Comments by "John Holst" (@johnholst) on "CBC News" channel.

  1. I'm a Canuck living in Korea. Years ago, they made it mandatory for products to show the per unit price here. It really does help people simplify their shopping. Canada needs this as well.
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  2. I've lived most of my adult life overseas, where we have excellent health care. But I moved back to Canada for a short while and was shocked. Couldn't get a family doctor and had to visit the ER once and the wait was crazy. And that was years ago when it was far better than now. I left Canada again and won't be going back. Once you get used to good healthcare, you can't go back. Makes me sad to say so, but Canada just isn't a great place to live anymore.
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  3. That sure sounded like a word salad to me. She didn't really say anything that justifies this extra tax on Canadians. As long as the big three polluters aren't serious about reducing their emissions, it doesn't matter at all what Canada does.
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  4.  @victorrivera1606  Unfortunately, that makes the country not so great.
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  5. It's been 15 years since I lived in Halifax. Back then, there were no tents in public parks. My friends still there say I wouldn't even recognise Halifax anymore. What a sad state of things.
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  6. I had the same experience. I had to leave to live overseas again!
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  7. This is NOT a supply/demand problem. There are roughly 1.4 million empty homes in Canada right now. The real problem is corporations and wealthy Canadians owning all the properties and not having to pay taxes on them. So, of course they have an unfair advantage over average Canadians. They can charge whatever they want! And they can afford for the property to sit empty until you're forced to pay their ransom! Until this reality is dealt with, things will continue to get worse.
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  8. This is why I'll never move back to Canada. I'm so used to having good healthcare now.
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  9.  @traviscutler9912  I live in Korea. We have excellent health care. Far far superior to Canada.
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  10.  @UnShredded  Depends very much on what metrics you're using to define "best". But if cost, quality and accessibility are important are important to you, Taiwan is perhaps the best in the world. Korea is also outstanding.
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  11.  @traviscutler9912  I don't think anyone here mentioned the US. That's not healthcare. That's business.
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  12.  @lizliz4186  lol. Can't think? I simply mean to say that it's not fair for Canadians to overpay when nobody else cares. It's like trying to remove all the sand off a beach with tweezers while the guy next to you is dumping more on with a dumptruck. It's a no win situation.
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  13.  @traviscutler9912  I don't know about the "near poor" groups or whatever. But I know that people here pay monthly for national insurance based on their income and that no one pays more than 120 bucks a month, even if they're billionaires. Most people pay less than half that. Every time you go to a hospital here, you pay a small user fee. And I mean small. I've lived here for more than 20 years and can honestly say I've only seen one person go bankrupt because they couldn't pay their medical bills. It's almost unheard of here. I would probably be dead if I lived in Canada. I was recently diagnosed wity a condition that wouldn't have been diagnosed in Canada and probably untreated. Within a week here I had two specialists working on my case and I had all the tests and surgery I required. The cost was very low. Admittedly, it's not a perfect system. But it works far better than Canada.
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  14. Sadly, this is one of the reasons I left Canada. Now I'm used to good healthcare, I doubt I could ever go back.
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  15. @CC-jy4gr  Indeed. This involves more than drugs though.
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  16. That's EXACTLY the problem! When a handful of people control the housing the market, they can charge whatever they want. This has nothing to do with inflation and very little to do with immigration.
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  17.  @glennmartin6492  lol! Right. You'll never see that happen. And if the point is to reduce greenhouse gasses, then, no, it certainly doesn't matter what kind of policy Canada has. Canada is a very small fish. Gotta try to get the whales to work together first.
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  18. If you only watch Marketplace, you'd think Canada is a land of lawlessness. Not much protection for consumers there. Glad I don't live there anymore, honestly.
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  19. I never realized how true this is til I left Canada. In many countries, there is no such thing as "premium" gas. Yet, we can still buy all of the same cars you buy in Canada and we have no problems. What a scam!
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  20. It makes good sense that sales are up. The rich are snatching up homes from people who can no longer afford their interest inflated mortgage. The rich are getting richer. The rest get screwed.
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  21.  @darkroses3479  Which is cheap compared to 2008. Yet gas prices are still far above those of 2008.
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  22. I love Marketplace because it brings so many problem issues to light. But it also makes me NOT want to move back to Canada....ever!
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  23.  @traviscutler9912  Yes, certainly better for me. But I'm suggesting that it's better for the vast majority of people. And on your other point, we are in total agreement. The US gives out nearly a trillion dollars of tax breaks/subsidies to the people that need it the least, while the general population is brainwashed into thinking , "there's no money to fund....". Imagine what that money could do!
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  24.  @traviscutler9912  Yep! You have to enroll in the national program.
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  25.  @shauncameron8390  Lol. That's exactly what they want you to believe. Ask yourself this: has the population of Canada doubled in the last 5 years? Has the supply of homes suddenly been reduced? Why is there nearly 1.4 million empty homes in Canada if there is such a need? Use your head and you can figure it out.
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  26. What a joke! The real problem isn't not enough homes or the immigrants. The problem is all the supply is controlled by corporations and super rich. Until this is acknowledged, the problem will continue to get worse.
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  27.  @davidchandler6885  had some kidney problems. Getting better now. :)
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  28. @metanomena  I apologize if I seemed "insulting". Wasn't really my intention. And naturally, I wasn't using the ransom in a literal sense. I guess I just want to express my frustration with the idea that this is just normal economic principle being played out. Clearly, it's not.
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  29. @@metanomena i just meant that corporations, especially large ones, never pay what they're supposed to pay.
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  30. @metanomena  All very good points! Although some might say that preferential treatment for primary tenants would violate "free market" economics. Not me though! No such thing as a free market anyway.
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  31.  @consconningcons6210  Spend the same as who? But you're right. It's not just about spending. It needs to be spent wisely. Private health care is not really health care. It's business. In Korea, we have a public system that people must pay a monthly fee to access and we pay small user fees as well. In my opinion, this is the best system there is. Our health care is excellent.
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  32. @terrysteward2227  I don't. And because of my age, and need for good health care, I likely never will again.
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  33.  @bcuz8998  I live in Korea. Love it.
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  34.  @elirich3145  its been 8 years since I last lived in Canada.
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  35.  @fightignorance3598  I live in Korea. We have excellent healthcare here.
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  36. @@metanomena Good one! C'mon!? You know that's not entirely true.
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  37. @@metanomena Perhaps you're unaware of the reality that corporations pay taxes in a different way than common citizens. They receive many tax breaks and can write off "capital losses" when they do their taxes. In this way, they can effectively pay nothing in taxes on these properties they own while they're waiting for someone to pay the outrageous ransom they've placed on them. It gives them an unfair advantage over regular people when bidding on properties as well. The UN?? Seriously?? Nothing to do with the property crisis in Canada right now.
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  38. Doesn't matter how many homes they build. As long as corporations and wealthy elite control most of the supply, nothing is going to change.
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  39.  @shauncameron8390  That's exactly what they want you to believe.
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  40. @MrAronymous  It's true that a certain percentage of homes are always going to be empty. But not enough to house nearly 15 percent of the entire population, especially in a country with a "lack of housing". And the unaffordability of homes is not regional. Everywhere in Canada, home prices have gone far beyond what the local economics can support. So just keep telling yourself it's a supply and demand problem. That's exactly what they want you to believe. Truth is, most of the supply is being unfairly controlled by a small group of people. THAT'S the real problem.
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  41.  @Livalain7  lol. Me too. I shop on Coupang for everything. But if you check, they list most things at per unit cost. It's helpful for consumers.
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  42.  @goodcommunitylife  It's an expression for Canadian.
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  43.  @j.rjunior5584  Well, in Korea, they're pretty fair I think. As a teacher, I paid Iess than 5 percent tax on my salary. People who make more, pay more of course. But it's nothing like Canada.
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  44. But Europeans are used to dealing with high gas prices. North Americans aren't. People from Canada also have to spend a lot more money on things that you get free/almost free. It's apples and oranges. Not the same thing at all.
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  45. But you pay such a premium on an electric car, you don't actually save money. It's a sad state of affairs.
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  46. But you're used to super high gas prices in Europe. People in North America aren't.
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  47. Who's "we"? Certainly not in Canada.
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  48.  @theflowpowa42oshow  Know how bad it is? I'm kinda glad about that.
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  49.  @darkroses3479  Seems you didn't understand my point. Oil was much more expensive back in 2008 than it is now. Yet, like you said, gas prices are higher now than ever. That's my point. These record prices are not directly related to the price of oil. It's corporate greed and price gouging, plain and simple.
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  50.  @darkroses3479  Yeah, sure. Lots of things "might " happen before the end of the year. But there's no chance oil will go to 200 bucks unless we expect a complete collapse of the world economy. And true, the dollar is weaker now than 08. But cost of living is much higher now than back then. Salaries are not higher because real purchasing power is actually much lower. The primary drivers of those costs are housing, gas and food. I guess we can't say for sure. But imo, the pandemic has given businesses an excuse to price gouge. That's why they're recording record profits. It's not just the price of oil. It's just an excuse.
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