EDMONTON DAILY PHOTO

Edmonton is one of the largest northern urban centers in the world. Located in Canada, Edmonton is the capital city of Alberta. The city has a strong history as a trade center, and it served as the last major stop for the Klondikers during the Gold Rush. This is why we Edmontonions call our city "The Gateway to the North"


Please enjoy my perspective of one of of the fastest growing urban areas this side of China.


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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Billions!!

Billions and Trillions of dollars.... Can you even fathon what a trillion dollars is? I can't, but yet we throw the words around..

The newly elected Canadian conservative government is a bit of a concern for me. Under them government spending has ballooned to it's highest levels. The public service has grown to be the largest it's ever been and they have cut progressive consumption taxes and replaced it with questionable tax credits. These tax credits allow families to claim for children's sports fees. Sadly giving a credit on your yearly tax return does nothing for those who couldn't pay the fees in the first place. In other words the socially disadvantaged cannot access these services and this tax program doesn't help it either. In fact it may even inflate the cost.

Harper finds himself in an interesting position. He did not get in by winning the popular vote. About 60% of Canadians voted for left or liberal leaning parties while only 40% voted for right leaning. When the 40% of Conservative canadians are polled they don't actually agree with a lot of Harpers more conservative campaign ideas.

We could open this up to a global perspective and talk about honduras and our recent free trade agreement, but this is a blog about Edmonton. So..... Canadian cities are horribly underfunded and rely on a taxation system that makes no allowance for peoples actual income, just the value of their homes. To top this all off Alberta is a Conservative strong hold. The political party can take Alberta for granted because no matter what they do or don't do Alberta votes blue.

This poster is plastered to one of the "decorative" polls on 124st. I like how it's decrepit state plays off the "billions" in corporate giveaways. I look at the riots in London and wonder.... is it time for a revolution?

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