The powers that be will likely push for cashless society because it gives them more surveillance & control
If credit/debit cards were the norm and cash was invented today, it would likely be outlawed down because criminals/terrorists/child kidnappers will use if for nefarious purposes
I have to give credit where it’s due, I actually like this change. Likes used to be private, and then they became public and subject to the toxic performativity of social media
If an election were held tomorrow, all signs point to a resounding Conservative victory. The latest projections from 338Canada show the Conservatives with a commanding lead and a projected 220 seats in the Commons, well past the 170 required to form a majority government....
I can’t believe the carbon tax is getting such bad press lately. IMO it’s one of the best policies to come out of the current government. Everyone is upset about high gas prices, but the forget that they get a big rebate at the end of the year. This means for people with fuel efficient cars, the tax is minimal, and the gas guzzlers pay a lot. Encourages better use of limited resources.
Canadian real estate prices have surged in almost every market, with a typical home price doubling in many regions. A median household in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver would need to save over 20 years for just the down payment, more than 3x the historic average. Seems absurd? The outlandish scenario was apparently a...
While I think the student protest are misguided, this seems like a good development. People have a right to (peacefully) protest, and universities shouldn’t forcibly remove people that aren’t hurting others or damaging property
This is a bit of a fallacy. In a normal market, the rent for a home is less than the costs of home ownership (mortgage + maintenance + taxes) and that saved money can be used to purchase other assets.
Until the real estate mania of the last few years, if you followed this strategy, you would not be any worse off than the person who bought their home.
I personally would much rather have equity in more fungible assets than a home. Owning a home ties you to a specific location, and can’t easily be sold in an emergency. Plus it’s not a very diverse portfolio if most of you wealth is in a single property
It would be very stupid to set up a system where you have to give the porn site your ID. Better to just have an attestation that this user is over 18 years old.
There even ways to do this without the government knowing which site you visited with zero knowledge cryptography. But that would probably require everyone to get a Yubi key or equivalent, which might be hard to swallow
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.
I’m not really sure this law will “solve” the problem, or if it’s a good solution to the problem. But there are real, negative outcomes of internet porn
It seems to me much more likely that the porn industry is financing studies that say there is nothing wrong with porn use. The means and motive make a lot more sense going in that direction, as they don’t want to be seen as the new cigarettes
I fear internet ID is coming whether we like it or not. AI powered bots will pass all captchas and be indistinguishable from humans. The open, pseudonymous internet cannot survive under those conditions. You could spend all day without seeing a comment by a real human.
Governments already have systems to handle citizen IDs. They’re not perfect, and fake ones do get created, but they’re good enough. All that is needed is to connect that system to a UBI key or other device. Then websites could use cryptographic tools (signatures, ZK-SNARKS, etc) to verify that someone is over 18 without revealing their identity
The only developed country that doesn’t seem to have a housing crisis right now is Japan. After their real estate market collapsed in the 90s, they instituted a number of reforms to make housing less attractive as an investment vehicle. Now housing there tends to depreciate over time, not appreciate. Consequently, it’s viewed not as an investment but as a consumer product, much like buying a car, and there is competition that brings costs down.
I think this is the sensible approach we need to follow in the rest of the developed world, but I don’t think it’s not going to be politically feasible until a lot of homeowners feel a lot of pain and give up on the idea of housing as an investment
The CPC are probably convinced the only way they can achieve a majority under Poilievre is if they get a false majority through a lucky roll of FPTP. In 2015 they were all upset that the LPC got a majority with only 39% of votes
It’s not a question of productivity now, it’s a question of organization. Our governing institutions are too full of rent seekers and mafias now to do the kinds of things it did post WW2. Nobody can do anything big anymore because the system fights them. We can’t even stop daylight savings time, which basically nobody wants to keep doing
While social media firms have long faced scrutiny from Congress and civil rights organizations over their impact on young users, the new wave of lawsuits underscores how parents are increasingly leading the charge, said Jim Steyer, an attorney and founder of Common Sense media, a non-profit that advocates for children’s online...
Good! We need to hold these companies accountable. Around the mid 2010s they realized that it’s more profitable to have addicts instead of users. Casinos, bars, and cigarette sellers are forbidden from selling to children. These addictive platforms should be subject to similar limitations
Certainly some of inflation is caused by a decade of rock bottom rates. Our real estate bubble is probably partially caused by this
Ultimately, the BOC has a mandate to fight inflation, and very few levers to use. They cannot fix the supply chain issues, but they can quash demand, so that is what they will do
Lesbian couple brutally beaten by men who were harassing them on one woman’s birthday (www.lgbtqnation.com)
A lesbian couple in Halifax, Canada was assaulted by a group of men who were shouting homophobic slurs at them....
Canada 'sleepwalking' into cashless society, consumer advocates warn (www.cbc.ca)
StatCan boosts food weighting in inflation calculation, reduces cannabis, alcohol and tobacco (www.canadianevergreen.com)
Hidden by default (lemmy.world)
Poilievre Wants to Axe the Tax. Could Foreign Tariffs Change His Tune? (thetyee.ca)
If an election were held tomorrow, all signs point to a resounding Conservative victory. The latest projections from 338Canada show the Conservatives with a commanding lead and a projected 220 seats in the Commons, well past the 170 required to form a majority government....
Canadian Home Prices "Need" To Be High To Pay For Retirements: PM - Better Dwelling (betterdwelling.com)
Canadian real estate prices have surged in almost every market, with a typical home price doubling in many regions. A median household in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver would need to save over 20 years for just the down payment, more than 3x the historic average. Seems absurd? The outlandish scenario was apparently a...
‘We will be your human shields’: Why unions are showing up in force to support the U of T pro-Palestinian protest encampment (www.thestar.com)
web.archive.org/…/article_562a3da0-1c62-11ef-91f5…...
Young people paying 'astronomically living expenses': insolvency trustee (www.bnnbloomberg.ca)
Conservative MP Says He Trusts Porn Companies Won’t Leak Digital IDs of Canadians Who Visit Porn Websites (pressprogress.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.
Canada’s housing crisis isn’t being caused by foreign investors. It’s being caused by investors, period | Ricochet (ricochet.media)
Another ‘beer tax’ increase is coming on April 1, amid calls to cancel it (globalnews.ca)
On April 1, a tax increase on alcohol known as the "beer tax" will come into effect, meaning Canadians may soon pay more for their beverage of choice.
MPs from all parties vote for Electoral Reform – but not enough to win (www.fairvote.ca)
You can see how each member voted here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes/44/1/634
Will Canada Ever Have High-Speed Rail? | The Walrus (thewalrus.ca)
‘The tide has turned’: why parents are suing US social media firms after their children’s death (www.theguardian.com)
While social media firms have long faced scrutiny from Congress and civil rights organizations over their impact on young users, the new wave of lawsuits underscores how parents are increasingly leading the charge, said Jim Steyer, an attorney and founder of Common Sense media, a non-profit that advocates for children’s online...
Bank of Canada raises its interest rate to 5% (www.cbc.ca)