UPDATE: The Canadian Federal Election
UPDATE 2/8/15 -
Federal Election Called For Oct. 19, Governor General Dissolves Parliament
According to Huffington Post, Canada, the Tories (Conservative Party) may call the election as early at this Sunday. This could be a big deal and, IMO, an underhanded move, by the Harper government. It would lengthen the campaign and screw with the other parties finances and limit third party spending.
Federal Election 2015: Writ May Drop As Early As Sunday, Sources Say
A little more below the fold....
IMO, Harper has been a disaster for Canada. When Bush was President I was sure Canada would have to surgically remove Harper from Bush's ass should Bush ever stop short.... The man is a closet Teapublican. And frankly, I think a lot of people here are fed up with him and his government. Secrecy is his MO, He has gagged government scientists to stop them from talking about anything related to climate change, peak oil, or anything else that might effect the MegaCorps making profits. Especially Big Oil.
We have a recession thanks to the drop in oil prices. Our Loonie (Dollar) is at all time lows against the US Dollar. .77CD to $1.00US and some are predicting it could fall to .74....Others are saying .60.... Housing has uncoupled from the economy...soaring into the nose bleed heights. Would you pay upwards of $600,000 for either of these?
Crooked semis listed on Shaw Street in Toronto: $688,000 each
The average SFH in Toronto costs $1.1 million, while in Chicago the average listing price is $335,984. In Vancouver an urban detached house now goes for $2.2 million. In Seattle the average list is $627,889.
I could go on....but I will let some other Canadians chime in...I am almost positive that they have a lot more to say about Harper and his government than I, a relatively newcomer to the Great White North.
Oh! Canada!
Comments
"Canada is not Canada Any More"
That quote, said to be from Le Monde, comes to mind whenever I read critiques of Harper's Canada. Did you know that he changed signs and stationary to "The Harper Government" instead of "The Canadian Government" and that he has had his portrait hung all over Parliament.
We have three main parties, Conservatives, Liberals and NDP. Conservatives are far fright, Liberals are center right and NDP are left. There's the Green Party led by one Member Elizabeth May who has done an Herculean job in her role. Last I heard she will not be invited to the debates.
Our petro-dollar is valued at 77cents US but it has dropped at one point to 68 cents.
To get to know the evil that lurks in the PM's office I recommend this documentary, "the conflict of ideology and knowledge":
The Silence of the Labs
(It's 45 min long but well worth the time)
To thine own self be true.
Thanks!
I've bookmarked it for watching later....again, thanks...
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First Nations News
Why would they ignore the lessons to be learned by just looking
over the border? If we aren't a model of everything wrong and what not to do, I don't know what is.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Harper is fuming over Keystone XL delays
He has looked across the border and tried to imitate "everything wrong."
He just rushed through the appointment of a conservative judge to Canada's Supreme Court. A judge from Alberta, his home province, who only has 2 years experience as a judge. Thus making sure his legacy will continue through this judge.
Harper has depleted the civil service so much that when we call "Services Canada" they don't even put us on hold anymore. They refer us to "the automated system" which is just a repeat of information that is available online.
It will take years to repair the damage he has done to our government.
To thine own self be true.
Because, what he sees the Teapublicans doing
he LIKES...he wants to be JUST like them.
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He is probably owned
by the same oligarchs too. The oligarchs have not real national loyalty. Their empires stretch well across borders and oceans.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
And, Harper had the support of the same American
(religious) fundamentalists who, at one time, were fervent supports of George Bush. Many evangelicals, etc., spurned GWB by time he ran for his second term--he was 'too liberal' for them!
The US Evangelicals even networked with Canadian fundamentalists to help elect Harper (if what I read was true), sending some of their own leaders and foot soldiers to Canada.
Whew!
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
You are correct
The Theocratic movement is alive and scary in the US...and they are trying to infiltrate Canada too...
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First Nations News
Whoah, Martha! I may have spoken too
soon, in the other thread, when I worried out loud about the push for senior communal living.
I had no idea that housing in Canada was that expensive. Who wouldn't want an alternative housing option, LOL!
I guess it stems from policy in the US. Some regions are pushing for "Tiny House" communities for low-income Americans. That trend worried me, after I found some that are as small as 65 sq feet. Knowing our neoliberal governments (at all levels), I worry that they will expect many families to be housed in what amounts to little more than small containers on wheels.
(Obviously, a far cry from the cooperative community featured in the piece that you posted. But, here in the US, we always have to worry about 'a slippery slope.')
Anyhoo, I hope you Guys rid yourselves of that Dude--he's almost as bad as our neocons/neoliberals!
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
hmmm... 65 sq ft...
say. isn't that about the size of a dumpster? B)
Bingo! ;-) N/T
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Tiny houses are become a "thing"
here too... I have lived in a tiny cabin in the woods....when it is a choice it is one thing...when it becomes a lifestyle out of necessity it is entirely different.
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Exactly, which was my point before I realized
just "how expensive" housing was in Ontario, etc.
Behind the trend, I 'fear' is the desire to generally lower living standards.
Not to mention, the severe mental/emotional aspects of cramming a bunch of folks into a 'crackerbox'--especially, long term.
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
I follow the tiny house movement
And there are two tracks this movement is taking. The first is for people who want to live with as small a foot print as possible. Most of them are young and single or married without children. They usually opt for composting toilets and solar panels as part of their choices. The tiny houses are build on trailer beds for two reasons. First is to get around the minimum requirements specified in the building code for traditional construction. The second reason is that by being on a trailer, they are both portable and are licensed as RV's.
The other use for tiny houses is to provide safe housing for poor, homeless individuals. The construction of a frame built tiny house is considered to be more durable and less toxic than some other types of temporary housing such as the trailers used to house people after Katrina. There are several cities that are doing this. Perhaps the best known is Quixote Village in Olympia Washington. Usually these "houses" for homeless people are more like a single room living/bedroom combination with no kitchen or bathroom facilities. They are usually located upon common land with a common dining/kitchen hall and bathroom facilities.
The 65 square foot unit that Mollie is referring to is one that was marketed by Tumbleweed when Jay Shafer was there and it was a basic unit. It was never intended to be a full time residence. Generally the ones that are lived in full time by people who choose them to be their homes are 8 by 20 or 8 by 24. That is the footprint but does not include loft areas which is usually where the occupant(s) sleep and store things. They have a kitchen with scaled down appliances and a bathroom with toilet, shower and sink. The tiny house movement has taken a lot of its ideas from the boating community and amazingly some of them are very livable.
Perhaps I should do a diary on tiny houses some day.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
yeah, one day, pls do, you gave already valuable information/nt
https://www.euronews.com/live
Hey, Nancy! That would be great. Truthfully, I do have
my concerns about this movement--as it pertains to "public housing."
Hey, sorta like Martha just said (and you, to some extent)--I have no problem whatsoever if anyone, or everyone, decided tomorrow that they wanted to live in a shoe box, LOL!
Seriously, if it's completely a matter of choice to live in a Tiny Home, I say, "go for it."
However, when I was blogging on this topic (almost two years ago), I found several worrisome articles which had a very consistent primary theme--from Portland, OR to Portland, ME--it was the slashing of local (city/town), state, and federal budgets which was the main impetus for the adoption of this type of housing, as public housing.
Now, if I could believe that lawmakers would adopt humane regulations--regarding the size of the Tiny Home, to the number of household members--I probably wouldn't have any objection, at least not for the use of the TH's on a temporary basis.
Which raises another problem--some communities claim that TH's are going to be used only on a temporary basis. But what happens when this is not enforced, due to budget cuts, lax oversight, etc.?
Admittedly, I'm not inclined to trust that government officials (or maybe I should say, that all government officials) will make the square footage a serious consideration and/or metric, when planning and building these communities.
If I locate some of the posts, I may stick up a video from them. Like you, I thought that the TH's were very neat in some aspects.
It would be a lot of fun to see videos/articles on this topic.
Heck, I'd love to see a poll on this topic--"Would you like to live in a Tiny Home?"
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Mollie, I would love to see
your links regarding your concerns as I do believe that they are valid. My only interaction with the tiny house community is simply via the type of housing I have cited. Like any idea, if it is perverted, it can be harmful to people. The big problem is that the current tiny house movement is not driving the costs of housing, but IMO, it is one reaction to the cost of housing. In the end, people need a choice between being homeless and submitting to high rents. Rent controls are definitely one way to address the problem. But too many communities refuse to address rent controls until the rents have skyrocketed beyond affordability.
I do believe that this is a subject that we should explore from all sides.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Nancy, I don't have any bookmarks on this
laptop (on the topic of Tiny Homes), since I've been using it for a little over a year. If I saved any, they are on my older "XP" Latitude laptop, that I mentioned yesterday. As I said, it is no longer in operation since the XP OS is no longer protected by security patches, or a virus program. (We haven't had a Linux OS Distribution loaded on it, yet.)
Now, I don't recall that there were any articles that literally stated that a particular government entity would disregard the well-being of occupants. Mostly, the articles alluded to the Tiny Homes being an inexpensive solution to housing shortages--in a time of severe budget cuts.
It was my concern, and conclusion, that the 'bottom line' could take precedence over the well-being of the Tiny Homes residents.
After all, look at the cuts to the federal SNAP Program that occurred during a Democratic Administration--two rounds of cuts, for a total of 13 Billion Dollars. To my mind, it's not far fetched to believe that budget cuts could adversely affect the poor--in a whole range of services.
Anyhoo, my primary concern is centered on the detrimental effects of throwing, in some cases, already mentally and emotionally fragile people adults and children into an overcrowded situation, which might bring a host of additional stressors to the mix. This was the main point that I commented on--not the actual construction project(s).
BTW, a quick Google search brings up numerous studies of the adverse effects of 'overcrowding' at home, on school children's performance in school. This subject has been pretty extensively researched. If you post on this, I'll provide a link to one of the studies.
I just "Googled," and found a video and piece below about Tiny Homes. You might find it interesting.
BTW, I applaud these community (Occupy) activists for at least caring for, and trying to help, the homeless folks in their area.
Clearly, their hearts are in the right place. Kudos to them!
Hope you enjoyed this, since you were part of an Occupy Movement/Chapter.
Admittedly, considering how 'the poor,' and low income people have been so villified, maligned, and marginalized in the US, I guess it a wonder that they are even being offered these units. I know that I'd be petrified to be in one of them during a severe storm, much less during tornadic weather conditions. (We don't camp in our RV during adverse weather, for the same reason.) OTOH, I guess there's the argument that they are better than no shelter, at all.
Anyhoo, I look forward to your diary on this topic. I'll be more than happy to explore the topic with you Guys. It is clearly a pressing matter--and not necessarily just for the homeless, anymore.
Hey, just found a piece about one of Portland's projects. I'll post it when you post a diary on this topic.
Again, my main concern is from the mental health aspect, regarding the propensity of bureaucrats to disregard the health and well-being of residents when the budget axe falls. (i.e., by not allocating a reasonable amount of space per inhabitant, as a cost cutting measure).
Also, I would rather see rent controls put in place. In some locales, rents for these Tiny Homes are rather ridiculous, IMO, considering the deep poverty of the clientele.
And, I am concerned about the possibility that the broad adoption of Tiny Homes as a public housing "standard" will contribute to an overall lowering of the "standard of living" in the US.
(But maybe I worry too much.)
P.S. Hope this isn't too garbled to make sense. If it is, I'll clarify tomorrow. And, I apologize in advance for typos, poor snytax, etc.
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Madison project
I am aware of the Madison housing project for the homeless. It appears to be tracking along the same lines as the Quixote Village project that I linked in my comment above. In both cases, the projects are being done by semi public groups with the help of some public funding. I am unaware of any project of this nature right now that is being done by the federal government. While rent controls may help to prevent people from dropping into homelessness, the Quixote Village project was aimed at those who were already homeless and were living in tents. For some time prior to construction of Quixote Village, the tent campers were allowed to stay on the grounds of various local churches. They were required by the city to move from site to site on a regular basis.
I have read where many homeless people, particularly women, avoid public shelters because they consider them unsafe and too crowded. While tiny houses is not the only solution to providing homeless people a safe place to live, for those who can qualify for these houses (Quixote Village requires residents to be alcohol and drug free), they provide a much safer place to live than living in the woods in tents or homeless shelters. Quixote Village has a waiting list of people wanting to get in. Tiny houses are more substantially built and insulated than mobile homes or RVs. In the case of Quixote Village, the cost of each unit ended up being less than 50% the cost of providing the residents a comparable studio apt.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
OMG I never knew that housing would be way more expensive
in Canada than in the US. Wow. Another "dream" slashed. Oh no, no, no ....
https://www.euronews.com/live
Hi Mimi
I really do think it depends upon where you live. Since so many people want to live in or near Toronto, or, where I live in Hamilton (we are an hour south of Toronto), its a landlord's market....This article just came out yesterday...
Hamilton tenants call for government help as rents rise
In Toronto/Scarborough right on Lake Ontario, rents for a 2 bedroom apartment can be anywhere from $1,300 to $2,290 while up north in Sault St. Marie a two bedroom runs on average about $820. So, depending upon the lifestyle you want, and if you don't want or need to be "near the action" you can find reasonable rent... IF you have a reliable income. But one must remember, the farther from the urban centers, the farther north you go, the higher the cost of living becomes because it costs to ship the essentials that far...
There was a huge uproar a few months ago (and nothing has really changed I am sure) over the costs for food and other basics in Nunavut
Nunavut By The Numbers: Stats Show High Cost,
Low Prospects Of Northern Life
I cannot imagine spending nearly $30 for a liter of orange juice.
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First Nations News
thx. Martha, I was just amazed, as I wasn't aware
of what is going on in Canada.
I just want to survive and can live anywhere, though it's hard to imagine right now where and how. That's just personal. No big deal. Seems everything is too expensive, so why even continue to bother about it. My father used to say it's hard to die of hunger. And I still have water.
$30.00 for orange juice? Ha.Ha.Ha. I guess if I need a juice it could be apple juice from an apple tree somewhere in my neighborhood.
Don't take me seriously. I just can't talk reasonably these days.
Have a good day anyway, even with me talking stupid.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Oh sweetie...you are not "talking stupid"
I hear you...we all want to have some peace of mind and to survive. My advice is find a nice small neighborhood into which you can fit, make a family of friends and neighbors...make them your Tribe. And learn "stuff" that will make you a valuable member of your SMALL community. Want an apple tree? Plant one! Or a dozen... Learn about permaculture....start small...stay small.
I recommend two books...one was written in the 70s by a renowned economist. E. F. Schumacher. He wrote "Small is Beautiful; Economics as if People mattered" - The second is way more recent. "The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered" written by John Michael Greer. Google them both... you will get ideas....
IMO, Humankind will do better when we stop thinking globally and start working locally.
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First Nations News
Great comment, Martha! (n/t)
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy