It must be my man smell. Not a day passes that my email inbox isn’t full of nasty little notes from people now itching to challenge me. Like the dude who yesterday blew into this diseased blog and then commented on, “the trying-too-hard hip lingo, the posed portrait pics with meticulously groomed beard, the claims of financial wizardry of 15% returns…and the picture that forms is that of a fairly severe case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”
See what I mean? That’s how real men brutalize each other. Flower insults.
Anyway, I care not. My lonely mission of warning folks about what comes next will carry on. Going forward you have (a) higher mortgage rates, (b) a weaker economy, (c) $1.50 gas and (d) political fallout, to vex over. Oh yeah, and (e) a summer of bleeding real estate.
So far this week we have a glimpse into how miserable things can actually get. Like in Calgary.
Now, let’s remember that this is oil country, where everybody seems convinced houses will rocket in value as crude prices surge. So with the black stuff at well over $100 a barrel for a few months now, you’d expect Cowtown real estate to be bubbling along with it.
But hardly. Last month sales plunged again from year-ago levels, this time down 10%. Condos crapped out even more, with the number of deals taking a 16% dive. And had there not been a couple of idiots who bought houses for more than $3 million, the average price would have flatlined. Also not too healthy is a 25% decline in listings for SFHs and 27% reduction in condos for sale.
Normally, of course, when supply falls by a quarter or more you’d expect prices to jump substantially. So the combination of fewer sales, stagnant values and sellers giving up should lead you to a conclusion. Like, oil’s irrelevant.
But what about poor Victoria? If Alberta’s at risk, this irritatingly cute city is cooked. All Vancouver needs to do is jump on the ferry and go for a ride to catch a glimpse of its own future.
Last month house sales in Victoria collapsed by almost 25% over last year, with a mere 574 properties changing hands. That’s fewer than in March (so much for the Spring market). It also means 2011 sales in total are running a full 20% below year-ago levels. Worse, it’s the tenth consecutive month of negative numbers. Complains the local real estate board: “Tighter credit conditions and anticipated higher mortgage rates have and will have some moderating effect on the market and prices are expected to remain relatively flat and stable for the time being.” Ya think?
Now some would say Victoria has brought this on itself. And they’d be right.
The place has no actual economy, other than hosting the BC government in the country’s fruitiest public building. It is populated with wheezing, gasping, snowy-topped Boomers. And while Calgarians think oil is their saviour, Victorians believe everybody from Mississauga wants to move there, meaning prices will rise forever.
In frenzied anticipation of that, they have sold each other houses with gay abandon, until the average price for a SFH hit about $620,000. That’s eight times the average household income – in a city where only one house in ten is now sold to somebody who does not live locally. Shall we break it to them?
Of course, the average SFH in Toronto’s 416 now also takes eight times income to buy – at $100,000 more than Victoria. But this is the vortex of six million people. And even here, resales have been down year-over-year for ten months, with the eleventh about to be added. Of course, greater fools abound still, accounting for a 12% fin-de-siècle kinda surge in values.
In a couple of days the latest stats will be in for the GTA and also Vancouver. Both will disappoint realtors who now worry about their Bimmer leases and Vou Kuli Sugar Exfoliations.
In short, we’re headed for the promised destination. You’d be well advised to delay any buying plan for a couple of years, accelerate your selling plans, get the hell out of any house you bought with 5% down, embrace liquidity and take pity on the local Re/Max guy.
Not to mention your Liberal.
251 comments ↓
I hope you are right Garth.
I admit, there’s a certain level of shadenfreude lurking in the depths of my soul. I’ll be watching for Aprils numbers with curiousity, and a beer in hand.
Tough luck, Harper-haters. You’re in for a good ol’ fashioned butt kicking tonight!! Go Harper!
It is a glorious beard.
I predict a Harper Majority. Young commie blogheads don’t actually go out there and vote!!
Conservative majority(but a squeeker)
You heard it here first!!!!!!!!
Before BPOE
I am indeed, rather irritatingly cute. Unlike my irritatingly noncute and rather smug Conservative MP wanna-be. May he lose by 1 vote!
The long term fundamentals for house price movement is tied to inflation and incomes.
Robert Shiller in 2007 “From 1890 through 1990, the return on residential real estate was just about zero after inflation.In fact, I’m inclined to think there’s a good chance that the return on real estate will be negative, substantially negative, over the next 10 years because all booms reverse in the end. ”
“Over the long term house values are tied to incomes because most people buy houses with mortgages for which they must qualify based on their income. Inflation keeps pace with wage growth because people will bid up the prices of goods and services with their available income. Therefore, over the long term house prices, wages and inflation all move in concert. There are short-term fluctuations in this relationship due to variations in financing terms, migration patterns, employment, local limits on construction and irrational exuberance, but any such deviations from the mean will be corrected over time by market forces.”
The market is now correcting.
Now if only the market could begin to “stabilize” in Whitehorse… *sigh*
I remeber 2008 in Calgary, just a year of record average home price heights. The 0/40 was still around but $147 pbl was a damper. $1.34 per liter of regular I recall. That was the end of home escalation then, if it were not for the rock bottom prime rate that followed Lehman.
Mr. Turner is right on, the fundamentals for home prices are not there. Once the general public discovers this, watch out. Remeber the Canadian historic home to family earnings was 3.5 to 1. I suggest that we will see that again in the future.
Cheers
Well people here in Saskatoon believe we are different. They argue we are so much cheaper than the bigger cities believing our prices are more reasonable that they likely will stay this way. It cost on average between 260,000 – 330,000 to buy a decent 900-1200sg ft home. I ‘ve even been told that our rent is more than B.C. I can’t believe the junk people are buying and especially at these prices. Crazy!
At #8: I’d have to agree with Shiller’s comments from 2007 :-)
take pity on the local Re/Max guy
You mean the guy that chased my family around trying to put them in massive debt ? That’s not likely as it’s not in my nature.
Nothing makes my evening better than watching the Gun-Grabbing Liberal Titanic sink, sink, sink.
A very very good night for the blue and orange. My sympathies to the former great red machine. Good bye Bloc.
My guess is that Garth could tell us all just how big a blood sport politics are.
The future could get really interesting.
NeoCons going to win big.
Great for me, Sucks for my kids…….
#Winning
UK sh* for brains; Ok, you’re right, Canadians are all losers. Now will you go away?
Think everything is Rosy in the USA?
Think again…..
“S&P is noting the U.S. government’s long-range fiscal problems. Generally, you’ll find that the accounting for unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and other programs on a net-present-value (NPV) basis indicates total federal debt and obligations of about $75 trillion. That’s 15 times the gross domestic product (GDP). The debt and obligations are increasing at a pace of about $5 trillion a year, which is neither sustainable nor containable. If the U.S. was a corporation on a parallel basis, it would be headed into bankruptcy rather quickly.”
http://www.kitco.com/ind/GoldReport/may022011.html
“The most important thing revealed by our long-term chart for gold, which goes back to the beginning of its bullmarket, is that its uptrend to date has been steady – there has been no parabolic blowoff move, and certainly no meltup – that is believed to lie ahead of us and it will mark the final climactic phase of this bullmarket that will lead to the latest fiat experiment being consigned to the trashcan of history. If it is just starting now we could see some real fireworks shortly, but as stated in the Silver Market update, you should be careful what you wish for, because such a meltup would be expected to synchronize with an all-out dollar collapse, which the Fed and Wall St banks have worked tirelessly for years to bring about – the Fed has in fact now painted itself into a corner, which is why it cannot follow suit when the European central banks raise rates to head off inflation – it CANNOT raise rates, because if it did it would collapse the debt-wracked US economy and and bring the major Wall St banks’ derivatives pyramid crashing down. ”
http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_08/maund050111.html
Buckle your seatbelts!!!
What happens when sales volume plunges to 20 year lows? The local media buries it in a story about $1 million houses bucking the down turn – by being listed!
http://tasmanianrealestatetrouble.blogspot.com/2011/05/delusion.html
As I declared in many posts before – Harper remains PM (a majority no less) and the Libs withered and died.
Carney will maintain a policy of easy money, real estate will not falter and unemployment will continue to be beaten back.
Now let’s get on with it!
Edmonton joins Calgary on weak sales:
“Our preliminary report on the Edmonton real estate market shows a significant drop in sales in April 2011. We really are surprised by how low the sales numbers are, because our office has been extremely busy, and every other agent we speak to indicates they’re also quite busy. My only thought to explain it is that there could be an unusually high number of pending sales out there (65% of the sales in our office for April are still pending) but I have no concrete evidence to back that up.
There have been 642 sales of single family homes reported for April, compared to 796 last year and 707 last month. This is the lowest number we’ve seen in April in Edmonton in at least seven years”
http://edmontonrealestateblog.com/2011/05/home-sales-slump-in-edmonton-in-april.html
SFH = 20% YoY drop in sales
Condos = 17% drop
It will be instructive to review the final figures, once all of the necessary adjustments are made.
Pig, lipstick. Ad nauseum.
Yeppie! A con. Majority, any part elected has to reform health care and pensions but at least I feel better about the stability of my investments. Time to get real about how we keep paying for all of the benefits we as Canadians enjoy, no free lunch. I do not begrudge paying my fair share. Thank you that we do not have a minority gov’t that would have the NDP sticking their finger in the pie or an NDP majority that would tax our children and grandchildren for the next 25 years. I will sleep well tonight.
Bubble heads: neocons with a majority is bad news for you……
Buy something fast… did i spell that right
The real esyate cow just got an extra 15 to 45 points, buy and flip fast……
soory for the bad spelling been drinking again……
I have a problem. Called bozzes and smoke
My kids are screwed but pop’s the dyselexic sort off guru will guide them, proplem is the little shits don’t listen to the old fk. I hope I spell this right clarvioant….
Ither way rates will for sure stay low….
Bungalo in Iggys riding south of lakeshore, double up in 3 years….
Thats a fact
I un like Garth who I realy like(got I wish I could wright like him ) is going to be wrong…..again
Move now and fast, bungalo south of lakeshore 1st street to 43 street…….
Pocket aces, with two more on the flop if hosni harpo gets majority………….
Think he did it………………….
wo hooooooooooooooooooooo
Went to an open house in the old currie barracks area, (Calgary) where they are building so quickly. The home builders little team told us the townhouses were $750,000 without a blink in their eyes. Then they said they would be going up 10%. I asked why that would be when people I knew could not sell right now, or at least for what they thought they should get. They said, but these are new homes, so they always go up. This is why house prices need to go down! It is absolutely absurd to think of paying these prices. This kind of greed is why people are so stressed here in cowtown. I am appalled at the scams these developers are pulling off. Everyone pays the price, as people struggle to make ends meet. A major housing correction is long overdue.
FINALLY, a majority. This means at least two elections saved in the next 4 years (600 millions saved) plus no more gun registry (another ton of money), but more importantly, we can let the governement lead for a full mandate and decide afterwards if we should change leadership.
and I hope next time Quebec will remember that they can also be part of the vote for the leadership (i.e. never vote again for Bloc Quebecois).
GLAD I SPOILED MY BALLOT
Conservatives won by a landslide in my Alberta Riding (St. Albert). As expected. Totally predicable in fact.
I’m glad I did not use my vote to give any one party my one vote. It clearly would not have changed the outcome.
I am glad I spent my vote to spoil my ballot and try to send a message that I wanted “none of the above”. I want a true right wing party and it does not exist.
I spoiled my ballot and that was my democratic right to do so. I spent my vote wisely in my opinion. I have no buyers remorse whatsoever.
Long live the freedom to vote or not to vote as we see fit.
I have to admit I did not see a majority government coming out of tonight’s election. Whether you like the outcome or not, at least we don’t have to vote again for 4 years!
I wonder if the strength of the NDP in the polls scared voters to the conservatives?
And bye-bye, Bloc-heads. It’s about time Quebec showed those clowns the door. Hey Duceppe, don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
As a Yank I don’t understand the 40% win, but this election was very interesting to watch. I don’t really understand the difference between the Liberals and the Prog. Conservatives. The Harper party votes like American moderate Dems as far as I can tell.
The Bloc is gone? Now that’s surprising. Looks like Quebec is ready to play again in national elections.
The blue fortress held off the orange pop brigade. Nice.
Now lets call the truth on the NDP resurgence. It wasn’t aboput hope and change. It was simply about a group of people (i.e. Quebec) who want to rape canada for more undeserved transfer payments and entitlements with out contributing anything to canada. They couldn’t extort us with separation, so they thought they would try the socialism grab. It failed.
For the first time in decades a federalist party dominates in Quebec, and you piss on the voters. Shame on you. — Garth
I knew the NDP support would give Cons the majority.
So will the sh*t still hit the fan and will Harper get blamed?
One can only hope…
As I’ve said before..
Bye bye middleclass
The divisions have now been crystalized
The battle lines drawn
There are now two sides …The extreme right
and the extreme left
The neo-cons vs the entitlement society
The corporatists and the socialists
It will be an epic battle …to the victor goes the spoils
Toon town boomer
Here is a picture of an average bungalow in Saskatoon that needs some serious work, you can get it for 329,000.
According the city of Saskatoon, the average household income is $70,000. This house would cost 4.7 times income.
Unaffordable housing is another term for housing bubble.
http://saskatoonhousingbubble.blogspot.com/2011/01/picture-of-saskatoon-average-bungalow.html
It’s over …… Welcome to Washington North and soon a two party system ….. Blue and Orange
Harper Wins the Day
No more pointless pandering to the loony left.
No more elections every 18 months.
Great news for the economy of Canada…or, at least much less of a disaster will unfold then with any other election outcome that could have happened.
Market will be up big tommorrow, although I do think oil will pull back to the $100 range in the near term and sap some TSX strength.
More great news for Vancouver. Conservatives have won and that means interest rates are going lower. In fact the process has already begun. Folks this is great news for Vancouver. The Conservatives love money and the floodgates are now wide open for offshore money from all over the world. Folks the uncertainty is over, the recession is overr and Vancouver is for SALE folks like never before. Look for big game changers coming up as interest rates continue to lower and buyers snap up the cheap deals. Oh Canada Ohhhhh Vancouver
God help us all, Harper got his majority.
Canada is now clearly a bi-partisan polity: the right vs. the left. Capitalists vs. socialists. Tax payers vs. tax takers. The rich vs. the poor? The middle ground has fallen into the abyss and what remains may be a very large chasm between those on either side.
“If people weren’t dogs how would we make an money in the restaurant business”
That’s the comment of a friend who runs a chain of restaurants in the GTA. So tonight the dogs came out and voted for Harper. No surprise.
Wow Shiller your agreeing with yourself on a blog. LOL you sure are full of yourself
.#12 The American on 05.02.11 at 9:27 pm
At #8: I’d have to agree with Shiller’s comments from 2007
For the first time in decades a federalist party dominates in Quebec, and you piss on the voters. Shame on you. — Garth
___
I guess the truth can’t be handled. You need to be from the west to understand the real dynamics in Canadian politics.
I understand bigotry well. — Garth
“For the first time in decades a federalist party dominates in Quebec, and you piss on the voters. Shame on you.”
I totally agree, Garth. One very positive result of tonight’s election is that the Quebecois seemed to have put separatist nonsense behind them. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Wow – #35 BPOE has officially written his stupidest post yet!
“Conservatives have won and that means interest rates are going lower. In fact the process has already begun.”
Really? A post-election bump to the CDN $ and stock markets lead to a lower Bank of Canada rate?
Please explain? If the recession is “over” as you say, why would we need emergency interest rates?
I’m sure this locks in a Carney Rate Hike in the next meeting, and a few more later in the year.
By the way, what happens when you mix Blue and Orange?
You get a big pile of brown!
Welcome to Canadian Politics in the year 2011… A big pile of brown.
BUY, BUY, BUY
I think you’re spot on about further real estate sales declines in the GTA. Although an anecdotal measure, there is a noticeable increase in postings on my Facebook from my realtor “friends”. My Whitby buddy appears to be hurting pushing condo sales and Mississauga appears to have a few realtors getting desperate for both buyers and sellers. If my “wall” fills up any more with this junk, I might have to de-friend these guys, though getting a front seat to the realtor carnage has a ring of schadenfreude to it.
@ TO Bubble Boy: “Wow – #35 BPOE has officially written his stupidest post yet!”
I can’t believe you took the bate.
that should be “bait”, duh
Is it really a majority if only 40% of citizens vote for you? So much for school, where 40% is a failing grade.
I thought school prepares us for real life?
Torture “OKAY” since it led to OBL’s assasination
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/no-bin-ladens-death-does-not-justify-torture
“the trying-too-hard hip lingo, the posed portrait pics with meticulously groomed beard, the claims of financial wizardry of 15% returns…and the picture that forms is that of a fairly severe case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”
Man, that guy sure has you figured out!!
I hope that the ten year recovery estimate is accurate. That would be about the time that I hope to be able to sell (unload) my place. When “Awesome Lady”, and I, purchased our current shelter, the it was at a ratio of about 2:1. And we were worried about that!!
Liberals got smoked. I knew they would lose but didn’t think but underestimated Iggy’s lack of charisma. They need to hire a new leader like Obama’s sister or something.
Well, I’m not happy about having a Conservative dictatorship for the next few years. And unimpressed by your (Garth’s) prediction that the smearing of Jack would bring about the end of Harper – he wins, you lose. Sure hope your abilities at assessing real estate and investment strategies are more accurate. In a bad mood in Victoria.
Looks like the vote split/MSM reporting worked.
Boomers n Seniors:
Time to pay for your own amenities; and not on the backs of the younger generation. Watch what happens to the fine print on the GIS portion of OAS. Medicare will become a provincial responsibility.
Plus,
watch for the changes in immigration that happen.
Plus,
closer integration with the USA.
Welcome to the New Canada at least for the next 4 years!
Elizabeth May defeats a Tory cabinet minister. That’s democracy.
Now lets call the truth on the NDP resurgence. It wasn’t aboput hope and change. It was simply about a group of people (i.e. Quebec) who want to rape canada for more undeserved transfer payments and entitlements
____________
So wrong, a federal party like the Ndp wants to spread money for everybody, has anyone ever heard the NDP would be a party giving entitlements ONLY to quebecers?
Thats non sense.
I want to add that the naive Quebecers just simply found their dream socialist party that promises them everything and anything by taxing the “evil” and “infinitely rich” corporations.
They have nice propaganda in Quebec
I’m so glad the selfservatives got their majority. Let the subprime mess they created come home to roost. I live in the eastern fringes of the west and I really detest the “I’ve-got!-fuck-you!-thanks” attitude, but it doesn’t surprise me. Sorry that there will be no livservative coalition, but maybe the center left parties will get their shit together now.
How nice, we have elected an evangelical christian who once was the leader of the National Citizens Coalition, which was created to dismantle Canada’s healthcare system. Private prisons, war, contempt of parliament, muzzling scientists and climate change denial, more GMO’s. The press gave the Con’s a free ride and the people have been snookered.
Well, Harper said “you will not recognize Canada when I am through with it”, so here it comes. People know not what they have done. Read the Handmaidens Tale.
hey garth…
you might find this report by urban futures interesting…
http://www.urbanfutures.com/reports/Report%2081.pdf
I know in the west you like to blame Quebec for receiving federal money, while you give up yours, think again!
Its not Quebec that created this stupid transfer of wealth system! Its Ottawa!
So get off your knees now and blame the master puppet!!!
Be a real man!!
Harper need not answer to anybody for 53 months.
I overestimated the intelligence of the majority of Canadians. This is truly a sad day for our country, unless you don’t care about democracy. This asshole has done his best to stay in power at all costs and has had contempt for parliament, has silenced the media and basically has narrowed the public’s input into the political process.
Way to go Canadians, one step closer to America…
I wonder what the doomers will say now.
Yesterday, you were calling for an NDP minority and how it would crush house prices, as the world would see Canada veering to the far left. Not to mention an NDP controled government would cause the Canadian dollar to tank, and it would give Carney the ammo he needs to raise rates.
Now, the CONS are in. So that means the ship will continue to steam full ahead in the same direction as before, only with greater strength.
So, the dollar will stay high. Confidence in Canada will be increased. But the USA is still in dire straits.
Rates will go up? Housing will crash?
I do not think so. At least Osama is dead and terrorists will be on the prowl. You can try to scare home buyers by talking about them.
Prognosticating is not a science, and this “pathetic little blog” has been wrong almost all the time.
The place has no actual economy, other than hosting the BC government in the country’s fruitiest public building. It is populated with wheezing, gasping, snowy-topped Boomers. And while Calgarians think oil is their saviour, Victorians believe everybody from Mississauga wants to move there, meaning prices will rise forever.”
————
Neither does Vancouver. Name five large companies here? What drives Vancouver other than rich immigrants and pot growers? The dying film industry? The low paying tourism industry? The decimated forestry industry? Many people I know were in construction, which is falling faster than Iggy.
“”SmarterThanYouLook on 05.02.11 at 10:02 pm
As I declared in many posts before – Harper remains PM (a majority no less) and the Libs withered and died.
Carney will maintain a policy of easy money, real estate will not falter and unemployment will continue to be beaten back.
Now let’s get on with it! “”
I was optimistic but some delusional uniformed Canadians gave Harper his majority in spite of lying to the Canadian Public – but to suggest they can contain the impending crisis is to say the least comical – the best and the brightest in the US couldn’t control it and still can’t. Just because people defy logic doesn’t mean the laws of supply and demand and common sense do – At one point (tipping point) you run out of people who can afford to buy your house – then it slowly starts the downhill roller coaster ride. History repeats – it did tonight – what makes you think the housing market won’t – oh I forgot you may be a realtor or one of Harper’s prize winning wacko economist.
The real news tonight was the Orange Wave increased dramatically and even better Harper will be left to tend his ship when the poo hits the fan. It happened recently to the BC Liberal Premier won his 3 rd term and then was forced to resign. Housing/CMHC among other things – probe of Afghanistan etc.
Evening All:
A have to concede that the Conservative majority surprised me somewhat. On the other hand, recent developments will provide endless topics for debate for the next while. Good for those of you who went out and voted; even if you spoiled the ballot, you nevertheless exercised your democratic right. It is however late…
#23 SMOKING MAN…I wish I could share a frosty one with you brother…Lord knows that devlopments in my life (apart from politics) during the last several months have given me pause sometimes to relinquish my spot on “the wagon”…I hear you as well about the kids…oh to be young again and know it all!!!
the Phantom
Well, the one good thing about all this is that when it goes all belly up it’ll land squarely in Harper’s lap.
We’ll also be able to definitively see that debt bubbles are not an effective substitute for actual economic management, without it being blamed on socialists and other noise.
to #25 Montrealer
Right on the money, totally agree and will also sleep well tonight.
AMEN
#9 Won’t happen until Harper starts to pull back the funding as 50% of employment is govt there. And then when commodities start to slide the market will break. But there is a very real and ridiculous shortage of housing and serviced lots in Whitehorse.
#11 Toontown is just smoking the good stuff. Really who wants to live there, I mean I love the open spaces and the north but it is ultra conservative and small town thinking prevails..I lived there for quite a few years and my family still trots out all the tired old arguments explaining why it is the best, just like everyone else blah blah blah
He was grey and Tory and bent and old
and I looked at him and my blood ran cold ♫ ♪
With the conservative majority, secure for the next 5 years…..
There is no more political reason/will to prop up the Real Estate market in Canada.
Now, the big poof WILL come.
BPOE: Be careful what you wish for (or who you vote for). They were only your friend before the majority.
BPOE, now why would you think I’m Shiller? You silly little boy! Would you care to divulge your evidence by which you’ve made this conclusion? Or, is this just another unfounded opinion thingy you have? :-)
Congrats to those who were voting Conservative and my condolences to those who did not!
–
“Anyway, I care not. My lonely mission of warning folks about what comes next . . . (e) a summer of bleeding real estate.”
Maybe more than that. See last links (mostly for Chaos, but for anyone who is interested) at the end.
*
#31 randman — “Bye bye middleclass” and #36 Rich Renter — “God help us all, Harper got his majority.”
True, but there are greater things than Harper’s ego. Again, see last set of links.
*
Superbowl Sunday “In hindsight, it is clear that 2/4/11 was the day that the Fed’s hand was forced. A critical moment in time had come.”
US$189 mln. / hour — Is how much the US debt grows.
Hedge Funds Sure glad I don’t tinker with stocks.
Five Aces The cycle change is nearing completion, so things are heating up.
Property Millionaires rising in UK, just like NA (except our homes are declining).
US$6 / gal. gas soon? Everything else is going up, and Soros + Obama = Oil.
The Carlyle Group Evidently, the bin Laden and Bush families were quite close. Maybe that’s why their private jet was allowed to leave on 9-11, after everything had been shut down. Timing Is Everything Your namesake!
GM Soy Poisoning one child at a time!
Lightning A bolt a day helps you work, rest and play!
Fukushima latest and 17:42 clip.
Edgar Cayce Chaos, you might find this interesting. “He predicted that it would all happen in the Summer of 2011.” Dates can be altered slightly; Summer Solstice and HAARP “I believe the main target is still a haarp attack on the madrid fault line !!!” — May explain the ‘quake drill this month right down the NMF.
Here’s my prediction: TSHTF during the Con mandate. Harper will do his best to screw ordinary Canadians and shovel the wealth further up the food chain. It might result in some uncharacteristic (or maybe not so uncharacteristic–remember Winnipeg 1919) Canadian pissed–offedness. Harper’s got his storm troopers well prepared so be careful out there.
Good on you Jack. Do what you can to keep Harper in line; watch your back and oh, btw Quebec and all those new MPs are gonna be fun but maybe a tad unruly.
Well, at least the Election results will mean that the Conservatives will be in power when the bubble they created pops.
Of course, it’ll just mean a massive transfer of public wealth to the banks in the inevitable CMHC bailout. Eerily similar to bushco in 2008.
Who said Canada was different?
We are doomed and all going to jail in Harper super prisons for crimes not committed.
My Wife and I have always loved looking at real estate. We live in down town vancouver – Yale Town. We have always rented and have also lived in Coal Harbour. We also thought we needed a house and garden at one stage and moved to Port Moody but hated it. House we rented was beautiful but we could not adapt. I think it was just missing the downtown buzz.
Anyway – I digress. Yesterday we looked at an apartment in Yaletowns most prestigeous building. Been on market for a year. was 1.8 million. Now 1.5 but realtor made it very clear that owners are desperate to sell and we could probably get in with a low offer. So things are definately starting to look interesting in Vancouver.
Also worth mentioning…
This will likely be the last conservative majority for some time. It’s inevitable that Liberal/NDP will combine, and therefore represent the interests of the majority of the population during the next election.
What an archaic system Canada has. Only Britain still has this outdated Westminster system.
Preferential voting/STV results in the will of the people.
Not a ‘tyranny of the minority’.
Fortunately for us as a nation, 60% of Canadians don’t support the Reform party. there’s still hope, only time will tell how bad things will get before they get better.
Folks, you heard it here first! Vancouver real estate is really neato and pretty and awesome and shit! The Cons are in, so this means interest rates will actually go BELOW 0% and continue to drop until like forever or something I think!!! Folks, that’s right! Folks, the banks will actually PAY YOU, folks, to borrow their money, folks. Folks, it is ’cause they have so much of it ’cause of all of the Chinese money that keeps coming in from the city of China and their Vietnamese citizens. The banks don’t have no place to put all that cash no more, so they need people to buy houses so they can get rid of their money, folks, folks! I have anal warts. You can even tell the bank that you need a cash advance on your house when you get the loan! The bank won’t even charge you for it neither ’cause they know the value of your home is going to increase by at least like 47% or something like that in the next week! Plus, the bank sometimes gives me a lollipop when I go to my favorite window teller when I need to deposit that Cambodian money and that is my favorite part of my week. They really like me but sometimes they won’t let me wear my roller skates in the lobby. If you contact me I will help you find a house or a condo or a broken down car or a cardboard box or anything that you can live in! It is really really really simple. All you have to do is do everything I tell you to do and and just believe everything I say. I am a profeshenull you can trust and count on!!! These warts are so nasty, it is like putting a beaver in a blender every time I have to go boom boom. You MUST get to Vancouver and let me show you all around because you are going to be amazed by our transexu.. ummm I mean homes and views and Chinese people! Prices will only go up here for the next thousand years and you will then wish you had bought. Fiddlesticks all to heck, this mother f*cking O-Ring is starting to flare up again and I can’t even fart without it burning ever so good. Damn those enchiladas don’t love me back. I hate that bath house. So get here soon and let me give you a friendly tour. Please do not come next week, though. I will be recovering from having my bumpies burned off and that is going to be a doozie! No solid foods for two weeks! Go Canada!
Folks!
Aussie Update
Auction clearance rates continue their slide
http://www.theage.com.au/business/auction-clearances-tumble-as-demand-softens-20110501-1e30a.html
House prices fall more than the delusional expect.
http://www.news.com.au/money/property/house-prices-fall-more-than-expected/story-e6frfmd0-1226048342977
ABS figures show close to a nation wide fall in house prices.
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/6416.0?OpenDocument&rand
Too many houses built on cities fringe, what happened to the shortage?.
http://theage.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/home-construction-on-urban-fringe-excessive-20110501-1e364.html
Australia is becoming caught up in a property trap
The widespread fall in Australian house prices during the March quarter is healthy. The danger lies in what might happen next. The decline will make overseas investors in our sharemarket nervous because many analysts overseas regard the Australian housing market as simply way out of line with the rest of the world. Some say it is a bubble ready to burst.
The downturn was a clear response to two forces. The first was that during the March quarter banks started to tighten their lending criteria, partly to reflect higher interest rates. They have not gone overboard, but loans that would have been granted six months ago are harder to arrange.
Remember that the key factor forcing prices higher has been the combination of demand and the fact that free and easy credit was available from banks so people could bid up at auctions. Now with lending tightened, partly in response to higher interest rates, buyers have less money to spend so they are not as enthusiastic at auctions.
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/property/20110503-australia-is-becoming-caught-up-in-a-property-trap-gottliebsen.html
House prices and the credit pulse – Call the doctor there isn’t a pulse.
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2011/05/02/house-prices-and-the-credit-impulse/
ANZ bank report BIG profit thanks to the average Australian mega mortgage mug.
http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/housing-or-entrepreneurs/2011/05/03/
Of note on the Victoria numbers, this was the worst April in 10 years and in Victoria central it was the worst April numbers in 15 years.
Compared to population increases over that time, these numbers are brutal for the hottest time of the year. As well the median price is down just over 6% from May 2010. Not everything’s blooming in the Garden City, more like a wilting.
Hal-le-freaking-lujah!
About bloody time the Lie-berals get punted to the curb. Together with that rancid, gun-grabbing C-68 abortion of theirs. Not to mention the NEP.
Never forget.
#26 The InvestorsFriend: “I am glad I spent my vote to spoil my ballot and try to send a message that I wanted “none of the above”. I want a true right wing party and it does not exist.”
I’m sure the ballot-counter discerned your meaning and will carry the memory forever. No one will assume incompetence, dementia, nor mere nut-jobbishness.
I’m sickened for my country. A Harper majority will destroy what’s left of our democracy. Apparently some Canadians don’t mind a government that holds our parliament in contempt, hides and lies and muzzles opposition behind closed doors. They don’t mind fraud artist advisors, police state tactics at the G8, climate stallers, nor the loss of our international reputation.
The government’s whittling away of our food safety laws to a shadow of their former self are not their concern. Their proposed stripping of our political system designed to fund parties equally is not their concern.
They don’t mind corporations in bed with government as long as they can have their ‘freedom.’ What an empty shell it will turn out to be.
This is not the Canada I know. It is not the Canada I love. Somebody please tell me it’s not over.
#35 God help us all, Harper got his majority.
Thank God he did get his majority. He got 39% of the popular vote. 61% of the electorate voted so if you extrapolate those numbers he got 59% of the vote. Either way he got a majority from what I can figure.
Stevie has also got a conservative senate. This guys got a lot of power. Lets hope he uses it for the betterment of all Canadians and not just for bay streeters and big business. Time will tell and we’ll all be watching and I’m sure if he fails us this time NDP may be the government in 2015.
The results are probably the best outcome in preparation for what the country is about to go through. Nice to see the BQ off the grid for now.
The conservatives had better prepare to take one for the team. The level of fiscal cuts required won’t make anyone a hero and deficits will just add acid to the wound. The soft politics we’ve grown used to is going to get pretty harsh.
Liberal party is going to have to be stripped to the frame and rebuilt from scratch. The colossal lack of judgement and arrogance that had the party bosses parachute in an american neo-con expecting canadians would just accept it shows just how absolute power corrupts absolutely.
NDP has to be the biggest winner on so many levels. Coming economic conditions will give them the ultimate platform to play the hero without any governing responsibility.
At least its over, summer is going to be interesting. The housing correction is finally showing signs of appearing. Saw the same warning signs flashing in California, can’t be co-incidence. Cost push inflation has arrived and its going to put the bite into the consumer big time.
Don’t have much pity for the re/max guy – or maybe its just bond car envy – http://youtu.be/HKcK-ABy9UE – guess they must not have made the sales so agent got to keep the car, I see dofus bombing around town with it every once in awhile.
IF – just giving you a hard time because of your long justification. It’s your vote to cast or spoil, of course.
And one more thing is certain – we’re not going to the polls (federally) for 4 years at least! Woot Woot!
Are you people kidding me? Hitler(Harper) is not fiscally responsible, he’ll bring us down just like the NDP or Lieberals would. I’m just waiting for Steven Hitler to totally kill my freedoms and make the internet illegal, spend billions on stupid jets, let ISP providers throttle bandwidth and kiss the ass of every corporation while he screws the average Joe. The thought process of the average sister screwing voter in Calgary goes something like this(famous last words):
“Hey look at what they are doin on that there TV, I can do that, here, hold my beer.”
Life is gonna suck for the next 4 years, it’s going to really suck.
So, with a landslide majority representing the voice of the people of Canada nationally represented in a fair and democratic election you’d think we’d have seen some kind of a celebration. Nothing of the kind….Peter Mansbridge and the CBC goons spent their entire time on the air with recriminations about how Stephen Harpers agenda was solely focused on driving a stake through the Liberal party. The rest of the media coverage was not focused on the fact that we have a majority and will avoid the expensive pandering that overtook the country’s finances for the past six years…..no…..instead the media was whining and bleating about the defeat of their favorites.
The people of Canada have spoken loud and clear. If the Liberals could not gain back seats after a six year campaign against the Conservatives then obviously the Canadian people do want the party of the media in power. Without the gloom and doom propaganda about ‘scary Harper’ we would have had to pander to the special intrests all these years and probably wouldn’t have been forced to run up the deficit the way we have.
The first thing we have to do is to stop the media from fighting the re-election battles of the losers….again. Disband the CBC !!!!! That traiterous organization is as anti Canadian as the Taliban and twice as destructive for this country.
Congratulations Mr Harper on a brilliant election. Thank you for patiently putting up with all the bullshit the CBC lambasted you with so that we could finally get back to majority government and get things done.
The secondary focus on Jack Laytons victory speech was all about what he was ‘going to get done’…..Hey dude…..the Conservatives have a massive majority….the NDP in opposition is powerless to do anything…….neutered by fact……gutted by the people who elected them because they hated sepratists and the Liberal Party. The Conservatives GAINED SEATS….the NDP win was Liberal and Bloc seats…not Conservative. Opposition under a majority government is a toothless folly.
Bravo Canada.
Okay, what I get from this election is the decline of the middle class. As a country we’ve loaded our guns and taken our positions and it’s now left versus right… where’ Chretien when you need him?
As far as Quebec… is everyone f’ing dumb or what? So what if the ND’s prevail fedrally… right now the provincial government is about to fall into the hands of the separatists. The federal vote is all about temper — not politics. The provinical vote is what counts
Great way to make $$$ with a majority.
-Get together with a few buddies.
-Plan together to take billions from taxpayers to award bloated contracts to said buddies to build prisons (kickbacks to your party/private accounts overseas) – BILLIONS
-Fill those prisons by creating a permanent criminal underclass by criminalizing more things unnecessarily, increasing all sentences for any reason possible, drug test prisoners then tack on jail time for all that “fail”, get rid of pardons (can’t get a job, back into crime, back to jail….rinse & repeat) – See the official Conservative platform for all of these items.
Voila….permanent criminal underclass just like in the U.S.A. where there’s no pardons, taxpayer dollars flow to private prisons and the builders, and to the party, on the backs of some ‘low lifes’.
Never mind that Canada has enjoyed a 96% non-recitivism rate with its pardon program.
After all…who’s going to defend ‘criminals’, right?
In fact, the public will beg you to take their money to save them from all the bogie-man crime out there.
Madoff could not have thought of a better scheme. Watch and see.
Look at the election result maps, all that blue & orange. It’s the same color scheme used on the orange guy’s shorts! I for one welcome our new dutch overloards.
Any elaboration on 10% correction, Garth? American or Canadian? Got some stuck in the U.S. Bernanke promised stimulus. Was he banking on Bin Laden? Bin Laden wasn’t such a big deal after all.
While I disagree with Harpers contempt of parliament, his secrecy and his G20 fiasco, he is still a better choice than socialism and high taxation.
FinAlly some political stability.
#43 Bubble Boy, I think the question should be what happens when you mix orange and red. I’m not sure , but it should be bright, so we shouldn’t miss it!
Election discussion on a real estate blog.. what next…
Well I will jump in anyways… The more I trod this earth the more I realize just how stupid people can be. Even with all of Harper’s outright ineptness people still vote for the guy. Do they think he will have an epiphany …not likely… The next 4 years will see a slow dismantling of what has taken decades to build. This country will look nothing like it does today. Corporate taxes will be lower … much less services UNLESS you pay for them… if you are ill or old you are screwed …. buy as many long guns as you like… no one will care… and better yet watch all your hard earned dough be whisked away into fighter jets and military toys.
On a personal note.
Iggy is just too soft hearted for this country of career politicians ready to cut your throat at the slimmest chance at election. Canadians… your country will be dismantled piece by piece and your kids and theirs will pay the price.
The prisons are for Liberals who abuse taxpayer dollars and for NDP who visit brothels. Can’t believe anyone actually voted for a Russian Czar & a Paddywacker. Cumm visit Canada.
Dump the pinko CBC & CRTC. A chance like this comes once every century.
I guess Albertans are sprinkling too much oil sand into their cereal to vote for the CONS… Gotta keep that stuff pumping to feed our Yankee brothers.. Maybe another terrorist to kill …another country to bomb the crap out of… another trillion to print and pay back no one. Harpo wanted the NDP to come up the ranks as they were third and even if they did well they would not be able to catch up with the CONS. The Liberals had the best chance to make a dent but fizzled near the end. At the end of the day you will see more of the same with ” The Harper Government” …. no role in world politics … more lies and deceit … more Auditor General reports on how crooked he is…. end result… Dumb Canadians will just sit back and snarf down their popcorn listening to Don Cherry pontificate about something no one really cares about. Time to move somewhere warm and where politicians can be bribed .
Ahhh I can dream can’t I
Good morning Canada!
I must admit Mr. H outsmarted everybody. He is definitely the biggest winner in these recent elections. I don’t like the guy but he knows how to get what he wants.
The good news is that now that he has a majority, he doesn’t have the need to please the homeowners for at least another four years. Wait, that might be the bad news. It will take at least four years for this whole real estate absurdity to unravel and, before you know it, he’d be forced to come to the homeowners’ rescue once again. There is no better way to buy votes than with houses.
All these matter little to me. I pay my taxes to the fullest and depend on the government the least. Houses can cost an arm and a leg. I can always rent. Canada is always a great place to live.
TO #29 not 1st on 05.02.11 at 10:27 pm:
Quebec people voted for NDP for one reason, to get the Bloc out. Not because NDP has a good platform, and certainly not for their respective local deputy (many of them are not in politics, enevr showed up during the campaign, etc).
I voted NDP for that exact reason, there was ONE chance to kick the Bloc out and be part of the FEDERAL elections next time… decide for the country, not decide for the opposition.
For sure I would never want to see NDP with power/majority in Ottawa, and I know many of us in Quebec think the same way.
First step: kick the Bloc out, second step: vote as part of Canada (for Liberals maybe if/when Ignatieff is replaced)
As an American who only recently received permanent residence status, I’ve watched the Canadian election with great interest. Overall, I like the process. Quick. Easy. Done.
However, the one thing that makes me uncomfortable is that a Prime Minister with a majority government in parliament seems to have a lot more power than a President with a majority in congress. For example, congressmen in the US seem to go against party lines more often than MPs. Also, there are congressional elections every two years, so there is an incentive to keep things somewhat moderate or else the majority party gets their butts handed to them in these mid-term elections (this seems to happen quite often). Also, the president is NOT the leader of the political party he belongs to. So, intra-party politics are not so obvious and the president often disagrees with the leader of his own party (I get the impression that any party member that disagrees with the PM on a substantive matter gets fired).
So I guess my question is, does Harper and Co. have pretty much unlimited power for the next four years, or is their some kind of check/balance? Are my observations correct, or am I way off base?
While I’m certainly glad that Jack isn’t the new PM, I’m always uncomfortable with too much power in one spot…
Canadian majority PMs have unlimited power. Their MPs vote with the party 100% of the time or, like me, are tossed overboard. For all its equally obvious faults, there is much to recommend American political rugged individualism. — Garth
realpaul said Disband the CBC !!!!!
I don’t think he will. He needs a good propaganda machine for his NWO, only the lowest level of intellect would believe anything reported on CBC
To those who mourn:
Kleenex?
Garth
You cite many examples of year over year declines in housing listings and so forth. Would it be possible (send me a link) to find out what happened in the past housing declines for example in the 90’s. In other words what were the trends in housing listing and price changes leading up to the precious house recessions.
Thanks
The big price you pay to read this blog does not include personal research. — Garth
#6 Rich Renter
I know!! Isn’t it great! I’m not a huge Harpo fan, but it was well worth the price of admission to crush the Liberal Party. I have to admit to Conservative leanings, but have voted Liberal once. Then they got on the gun control kick, and lost my vote for eternity.
#83
With ya. Pleased my heart to see the Liberal Gun-Grabbers crash and burn.
“Never forgive, never forget.”
Keep in mind that Canada is one of the few major countries to not yet have a “Reichstag fire” incident.
You know the neo cons are desperate to get into Iran and topple its banking and oil systems.
Would Canada be pressed into service? Haper would be the best one to pound his chest and speak of “international obligations” and send troops to the desert while leaving our border undefended. Plus the unbridled military spending and no-bid contracts are a good fit.
I think Canada has found its calling: Mini USA. We will be pressed further in to WW3, while at home endutring Patriot acts, biometric national ID cards. The salesmen are wating in the wings, we just need an incident like the hapless “underwear” bomber and presto, the contracts will be signed overnight. I’m just going by the scame script they’ve played in other countries.
In fact, disreagrd my musings. By their actions you will know them. Just watch and wait. It’s coming.
Was this posted?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/India-central-bank-toughens-rb-3026537163.html?x=0
MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s central bank raised interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points on Tuesday and declared it would battle stubbornly high inflation even at the cost of some economic slowdown, casting doubt over the government’s ambitious growth targets.
The rate rise was its ninth since March 2010 and exceeded forecasts for a 25 basis point rise, although the case for stronger action had been building since figures showed March inflation reached nearly 9 percent
http://www.remiccorp.com/toronto
Garth are you going to be part of their seminar?
OMG! — Garth
blah. Moving deck chairs. This giant ponzi monster, practiced by all economies, with a few wrinkles, careens us to 3rd world nirvana. Enjoy the distractions. Everyone doing the same thing at the same time ‘works’ great while it ‘works’. When it doesn’t, an asteroid impact comes to mind. TPTB now have everyone’s goonads in a vice. We all have a stake in perpetuating our own demise. Sweet!
It looks like all the fear mongering and smear this blog tried to impose on the Cons failed. And it failed miserably, after witnessing the socialist coming up in the ranks I must admit; I had a little fear that we were about turn into Eastern Europe. But the smarter of the population showed up and we prevailed.
#110 S.B.
I hope you are wrong, but I am also a realist. The good news is?? The Liberals already tried ALOT of that crap on their own people with Bill C-68. One day I was a law abiding citizen, the next day the police could walk into my home, no warrant, simply because I was a gun owner with more than 10 firearms.NO WARRANT. If I dealt drugs, they couldn’t do that, but own a firearm??
And THAT doesn’t scare you??
@Jody:
“Are you people kidding me? Hitler(Harper) is not fiscally responsible, he’ll bring us down just like the NDP or Lieberals would.”
OK, so if they ALL would’ve “brought us down,” then who SHOULD we have voted for?
To put it another way, why are you shocked that people voted for Harper, if in the same sentence, you claim that any of them would’ve destroyed the country? We had to vote for ONE of them, so why the shock that it turned out to be Harper?
Harpo would crush the CBC if he had the chance. He has the CTV dudes on his side and they’ll pander to his every whim at the drop of a hat. The sad thing about this election is that “the ethnic vote” as Harpo puts it will see little to no representation. Harper just needed a warm body … even cold would suffice… to wear a C on their chest lapel so he would have his majority. Their is little chance these conservative ethnics will be able to make a dent in the Harper Regime as Garth pointed out, any dissent would mean banishment. Follow the fuhrer or be sent to nowhere land like Guergis was… some leader… and you tools voted for him… Let the dismantling begin.
I find the election results frightening to say the least…… never before in my lifetime has our democracy been so threatened. Any one who finds any certainty in our future IMO places little value on the importance of trust.
Cato: The housing correction is finally showing signs of appearing. Saw the same warning signs flashing in California, can’t be co-incidence.
interesting you say that, Mark Hansen is my favourite commentator on California real estate.
Le Connard: c’étais trop. Même si Jody a tort de comparer Stephen Harper à Hitler.
what’s with the “get rid of the CBC” comments?
like private media companies are going to do
you a favour …. ha! sucker.
get on the private everything train and see where
that takes you
Harper is PM!
Conservative majority!
Congratulation Canada!
It was the best choice for Canada!
This federal election has been very interesting – the best since the 80’s!!
Hats off to Harper – he finally pulled it off – now he has no one to blame but his party and policies when things blow up!
Jack, good for you and good luck with your new Quebec MPs that are students, don’t speak French, and go to Vegas during the campaign …
Iggy, go back to academia. At least Stéphane Dion still gets elected in his riding …
Duccepe, enjoy the retirement on the fed retirement package. Bloc RIP.
May, keep dreaming on greening Canada. Good dream but not with the conservatives in power.
Garth, keep writing this fun blog.
Blogdogs keep barking.
Hello Garth.
I noticed the following in your essay.
“take pity on the local Re/Max guy”
Are you joking? Realtors and their agents contributed to the massive price bubble that priced me out of Canada.
Why would I be sympathetic to their cause?
The excesses of the market created a situation where demand for home construction dropped off a cliff putting me out of a job. A job that doesn’t pay very much any way. I used to get a business income of $15 an hour supplying skilled labor to a stair company.
These realtors and their agents made alot of money over the years during the good times, now its time for them to try to survive through the hard times due to a situation they contributed to. Don’t worry Garth they are all big boys and girls, if they can’t handle poverty then perhaps they need to get a different job.
Steven
MAJORITY!!!!!!!!!!
YESSS.. its all blue baby – for those who are already bitching – we let the country decide and they knew that Harper was the best man for the job (I’m no harper fan, I await for Peter Mackay to eventually take control) – but our country at least has a majority government – and no Socialist Jack can do Jack about it!!
So if your going to make stupid remarks that Harper = Hilter or some pathetic comparison – this country should open a fund – a one way ticket for you to leave, and there are millions who would die to live in this glorious country we call CANADA!!!
So – lets get back to scratching our heads about when the real estate market is gonna tank (how many years has this been discussed?)
As the Montreal Canadian fans always chant to the Liberal demise… Na Na Na Na……..Na Na Na Na…….Eh Eh Eh Gooooood-byeeeeeeee
Garth,
Just a heads up that you probably want to update the copyright date in your footer from 2010 to 2011
Happy new year!
#61, Tim –
HA! One step closer to Americans? No, you’re mistaken. They’re political systems is not as stupid as our’s. At least they’ve figured out you can throw all the number of parties into a system you want, but at the end there is a divide of TWO. This is why they get a TRUE majority to represent the greater masses. We get the typical Canadian “majority” at 40%. How is this supposed to help anyone? Also, the Americans were smart enough to vote Bush out and bring in Obama. We are complacent with Harper, a Bush puppet. I think on all levels we have surpassed the U.S. in our stupidity. What a sad day for Canada.
69 Painted Toenails
He was grey and Tory and bent and old
and I looked at him and my blood ran cold.
Very poetic. I googled it and couldn’t find it anywhere is it yours?
106 le Connard
The same cannot to said for you.
Well I am really pleased today. The outcome of the election was better than I had predicted ten days ago.
My seat counts did get skewed in the last week prior to voting as the NDP surge almost literally crushed the Liberals and the Bloc on election night.
Where my estimates were correct though were in the predictions for a win by Elizabeth May and a slim Conservative majority of which I was always confident.
This is a time to congratulate all those who battled through to the end and succeeded. I have a strong piece of advice for Jack Layton too.
There are a lot of unemployed Liberals today and few of the past executive and workers will be knowing what to do next. I suggest the NDP take advantage of that talent pool which runs very deep and make a home for some of the brain trust in your own party.
I think it would be wise to absorb some of your adversaries most skillful people right now in order to bring depth to the NDP or the party will face living crisis to crisis as it fights to keep up with the Conservatives and learns the ropes the hard way.
The NDP might have won because of Jack Layton’s charisma but it is not a one man show. My prognosis for the parties long term strength is not good if they cannot now make the jump into the big ring. I believe they will lose the momentum of yesterdays win if select individuals from the Bloc and the Liberals are not invited to join the party now as full members with authority.
There will be plenty inside the existing NDP party who want and expect promotions already. It is a mistake to heavily pad the inner circle with inexperienced people though despite feelings of loyalty to every guy or gal who planted lawn signs.
Hope you are catching my drift.
IMHO most are misreading this Harper situation. We are near the top of a Ponzi which has greatly pumped up the Cdn economy. You would expect the party in power to get a majority under these economic circumstances. The strong showing of the NDP illustrates the historically high % of the population which feels extremely vulnerable, economically speaking. If the next 4 yrs are very rough the NDP is in the catbird seat-pointing out that nothing would be going wrong if they were running things. Again IMHO the winner in this election was the NDP party-the next few yrs might be the last chance for upper middle class/lower wealthy class to get their assets offshore before the gate closes firmly.
The Canadian conservative nanny state has finally come of age.
We can now expect cutback to social programs geared at the lower income brackets as well as to those institutions Harper personally does not like such as the CBC.
This will be combined with massive increases in social programs dedicated at banks and big oil – as well as redistributive income policies directing wealth away from the middle class towards the uber rich.
I haven’t been so depressed about Canada’s future since Mike Harris was first elected premier of Ontario.
Welcome to softcore fascism.
#26 The InvestorsFriend
Do you know for sure that they track spoiled ballots? I appreciate what you are saying, but with all of the work that goes into an election I would be surprised if they took the time to actually count the spoiled ballots.
I could be wrong though, do you know for sure?
Another day of whining anti government hand wringing from the CBC. An entire morning of boo hoo from Ignatieff and the pundits who seem to think that a majority of Canadians are wrong. The CBC doesn’t get that the Liberals are a rump party with no input anymore in the House of Commons. The CBC reporters are like a cult still worshipping the corrupted body of a dead leader.
Enough with the government bashing CBC…..enough of the partisan anti Harper comparisons with an ex president of another country…..enough of trying to subvert democracy in Canada by constant anti Canadian interventionist attempts to thwart the will of the majority of Canadians. The five year media attack on the Conservatives couldn’t turn the tide of opinion…..now get over it. The Liberal strategist are aghast that we Canadians didn’t ‘get’ the Liberal message…….YES WE DID !…….and we reject it!
We need broadcasters in this country that do not represent a political parties interests in as rabidly partisan way that the CBC has done. We need a media that reports ‘news’ in an unbiased non political manner. That is obviously not the CBC…..get rid of the CBC now that diverse communities are no longer isolated and in need of a national broadcaster. The country is now the third most wired for internet communication in the world.
Time to put the idea of the CBC as rural Canada’s window to the world to bed. Politics and public money have no place at the media table.
I remember when this election was called and people here were “bring down Harper” “that’s the end of the Conservatives” etc…
I gotta pat myself on the back here, cause I think i said something like ” prepare yourself for the fact that Harper wants this election so he can get a majority, you may have to live with a conservative majority”.
I guess some weren’t prepared.
I didn’t vote him in, but I saw this coming, surprised so many here didn’t too.
Interesting post.
Dan Statlander
http://www.statelandbrown.com
(Real estate experts in Boca Raton Florida)
First time to post a comment. This `get rid of the CBC` is annoying me. I can’t stand CTV or Global here in Vancouver, talk about biased news. I like the CBC.
Wow, sure a lot of sore political losers out today.
Losers, losers who you gonna’ call … just enjoying the abject disappoint in the lefties.
I had a good day in Cdn politics yesterday. The BQ got trashed, the Liberals not able to live off the excess fat of the nineties. The NDP getting a huge problem of having to do something substantive with Quebecers without any power to actually make it happen.
A perfect ending would now be the forty or so Separatists renouncing their juicy federalist pensions. Ya right …a trough is a trough.
Congratulations Canada! (HT #120)
Trash me back in 4 long years.
34 David Jensen wrote:
Harper Wins the Day
No more pointless pandering to the loony left.
No more elections every 18 months.
Great news for the economy of Canada…or, at least much less of a disaster will unfold then with any other election outcome that could have happened.
Market will be up big tommorrow, although I do think oil will pull back to the $100 range in the near term and sap some TSX strength
___
Actually the market is down almost a full percentage point. Care to explain that one?
To bad so sad
Harper gets his majority. Watch out!!!
the first year is going to see a very hard push to the right of the spectrum.
This year watch for:
very tough anti crime laws
very tough anti immigration laws
Gun registry is history
Crazy military spending
Funding cut for political parties
in politics you try to get the nasty out of the way in the first year so by the time the 4th (election) year comes around its all water under the bridge.
Harper made lot of promises, no defecit, 11 Billion in cuts, double the TFSA etc… strong economy etc… so let it play out. The minority govt is what kept him alive, that was his excuse, now, well see if he is the real deal or just a another talking head.
Jack deserves the order of Canada for single handled taking the BQ. That is HUGE.
Liberals, tough tough road ahead. Harper will cut funding, out of 30 odd seats, they now have to elect a new leader. Iggy, WTF why are you forcing the party to kick you out, you were appointed uncerimounsly and now will be booted the same way. You can’t have a leader that does not have a seat in the House of Commons.
“Victorians believe everybody from Mississauga wants to move there.”
That’s funny, my family did just that in 74. Victoria has always been a hard place to get established, we get a big influx when boom times are here and a outflow when things slow down, something to do with the tides.
Is Victoria over priced? I don’t care if it is or not, We’re able to get by with one car, spend a $100 a month for fuel, it takes me 7 minutes to get to work each day, my wife is 15 minutes door to door by bus. The outdoor life is second to none.
If you can get established here it’s a great place to live.
Prof Anon: Now you’re getting it! This is why our political system is broken and does not represent the true interests of the majority of the population! We give far too much power to any single individual, unlike you do in America. In the US you have excessive checks and balances, which can prove cumbersome when trying to accomplish anything. But, the result is you have provided far more protection to the voters and things move more slowly, allowing everyone to “catch up”, which I can see the good in that. In answer to your question, YES, Canadian majority Prime Minister receives unlimited power. This means we are absolutely screwed with a prick like Harper. It will make the Bush years in the US look like a stroll around the neighbourhood on a sunny afternoon. You seriously may want to reconsider your residency status here and go back. I have many American friends who have moved here over the years based ONLY on reports that say everyone gets that free pony, everyone is so very nice, and our healthcare is amazing. However, they soon realize everything is “surface” and what the reports have been crying for years may be technically true, but there is something major that is missing. We counted last night that we have known sixteen Americans over the years who have moved here in the past seven years or so. FOUR still remain here. Instead, you get to pay 40% taxes on that pony, the people are passive aggressive if you do not flow with the masses, we strive to point out why we’re NOT American (this is my favorite thing I only noticed after having moved back here. Overall, our identity is based on what we AREN’T), and the US healthcare system is unbeatable (as long as you are insured. I now see we wait FOREVER for marginal care using older technology). The freedoms of individualism and choice you had in the US are not even close to what we have here. You’ll also probably notice it within a couple years. Now that I’ve been honest about it, I’ll be scolded by my fellow Canadians because how DARE I say ANYTHING negative about such a “perfect” place. People here do not care to hear the truth – they only want to hear why Canada is so great. So, that’s what our leaders and media give them. I don’t care, though, because I can see through the bullshit. I found my voice in the US. The delusion that lies within Canada is concerning to us, and this is the most frustrating thing of all about living here. Do not misunderstand me, I love Canada – my entire family is here and overall it is a nice place to live and everyone in general lives a decent life. We think everything is “nice enough.” My wife, two children and I all agree, however, that when you begin to compare the two countries, it is pretty tough to beat the US, despite negative press we seem to be perpetually peppered with here in Canada about your country – Its how we cope. We have to put another country down to feel better about ourselves. We cherry pick data, without showing the full picture (I used to believe it, but I now know it is all b.s.) Also, we’re masters of hiding information that would portray Canada in bad form, of which you’ll learn very soon I am sure. By design, I do believe this is purposeful only to make us feel better about where we live. You cannot always rely only on reading material and statistics. You must truly experience both places to make a truly objective and unbiased and educated decision. Percentage-wise more Canadians go to your country than Americans come here for citizenship and residency. That pretty much sums it all up. Good luck to you here! Let me know when you tire of hearing anti-American sentiments. Whatever you do, though, DO NOT get defensive about it. People will see you have a weakness if you react to it, and this is when they will NEVER stop with their negative comments. Instead, just smile and nod when you hear it. Trust me, it will serve you much better in the long run as long as you’re here. I remember this was what a friend of mine told me in the US why they don’t try to correct Canadians when we try to act as authorities on social and political matters. Americans just let us think what we want to think because they don’t really see the point in trying to change our minds. The best thing I ever heard from him was, “Why would WE want to try to convince YOU [Canadians] to live in our country? What’s the benefit to us? We don’t convince people to live here. They live here because they want to.” That shocked me, but had a lot of truth in it. On the other hand, you’ll notice the constant pumping why Canada is so great and why we have immigration and why we’re the best of everything imaginable. Just remember, it is a little thing called propaganda. Good luck!
Me too… I hope you’re right. I’m a first time buyer in Calgary.
#96 Tim on 05.03.11 at 5:26 am
While I disagree with Harpers contempt of parliament, his secrecy and his G20 fiasco, he is still a better choice than socialism and high taxation.
FinAlly some political stability…
And maybe he can make the trains run on time too.
Time to neuter the CBC. They pander to the liberals in exchange for funding and have manipulated popular opinion during elections as far back as I can remember. I am thrilled that Harper cut back their budget and is stopping their Gravy train.
Did Harper really pull it out? Couldn’t have happened to a nicer party. And by that I mean, they really really deserve what they are about to eat on their watch.
#90 Jody on 05.03.11 at 2:26 am…your so very right Jody!
Canadians voted for Haarper out of fear. (Gulf oil spill, Fukushima, Smolensk, various economic collapses, North Africa) All in one year.
We will be next if we step out of line. Elite bankers rule.
#23 SMOKING MAN
Can you be literacy advocate
First Turf is the gun registration.
BPOE: Let’s clear this up once and for all. Are you a realtor? Are you the owner of several properties? Are you a child, typing madly away while mommy’s out for groceries? Or are you just an asshole?
You have a lot to say, don’t you? So tell us what on earth makes you have an orgasm over house pricing insanity in certain Vancouver regions.
#79 BPOE
Thanks for the laugh! Certainly needed it this morning.
@#85 Annie the lemming watcher
Aaaa I believe the “lemmings” are also called “voters”.
Apparently your vastly superior intellect voted for John “rubandtug” Layton because he always tells the truth and saves liitle old ladies from Big bad wolves.
Whats it like in that world of yours? Or……. move to France
People are really making me laugh on here. The electoral system is no good whenever “your” party doesn’t win. Since i live in Alberta, i have no problem changing the system. Give every province and Territory the same number of seats regardless of population and you’ll stop the party leaders from driving their buses 90% of the time in Quebec and Ontario during an election.
The election coverage was hilarious as well. They talked about how Jack Layton was the messiah and how Canadians had sent a message to the conservatives. WTF? The NDP made pretty much all their gains from the Liberals and Bloc. The conservatives for the most part kept all the seats they had. How does that translate to sending Harper a message?
Then once the conservatives looked like they were going to get a majority all the media outlets were off the Jack Layton bandwagon. In fact they started warning Layton about how half of his caucus is from Quebec which will skew his platform and how he’ll have to control an inexperienced crew including a 19 year old and the “Las Vegas” candidate who took a trip to Vegas for a week, has problems speaking French and never spoke to the media during her campaign. Good luck with that group Jack.
@#90 Jody and #145 John M
let me guess, you BOTH 20 something university students with Huge brains and zero experience in the real world…….
Knowledge isnt just in a book you’ve memorized in “socialism 101”
Question for everyone. What is the difference between driving up the National debt and raising taxes?
Get ready to swallow the deficit cutting medicine. Quantative Easing is finished in Canada – will be harder to get loans and mortgages.
I OBJECT TO THE LANGUAGE USED IN POST #106.
PLEASE REMOVE THE OFFENSIVE POST IMMEDIATELY AND BAN THE C********* FROM EVERY POSTING HERE AGAIN.
IS IT NOW OKAY TO USE THE “N” WORD ON THIS BLOG?
THE INTENT IN BRANDISHING THE “C” WORD IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS IN USING THE “N” WORD.
Repectfully submitted
Chaos
The post has been removed. I missed the offending comment when it was in moderation. I apologize. — Garth
Clearly the most naive people in this country are those who voted for Harper and Co. thinking they were going to continue to stoke the Real Estate market. The Cons stoked Real Estate by manipulating the CMHC rules and interest rates to create a low credit environment. As has been often said, the Canadian economic miracle was almost entirely because of consumer spending on housing.
The Cons have known for years that this had to end. They skillfully played the public and timed this election with a deviousness that would make Machiavelli envious. Even the rule change to 30 years gave a last pump before the top blows off the market nation wide.
With a 4 year majority the rule is to get the bad news out of the way as quickly as possible. The Cons will now shift gears, raise rates and put an end to the bubble as fast as they can so they can bring in their austerity measures and gut social programs.
If you wanted house prices to keep rising you should have voted for Jack who would have been dumb enough to bring in tax credits and other incentives like Obama.
This turkey is cooked. It did its job. H and F have their majority. Now watch them turn off the tap.
#99 Dump the CRTC,
Yes, dump the CRTC. They have been doing such a fine job of it so far anyway.
Canada currently has the highest concentration of vertically integrated media companies in the English speaking world. By vertically integrated I mean they have are both television carriers and own television channels.
Two companies – Shaw and Bell – each hold roughly 1/3rd of the television audiences in this country. Two other companies – Rogers and Quebecor – also have large holdings.
The total concentration is now over 70% and rising. This compares to 59% in the US, 56% in the UK and less than 30% in Australia.
What we will now see is these larger companies taking over the CRTC and developing anti-competitive practices in order to maintain their monopoly power. The first order of business is to control the “over the top” providers such as Netflix, Apple, Boxee, etc.
Regulation in itself is neither good nor bad. We can have good regulation or bad regulation. However no regulation always favours the biggest companies because they have the power and the means to exert anti-competitive behaviour against the competition.
So, now that the CRTC is no doubt about to become manipulated by the big companies by all means. Get rid of it.
Get ready for higher prices, less competition, Canadian Fox news and more crap on TV than you can ever imagine. And, of course, less Canadian voices and the destruction of an industry that we have spend decades building to the envy of many countries in the world.
But by all means. Let’s get rid of it.
And so it begins.
@Ginny
CBC’s reporting that Bin Laden was killed recently is a lie. Harper’s (and other world leaders) comments on the ‘recent’ death reaffirms the lie, but make them complicit in the deception, that’s why I didn’t vote. Haarper still reaffirms the 911 fairy tales. That’s why he won’t take questions in an open forum. The war on terror is a fraud. Google ‘vicsims’, suspend your disbelief, the lie is MASSIVE
A Conservative Majority means apocalyptic changes for the way the Ottawa treats Quebec. For years Quebec has played the separatist song while digging deep into Ottawa’s purse. Those days are finished, Harper will now punish Quebec for turning its back on Conservatives in 2008. Quebec was given billions and turned their back on the Conservatives because they turned down 45 million of arts funding. The conservatives know that Quebec will never help them so expect many new anti-Quebec legislative initiatives that have been impossible to push through as a minority will be pushed through now they have a majority. First he will add seats to parliament, diluting Quebec and the Maritimes. Out of those seats the Conservatives are sure to gain the bulk. Next he will eliminate federal subsidies to political parties which will all but remove the Bloc from Federal Politics. The final blow to Quebec could be the cutting of equalization payments. The new powerhouse in politics will be Alberta and Toronto. Think of all the trees we could save for the Green Party by making English the official language of Canada.
#103 Prof Anon,
You are correct. A Canadian PM with a majority has lots of power. Those of us who feared what would happen with a Conservative majority didn’t sleep well last night. We are going to find out over the next 4 years just how right or wrong we were to be afraid.
#128 Bailing in BC
Lyrics are from “A Boy Named Sue” Johnny Cash
He was big and bent and grey and old and I looked at him and my blood ran cold and I said ‘My name is Sue how do you do, now you’re gonna die
#134 Realpaul wrote…
“…..get rid of the CBC now that diverse communities are no longer isolated and in need of a national broadcaster”
—————————————————–
Get rid of the CBC? Please Realpaul, put down the hatchet for a moment and take a breather. The election is over, the votes are counted. We can all behave like normal, sane people again.
I think the fear amongst many that the Conservatives will behave badly and act in a mean-spirited way following their electoral success is not rational thinking either.
The party must still work towards winning the next election and that means being accountable to all the many constituencies in the country that were not supporters on election night.
I am Conservative and I do not support eliminating the CBC. Not for one second. I would hazard to say the vast majority of people in this country support the CBC and so it is not in partisan interests to take actions that threaten future wins.
I actually watched the CBC news throughout the past month. I don’t own a TV and have not had one in my home for ten years now so one was borrowed from a friend.
I plugged it in and sat back and really enjoyed the daily coverage of events. It was terrific actually. I could easily get hooked on the tube again so I am naturally in a hurry to get this thing out of my house quickly. But I will miss it a little because of my recent discovery…..
Wendy Mesly is hot! She is such a flirt too. I had never seen her before but if she was running in the election I would have voted for her in a heartbeat.
Wendy for GG. No leader could say no to her.
Garth, your posts on the election have been illuminating. Thank you. However, once the euphoria and tears are over (depending on where the dogs sit on the issue), it would be greatly appreciated if you could provide an update on your predictions vis a vis interest rate increase in 2011 and 2012 as well as real estate prices.
Has our new Conservative majority government changed your previously posted predictions on above?
#98 Mike
Oh please, no politician is “nice” or “softhearted”. Politics is a dirty business. You have to get down with some unsavoury characters. Nothing in life is free, including campaign financing. You lay down with dogs, you either wake up with fleas, or you don’t wake up. Igy didn’t get to where he is by kissing babies and helping old ladies cross the street. He did his share of scheming, backstabbing, and making deals. No place in Ottawa for honest politicians.
“When you have made evil the means of survival, do not expect men to remain good. Do not expect them to stay moral and lose their lives for the purpose of becoming the fodder of the immoral. Do not expect them to produce, when production is punished and looting rewarded.”
So Quebec elects a couple of barristas and NDP club presidents as their MPs. What a bad joke.
Is Jack going to do anything for Quebec? More importantly, will he forbid his MP’s from putting their runners on their desk?
Will he have to put up ‘No chewing gum while parliament is in session’ signs?
This will hit us (Canada) in the face and I promise you that the PQ will take full advantage of it. How does Premier Duceppe sound? What about a new referendum within 4 years.
For comparison, this is who the Conservatives nominated to replace Prentice in Calgary. Not exactly a pub barrista.
http://www.michellerempel.ca/about/
And to be fair, they could’ve nominated a pet rock in that riding as long as it was blue.
NDP Federalist?? Ha, maybe in past elections but Jack went to the most dependent province in the confederation and promised them everything and that he would take it from other parts of the country, namely the evil oil sands.
Thats pitting one region against another just like the bloc and liberals did for ages. Its not federalist to promise more entitlements and special privileges for one group and not another while take their wealth to pay for it.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/Editorial+Oily+Jack/4705283/story.html?cid=megadrop_story
#103 Prof ANON
You’re seeing the party whip in action. The reason a majority is so desirable, is that it just doesn’t matter what the opposition does. No meaningful number of votes will defect to make a difference, and certainly not on key issues.
One of the easiest (technically) things to start fixing our electoral and political system would be to eliminate the whip. There is a free vote (imagine that) on some issues in the house, where party discipline is not enforced, so it’s not even unrealistic that it may happen.
A consequence of a free vote (aside from the obvious) is that the opposition can no longer just mindlessly and righteously blather on without consequences, knowing no one can possibly hold them to their word, because they’re a minority.
It would change the whole landscape. Sadly, I’m not likely to see this.
#134 realpaul on 05.03.11 at 10:03 am
“An entire morning of boo hoo from Ignatieff and the pundits who seem to think that a majority of Canadians are wrong. ”
Sorry….a vast majority of people actually voted against Harper.
#86 Ruraldude you wrote:
“Thank God he did get his majority. He got 39% of the popular vote. 61% of the electorate voted so if you extrapolate those numbers he got 59% of the vote. Either way he got a majority from what I can figure.”
***
I studied pure math at Oxford, and even with that background I have NO IDEA how you get “59%” from the above statement.
Don’t they teach math in rural area elementary schools?
From a political stragedy viewpoint, this was a very entertaining few years.
We saw Dion and Iggy run on a Mr. nice guy platform. No negative ads, running on issues and a platform, trying to get out their and talk to their vote.
Harper ran on fear and emotion, negative ads etc…, never wondered far from his teleprompter and always, no matter what, stuck to his talking points. Not comparing him to Bush at all, but if you watch the two adminstrations side by side it comes down to one thing.
Control your message-run on fear. The Bush crew owned every press conference they every did by controlling the message.
Rob Ford followed the same campaign formula to success as well.
Jack has always been a straight shooter, his message and the fact that he was raised in Quebec played well with the Quebec vote, he did pick up seats elsewhere but they pale compared to Quebec.
Canadians pride themselves as being different then americans, but make no mistake, the american style of election smear and negative ads was the formula to success in Canada. Even though we have this “were better then that” or “were not going to that level” let the issues decide the election mindset, its clear the fear and loathing are what sells.
BPOE
Keep up the good work. The reactions are worth it.
look back a decade when the usa had a surplus enter Mr. Bush and the promised tax cuts with agreement by the Fed Chairman. Distortions! What the heck are bailouts?
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who testified before the Senate Budget Committee that “tax reduction appears required” to prevent the federal government from accumulating too much cash. Greenspan feared that large surpluses would turn the government into the nation’s largest investor, creating distortions in the markets.
==========
Starting around year 2000 the U.S. was projected to have a $2 trillion surplus by now, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Instead, it is saddled with more than $10 trillion in debt to outside investors. (Another $4 trillion is owed to the Social Security trust fund and other government entities.)
The biggest reason for this turnaround is the loss of tax revenues, from massive tax cuts implemented under President George W. Bush—and continued under President Barack Obama—and from millions of people losing their jobs during two recessions. These factors alone robbed the federal treasury of $6.3 trillion in anticipated revenue.
Other costly decisions made under Bush include the Iraq and Afghanistan wars ($1.3 trillion) and the new prescription drug benefit (Part D) for Medicare recipients ($272 billion).
Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus added $719 billion to the debt. More tax cuts passed in December 2010 added another $391 billion. Overall, the current administration is responsible for $1.7 trillion in new debt.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
You know, politics is a lot like hockey.
There are good players who’s names we all know of course. Then there are the all-stars, the cream of the crop….the top scoring talent.
Everyone wants a Crosby, Gretzky or Hull on their team. You don’t need to like them personally either. All you really dream about is having the talent on your team to keep winning games and eventually get the Stanley Cup. The rings are there for those who win.
So if you were a big NHL team owner and you just heard that one of the franchises folded and all it’s top talent was up for grabs would you ignore that news?
And that is why both the NDP and Conservatives need to start shopping from the competition for talent. Few Canadians will realize it, but true political strategists and the key players that do the real heavy lifting for the parties, the guys who score big, represent but a handful of individuals.
They are the Gretzkies of the political world.
What will Harper do now that he can no longer be George Bush`s chubby little bum boy??? Israel loves Harper,,according to the Globe and Mail.. Now that is something to cling to.. They can have him as far as I am concerned..
More record highs for Vancouver http://yattermatters.com/wp/wp-content/images/2011/05/2011-05-01-Average-Price.jpg
#103 – Prof Anon
You are 100% correct. There are limited checks and balances in a majority government in this country. Historically the Senate was supposed to be one such check … now they are just patronage appointments by the PM to reward years of loyalty. The Senate does not exercise their power at all. Historically the Governor General was suppose to be a check … now it’s a rubber stamp. This is nothing against the Conservatives … same porblem existed when the Liberals had majority government. What needs to end is a PM’s ability to punt MPs from the party for not voting party lines. Everything would be fixed then as a PM would still be required to win the favour of his MPs. Get too radical and they bring you back in line … as it should be.
This election was really interesting.
Prof. Anon — Agreed – our legislature does a good job of checking the power of the Pres. And the Senate does a good job of acting as a check on the House.
Is Canada moving to a two-party system? Can’t tell yet, but I think this might be the biggest change.
My two cents: I don’t think Harper will want to shake the boat that much as he wants to solidify power & hopes to win over former Liberal voters. He might throw more money to the prison system and maybe buy a few jets.
Nothing huge – maybe we’ll be able to deduct our gym memberships.
My best guess fot the economy : interest rates will now slowly rise because the Tories don’t have to worry about an election for 4 years. Maybe we’ll get a little bit of an austerity program, but nothing like we’re seeing in Britian or the US at the state level.
I predict the Canadian economy will slow a tad, wages hold steady, housing prices will go down a bit, and rent prices stay steady or go down.
Frankly I don’t think Harper’s got much to offer this country. I think he’s the wrong kind of personality to be handed a majority. What we saw last night was desire for change and the fearful reaction.
5 Alternatives to the Federal Reserve:
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/05/5-alternatives-to-federal-reserve.html
Supreme Court: No “Privacy” for Corporations
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that corporations are not subject to the personal privacy exemption of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The 8-0 ruling in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T overturned a lower court ruling in AT&T’s favor, which transparency advocates had worried could have imposed significant new barriers to public access to information.
In the case, AT&T tried to block the FCC from disclosing government records related to the company in response to a FOIA request. AT&T argued that disclosure would harm the corporation’s “personal privacy,” a grounds for withholding under FOIA.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court’s opinion, which held that corporations do not have “personal privacy” for the purposes of a FOIA exemption. (Justice Elena Kagan recused herself: as Solicitor General, she represented the government in an earlier stage of the case.)
Regardless of the status of a corporation as a legal “person,” Roberts wrote, the word “personal” means something entirely different:
Certainly, if the chief executive officer of a corporation approached the chief financial officer and said, “I have something personal to tell you,” we would not assume the CEO was about to discuss company business. … In fact, we often use the word “personal” to mean precisely the opposite of business-related: We speak of personal expenses and business expenses, personal life and work life, personal opinion and a company’s view.
In closing, Roberts wrote, “We trust that AT&T will not take it personally.”
(Gavin Baker 03/01/11)
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/11528
I hear democracy is a good idea. We should try it sometime – proportional representation.
Conservatives 40% = 123 seats
NDP 31% = 95 seats
Liberals 19% = 59 seats
BQ 6% = 18 seats
Green 4% = 12 seats
Bay street love the election results so much tse down 250 points and falling.
“Going forward you have ….. (e) a summer of bleeding real estate.”
Garth I dont believe these kinds of predictions anymore. I wonder if the powers will raise rates or not. I would LOVE for them to raise rates to moderate the insane housing appreciations … but I’ve been hearing about corrections coming for 3 years.
#149 Alex – Chill dude. Pumpers have rights too. Its a free country
Hi #72 Nostra, The 17:42 chip link doesn’t seem to work? Is there another link?
#155Junius-Yes-the politically expedient thing to do would be to turn off the tap right now with the hope that things could be better when they face the electorate 4 yrs later. Prolonging the fake boom now makes no sense at all politically.
#35 BPOE on 05.02.11 at 10:40 pm
Yay, I see that your lobotomy was successful indeed. Long live Dr. Moniz!
Someone asked if Spolied ballots are counted.
They are not. See Elections Canada.
http://enr.elections.ca/home1.aspx
In fact Elections Canada calulates voter turnout by ignoring spoiled ballots, for example:
http://enr.elections.ca/ElectoralDistricts_e.aspx?type=1&criteria=t8n%203p2
The number of spoiled ballots MAY come out if there is a recount.
It’s interesting that the number of spoiled ballots is withheld from the public. The practice is clearly not encouraged.
#148 Alex
To use your own words, you are a CHILD and an ASSHOLE.
Regarding the election, I view Harper’s Conservatives of the last 5 years as our version of George W.s Republicans from his 1st term.
Although I was hoping to clear the incumbent government out this election, I would have felt badly for whoever won because they would have born the brunt of the consequences the the last 5 years.
This way, the responsibility for Harper and Flaherty’s meddling in the CMHC and the false recovery it has brought will be entirely their own over the next 4 years and we and others around the world can learn from this mistake. And in fairness to those on the opposite side of the argument, if somehow they have indeed pulled the rabbit out of the hat, then they will get the credit they deserve and we can all learn from it.
Woooooooooooo …. Conservative majority!
Alas, my riding went NDP.
The Conservatives have saved us $1.2 billion – no more federal elections for 4 more years!
There are only two things left I worry about; the financial stability of the United States and the reactors in Japan. I pray both are positively resolved soon.
Bay street already KNEW harper would have a majority. What you are seeing today is profit taking and money flowing out of Quebec.
in response to the funny math posting #168 dave99 on 05.03.11 at 12:53 pm
dave99, I too had trouble following Ruraldude’s logic. I think his premise is that if you multiply 61% by 1.64 it equals 100% (ie “gross it up” to 100), and then he multiplied the 39% by the same factor to get 59% (never mind that 39 times 1.64 equals 64…)
The thing he doesn’t seem to understand is that “per cent” actually means “per hundred”, and our pal Harper actually still would have had 39% if the whole country voted in the same ratios.
hm. And to think the Cons make fun of NDP economic/math skills :)
**************************
#86 Ruraldude you wrote:
“Thank God he did get his majority. He got 39% of the popular vote. 61% of the electorate voted so if you extrapolate those numbers he got 59% of the vote. Either way he got a majority from what I can figure.”
***
I studied pure math at Oxford, and even with that background I have NO IDEA how you get “59%” from the above statement.
Don’t they teach math in rural area elementary schools?
Prices hit a new all time high in Vancouver for the month of April. (AGAIN)
Detached Attached Apartment
April 11 – $1,204,587 $573,318 $483,424
April 10 – $1,003,884 $551,385 $427,847
April 09 – $816,801 $463,283 $364,074
Prices up 50% in two years for detached houses in Vancouver!
Garth what do you have to say to this?
Even a 30% correction wouldn’t even take Vancouver back to 2009.
Are you prepared to say that (maybe) there is a somewhat new norm in Vancouver? By that I mean that no matter how bad things get a detached home is out of reach (and will now always be) for most families in Vancouver?
Sure, that makes sense. The market will stay high because nobody can afford houses. — Garth
SPOILED BALLOTS
Actually they are officially called Rejected Ballots and the statistics for these will come out, though not right away it seems. It appears they will be out in a week or two as the election results are not yet official. (Take that Harper)
http://www.elections.ca/enr/help/help_notices_e.htm#IN_VT
Rejected ballots: Any ballot that has not been marked or has been incorrectly marked by the elector is not counted. Statistics on rejected ballots will be available only after the validated election results are released.
the markets celebrating the pro-business majority !
#155 Junius & BigAl
Totally agree
Gives you real confidence in the Government …. doesn’t it?
The voters in the rural Quebec riding of Berthier-Maskinonge are the smartest in the country. They elected Ruth Ellen Brosseau. Ruth ran a brilliant campaign from her head quarters in Las Vegas, Nevada.
She’s a St. Lawrence College grad in Publicity, Communications and Marketing and wants to help injured animals. Maybe work towards World Peace too. Who knows?
Her predominately francophone riding may encounter some communications problems with Ruth since she doesn’t speak French. No matter …… Like every politician, she will make sacrifices for her constituents.
She’ll be on leave from her career as a waitress in Ottawa for the next four years. Tips are appreciated.
We certainly see who the bullies are in Canadian society. Harper congratulated laytons win and the party faithful applauded……..on the other side we saw the NDP malcontents booing the new PM.
We had the same experiance with the nastiness and tyrrany of the left here in BC when the NDP was in power here during the lost decade. At the time storm troopers of the union movement would barge into constituency offices and town meetings to shout down and harrass anyone who opposed them.
Iggy was ungracious in defeat…….saying that the Canadian people would be sorry. He kept repeating the party platform ….as if anyone was listening.
I’m sure glad we have a gracious and humble PM in office and not some jack boot goomba. The NDP and Liberals showed that they feel entitled to power, entitled to enforce their ideology on the majority without consent. Bad losers make for bad leaders…..learn a lesson from BC’s ‘lost decade’. Don’t get me started on ONtario under Bob Rae…..in case you forgot.
And of course we don’t want another CBC dilletante representing Canada as GG. The appointments of CBC execs into politics is exactly why the CBC should be gutted. Political partisanship has no place in public reportage. The fear campaign against the PM over the past five years should have everyone aware of how wrong it was to use tax dollars to defend a losing, unpopular ideology. No more promises of GG jobs and senate plums should shut the CBC douchebags down.
#190 tkid on 05.03.11 at 2:38 pm…………..lol well i will give you something else to worry about..the only damn thing now that will change ANYTHING Harper wants to do is riot in the streets (does Libya ring a bell? )
#26 – Investor’s Friend – St. Albert is great. Used to love the rural French feel there. Anyone driving in Woodlands could have seen the huge Liberal sign on my lawn come election time. I did it to counter my neighbours puny little Conservative sign. Actually, i think it must have been an Reform sign. Either way, it was a hoot!
.#127 Bailing in BC – Johnny Cash “A Boy Named Sue” with a slight twist using “Tory’. Classic, reminds me of my Dad in the very best way.
#135 Ginny – I agree, CBC forever!
A little sad for Iggy this morning as I think he had good intentions. Felt the same for Dion.
Elizabeth May – good on ya! We’ll be watching and cheering!
#37 JohnnyBGood
Good points you raise there.
Revisiting Canada’s political past is one spin that could be used to describe the outcome of yesterday’s federal election. The Whigs (Liberals) and the Tories (Conservatives) dominated federal politics for years following Confederation in 1867.
BOLSHEVIK THOUGHTS ON THE PRAIRIES
The advent of additional political parties really got traction, following World War One (abetted by the Russian Bolshevik Revolution), and during the later Great Depression. One of those movements, the CCF, predecessor to the NDP, started out in Calgary, of all places, around 1934.
Then, times were so horrible and many people felt so abandoned by the two “Old Line Parties” that they expressed themselves in political and civil rebellion. Those were very bad times alright.
UNWIELDY?
In 2011 we see the return to essentially two-party politics at the federal level. But there’s no Depression (yet) and no prairie Dust Bowl.
The Tories and the NDP are very large coalitions leaving in tatters the Liberals and BLOC. The Greens are no future protest movement, but more of a protest vote from flighty Greater Victoria.
The question is: will this two-party system survive or become too unwieldy for those in control?
Too soon to tell, but in the near future I see trouble ahead for the NDP and Mr. Jack. A good half of his caucus is from Quebec.
Imagine how history has changed. A rump Western Canadian Depression-era socialist movement morphs into a national party with the greatest single representation coming from the most politically-volatile province of them all, Quebec! Tommy Douglas, for one, would have been fascinated I’m sure.
However, Mr. Harper has got it made. He started out working for Reform, a right-wing rump group from the West, Calgary (!), and now he heads a majority government with the “Old Line” name Conservative. Fascinating, this history!
Harper’s goal is to improve Canada’s economic prospects in a terribly dangerous world. We keep our fingers crossed for us all.
Mr. Layton and Mr. Harper have pledged mutual cooperation in their duties and obligations they now have been handed by the voters. I believe both tell the truth, and that they will represent ALL Canadians’ interests.
But it is the Quebec-equation I find the most fascinating. This could get interesting.
VICTORIA REAL ESTATE
“Pull up the drawbridge” was a state-of-mind phenomenon encountered years ago when we moved here. There was and still is a desire, by many here, to see NO MORE people moving to this apparently blessed place.
We should be careful for what we think and say, because if Canada’s economy heads for the ditch, short-term because of events beyond our control, that old drawbridge could remain lowered with NOBODY coming across!
Real estate here is not quite the attraction it used to be. Interest rates are going to rise, regardless of the Canadian dollar’s daily gyrations.
It is our collective debt that has to be worked through the system, using the blunt instrument of high interest rates. National solvency is the goal, not insolvency.
We have miles to go before we reap.
#151 Cellar Dwellar on 05.03.11 at 11:31 am
@#90 Jody and #145 John M
let me guess, you BOTH 20 something university students with Huge brains and zero experience in the real world…….
Knowledge isnt just in a book you’ve memorized in “socialism 101″…………..Lol..well i don’t know Jody or you but i would bet i am older than you and i have learned one thing about you..Jody and i are both a hell of a lot better informed than you :-)..have a nice day sucker!
Junius, posting #155 is absolutely right. The reality is that housing in most markets is grossly overpriced, in a bubble. History has shown that whenever a bubble occurs, it eventually bursts and comes back to an equilibrium value consistent with the long term trend. The Conservatives are well aware of this fact, and understand the fallout from the bubble collapsing will not be good for the economy and they will end up being at least partly blamed for it. That would greatly reduce their chance of being re-elected if they waited another year. That’s why they created the conditions for an election (contempt of Parliament), to take advantage of an economy that’s probably the best it will be for some time. There was a closing window of opportunity so they took a gamble and they won, in fact were probably surprised they got a majority. Although I didn’t vote for the Conservatives myself, it was a good strategy on their part.
What’s with this bashing of the CBC? It’s one of the few stations (there are others like TV Ontario, but they don’t have as big an audience) that gives decent coverage of what’s going on in Canada and the world, not just what a corporation wants you to hear or what makes the most money. A good example is Global TV, trying to feed the already over inflated real estate bubble, so the consequences of the inevitable crash will be even worse. Need I say more?
#169 ((Canadians pride themselves as being different then americans, but make no mistake, the american style of election smear and negative ads was the formula to success in Canada. Even though we have this “were better then that” or “were not going to that level” let the issues decide the election mindset, its clear the fear and loathing are what sells.))
of course, just by coincidence, all the fear and loathing emanates from those you see as your political enemies, eh?
“Ah wad some power the giftie gie us. To see ourselves as others see us.” … Rabbie Burns
I’m currently in my late 20s living with my parents. Before you start laughing understand that in my culture, one does not usually move out unless they married.
So while my family arranges my marriage, I’ve been saving up looking at the market. I own one rental property that I wasn’t planning on listing, a condo in downtown Toronto. I wasn’t planning on selling this as I intended to eventually move in.
Now I’m thinking I should list it, wait it out, and possibly rent if I need to. Bear in mind it is likely I’ll be hitched within the year.
I’m strongly considering selling now and violating all cultural traditions by renting at first although this won’t be easy to live down.
“Normally, of course, when supply falls by a quarter or more you’d expect prices to jump substantially”
Not taking into consideration the $3mil houses you’ve mentioned, the median SFH in Calgary went up 5% in April on a mom base, or 60% anualized. Is that not a substantial jump? I mean 60% is higher than 8% or 15% is it not?
“The average price of single family homes in the City of Calgary in April 2011 was $479,575, a 4 per cent increase from April 2010 levels. Meanwhile, the median price of $420,000 rose by 1 per cent over levels
recorded in April 2010.” (CREB) Only you could turn 1% into 60%. — Garth
#155 Junius
Great analysis regarding Harper’s brilliant timing of the election. As you said, the Cons now have all the power to run the show their way and will be free to change the game. Although I rarely post on this illustrious blog, I read it regularly and pay attention to your comments. You are articulate and always present an interesting point of view. Thank-you and keep it up!!
#111 JoelToronto- LOL!!! Good one.
I see with a Conservative Majority a huge Housing Market Correction in Alberta for sure. In addition to soaring electrical costs, taxes for RE & Insurance… many good located Medi-Centre and other Clinics with be privatized very quickly. It started in Calgary and I understand the Fee is $3500 a year to be able to join the clinic ($10,000 Family Rate). This will further make the costs of living go up for many, as access to good Health Care could become expensive.
IN Edmonton already we have over 30% of the Families living in poverty! How will anyone be able to afford all this? Foreclosures still up over 600% since the boom in 2007…
Further to my comments against CBC bashing, Canada just wouldn’t the same (and for the worse) without characters like Rick Mercer, Peter Mansbridge, or Bob MacDonald. The CBC must be preserved!
PS…All morning Jack Layton has been regurgitating the nonsense he dreamt up for the election. He’s had more airtime than every other story. It looks like the CBC is on to another ‘Anything but Harper’ redux. They just don’t get it.
Anyway Jack has been blathering about capping credit cards fees so that ‘Canadians can afford their debt’. Hey Jock..heres a suggestion…..all the legacy taxes slathered on by the Liberals over the decades and had to be carried through the minority government should now be axed so that Canadians have more money in their pockets.
Its taxes that have killed the Canadian consumer Jack. If Canadians weren’t being robbed for half their paycheques every month then they definatley would have more disposable cash to pay down debt.
And now for a crazy post……
It is my opinion that the Conservatives should be a soft touch on the NDP during the coming sessions, that they should endeavor, whenever possible, to be cooperative and work with (even to nurture) the party as it develops.
It is not in the interests of the CPC to humiliate Jack, his policy platform or his some of the newer weak members of this caucus. It would be easy to bully them of course but lets remember though that the NDP will need to see some successes too.
Why do I say that? It is simple really. To deprive Jack and his party of the opportunity to take home a few prizes (particularly for his Quebec constituency) is to invite the re-emergence of the Bloc.
It would also serve to encourage the rebuilding of the Liberal party to take center stage next election, four years from now. Nature hates a void. So it is with politics too. The empty space needs to be filled before it is overgrown again with the alternatives and this is why a new era of cooperation in parliament is in the best interests of both senior parties now.
My point here is that a strong NDP will result in a permanently weakened Bloc and that is a good outcome for the country that seems clearly headed for a two party system.
It is my belief therefore that this term of Government should be even more conciliatory towards the opposition than in many past terms. More than was ever considered under a minority government even.
Cooperation is the order of the day and meeting the NDP part way on some of their core promises to voters will help ensure the parties strength over the long term which will help create greater political stability in the country.
Beating them up every day and ignoring them from the lofty perch of majority status will only encourage a backlash later and result in a resurgence of parties that now appear to be not only in decline, but possibly even on the verge of extinction.
Nurturing the NDP now is maybe not so crazy after all.
TIME TO PROFIT
Hey everyone, let’s face it, the system is screwed… Having just watched the documentary “inside job” I suggest we find ways to short any stocks in Canada that are linked to RE.
Any pointers on how to short a stock? Never done it before. Also time to buy some silver, it’s done a bit, but not for long!
Good luck!
With that strategy, you’ll need it. — Garth
Harpo has the NDP right where he wants them… Harpo Hito will let Jack blather away in parliament knowing full well that none of the NDP plans will ever be adopted. Four years of a waste of time and Jack will spend his prime years in the house listening to himself argue away and making ZERO impact on anything in parliament. All bills will pass….all things he wants to axe will be axed perhaps with tons of blather in the House but with no impact whatsoever. Not so much of a parliament. Anyone who voted NDP and WON will get some technical representation only… none of their concerns will be addressed.. Just not the way the Torys work. What a waste. The only winner is Harpo Jung Il. Wake me up in four years.
#211 Utopia on 05.03.11 at 5:30 pm
And now for a crazy post……
It is my opinion that the Conservatives should be a soft touch on the NDP during the coming sessions, that they should endeavor, whenever possible, to be cooperative and work with (even to nurture) the party as it develops…………………Excuse me but are you for real?…:-) Harper attacks and destroys anything in his path with whatever it takes……….Jack (and i like him) has won a seat to watch the action because there really will not be a damn thing he can do about it!………. kind of like “going to a gunfight without a gun” :-)
Prairie Girl 137 Market will be up tomorrow… NOT
Down almost 300 points. Even the great Harpo cannot resurrect a market that is poised for sell in May and go away.
It’s Tuesday. The election is over. Are you adapting?
Well, a rhetorical question really. You have no ‘choice’ in the matter.
———————————————————-
#211 Utopia
Two’s company, three’s a crowd. Hmmm.
Stevie and Jocko…Best friends for evaaa. ;)
#216 Timing is Everything to #211 Utopia
Two’s company, three’s a crowd. Hmmm.
Stevie and Jocko…Best friends for evaaa.
———————————————————-
Yup….for now. Now if I could just figure out how to make one of those winky smiley faces like you did I would send one back at you too!
In response to Cellar Dweller #149
First, I’m not old.
Second, I voted Green.
Third, in light of your comments, no need to explain your name…I can already see you don’t get out much.
#214 john m writing to #211 Utopia
………Excuse me but are you for real?…:-)
__________________________________________
Yes John, yes I am real. I trust my instincts when it comes to winning the really big fights and sometimes that means doing things that run contrary to ordinary thinking. Working with your opposition can be the same as defeating your future potential rivals and knocking off the ghosts of the past.
#203 Evangeline
Actually, no, Dion and Iggy tried to run on ideals and their platform, if I would have been the communication director I would ran with the same negativity that Harper did.
In the last 3 elections the NDP and Liberals tried to run on this nice guy platform. the Bloc and Con;s ran on fear.
Think i am wrong? inform yourself, go look at the transcripts of various speeches the party leaders gave, they are available on the internet. And tell me again who is running on fear? negative ads?? really, are you serious?
Im a swing voter, i vote for who i think is the best person for the job at that time.
Linda Pearson on 05.03.11 at 10:27 am#96 Tim on 05.03.11 at 5:26 am
“While I disagree with Harpers contempt of parliament, his secrecy and his G20 fiasco, he is still a better choice than socialism and high taxation. FinAlly some political stability…”
You’re right. And so we settle….for less than we deserve. Not good enuf!
http://www.bankwatch.org/
An opaque web of offshore companies and oligarchs behind the controversial Moscow–St. Petersburg motorway public-private partnership provides new grounds for the Russian government to re-examine the project.
The concession-holder – the North West Concession company (NWCC), led by French construction giant Vinci – consists of a whole network of companies, ending up in the British Virgin Islands, where it is impossible to obtain information about shareholders”, explains Pippa Gallop, Bankwatch’s Research Co-ordinator. “These complex set-ups seem to be aimed at hiding the true beneficiaries of NWCC’s lucrative contract, which is unacceptable enough in any case but especially in a publicly funded infrastructure project.”
“Nevertheless, the research has confirmed the involvement of Prime Minister Putin’s reported associate Arkady Rotenberg”, she continues. “This obviously raises questions about the integrity of the 2008 tender process, in which only one bidder qualified, and about the Russian government’s December 2010 decision to continue with the disputed routing through Khimki Forest near Moscow, after President Medvedev had called a halt to preparatory works in late August.”
Download the full report, Vinci – a cover for oligarchs and tax havens in Russia’s first road PPP. It is a fascinating but unpleasant study looking at the nexus between money, political power, tax havens, environmental and human rights issues.
Oh the indignity.
Here I was hoping for a sock to be put in Baird and Baird Jr. (Poilievre), and instead I will even have to put up with (un)realpaul’s crowing for four years!
Garth,
I know you will love this one: http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/apa/2360144201.html
It seems that RE agents in Vancouver are getting desperate!
““While many MPs went down to defeat last night, most are still big winners,” said CTF National Research Director Derek Fildebrandt. “Even though losing an election can be hard, MPs should find a nice soft landing with their ‘golden parachute.’”
Seventeen former MPs will gather more than $100,000-plus a year in pension income including: Peter Milliken ($147K), Gilles Duceppe ($141K), Joe Volpe ($120K), and Jean-Pierre Blackburn ($106K).
As for the biggest lifetime winners (estimated benefits to age 80) 5 MPs enter the $3-million dollar-plus club including: Keith Martin ($3.9 million), Albina Guarnieri ($3.8 million), Jay Hill ($3.3 million), Chuck Strahl ($3.3 million) and Michel Guimond ($3 million). An additional 19 MPs will receive more than $2 million before reaching age 80.
The CTF supports a reasonable pension plan and severance package for MPs commensurate with norms in the private sector. Since it’s founding in 1990, the CTF has consistently advocated for the introduction of a matching dollar-for-dollar defined-contribution pension plan – as the CTF successfully campaigned for in[S1] , Saskatchewan and Ontario. The current federal defined-benefit pension plan requires taxpayers to cough up $4 for every $1 contributed by an MP.”
Lovely. Unlike our host, some people are rather, shall we say, in it for the money?
http://tinyurl.com/6glk8c7
The Reform Party is now the Government of Canada. This could be fun,
There will be no more Federal Government stimulus programs. It’s sink or swim time folks. If you’re treading water like many families in Canada have with 150% debt to income ratios .. Here’s the good news … Energy costs are rising which means the cost of EVERYTHING is rising unless you own an oil well and grow your own food in your back yard and use compost to feed it. For everyone else Food costs are rising. Insurance costs are rising. Small car prices are about to jump into low orbit if we have a shortage on Hondas and Toyotas as the companies predict. Interest rates are going up… Way up! As the Bank of Canada takes direct action against inflation. So here we have a stagnant economy …. inflation looming to zoom up to who knows where.
I’m old enough to remember in 1981, Mortgages rates peaked to 21%. driven by rising oil prices and a stubborn economy.
It’s not all bad. Many more manufacturing plants will close in Ontario. All the unemployed can enjoy a much cleaner environment without as many polluters.
This is your future …. Prime Minister Stephen Harper used to lead this organization.
http://nationalcitizens.ca/doc_bin/Agenda%20For%20Canada%20PDF.pdf
” Only you could turn 1% into 60%. — Garth”
As I’ve clearly mentioned in my post, median SFH price in Calgary for the month of April has increased 5% over the month of March same year (mom) or 60% annualized.
Who cares about 1% yoy? People who want to get anywhere should look ahead not in the rear view mirror.
My cousin lives in Victoria and she affectionately refers to the places as “the land of raisin ranches”…LOL
Where’s “UK rhymes with Gay”?
Still at the Chinese owned Jaguar factory pulling a half shift because no one’s buying crappy Brit cars anymore? Or are you one of the 500,000 Brits that got the axe from a useless govt job that has been judged “redundant” and your standing in the welfare line ? Has your new “improved”health care system wheezed its last fiscal gasp before the cuts come.
Perhaps if you stop eating deep fried mars bars and chips with your pint of flat, room temperature, meade you could shape up and strive to be a David Bekam or Sean Connery or . You know, living ANYWHERE ELSE BUT the TAX to DEATH British Isles.
Yeah, all us Canucks wanna live in Londonistan.
Hows the Owe -Limp-icks workin for ya.
Enjoy the party cause the Billion of Pounds bills come later.
bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
wankerrrrrrrrrrr
“Ho hum, another realpaul rant”, I thought, and then I spotted this little gem in #197
I’m sure glad we have a gracious and humble PM in office and not some jack boot goomba.
That brought on a chuckle. Funniest post of the day!
Of course Shiller was right sell Vancouver in 2005. Shiller what a fool.
McLovin on 05.03.11 at 3:24 pm
Prices hit a new all time high in Vancouver for the month of April. (AGAIN)
Detached Attached Apartment
April 11 – $1,204,587 $573,318 $483,424
April 10 – $1,003,884 $551,385 $427,847
April 09 – $816,801 $463,283 $364,074
@250 Zorik from Apr30th
#242 CrowdedElevatorFartz on 05.02.11 at 12:14 pm
I am here because you short mind rednecks and yankee destroyed Soviet Union. America paid big money destroy it. Read history and facts. Now same they does in Middle East and started Africa. Expect new immigrants from Libia. By the way I came to this best life I believe your propaganda about canadian dream.
End up with debt which I will leave for you to pay ….
Yup , I rest my case. I’ve worked with 3 Ukranians, 2 Russians, and 2 Serbs over the past 10 years.
Every one of them was arguementative, opinionated and stubborn.
They ALL told me the “American Dream” was to have a job where all you did was sit in an office with your feet up on the desk while you barked orders over the phone.
Big shocker when they actually had to get their hands dirty.
They all hated Canada and couldnt wait to either move to the U.S. or back home.
3 of them moved home and and within a year they CAME BACK. Because they realized what shitholes their former countries were AND there was no work, there was no LAW, and there was no HOPE.
Dont let the door hit you on the way home to Mother Russia.
Say “Hi” to any of the honest Oligarchs if you can find one.
Vladimir Putins a real peach. Cant wait to see what he’s gonna do when he gets back in power next year.
The West didnt destroy Russia .
Lazy Russians did.
UK jokes( redundant):
An English man, a Scottish man and an Irish man all entered a 26 mile long swimming race. After 12 miles the Scottish man gets tired and drops out. Then after 16 miles the English man gets tired and drops out. After 25 miles the Irish man decides he can’t finish the race, so he turns around and swims back to the start.
An Essex girl was driving down the A13 when her car phone rang. It was her boyfriend, urgently warning her, “Treacle, I just heard on the news that there’s a car going the wrong way on the A13. Please be careful!” “It’s not just one car!” said the Essex girl, “There’s hundreds of them!”
A man was passing a country estate and saw a sign on the gate. It read: “Please ring bell for the caretaker.” He rang the bell and an old man appeared. “Are you the caretaker?” the fellow asked. “Yes, I am,” replied the old man. “What do you want?” “I’d just like to know why you can’t ring the bell yourself.”
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine they lay down for the night, and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend awake. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars.” “What does that tell you?” Holmes questioned. Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?” Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. “Watson, you idiot. Someone has stolen our tent.”
Three tourists were driving through Wales. As they were approaching Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, they started arguing about the pronunciation of the town’s name. They argued back and forth until they stopped for lunch. As they stood at the counter one asked the blonde employee, “Before we order, could you please settle an argument for us? Would you please pronounce where we are… very slowly?” The girl leaned over the counter and said, “Burrrrrr, gerrrrrr, Kiiiiiing.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Metro+Vancouver+home+sales+down+eight+cent+from+year/4720103/story.html#ixzz1LKoIel1z Seems to be slowing down a bit BPOE which of course does not matter as long as you do not make a living from selling houses…
Actually…we rigged the vote..we would have won…but we wanted Harper in
Iggy pissed me off….I lent him a few bucks….never repaid so we thought we would take out the Liberals.
Anyhow…we will vote for a Speaker than can’t count….ie someone from the Finance Ministry….thus they can’t tell the Harper has a majority
It looks like our great and glorious leader has once again triumphed victoriously against the forces of evil, only this time even more so (he finally got a majority).
Hopefully, Canadians can now move forward without the threat of the Lieberals, NDPee, Blockheads, and Green Slime plotting against their freely chosen and duly elected hero.
Sane and sensible people did not have any choice in this election.
No one with even two brain cells to rub together would ever vote for any politician who would try to use that “man-made Global Warming / Cooling / Changing / Whatever” SCAM to try to tax everyone into oblivion with so-called “carbon taxes” while pretending that they were doing it “to save the planet.”
Such shake-down artists and their agendas are typically so vile that they might even yet someday bring down the curse of God and destroy the planet!!!
These parties (now officially known as the LOSERS) literally had nothing but EVIL to offer. Think about that!
Even if there are problems in the next several years, such as house prices declining, it would only have been worse with those other characters in power.
“Industrial Guy” I briefly read the attached pdf from the National Citizen’s Coalition and didn’t see anything wrong with their policies recommendations except maybe the CBC matter. Nowhere was there a mention of scrapping the Long Gun Registry, Mandatory Minimum Jail Sentences for Marijuana, against Insite, the Rule of Law or Parliament etc. The Conservatives are ideological and Neocon which goes beyond what was mentioned in the National Citizens Report.
#200 VICTORIA TEA PARTY
I always like to look at history for a guide to present and future events. But I’m not sure it would help explain current circumstances very much. The Canada of today is a very different place from the Canada of the early 20th century.
What the election results could signify is a growing polarization of the Canadian population.
We are increasingly becoming a nation of haves and have-nots in many spheres. Government workers make far higher incomes than private sector workers doing comparable jobs. Corporate executives make multiples of the average Canadian annual income. There are many Canadians with a great deal of wealth. But there are many more Canadians with negative net worth. Many can’t afford 2-million dollar homes, but an increasing number can’t even afford to eat. There is the growing generational divide between retiring workers who will need more and more tax dollars to support them, while a smaller percentage of young people will carry that burden. Rich v poor. Tax payer v tax taker. Retired v worker. Capitalist v socialist. People with pensions v people without. Employees v the self-employed. Those with private health care v those who must suffer a deteriorating public system.
I can go on, but suffice to say perhaps more than any other time in history, our society is being divided along many fronts.
And with this development, the Canada that so many of us know and love may be dying a slow, undignified death. Let’s hope not.
In response to #204 by Theone: Forget the cultural traditions; continue to use your brain and rent instead. It’s the more sensible course of action. The cultural traditions of your family probably originated in a society without the rampant over leveraged buying frenzy we have here which led to a bubble. It’s not the first time that’s happened, and it probably won’t be the last either.Does anyone here remember the early 1990’s?
BPOE, well lookie lookie. Metro Vancouver home sales are down 8% from a year ago. See, you’re only just starting this game, and you’re already 1/3 of the way to the decline of Seattle’s. Like I said, 40%+ GUARANTEED price correction in Vancouver. Pretty cool, huh?
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Metro+Vancouver+home+sales+down+eight+cent+from+year/4720103/story.html#ixzz1LKoIel1z
HEY ZORICK!
When you go back to Russia and cant find a job and eventually end up living in a cardboard box on the mean streets of Moscow.
Dont eat the yellow snow.
:)
VICTORIA REAL ESTATE
“Pull up the drawbridge” was a state-of-mind phenomenon encountered years ago when we moved here. There was and still is a desire, by many here, to see NO MORE people moving to this apparently blessed place.
====================================
Hell ya!
This stems from a long standing fear of Victoria becoming a rich mans retirement haven. I would love to see homes here drop by half in value maybe then my kids could afford to live in their birthplace, many homes here get passed onto family (3 on my street) but regardless of what I want or Garth’s view I think a drop from here of 10 to 20% is a normal market correction for the gains we had since early 2000. Victoria experienced this in the late 80’s we had a 100% gain, 20% drop then 6yrs of flat home prices. I think the same will happen this time except I really don’t know what to expect 6yrs from now.
An FYI for the silver bugs out there…even Sprott is now selling. Be careful playing out there folks.
http://www.financialpost.com/news/business-insider/biggest+silver+bulls+world+just+started+selling/4718476/story.html
@#240 The American
keep it up! Together we can defeat him(BPOE)
:)
Hmmm.
A big development(REMY) in Richmond was destroyed by fire last night.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Controversial+housing+project+destroyed+massive+Richmond+blaze/4726549/story.html
What is interesting is the developer partnered with various levels of Gov’t on all sorts of themes.
The fire broke out at approx 11 PM
Most of these sites have fences and 24 /7 security, especially after crews go home.
Not casting assuations…but if the economy is tanking…may there be an epidemic of suspicious fires???