Fact, I have been on some amazing Haida reservations out west, I guess I've been on too many Ontario ones where it's bad. No support from the gov't, and ignored by everyone else. Hell, the Red Cross had to come in and help people out at one point.

Very true though, not all reserves are terrible.

Whoa, just read the wiki and in Ontario, they pay trappers 10-40 loonies for them beaver castor sacs! Here kids-How to get a few extra shit-tickets from yer beaver-trappin'!

Sigh, I unfortunately fall on the side of "Really, they want 15/hour?"

It's a brain dead job, specifically designed for brain-dead teenagers to come in and work their 5 hours a day, 3 times a week. Yes, a lot of people unfortunately work at fast food joints, but 15 bucks an hour? I used to work in a factory that recycles car parts and plastics, hard labour, and I only made 3 dollars more than some kid would be making flipping burgers. There's warehouses that offer 13.75/hour, again, hard physical labour.

I personally don't think a job that requires you to put fries in a basket and hit a single button that will then drop that basket for you, and raise it up for you once the fries are cooked, OR microwave / heat up a burger patty and assemble a burger truly requires enough time or effort to warrant giving them 15/hour.

Yes, again, I understand some people have fallen upon hard times and need enough money to survive, I feel for them, I've been in that situation. But the way to fix that isn't just to demand more money for what you're getting, it's to enrich yourself to the point where you can do something that DOES warrant a decent wage.

Honestly, the argument that "Oh, McDonalds has record profits, they should be able to pay their workers more" to me, straight out means i'm paying too much money for a damn big mac.

The minimum wage in Ontario is 10.25/hour (9-something for students)
and that, to me, seems like a perfectly reasonable amount.

I lived in Ontario for 25 years and never did I ever get buttwater on me

This is a false or misleading statement. The reasons for some Canadians having to wait or not being able to have a doctor are different. Canada has had a terrible drain on it's medical system with doctors and nurses going down to the US, because they make more money there. This has lead to new programs to entice them to stay in Canada. It looks like they have been working, but it's a 10 year study and we need to see the numbers.

As a Canadian who has been though the healthcare system in Ontario, and had family members who've had been through health care in Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Halifax and Newfoundland.Labradour, I can tell you the parts that work and the parts that don't.

I'm a type I diabetic and I've had cancer twice. I've had a sarcoma in my saliva gland and as a result of radiation therapy, I've had melanoma skin cancer crop up on my body as well. I've had four major surgeries on my body. Two of them were serious complicated nervous system surgeries or lymphatic resecctions. I've been through my fair share of Canadian health care.

First things first. It's not a national healthcare. Anyone saying national healthcare doesn't know what they're talking about. The provinces and territories have their own health care. Granted, the territories get a lot more help from the Federal Gov't, but the health needs of people in Ontario are different from those in Manitoba.

Let's get into the brass taxes. I've had the nerve surgery and radiation therapy that was done on my face evaluated at a hospital in West Virgina as part of a study to compare American HC vs. Canadian HC. For my first surgery, I got to choose my doctor, I was given a list. They recommended one doctor, who was an expert in North America for nerve surgery, but he was recovering from a surgery of his own. They suggested I wait for him to be ready, but if I wanted to proceed, I could wait if I wanted.

I waited and surprise, no facial paralysis. I then had to do 30 days of intense radiation therapy in my parotid bed, to make sure they got it all.

I paid a total of $300 dollars in parking. I also have private health insurance for diabetic supplies, which means any medication I had to get to deal with the after effects of radiation had an 85% payback.

Years later when the effects of radiation had settled and I had a tumour form from the radiation, I had gone to my family doctor, saw a specialist the next day and then within the week I had an excision done. It came back positive and within a week of that, I was given a sentinel node biopsy to see if it had spread.

It had.

Within a month of the first examination, I had a full lymphatic ressection of my left leg and groin done. This wasn't as complicated as the facial nerve surgery, so I got a list and a suggestion of who to do the surgery.

That came back clean, but I now deal with a lot of complications from that.

That surgery cost me nothing.

In West Virgina at a hospital (they didn't tell me which one they used.) The total for all the exams (CT, MRI, etc.) the surgery and the radiation therapy came out to $275,000. Give or take.

This is why it drives me nuts when I see people get things wrong about Canada. We have problems, oh yes we do. For example, don't be over the age of 65 in BC or Quebec. The diagnostics training in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland if pretty terrible. But, I got to choose my doctor, and I saw everyone really quick. Why? Because you don't fuck with melanoma.

So, I'm sorry Trancecoach, I saw that video you linked. The guy lost a lot of credibility at "Communist State of Canada." You're already skewing your message to say something. You are just plain wrong about health care in Canada, the way you talk about. I am living proof of how well it works.

I'm a self employed photographer and the most I've ever had to pay was for parking at the hospital. That was the $300 dollars. I paid my taxes and that paid for my health care. If I didn't, and if other Canadians didn't, I would not be here, as with many other Canadians.

Critique us for the things we do shitty, but I have yet to see anyone do that. I see talking points and misinformation from people just spreading false info.

Get your facts straight. I know how it works in Ontario the best. But, I also know for a vast majority of the other country. I can tell you Saskatchewan has had an exodus of nurses, but that's not bad health care system. That's a gov't system that can't keep nurses in the province. If we can keep doctors and nurses, the system works great.

The guy you linked to, most of his sources for data are absolute crap and he misleads a lot of his talking points. This stupid lottery doctor that happened was because it was an isolated town in the wilderness and there was only one doctor left after the other passed away. So yes, he had to do a lottery for people so he wouldn't get swamped, unless it was an emergency. It was a town, I believe about 10,000 people, but I'm not sure on that.

In Ontario you can be topless in the whole province, male or female. (even inside though I'm guessing at that)

Oh *Canada. You can recognize the Ontario plates on the car, as well as the local style traffic lights for that matter

In Ontario, Canada anyway whoever hits someone from behind is at fault.

I even had a situation where a guys car rolled slowly backwards right into me when we were stopped at a light on a slight hill, I asked a cop about it and was told I was too close to him, my fault.

Very talented, indeed. Have seen this done a few times. E.g. McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario Canada, frosh week activities September 1989, outdoor "concert" near the path south of Whidden Hall residence. Talented artist and musician using a similar approach did a Hendrix poster upside down and in bright (luminescent) colors. And then he burnt it. And smoked it.

MONTREAL - Eighteen people have been arrested in a massive heist of maple syrup, Quebec police said Thursday.

The accused face a variety of charges including theft, conspiracy, fraud and receiving stolen goods.

Provincial police said in a statement they are looking for seven more people in the case.

The sweet stuff was stolen in the town of Saint-Louis-de-Blandford between August 2011 and this past July.

About 2.7 million kilograms of maple syrup, worth up to $18 million, was reported missing after a routine inventory check last summer.

Officers from the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement helped Quebec police in the investigation, which featured interviews with 300 people in the maple syrup industry in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and the northern U.S.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/12/21/police-announce-a-slew-of-other-arrests-in-maple-syrup-heist/

I went to Canada. The liquor laws in Ontario made me want to leave. Luckily, I was driving through to Quebec

In reply to this comment by Buck:
In reply to this comment by TheSluiceGate:
Hey buck, are you government sponsored, or do the family pay for your services?
Just interested as here in Ireland I personally know a person with an autistic son that, in the future, will likely have to quit their job to look after them once they become an adult.

In reply to this comment by Buck:
I do this for a living too!! These guys are so cool, smart and can often do amazing things that you or I can't.


AUTISM AWARENESS!!!




Hi, I work for an agency (in Ontario, Canada) that is mostly funded by the government but also has fundraisers through out the year. I love where I work, they really care about their staff and in turn the staff care about the individuals we support...really a great place.

Now the sucky thing is the Gov. just changed the way and length of support for all new clients. Much shorter support times and long wait lists.

I work in the community side of things and try to get the guys out and about doing whatever they like to do. There is also a residential side to my agency that is a bit different in function but essentially they are group homes where staff help the clients live daily.

Another avenue is private respite, our gov. gives a bit of money to familys that need this break, and they hire someone they like to work with their child.

Ageing parents are a problem too, we have wait lists years long for group homes.

I have a co worker with a son just diagnosed...she may have to quite her job too, but the school system here is slowly helping more than hindering things so there would be daytime breaks for her, only till her child is 21 then he is on his own as it were, thats where agencys and private individuals like my agency come into play helping them find jobs or volunteer positions in the community.

everyone deserves a chance to live to their fullest potential, we try to help with that.

any questions fire away.


Hey thanks for reply - in many ways not to dis-similar to Ireland: yeah your kind of fucked as an autistic person when you leave school (on the lower functioning end of the spectrum anyway) and daycare and respite are pretty rare commodities here too, unless you've got serious money to put up.

Keep up the good work!

In reply to this comment by TheSluiceGate:
Hey buck, are you government sponsored, or do the family pay for your services?
Just interested as here in Ireland I personally know a person with an autistic son that, in the future, will likely have to quit their job to look after them once they become an adult.

In reply to this comment by Buck:
I do this for a living too!! These guys are so cool, smart and can often do amazing things that you or I can't.


AUTISM AWARENESS!!!




Hi, I work for an agency (in Ontario, Canada) that is mostly funded by the government but also has fundraisers through out the year. I love where I work, they really care about their staff and in turn the staff care about the individuals we support...really a great place.

Now the sucky thing is the Gov. just changed the way and length of support for all new clients. Much shorter support times and long wait lists.

I work in the community side of things and try to get the guys out and about doing whatever they like to do. There is also a residential side to my agency that is a bit different in function but essentially they are group homes where staff help the clients live daily.

Another avenue is private respite, our gov. gives a bit of money to familys that need this break, and they hire someone they like to work with their child.

Ageing parents are a problem too, we have wait lists years long for group homes.

I have a co worker with a son just diagnosed...she may have to quite her job too, but the school system here is slowly helping more than hindering things so there would be daytime breaks for her, only till her child is 21 then he is on his own as it were, thats where agencys and private individuals like my agency come into play helping them find jobs or volunteer positions in the community.

everyone deserves a chance to live to their fullest potential, we try to help with that.

any questions fire away.

>> ^AeroMechanical:

Hitting a pedestrian on a crosswalk is generally frowned upon no matter how stupid the pedestrian is.

Let me grab my trusty traffic act, ahh..nope. Not here(Ontario). Here, a pedestrian is required to ensure that they are crossing safely, and with due care and consideration for others. And crossing into an intersection, even a marked intersection which where other traffic has the right of way automatically puts you into fault.

My Dad lives in Bobcaygeon, Ontario. I must share this one with him!