The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

[vermin40]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

Unneeded is merely opinion as is the statistic you pulled from thin air.

You are 100% correct. It is absolutely my opinion. This is the "opinion" section. I'm sure there are people who think we need 20-30% more government workers and would love to pay much more in taxes...I am not one of them.

[golfinseb]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

You are 100% correct. It is absolutely my opinion. This is the "opinion" section. I'm sure there are people who think we need 20-30% more government workers and would love to pay much more in taxes...I am not one of them.

I guess it's okay to just make things up than, because it's just opinion. I think you should get a 20% to 30% pay cut, or maybe just loose your job, because whatever you do costs me money in the end. That's my opinion.

[drawbias]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

I would like all unneeded government employees sacked (probably 20-30%) and the savings used to pay off government debt and reduce my taxes.

Unfortunately, your taxes might go up - they would call it income redistribution instead of gov't employment!

[vermin40]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

I guess it's okay to just make things up than, because it's just opinion. I think you should get a 20% to 30% pay cut, or maybe just loose your job, because whatever you do costs me money in the end. That's my opinion.

Well, I disagree with your opinion but certainly support your right to have it.
My opinion is we have far too many government workers, who do too little, make too much money for what they do and whose pensions are exceedingly generous.
I realize some people might think the the opposite in that we have too few government workers, who work too hard, for too little and whose pensions do not provide a comfortable retirement.
I guess that probably depends on what side of the fence one sits on.

[68shark]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

Well, I disagree with your opinion but certainly support your right to have it.
My opinion is we have far too many government workers, who do too little, make too much money for what they do and whose pensions are exceedingly generous.
I realize some people might think the the opposite in that we have too few government workers, who work too hard, for too little and whose pensions do not provide a comfortable retirement.
I guess that probably depends on what side of the fence one sits on.

I agree. An example: My cousin joined the post office when he was about 20. He retired on his 55th birthday. Happy as a clam. The stories he used to tell me were shocking. Other than "overtime" he NEVER worked more than 4 hours a day. He laughed about it. Says it is harder work and longer....playing golf!!

[4wedges]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

I used to work for Revenue Canada (now the CRA). It was unreal there, minimal accountability, people working only 20 -25 hours a week but getting paid for 40. I would play solitaire on the computer, go for drives to kill time, and so on.
I left after 9 months because I was so bored. I knew if I stayed I would be come brain dead. It was a farce.

[hbassi]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

I used to work for Revenue Canada (now the CRA). It was unreal there, minimal accountability, people working only 20 -25 hours a week but getting paid for 40. I would play solitaire on the computer, go for drives to kill time, and so on.
I left after 9 months because I was so bored. I knew if I stayed I would be come brain dead. It was a farce.

Exactly why I turned down a job out of University there - it was scary scene of tweed blazers with white socks!

[68shark]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

I have two friends who work in CRA. Both talk on and on about their retirement plans, dates are carved in stone and both can hardly wait to go. Must be depressing to hate work that much.

I love the sick days, family sick days plan they have though. I believe it's about 15 of the former and 10 of the latter. The 15 are "bankable" (where have we heard that before?) and the other 10 are not. So guess what happens? EVERYONE takes all 10 of the non bankable sick days (whether anyone in the family is sick or not isn't relevant) and unless you are really ill, EVERYONE banks the full bankable time. No proof for brief absences required, of course, so this is universally abused. My friend who has been there longer wasn't taking his time off. Somebody on the union side came to notice that and he was "advised" it would be best if he starting taking his time. As he didn't want to be ostracized or have tires slashed, he now takes the maximum. Remember, this is the CRA and my friends are both university grads. This is not a coal mine.

Am in the private sector. We have 6 personal days, sickness or other combined and not bankable. No reason why the Fed's/Provincial governments require anymore than that for these "desk jockey" jobs.

The poor taxpayer sucks up the tab for this largesse, of course.

[dmcdam]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

I have two friends who work in CRA. Both talk on and on about their retirement plans, dates are carved in stone and both can hardly wait to go. Must be depressing to hate work that much.

I love the sick days, family sick days plan they have though. I believe it's about 15 of the former and 10 of the latter. The 15 are "bankable" (where have we heard that before?) and the other 10 are not. So guess what happens? EVERYONE takes all 10 of the non bankable sick days (whether anyone in the family is sick or not isn't relevant) and unless you are really ill, EVERYONE banks the full bankable time. No proof for brief absences required, of course, so this is universally abused. My friend who has been there longer wasn't taking his time off. Somebody on the union side came to notice that and he was "advised" it would be best if he starting taking his time. As he didn't want to be ostracized or have tires slashed, he now takes the maximum. Remember, this is the CRA and my friends are both university grads. This is not a coal mine.

Am in the private sector. We have 6 personal days, sickness or other combined and not bankable. No reason why the Fed's/Provincial governments require anymore than that for these "desk jockey" jobs.

The poor taxpayer sucks up the tab for this largesse, of course.

Not all levels of government enjoy these perks. My wife works in municipal government (non unionized) and she gets only a handful of sick days per year. I'm self employed and get zero. Our son has on average 4-5 appointments per month and way more if he gets sick. She's already used up all of her sick days/personal days, and two of her four weeks vacation. I end up taking a huge amount of unpaid days off to try to help preserve the dream that we'll be able to take at least one week of vacation this summer. Not sure it's going to happen though.

All this is to say that not everyone in government has it super cushy, and some truly need the time given.

[vermin40]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

There used to be a time when a government job meant you made a bit less than the private sector and in return your job was safe regardless of anything else going on in the world and when you retired you got a decent pension.
Somehow over the past 10 or 20 years government jobs have morphed into some type of work for the privileged class with better pay, more vacations, no accountability, and platinum pensions all paid for by taxpayers in the private sector who enjoy none of the above.

[dmcdam]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

There used to be a time when a government job meant you made a bit less than the private sector and in return your job was safe regardless of anything else going on in the world and when you retired you got a decent pension.
Somehow over the past 10 or 20 years government jobs have morphed into some type of work for the privileged class with better pay, more vacations, no accountability, and platinum pensions all paid for by taxpayers in the private sector who enjoy none of the above.

Not sure that's accurate - pay varies greatly depending on specific jobs but on average is somewhere very close to private sector. I'm not sure how you can possibly say there is no accountability at all for any public sector job. That just isn't true at all and at best is a sweeping generalization. Certainly the 'job-for-life' aspect is disappearing with public sector layoffs happening all over the place. TDSB just voted to fire 248 highschool teachers. Yes the pensions are nice, but they won't be as rich as they used to be going forward, with employees being forced to contribute greater amounts to maintain their pensions.

I can't imagine what would happen to our economy if government suddenly laid off 20-30% of their entire workforce. EI would go broke and your contribution levels would spike, and there would be massive slashing of services, lots of which are in place to provide for the most vulnerable of Canadian citizens.

[68shark]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

Not all levels of government enjoy these perks. My wife works in municipal government (non unionized) and she gets only a handful of sick days per year. I'm self employed and get zero. Our son has on average 4-5 appointments per month and way more if he gets sick. She's already used up all of her sick days/personal days, and two of her four weeks vacation. I end up taking a huge amount of unpaid days off to try to help preserve the dream that we'll be able to take at least one week of vacation this summer. Not sure it's going to happen though.

All this is to say that not everyone in government has it super cushy, and some truly need the time given.

Yes, I understand it's different depending on which municipality one speaks about. I'm sorry for your situation and hope you indeed get that much needed vacation break. You deserve it!

[dmcdam]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

Yes, I understand it's different depending on which municipality one speaks about. I'm sorry for your situation and hope you indeed get that much needed vacation break. You deserve it!

Thank you - at least we have her pension to look forward to!

[4wedges]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

Not sure that's accurate - pay varies greatly depending on specific jobs but on average is somewhere very close to private sector. I'm not sure how you can possibly say there is no accountability at all for any public sector job. That just isn't true at all and at best is a sweeping generalization. Certainly the 'job-for-life' aspect is disappearing with public sector layoffs happening all over the place. TDSB just voted to fire 248 highschool teachers. Yes the pensions are nice, but they won't be as rich as they used to be going forward, with employees being forced to contribute greater amounts to maintain their pensions.

I can't imagine what would happen to our economy if government suddenly laid off 20-30% of their entire workforce. EI would go broke and your contribution levels would spike, and there would be massive slashing of services, lots of which are in place to provide for the most vulnerable of Canadian citizens.

I see your point, but using the TDSB might not be the best example to support your position. They are a fiasco.

[drawbias]

Re: The provinces are broke, and we’re all on the hook

TDSB just voted to fire 248 highschool teachers. Yes the pensions are nice, but they won't be as rich as they used to be going forward, with employees being forced to contribute greater amounts to maintain their pensions.

TDSB eliminated the positions so the tenure game will mean 248 of the least experienced teachers go backwards which is usually daily occasional work. As it trickles down the food chain, we end up with 248 less 'casual' daily occasional teachers that are not involved in the pension plan.
So when all is said and done, there are savings, but not in the range of losing 248 high end teacher salaries.