Canadian Politics

[Mark H.]

5 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Liquor sales definitely. The prices won't go down but do we need gov't employees to sell booze? I wonder how they would handle the physical stores? What to do with them?

 

I'm not so sure about the price not going down.  Friends in Alberta can get better deals than I can - all depends on the product

They also have more size options that you do not see here. Eg. a greater variety of larger bottles available

[FrostyWinnipeg]

48 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

I'm not so sure about the price not going down.  Friends in Alberta can get better deals than I can - all depends on the product

I might have mentioned it but i was at one of those Probe Research things downtown last May and the topic clearly was privatization of MLCC.  Just wish i knew about the thievery then. That would have shaked up the room. Angered it but there was no one there who was not in favor of it.

 

[JCon]

2 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

I might have mentioned it but i was at one of those Probe Research things downtown last May and the topic clearly was privatization of MLCC.  Just wish i knew about the thievery then. That would have shaked up the room. Angered it but there was no one there who was not in favor of it.

 

Really? No one in favour of privatization? That surprises me. I assumed, that most people favoured privatization, leaving only the prohibitionists and strong union supporters supporting status quo. Interesting. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

8 minutes ago, JCon said:

Really? No one in favour of privatization? That surprises me. I assumed, that most people favoured privatization, leaving only the prohibitionists and strong union supporters supporting status quo. Interesting. 

Other way around. Everyone was in favour of it.

Edited May 31, 2019 by FrostyWinnipeg

[Atomic]

4 hours ago, Mark H. said:

I'm not so sure about the price not going down.  Friends in Alberta can get better deals than I can - all depends on the product

They also have more size options that you do not see here. Eg. a greater variety of larger bottles available

They also have sales in Alberta which we don't really have here. As in, you go to the beer store and a 24 of budweiser, for example, is on sale 25% off.

[Mark H.]

On 2019-05-30 at 10:06 PM, Atomic said:

They also have sales in Alberta which we don't really have here. As in, you go to the beer store and a 24 of budweiser, for example, is on sale 25% off.

I recall my brother buying a half gallon of brandy for the price of a 40 oz. here

[Wideleft]

11 hours ago, JCon said:

Really? No one in favour of privatization? That surprises me. I assumed, that most people favoured privatization, leaving only the prohibitionists and strong union supporters supporting status quo. Interesting. 

It's not the be all and end all. I know this is only my personal experience, but buying booze in Alberta has never left me feeling we need it here.  I remember paying $20 for a dozen beer 30 years ago in Banff.  I paid more for whiskey in Drumheller 10 years ago than I would have anywhere in Manitoba (that's kind of key).  Just went to Edmonton during spring break and the only liquor store in walking distance didn't stock Weiser's and didn't have any kind of cooler on their shelves.  In fact, most of the shelves were pretty bare.

Now, I've been told that once you've lived there awhile, you figure out where the best places to go are and when the best sales typically happen, but as a tourist - for-profit liquor sales leaves a lot to be desired.

I like that in Manitoba you can go to any liquor store and almost always find what you are looking for and that the distribution system is well-regulated.  I also have no problem with employees making a decent living doing what they do.

If they privatize in Manitoba, Costco will pretty much put everyone else out of business anyway and I'm not sure that race to the bottom is good for anyone.

[Wideleft]

23 hours ago, bigg jay said:

At the management level, absolutely!   But that wasn't the point... the fact remains that the PC government has and continues to make cuts where you said they weren't.

Actually, it's too early to make such a claim about management "bloat".  If patient outcomes do not improve over the next few years then it could be said that cutting management was the incorrect course of action.  The notion that cutting employees automatically increases efficiency is a product of our shareholder economy where the venture capitalists run the show and public servants are necessarily bad.

[bigg jay]

Just now, Wideleft said:

Actually, it's too early to make such a claim about management "bloat".  If patient outcomes do not improve over the next few years then it could be said that cutting management was the incorrect course of action.  The notion that cutting employees automatically increases efficiency is a product of our shareholder economy where the venture capitalists run the show and public servants are necessarily bad.

That assumes that all positions impact client care.  I was speaking from personal experience where I once had a job within the WRHA where I reported to 3 managers and a supervisor (that does not include upper management) which, to me, was overkill .  It was incredibly inconsistent and frustrating to get stuff dealt with as the buck would get passed between the group so you never knew who was dealing with what issue.  Getting a simple answer was next to i

My old co-workers tell me it's down to one manager now and things are running much more efficiently.  It was a non-clinical department so there was no impact to client care either way.

[Fatty Liver]

3 hours ago, Wideleft said:

It's not the be all and end all. I know this is only my personal experience, but buying booze in Alberta has never left me feeling we need it here.  I remember paying $20 for a dozen beer 30 years ago in Banff.  I paid more for whiskey in Drumheller 10 years ago than I would have anywhere in Manitoba (that's kind of key).  Just went to Edmonton during spring break and the only liquor store in walking distance didn't stock Weiser's and didn't have any kind of cooler on their shelves.  In fact, most of the shelves were pretty bare.

Now, I've been told that once you've lived there awhile, you figure out where the best places to go are and when the best sales typically happen, but as a tourist - for-profit liquor sales leaves a lot to be desired.

I like that in Manitoba you can go to any liquor store and almost always find what you are looking for and that the distribution system is well-regulated.  I also have no problem with employees making a decent living doing what they do.

If they privatize in Manitoba, Costco will pretty much put everyone else out of business anyway and I'm not sure that race to the bottom is good for anyone.

I've lived in both BC and AB, I agree about minimal selection in 95% of the private run liquor stores, they're like 7-11 for choice so I can't be bothered shopping at the smaller private stores.  Also haven't noticed any savings between private stores and the BC owned chain with the better selection, all in all booze is expensive everywhere.  Hard to find a 6-pack for under $12 and a 4L box of generic wine sells for around $40 taxes all in.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Throw Long Bannatyne

[FrostyWinnipeg]

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/unusual-arrangement-part-of-election-speculation-in-manitoba-1.4445460

[Wideleft]

23 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

That assumes that all positions impact client care.  I was speaking from personal experience where I once had a job within the WRHA where I reported to 3 managers and a supervisor (that does not include upper management) which, to me, was overkill .  It was incredibly inconsistent and frustrating to get stuff dealt with as the buck would get passed between the group so you never knew who was dealing with what issue.  Getting a simple answer was next to i

My old co-workers tell me it's down to one manager now and things are running much more efficiently.  It was a non-clinical department so there was no impact to client care either way.

Fair enough, but theoretically all support services (services supporting front line staff like maintenance, housekeeping, IT, dietary etc) should ultimately contribute to patient outcomes in some small way. 

While the rural regions have been amalgamated twice in the last 20 or so years, it really hasn't happened in Winnipeg so that could be one reason for some of those positions existing.  

I'm still wondering why St. Boniface isn't part of this whole health transformation thing, which makes me a little suspicious about what's trying to be accomplished.  I don't see how that meshes with the whole notion of centralizing decision-making when the second largest hospital in the province is left out.

[bigg jay]

12 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

 I'm still wondering why St. Boniface isn't part of this whole health transformation thing, which makes me a little suspicious about what's trying to be accomplished.  I don't see how that meshes with the whole notion of centralizing decision-making when the second largest hospital in the province is left out.

St Boniface Hospital is run by the Catholic Healthcare Corporation of Manitoba, not the WRHA.  They usually go along with what the province wants but not always (see MAID) so it's a bit complicated. 

The Grace Hospital used to be in a similar situation until about 10 years ago (the Salvation Army transferred ownership to the WRHA in 2008).

[FrostyWinnipeg]

24 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

I'm still wondering why St. Boniface isn't part of this whole health transformation thing...

It's the only real hospital left in East Winnipeg?

[Wideleft]

19 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

St Boniface Hospital is run by the Catholic Healthcare Corporation of Manitoba, not the WRHA.  They usually go along with what the province wants but not always (see MAID) so it's a bit complicated. 

The Grace Hospital used to be in a similar situation until about 10 years ago (the Salvation Army transferred ownership to the WRHA in 2008).

All rural health regions were incorporated as separate orgs from WRHA/eHealth and didn't have a choice regarding health transformation.  

[Wideleft]

18 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

It's the only real hospital left in East Winnipeg?

This is a provincial initiative, so their geographic location shouldn't have had any bearing on their participation in health transformation.

 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

3 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

This is a provincial initiative, so their geographic location shouldn't have had any bearing on their participation in health transformation.

Has not HSC been left out too?

[Wideleft]

44 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Has not HSC been left out too?

They're right in the middle of it.

https://sharedhealthmb.ca/facility/health-sciences-centre

Edited May 31, 2019 by Wideleft

[Atomic]

The tone-deafness displayed by McKenna here defies description... absolutely clueless

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

17 hours ago, Atomic said:

The tone-deafness displayed by McKenna here defies description... absolutely clueless

How so? I might be missing something here.

 

What ever her tone- you gotta give her props for spelling aweigh correctly. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

1 hour ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

How so? I might be missing something here.

 

What ever her tone- you gotta give her props for spelling aweigh correctly. 

I might be wrong but private company sent it, went bankrupt and CP/Lib ho-hummed on it.

[Mark H.]

22 hours ago, Atomic said:

The tone-deafness displayed by McKenna here defies description... absolutely clueless

But when places like Sweden use garbage to generate electricity - it's efficient and progressive.

#notmovinggoalposts

[Wideleft]

EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Facebook page weaponized Islamophobia behind facade of "news"

"In the case of the National Conservative News Network Canada, the so-called news site was active for more than three years, but Facebook removed it on May 17 after National Observer inquired about it. In a statement, a company spokesperson cited Facebook's policies on hate speech and dangerous individuals and organizations as the reason for the page's removal. According to Facebook's Community Standards, "organized hate" is among the activities prohibited on the platform."

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/06/03/news/exclusive-canadian-facebook-page-weaponized-islamophobia-behind-facade-news

 

 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

Premier Brian Pallister says a self-imposed ban on government announcements and advertising is coming in a matter of days as an early election looms.

[Wideleft]

I'd like to say I'm surprised our KPMG government doesn't have an actual plan, but I'm not.  

New Manitoba plan contains no carbon tax, higher carbon emissions level

New carbon dioxide reductions target set at 1 megatonne, down from 2½-megatonnes target announced in 2017

The Manitoba government is watering down its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing any possible carbon tax from the equation.

Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires announced Monday that the Progressive Conservative government is aiming to reduce annual emissions by one megatonne of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2018 and 2022.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-green-plan-carbon-tax-1.5169822