[no1important]

<strong>Written By:</strong> no1important
<strong>Date:</strong> 2007-02-02 11:28:41
<a href="/article/23284139-if-i-were-prime-minister">Article Link</a>

-Take away Health Care ( Liquor, gaming, ferries, labour as well )from the provinces. This way no middle man and with increased tax revenue from various sources. (which I will mention shortly). I think the provinces are really doing a piss poor job as is our current federal government on this matter.

There also would be no monthly medical premiums that Ont, BC and very rich Alberta charge. Everyone would get a federal medical card so it could be used in every province or territory.

I would also bring in universal Dental coverage so people when they go to a dentist can just use their "Federal Health Card".

Ambulance rides would also be covered.


- Universal Child Care for any family that makes under 75,000 a year in combined household income and nominal charges for those who make more.

- Extra fitness activities no matter what age,whether you are one or a hundred, like for soccer, hockey, football, Gymnastics, Karate, Tai Chi, Skating and Swimming lessons etc would be either a 100% tax right off or free.

- No jail time for minor crimes but focus on rehabilitation instead. Properly fund and make sure there are enough places for people to rehab. If you go to rehab no jail or criminal record. I would also see to it there is housing and job training, job finding and any other programmes these people need when they get out.

- Jails would close under my watch. There are better alternatives to jail unless you commit a violent act.

- Young offenders act would be changed so no one under 14 could be charged period. I would prohibit youths being raised to adult court. However I would start community programmes to help youths out and try to get them on the "right track". Mentoring and various programmes to help them. Kids need someone to talk to or look up to if they are not getting it at home and a lack of a good role model is what hurts kids and causes them to feel "lost". Camping trips and working with animals is good rehab in my books as it lets people bond with one another or animals so they can get some self worth and feel like they are contributing.

- Those 15 - the day before they turn 18 would have a choice of getting fined, jail or community service. Not the community service as we know it now but go to rural areas, poor areas and help build houses, pave roads, lay sewer pipe etc they would get free accommodation , food and 12 bucks an hour. This way they would get to see the country, meet new people, learn about new cultures, learn some life lessons and maybe find a trade or career they might like. This would of course be done on the summer break from school.

Joining Cadets or the Navy/Army/Air Force reserves until they turn 18 would be another option instead of jail.

Unless you are a murderer, rapist, child molester, commit a crime with a gun or commit any other violent crime, sending someone to jail, regardless of age, does not really accomplish anything.

- Even though the SCOC gutted section 43 of the criminal code, I would remove it completely.

- I would also add extra funding for people on welfare so they can get free bus passes, job training and any other resource they need to help them get their lives back on track and more money for rent and food so they could live like people.

Yes unlike right wing governments I have a heart and care about people, who cares what they may or may not have done in the past, if people need help they would get it under my watch. You cant change the past, you can come to terms with it but you can change the future with the right help via social programmes etc.

- I would also ban automakers from selling any vehicle in Canada that does not get 40 mpg. I would pass legislation that by 2012 no fossil fuels vehicles can be sold in Canada. They would have to be hybrids, electric, solar, hydrogen, propane, natural gas etc.

Of course they would bitch especially the former big 3 (GM, Chrysler. Ford) but if they wanted to sell vehicles in Canada they sure in hell would get it done. We have the technology, do not be fooled into believing otherwise, we just have gutless politicians who are too scared to really do anything. It is big oil and politicians in the pockets of oil and auto is the reason we are still running vehicles on filthy dirty dinosaur fossils.

- People who buy hybrids, smart cars, mopeds, electric mopeds would be tax free and get a one time 2000 dollar tax deduction.

-Windmills, Tidal power, Solar power would be greatly expanded. People would get tax credits for converting to geo thermal,solar panels etc. All new houses, apartments, buildings would have to be a lot more energy efficient than they are now and use Geo Thermal heating, have solar panels and a windmill.

- Transit companies that need buses would get a generous tax deduction if they switched from diesel to electric trolley buses like they have in Vancouver and Edmonton where applicable. Non diesel/gas buses as long as they were clean would get the same breaks.

-Environmental education would be taught in the class rooms right from Kindergarten on up.

-All post secondary education would be free as would books for courses. Plus free transit passes.

- Ferries that are extensions of highways, like southern BC, inland ferries and the east coast etc would be free.


Now you may ask, how much my vision would cost? or where the money would come from? Well here is my answer.

We pay a lot of taxes when we purchase something, on our pay cheques etc. That money is not well spent. Too much waste. Most things like Healthcare, Liquor, gaming, would be federalized and run properly under my watch. There would be no waste like there is now.

- For starters a 20% "Junk food" tax would be applied to fast food, candy bars, pop and all that other unhealthy stuff and be funnelled for the most part into Health Care, as that is where the heavy use of medical resources would be caused from. Obesity causes, cancer, heart attacks, diabetes and is just as bad if not worse than smoking.

- Provinces would not be able to charge a gas tax, however i would implement a straight 20 cent a litre tax for gasoline and use that for roads and environmentally friendly projects. Here in Vancouver area with the unelected GVRD and Translink board in addition to the feds, province and city have 5 levels of government and they all tax, that is too much. Bridges, roads etc would be federalized.

- No more tax breaks for corporations including the oil patch, no more subsidies and the oil patch their fees paid to drill or remove the dirty filthy antiquated fossil fuels would increase substantially and that money will be used for infrastructure, health care, military, social programmes and clean technology.

- The whole banking business will be changed. No more gouging people while they make so much profit, same for oil companies. They would be put on notice to shape up or ship out. Banks wil have to pay a new 25% surcharge tax on all those gross profits and that will be used to help the people of Canada. If they do not like it, well tough.

Fines for polluting violators would go up 1000 fold whether it is Oil, Forestry , mining etc. Plus all work will be stopped until they paid their fine or cleaned up their mess, if not the Ceo/president can sit in a cell until it is done.

The grants, tax breaks and funding cut off from big oil and other industries like big auto,would go to companies and people that work and develop green technology.

Better yet, I would federalize the oil industry and force them to clean up their act and mess. But under my watch, there would be no need for the oil industry by the time I get the country on track.

- The money from Marijuana tax (5%) would go to health care.

- Labour would be taken away from the provinces as well. There would be a universal nationwide Labour act with a minimum wage of 12 bucks an hour and 15 for northern areas and the territories.

- There would also be 16 statutory Holidays in a calendar year. Darwin Day would be added as one as would Terry Fox Day.

- The CWB would remain as is.

- Mp's who wished to cross the floor would have to run in a by election.


Well that is a brief summary of what I would do.

Some may think I am nuts but really this country needs a change and someone like me who is honest and tells it like it is would get the job done. Politicians now a days seem to be under the control of large corporations and we need someone who is not afraid to stand up to those corporate thugs.

Whether you agree with my post or not, at least unlike a lot of politicians I am honest. So fortunately or unfortunately I will never be pm, but hey ya never know........

[Diogenes]

Its a start!

Anyone else have something of value to contribute?

---
[juris ignorantia est cum jus nostrum ignoramus]

it is ignorance of the law when we do not know our own rights"

lex ferenda

[Ed Deak]

What's so attractive about drugs, or for that matter, about alcohol????????

I used to have a shop at Powell and Victoria in Vancouver, from 1966 to 74, in the middle of the druggie area and have seen those pathetic creatures floating around. I even saved the life of a poor wretch, passed on on a snowbank, by calling an ambulance.

Also had some friends who "experimented with drugs" and have been mentally damaged for life. I gave a chance for an apprenticeship to a nice kid, he had to sleep at UBC hospital for weeks on end, to recover. Became a first class tradesman with his own shop, but went onto booze when NAFTA destroyed the industry. Couldn't stand stres, his head was shot.

As far "children" are concerned, I started my military training at 12, won my first target championship at 15, was a regimental champion, battalion staff master marksman, detailed to a heavy machinegun squad to protect the guns and the crews, at 17. Wounded in action and a war veteran, in POW hospital at 18.

When did I stop being a child and started acting like an adult?

As far drug dealers are concerned, I would give them the stocks and public flogging. Time and time over, if necessary, until they stop, or croak.

Ed Deak.

[wasjod]

Wow, lots of government growth in your ideas, that would be the last thing I would want, government is big enough already.

Voting age of 14 - I would say if you pay taxes then you can vote. If someone is 12 and pays taxes they should be able to vote, if that is to young to vote then they should not have to pay taxes.

Provinces don't tax, the feds do - Ouch, the Feds already are totally irresponsible towards the Canadian voter, they are in the pocket of lobbyists. Do you want to increase the potential for abuse? In my fantasy utopia taxes and government would not exist, since that ain't about to happen anytime soon, perhaps a bigger change in tax law is needed. Take yourself through your day, everyone I know uses the services provided by a municipality the most. Somedays they use services provided by the province, somedays they don't. Perhaps once a week or once a month, they use services provided by the federal government. Ask yourself why you pay the majority of your tax burden to an unaccountable Federal government, which for most of your life provides you with nothing, while the level of government which supplies you with the clear majority of government services, gets the least amount of your tax burden. Local control.

For starters a 20% "Junk food" tax - Ouch! You would create yet more government to corrupt. This would increase our tax burden yet again. It is nice to think the government can solve all our problems, perhaps we need to start solving our problems ourselves. What would happen to a mom and pop operation if they decide not to charge their customers this tax? Would they end up in jail? The logical consequence of government is always a gun in your face, this needs to stop. Try giving tax breaks to companies that manufacture and promote local food that is healthy. Stop giving tax breaks to junk food companies that set up shop in Canada just so a few jobs stay here. If you want to socially engineer an outcome then give tax breaks to the sector that can help you accomplish that outcome and stop giving tax breaks to the sector(s) that are contrary to the outcome you want. Don't toss the burden onto the taxpayer, they have enough crap to put up with already.



Two things I would add, do not allow corporations the right to charter. Corporations are not human beings, therefore they should not have the same rights as human beings, something a corporate charter gives. Leaders of corporations need to be held responsible for the decisions they make, as long as corporations are allowed to charter that will never happen. Second - have the guts to give the lower income earners a true leg up, stop requiring employers of people who make less than $30,000 (or some other magical number), to withhold. A single mother making $20,000 a year needs that money now, not in May when the Feds decide to give her a tax refund. If I could I would have people who make less than $40,000 pay no income tax, it would not be withheld either. Perhaps then the credit card would stop being pulled out to pay for food. I make more so would not be included but am fine with that, this would be a great start in the quest to abolish the income tax.

I love your ideas for jail, I am sick and tired of paying for people to sit in a jail cell and eat off my dime, put them to work, educate them, teach them to read (this alone dramatically cuts down on the numbers who reoffend).

---
My freedom is more important than your great idea.
– Anonymous

[Diogenes]

May I suggest Andrew Wiel's "A Natural Mind"<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Natural-Mind-Looking-Higher-Consciousness/dp/customer-reviews/0395911567">http://www.amazon.ca/Natural-Mind-Looking-Higher-Consciousness/dp/customer-reviews/0395911567</a><br />
<br />
I would flog the Banker, Priest and Barrister, then work my way down!<br />
<br />
Guns Drugs and the CIA.<br />
The Boxer Rebellion.<br />
Mind warping media.<br />
<br />
Always have a Bogeyman!<br />
Leftist<br />
Anarchist<br />
Terrorist! <br />
Nigger kike jap to name a few.<br />
<br />
Create an enemy!<br />
Go to war!<br />
Take a life or... more.<br />
<br />
Make a million <br />
<br />
I seem to live in a world where there is no longer honour...<br />
There're labels aplenty though.<br />
<br />
We've killed Gia!<br />
<br />
Feb Two, aught seven<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<p>---<br> [juris ignorantia est cum jus nostrum ignoramus]<br />
<br />
it is ignorance of the law when we do not know our own rights" <br />
<br />
lex ferenda

[Diogenes]

"I am sick and tired of paying for people to sit in a jail cell and eat off my dime,.." <br />
May I clear a couple of misunderstoods?<br />
Firstly!<br />
The dimes you use, are not,generally speaking, your property.<br />
<br />
Ya just get to use em!<br />
The TV ad is right! Hands in your pocket!<br />
<br />
Where I agree is in "Educate" them!<br />
<br />
Free Enterprise!<br />
Its been locked up for too long<br />
<br />
Check this out!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=566">http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=566</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<p>---<br> [juris ignorantia est cum jus nostrum ignoramus]<br />
<br />
it is ignorance of the law when we do not know our own rights" <br />
<br />
lex ferenda

[Ed Deak]

People cannot be educated. They have to want to educate themselves by their own free will and choice.

At the same time, people should be given the chance to do so in any field suitable for their own character.

I have all the education, but would rather be dead than working in an office.

Ed Deak.

[Spud]

No1important,ahem,you sound like a great candidate for the ViveLeCanada Party.We could also eliminate auto insurance by putting it in the price of gas,that way EVERBODY pays according to driving habits,vehicle,mileage.
Imagine the headlines around the world......
No1Important has been elected Prime Minister of Canada.
I like it!

[rearguard]

Ed Deak wrote:

"People cannot be educated. They have to want to educate themselves by their own free will and choice."

I most definitely agree with that, however I'm puzzled with your indication that people can be coerced and flogged into not using drugs.

There are many forms of abuse one can partake in, and recreational drug use is but a small part of it. For example some people waste away in front of a TV set watching endless and mindless programs, or waste away at computer screens typing away in chat forums or playing computer games or viewing porn (etc), others gamble away their meager incomes in casinos, some habitually eat unhealthy foods and get critically ill, the list of abuse is seemingly endless.

Flogging and prohibitions on X, Y & Z are just more forms of abuse that can be inflicted on people, so I don't see why you would ever suggest handing down the counter-productive concept of flogging as punishment for violating whatever arbitrary prohibitions may be in effect. I know you were refering to drug dealers specifically, but what's a drug dealer without customers? The drug dealer is not the problem, the demand is or to get at the root of it, the cause of the demand is the ultimate problem - assuming there actually is a problem in need of a solution since some problems are just a natural consequence of our existence and cannot ever be solved.

If people want to permanently injure or even kill themselves, what business is it of yours? Keep in mind that I'm not agreeing with allowing people to harm others against their will, but I cannot see how it should be anyone's business if someone wants to be harmed.

As for being a child vs adult, some unfortunates never get the chance to be a child as the lucky of us would consider such a period in life to be. From your story, it seems to me that you were clearly abused both as a child and young adult, and certainly it must have had a lasting effect on your entire life. I think the concept of age limits is to determine some level of ability to understand actions and resulting consequences. I gather that what you personally went through amounts to brianwashing, and I doubt that at that time you understood the real reason why you were made to carry around a rifle and why you were being told to use it. I suppose that some people never do figure it out all the way into old age.

Instead of age limits, a general determination of ones "capacity to comprehend" seems to make more sense. In addition, some unfortunate kids are just born broken or become so for no obvious reason and cannot ever be repaired.

[rearguard]

"Better yet, I would federalize the oil industry and force them to clean up their act and mess. But under my watch, there would be no need for the oil industry by the time I get the country on track."

That would anger some rather dangerous people who would try and topple you from power by any means at their disposal.

Should we be so lucky to get a good leader, surely it won't last for very long, and good leaders are a very rare find. The so-called "leader" we have is not the cause of our political problems, instead the cause is the system that favors the selection of bad leaders and gives them far too much power.

What we have is a system of government that's way too easily corrupted to work, and as we can clearly see, it does not work. The leader system has clearly failed us, and historically we keep on repeating the same old mistake each time we select a new leader.

Rather than focus on details however good they may be, I think we need to focus on finding a workable system of government than can come up with real workable solutions that are always in the publics interest, and sustain them without ultimately being corrupted through bribery and/or various methods of coercion.

[rearguard]

"Two things I would add, do not allow corporations the right to charter. Corporations are not human beings, therefore they should not have the same rights as human beings, something a corporate charter gives." <br><br> Reminds me of this bizarre and tragic case: <br> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24016-2005Apr3.html">Murder, Incorporated?</a>

[Individualist]

The fact that I disagree strongly with most of what you propose notwithstanding, in order to achieve such a program, it would not be sufficient to be a democratically elected PM. You would have to make yourself absolute dictator of Canada before you could institute a program such as yours.

Now if I were absolute Canadian dictator (in other words, free to institute whatever I want), here are the types of things I would do.

I would *strengthen* the provincial level of government by giving it taxing powers in proportion to their constitutional responsibilities. The federal government's taxing power would be reduced according. Canada is a thinly populated strip hugging the US border whose regional differences are too great to be ruled over by an all-powerful central government. Southern Ontario already aggressively attempts to impose its values on all regions through the current political system. Centralizing all power in a single rep-by-pop level of government would only increase this form of "internal imperialism". The regions need to be free to develop their distinct characters. Metro Toronto is not a universal template for Canadian society.

Why are the provinces so maligned on this site anyway? Sure their governments bicker and can be parochial, but they are the workhorses of Confederation. They are more effective and efficient than the federal government at just about anything.

I'm fine with legalizing marijuana.

The health system would continue to be single-payer public insurance. They would be no queue-jumping or multiple tiers based on ability to pay. I would make sure enough money were put into the system to deal with the waiting lists, but I would also stop treating healthcare as something that is "free" or that has to be spread around evenly. There would prioritization for care based on need and probability of positive outcomes.

As for the provision of health services, it would be a combination of public and private facilities. As long as they adhered to the standards set out in the single-payer plan and other regulation, I don't care whether a nurse is paid by the government or a corporation.

The one thing that really bothered me about this article was the idea of "minor crimes" not being punished. It seemed that minor crime = property crime in the mind of the poster, and with this I strongly disagree. I consider someone stealing my car to be a greater violation of my rights than punching me in the nose. I consider theft or property damage a form of violence - violence against my individual rights. These crimes are not "minor", and should be punished.

Some people talk about how the justice system should not be about retribution. This is dead wrong. One of the deals we made as citizens was that we gave up our personal right of vengence based on the idea that the state would avenge us when we are wronged by criminals.

Locking someone away for two years by itself doesn't "protect society". It's not just about protection during the period of incarceration. What protects society is making people accountable for their actions and providing a deterrent to further offences. Bleeding-heart weeping about a criminal's childhood and touchy-feely therapy to "rehabilitate" him do not provide victims the closure they need. Criminals will play along - sit in the support groups and cry about how daddy didn't play with him, make insincere apologies to their victims, and basically play the system for the sucker it is.

I would restore the idea of the state as a neutral third-party agent of vengence to criminal law. Save the bleeding-heart boo-hooing for the editorial pages of the Toronto Star.

I believe in social programs for people who are unable to support themselves. I even believe in a form of guaranteed minimum income. But the incentive to work has to be built in to any of these programs. The last thing we want to encourage is a "working is for suckers" attitude. There is a role for job skills training and other forms of positive interventionism. But the underlying message in all of this should be that an able-bodied adult is his or her own primary support system. Exhaust that resource before taking from your neighbours.

Stop subsidizing oil production and consumption, but don't punish it either. As oil prices rise, the market will take care of moving people to non-petroleum technologies. Heavy-handed government intervention rarely works, and is wrong in principle.

I could handle the idea of post-secondary education being free, but I think the student should have to submit a written justification for funding of his education, indicating what he intends to do with that education and how society will benefit. We have to stop thinking of things as "free" simply because we're not the ones paying for them.

And I wouldn't "federalize" a damn thing that isn't currently in federal hands.

[Ed Deak]

Not too bad, indy, but what about the unlimited money creation powers of a special interest sector, causing huge inflation of capital, while transferring the responsibility for its conversion into resources, onto the public.

Should that remain in private hands, without any controls over what it is being used for?

This is like an endless, colonizing army coming out of some machine, forgetting that "capital" doesn't create jobs etc. it is the resource base that does it.

Another thing. So called "foreign investors" bring nothing to any country. I would repay what they have brought in, provided they haven't already taken more out, with reasonable interest payments and then tell them to pack their bags.

As the Chinese will do one of these days, after their "investors" have deindustrialized their own home countries.

Ed Deak.

[Sgt_ShockNAwe]

- DE-centralize, not Centralize, government and taxation. MORE power to provincial government, but EVEN more to local civic government, while instituting full open elections for all civic governance.

- Make the school day = work day, ie, 8 hours long. Daycare would only be required for those who wanted to regularly work more than 8 hours a day. The OT you earn should (barely) cover the daycare costs. Use the extra time for outdoor activities and sports. Make the school year 365, with the holidays more spread out and broken up. Pay teachers for a full year's work, and pay them for after hours marking and homework. But OUTLAW the pro-D day!!!!

- Remove the property transfer tax. This idiotic tax grab is only matched by the sheepish population's lack of backbone to challenge it.

- KILL THE GST. Nuff said.

- Make Senators AND all judges elected.

- End subsidies to big oil and big gas AND big ass. Tax polluters, big and small. Tax fast food and poor food choice manufacturers and distributors. Provide tax breaks to alternative energy and healthy food producers, especially local small growers.

Those are just a few of my top pet peeves that I'd address.

---
“The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous, the essential act of warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labour”

[Rico AB]

I share Individualist's view of disagreeing with most of your proposals. As mentioned by Wasjod, I too am looking for reducing Government, not finding ways to make it bigger. That said, I applaud anyone who believes that there is something wrong with the current system and actually tries to come up with an answer.

I'll only give two examples of the proposals that I disagree with:

1] Universal Child Care. While some families have two working parents because there is a need, and some families only have one-parent so there is a definite need, I have no intention of having my tax money go towards subsidizing two-income families that have chosen (not needed) to structure as such. Besides, in our family, we've chosen to forego the second income in order to have one of us stay with our children.. I don't need any further disadvantages. As far as I'm concerned, if you were to find a way to reduce the size of Government so as to be able to reduce taxes, more families would be able to make the choice of whether or not to have two incomes. This would reduce the demand for Child Care and hence reduce the cost.

2] Junk Food tax. Again, I disagree with the creation of a new Government entity that'll be charged with determining what is a junk food and what isn't. Then, we'll need to regulate the junk food and ensure that the taxes are properly levied on each item. This is a bureaucratic nightmare, and simply serves to give the Government greater power of determining what should be a personal choice. Insist on standards instead where ingredients are clearly identified rather than obscured in scientific mumbo-jumbo.

Rico AB.