The slowdown in Canada's economy hasn't yet met the bar for a technical recession amid modest real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of the year, Statistics Canada says.
Higher interest rates are impacting Canadians in every corner of life. Food costs… mortgages… fuel… they all domino and collapse together. The lack of urgency is directly hurting the vulnerable portion of our society. There’s no easy fix. Drop interest rates too fast and you risk pushing inflation back up… don’t drop interest rates fast enough and you risk pushing a significant portion of the population into bankruptcy or homelessness (not just home owners… also renters who are forced to absorb that same interest rate hike in the form of higher rents). Within my circle of friends. several have been forced to close businesses because of the impact of the rapid increase in interest rates. It’s not the base rate itself, so much as the speed with which it was increased which was faster than their businesses could absorb.
As for mortgage renewals themselves… the insanity of the Canadian system of the typical 5-year renewable mortgages is just plain vanilla stupid. It makes everyone incredibly susceptible to microeconomics instead of averaging out the risk on a macro scale like most other countries do.
I’m in BC, and technically have a family doctor… and it sucks. My doctor is only seeing patients a couple of days per week, so appointments are currently booking out around 4 months. There’s ONE walk-in clinic where I live (Nanaimo), and they take a limited number of patients per day - they put out signs on a Saturday morning like “Only accepting 10 patients today” (I have a photo of this one to prove it). TThe ER is backup up so bad, you could die before they even triage you (18h or longer wait is normal). The staff at the Critical Care unit in the neighboring Parksville yells at you and tells you to go back to Nanaimo (it’s happened to both my wife and I at different times… and we both actually needed medical care). We’ve ended up driving to Port Alberni or Courtenay for medical care… or in my case, I’m travelling for business and have booked a doctor visit in another damn country to get some checkup work done because I can’t get it done locally… OK, I can get it, but the local wait times are so fucking long that I can book a flight, fly overseas and see a doctor, get my results and be back home a month before I’d even start the process with my family doctor.
Talkign with the parents at the local school… many are afraid that their kids will catch something… and thehy won’t be able to see a doctor to get the help they need
The whole “run a business” thing is bonkers. No wonder so many family doctors give up and go do something else.
With that change in the CBC article that you linked… there’s hope. My family doctor told us that she’s going to retire this year… hopefully there’s a replacement or 10 at the clinic so people can start getting that initial care they need and relieve the pressure on the ER :-(
A House of Commons committee is set to study legislation proposed by Independent Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne that would require Canadians to verify their age to access porn online.
Can I join your club? I’m in my 50s. I have worked since I was 14 years old… full time since I was 17. I worked most of my adult life outside of Canada, so I do have some state pension saved up outside of Canada, but it’s nowhere near enough to live on in Canada. I moved back to Canada a few years ago with a “seemed like a good idea at the time” decision. In total, I have worked less than 10 years of my life in Canada… so my CPP is basically zero. I look at what Canada has to offer me and think… what the hell am I doing here? It’s fucking expensive to live here… I have nothing to retire on… and only homelessness ad starvation to look forward to.
So… while I’m still employable, fit, and healthy, I’m planning on getting back out… this year actually if all goes to plan.
Well… to be fair, I lived a good life from my mid-20s to my mid-40s. I traveled the world. I have worked in various parts of North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. I’ve done a solo motorcycle trip from Nairobi to Cape Town… just as one example. The problem is… while I had money during these years, I didn’t save much. What I did save was used up in the in-between-jobs times after I was laid off… and this happened more than once over the years. Before I got married, I had a plan to retire at 50, and I was actually well on my way to achieving it. Then life happened… and kids arrived… and money disappeared faster than it came in.
Now that retirement is closer… and I’m thinking about it, the reality of it not happening. I look at the stupidly broken medical system in Canada… and think “shit, I’m screwed”. I can’t see a doctor for example… just to do some preventative body maintenance and checkups. The local walk-in medical clinics are overwhelmed. I have a family doctor, but she’s retiring this year… and she’s currently booking in-person appointments 3 to 4 months out and every day the gap for appointment availability gets bigger. The only other option is the ER… and if you show up at the ER saying “I am almost 55, I need a physical just to check on things” they show you the door and say “come back when you’re sick”. I’m literally booking a flight to Europe to go see a doctor for a checkup.
While browsing the goods at a Value Village store in Toronto, Evan Boyce spotted something he didn’t expect: A used vase for sale with a Value Village price tag of $8.99. Then he realized the original price tag was still on — and to buy it at a Dollarama store would have cost only $3....
Every Value Village I’ve been to is either over priced or just picked over junk. There’s never anything worth buying. The overpriced stuff is all originally from Walmart or one of the Dollar stores and always priced well over the new retail price.
The same thing happens at Once Upon a Child. Kids clothes are all George (Walmart brand) and price at least 2x new.
Drink bottle water and consume plastic particles… drink tap water and get all the other contaminants (places I travel for work outside of Canada have highly contaminated and unsafe water… so water with bits of plastic are the lesser evil).
‘No urgency’ for Bank of Canada to cut rates as economy skirts recession (globalnews.ca)
The slowdown in Canada's economy hasn't yet met the bar for a technical recession amid modest real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of the year, Statistics Canada says.
Massive new survey finds widespread frustration with access to primary health care (www.cbc.ca)
Blocking Pornhub access in Canada an option, owners say. Here’s why (globalnews.ca)
A House of Commons committee is set to study legislation proposed by Independent Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne that would require Canadians to verify their age to access porn online.
Canadians expect they need $1.7M to retire, BMO survey finds, but it's even more for millennials (ca.finance.yahoo.com)
Consumers look to Value Village for a bargain. Many are finding 'ridiculous' markups (www.cbc.ca)
While browsing the goods at a Value Village store in Toronto, Evan Boyce spotted something he didn’t expect: A used vase for sale with a Value Village price tag of $8.99. Then he realized the original price tag was still on — and to buy it at a Dollarama store would have cost only $3....
Under a new deal, Manulife Financial Corp. says its coverage of certain prescription drugs will only apply at Loblaw Cos. Ltd. pharmacies. -- Global News (globalnews.ca)
(note, Title copied from Global’s Twitter post on the article, which more clearly explains the concern, unlike the Headline).
When you drink bottled water, you're drinking lots and lots of plastic particles (www.cbc.ca)