Montreal City Weblog

Kate 19:23 on 2021-05-02 Permalink Reply  

• jeather 19:56 on 2021-05-02 Permalink

  Wonder what percentage the MNA pay was bumped this year.

• Ephraim 20:10 on 2021-05-02 Permalink

  To quote the law “The annual indemnity shall subsequently be increased by a percentage equal to the percentage of increase applicable to the salary scales for the group of positions of senior executive officers in the public service, as of the effective dates of the new salary scales.”

• Tim S. 21:41 on 2021-05-02 Permalink

  To be clear, the offer only matches inflation if inflation is less than 8% over three years. If it’s more than that, the workers (including me) will be losing buying power. And while inflation has been low for awhile, after the chaos of the past year I don’t believe anyone who makes predictions about the economy. Especially given the stuff posted earlier about the shipping container shortage!

• SMD 22:16 on 2021-05-02 Permalink

  “We’ve reached the capacity of what we can pay. So when some union leaders say ‘We want more money,’ well, we don’t have anymore money,” Legault said at a news conference following the meeting.

  Meanwhile… “ The automobile insurance board (SAAQ) coffers are overflowing to the point where Quebec drivers will not have to pay insurance premiums in 2022 and 2023. […] In total, almost $1.16 billion will be left in Quebec drivers’ pockets.” (https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/quebec-driver-s-licence-fees-to-be-slashed-drivers-to-pay-just-over-20-1.5408940)

• Ephraim 04:46 on 2021-05-03 Permalink

  You cannot take money from the SAAQ to the general fund. It’s not allowed. It’s a mutual insurance fund.

• Raymond Lutz 08:38 on 2021-05-03 Permalink

  @Ephraim, Paul Martin and S. Harper did it (with assurance-emploi funds); and Parizeau cashed in the first check from the SAAQ, voted by the preceding governments (Bourassa and Johnson, 1985-1994).

• SMD 09:29 on 2021-05-03 Permalink

  Merci, Raymond.

• Ephraim 10:08 on 2021-05-03 Permalink

  @Raymond – First of all, not the same fund. But they shouldn’t have and we have paid and are paying for it. The funds would have been there for this pandemic, if they hadn’t of illegally taken the money. But basically if you are going to set this as a precedent… what’s to stop them from raiding the QPP/RRQ and the rest of the CDPDQ? At what point are you going to stand up?

• Uatu 10:28 on 2021-05-03 Permalink

  Thanks heroes for all your hard work. Now fuck off.

• Raymond Lutz 10:44 on 2021-05-03 Permalink

  @Ephraim, I’m not saying it was OK. Comme dit Macron “Il n’y a pas d’argent magique”… Ce à quoi je répoonds: mais oui, il y en a, plein! Et dans les arbres! 🙂 Government Debt is a myth, used by the elite to enslave us.

• Ephraim 13:28 on 2021-05-03 Permalink

  @Raymond Central government debt is a myth. Provincial debt isn’t managed in the same manner. Quebec’s many bonds and interest payments are a clear indication of that. And at one time, the over borrowing was costing Quebec in the bond markets.

  But I think we need to make a clear delineation between mutual insurance funds and government funds. And we should have drawn that line a LONG time ago. Insurance, if done correctly should bring 100+%. But if you let corporations hand it, it brings in 80% all the way down to less than 40%, in the case of Gerber Life. I’d rather that the SAAQ money not get involved. I’m not saying that they should (or even shouldn’t) get more money. I’m willing (as with many things) to have no opinion in the matter at all. But the place to look for it is NOT in the SAAQ funds. The place to look for it is in efficiency and more open government.

  For example, as I have said before, ask the employees where you can save money. Charge more for certain paperwork. First one that comes to mind, is a higher fee to register a hypothec against a property and a fee against the filer if the consumer contests the filing, as a place where entirely new fees can be “discovered”. (I know personally that some unscrupulous lawyers have registered an illegal hypotec against a property and there currently is no system to actually fight it. Put in a higher fee, so they need to think carefully before they register a hypothec. Put in a fee for the consumer to request documentation proving the right of the person filing. Put in a fine for the lawyer for not providing documentation on time, another fee for not having the documentation, etc.

  And let’s not even start with the fact that Revenu Quebec has done almost nothing with their dossier of illegal AirBnBs, which represents not just the fines, but also 7 years back worth of taxation. And how many other dossiers is Revenu Quebec not actually doing anything about? Why are they not providing an annual report detailing their collections in each category that they are responsible for? What is being done? Are they tracking paypal accounts as they should? How about other transfers? Deposits into personal accounts when they exceed $1000 annually? I’m sure we can come up with plenty of places where we can see funds that aren’t collecting all the taxes.

• ant6n 14:01 on 2021-05-03 Permalink

  It seems like right now, the CDPQ is raiding us