be fore strict punishments and impresonment for any civil servant or ex civil servant engaging in this corruption on the backs of the poor of all people!

Another solution could be to raise taxes but also raise the amount of education charity that can be deducted from income taxes for those who give to a reputable school. One problem with that is that a typical compulsory school is different from a trade school. So perhaps taxes are the only way to go, with vouchers for the unemployed to counter any possible corruption. It really is a vicious catch-22 when we sincerely want to help the poor yet hear stories of corruption among civil servants, causing us to wonder how much of that money really does go to help the poor and how much just goes in some civil servant's pocket. Once we can't trust our governmnent, our society can really only go downhill from there.
 

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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Machjo, I am confident that Kakato never faced the signs: "NO CANADIANS NEED APPLY" as I did, pertaining to Hungarians, of course, in the late '50's.

I am also sure he always had an easier time getting understood than I did in the same time period.

I am abolutely certain that finding a job today is no more difficult today than it as in the late '50's.

Desire and willingness might be much weaker, though.

Alright, you do have some points there.

Desire and willingness are important, but I dont think we can deny that luck does play a role at least to some degree.
 

Kakato

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Jun 10, 2009
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Alright, you do have some points there.

Desire and willingness are important, but I dont think we can deny that luck does play a role at least to some degree.

Nepotism plays a huge role.I watched all my caper and newfy buddys slowly get cut back on hours at one mine so the boss could get his lazy kids,girlfriend,wife and all his unemployed buds up there.I may be Albertan but allmost all my work buds are from the east.
 

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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Nepotism plays a huge role.I watched all my caper and newfy buddys slowly get cut back on hours at one mine so the boss could get his lazy kids,girlfriend,wife and all his unemployed buds up there.I may be Albertan but allmost all my work buds are from the east.

Well, I guess luck goes both ways, doesn't it.
 

YukonJack

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Dec 26, 2008
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"Nepotism plays a huge role.I watched all my caper and newfy buddys slowly get cut back on hours at one mine so the boss could get his lazy kids,girlfriend,wife and all his unemployed buds up there.I may be Albertan but allmost all my work buds are from the east."

Kakato, you are still just complaning.

Show all the things you have done to get a job: Move to a better location. Spend more time on the internet to find a job. (When I was in your situation there was no internet, I had to use Canada Post). Had to travel hundreds of miles only to find that the jobs had been taken already. Have you checked and double-checked the resumes you sent out (if any) for - I hate to remind you - spelling, punctuation, syntax and grammar? If your resumes are like your posts, no wonder the job offers are not pouring in.

Maybe it is time for you to stop blaming others. Believe it or not, not all people who have jobs got it through nepotism.
 

Kakato

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Jun 10, 2009
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Well, I guess luck goes both ways, doesn't it.

The mine owners saw what he was doing and the company was sent packing eventually and told to take all their equipment back to Kelowna with them.
Very expensive deal to have to dismantle 10 large pieces of equipment and ship by ice road,barge and rail all that way.
So while him and his buds made good coin the company lost any hope of long term contracts with the mine.
They even offered them the equipment for free and they said no,get it out.
:lol:
 

Kakato

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Jun 10, 2009
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"Nepotism plays a huge role.I watched all my caper and newfy buddys slowly get cut back on hours at one mine so the boss could get his lazy kids,girlfriend,wife and all his unemployed buds up there.I may be Albertan but allmost all my work buds are from the east."

Kakato, you are still just complaning.

Show all the things you have done to get a job: Move to a better location. Spend more time on the internet to find a job. (When I was in your situation there was no internet, I had to use Canada Post). Had to travel hundreds of miles only to find that the jobs had been taken already. Have you checked and double-checked the resumes you sent out (if any) for - I hate to remind you - spelling, punctuation, syntax and grammar? If your resumes are like your posts, no wonder the job offers are not pouring in.

Maybe it is time for you to stop blaming others. Believe it or not, not all people who have jobs got it through nepotism.

I send about 90 resumes a week,spend 2 hours a day going through both calgary and Edmonton suns,the HRDC site and I do keep in touch with most of the guys I have worked with the last ten years and my resumes were done up by the profesionals at global training.
Ive personally hand delivered resumes to every construction site within 200 miles from me.
Im just saying there is very little work out there,I'm not a complainer but do get pissed at all the ads on tv telling me how great this economic stimulas plan is because me and others have yet to see any benefits coming from it.
I spent enough years in the arctic that not much bothers me,head down,hair straight back,one step forward and 3 steps back.
That was my favourite saying up there when things went bad which was all the time.As camp manager I had no time for complainers or whiners,I had no problem signing the papers for the $5000.00 flight just to get them out of camp.

I'll also add about 95% of jobs in my industry are got through word of mouth.