Why Do Countries Trade?

Canada and the United States are allowing one family to decide that one of our natural resources is going to be worked, refined and sold off our continent and make BILLIONS doing this while ALLOWING another area of the world to do the same in North America?

Do you know how STUPID the voters of our countries sound right now?

We are allowing the bought and paid for politicians by the Koch brothers to decide what is done with our natural resources while allowing another country to profit off of our taxpayers.

Why do countries trade?

We have forgotten why we trade. Countries trade because we cannot get what we NEED where we are. We get it from other countries while giving those countries something they NEED in return.

Other than that, we should be self sufficient. If we can grow beets, we grow beets for ourselves, if we can raise livestock we raise it for ourselves and if we can harvest our oil or lumber we do so for ourselves BEFORE we sell it off to the highest bidder. This goes for all countries.

We TRADE for what we need. Canada has a particular climate that growing tropical fruit isn’t possible, so we trade for it. Canada can produce numerous amounts of potatoes…so which tropical country would like to trade potatoes for bananas?

Is that too simple? It is just an example. We have much, much more to offer here in Canada than potatoes, potash being one of the leading exports for our country.

The issue is we have made it about money and how much we can make instead about what we need to survive on.

An example, McDonalds in South America should use South American beef thus promoting their economy. McDonalds in North America should use North American beef for the same reason; along with every other restaurant in these countries.

“Free Trade” is not free to the average individual. It is costing us our self sufficiency. We are giving away our resources that our countries need to survive.

China’s greatest trade for many, MANY years was Silk. The Han dynasty TRADED it for things like cucumbers, walnuts and figs as well as new skills like using grapes for making wine. They brought new ideas, products and innovation to their lives to become more self-sufficient while selling something they had an abundance of.

Now, and for many years, the secret to producing silk has been out. What China has had to do is revamp what it trades. The problem, they are trading cheap labour to companies that take advantage of the over abundance of the population and the products that are made by that population. These companies make millions on cheaply made products that these people work hard at making. It is not only that the product is poorly made; it is that it is cheaply made and that has to do with the company…NOT the workers. 

We keep allowing companies to push our governments into “free trade” deals that allow companies to take our resources, natural or otherwise, and ship them to other countries to make into products that we do not need OR if we do need them, they are taking our resources away from trading it out right for the product. 

Why would the Canadian government not trade its oil with China on its own for a quality product that Canada needs from China? Why would we need the Koch brothers as a go between? Why do the Koch family need to own any oil rights at all for that matter in Canada?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/20/the-biggest-land-owner-in-canadas-oil-sands-isnt-exxon-mobil-or-conoco-phillips-its-the-koch-brothers/

Should we not be using our OWN natural resource before purchasing it and making another country or one family very wealthy?

Should we not use our own natural resource before selling it to other countries and then selling or trading what we have left over?

We are buying a natural resource we have from other countries and selling our own oil in order to line the pockets of one family. Why are we doing this?

Just like we tell families when the economy goes in the toilet, back to basics…we keep what we need to be self sufficient, sell what we have extra and buy or trade for what we need with that extra.

Back to basic economics. Take care of our own, pay our own, feed our own, and clothe our own, help where we can and buy or trade for what we need.

I know it sounds to simple…but sometimes simple is best.

When is Change Needed?

I do find my life lucky. 

Some people may think that I am a downer, that I am so negative and many times when I am not on my medication that is true. 

But right now in my life I am happy. Even though there is stress, I am trying very hard to deal with that stress in a positive way. I am trying to help not only myself but others who matter very much. I keep busy with gardening and Keagan is keeping me on the run.

A short time ago I blogged how much money I received of government funding. I want people to know, I do not expect more than what I am getting. I have survived on what I get and I know it is my choice to live where I do.

I don't waste what little I have. I use my funds to feed, cloth and put a roof over my daughters head while still being there for my son who is living with his father. 

I am not responsible for any other person's expenses or hobbies but my own and my daughters which are minimal to begin with (until lately ;) Keagan has gotten into some school activities like badminton and track and field. We also found her a Cello teacher! YAH!) 

I live a very simple life, eating out happens rarely, I do not make expensive purchases for others or for myself without having the cash available in hand, meaning I save for it first. Snacks are a given in all households but there is a limit to how much is spent each month and fruit is always available in the house. I do preserves and freeze in the fall what we cannot store over the winter.

Do I expect others to live the same way? No. 

But there are those that are very much worse off than I and that is who I want to bring attention to...to those people who don't even make the $18,000/year, but are working from morning until night. 

Those who can make the difference are those who make more than I do, they make more than $40,000/year...these are the people who need to decide that cleaning toilets, mopping floors and cleaning grills is worth more than minimum wage and no benefits. 

These are the people who have to look at the numbers...inflation 1975 pay=2015 pay for minimum wagers...but the prices are wacked. These are the people who have to see that a house in 1975 was 10% of what it is now. 

Food cost has skyrocketed since then as well and you complained THEN that it was expensive, if you are not living on minimum wage now...think, if you were complaining about the cost of food in the '70s how do you think someone on minimum wage feels NOW? They cannot afford meat.

Doctors, lawyers, accountants, all those professional politicians, along with the floor scrubbers, hamburger flippers and skyscraper builders need to decide that those people who bathe, feed and dress our grandparents in the homes are worth more than minimum wage and no benefits. 

These are the people who need to say, enough of YOUR taxes going into the pockets of people who are not doing their jobs and into the pockets of people who are working. 

A person who works as a client care attendant/nursing aid in a group home for seniors or for the severely disabled should not have to be on assistance and a person working as a chambermaid should not have to be on assistance. These people should not have to be assisted with health care benefits.

Alberta has an election coming up in a matter of days...while I choose to live in Saskatchewan, I am always watching what happens in my beloved home province. 

Informing ourselves about the choices and allowing those choices to have a chance to prove themselves is how change happens, it is scary...but more often than not it works out for the best when we decide change is needed.

Publically owned Oil and Gas Industry for Canada...Good or Bad?

Is it time for Canada’s oil sector to become publically owned?

While I do not agree with publically owned businesses like the liquor board and the care of roads for transportation department, I believe that government run oil industry may be the way to go to keep our economy running, jobs going and job creation.

With less reliance on the United States for refinement we would create and keep jobs here in Canada instead of shipping them to the United States, a country that has become hostile towards our oil while they still support oil from countries that support terrorists.

Saskatchewan’s potash is doing so well it makes me wonder how well Canada’s oil sands would do if we were to kick the oil companies off the land and the provinces started producing it themselves.

Before this happens one huge deal would have to be done and that is building our own refineries close enough to the oil sands so that transport would not be a bigger issue than what Keystone is causing. 

I realize we have the environmentalists’ screaming already at my blog that refineries are pollutants and that no one wants to live by them…we have so much land in Canada where no one lives and no one wants to live and until our reliance on oil and gas comes to a halt, we have to suck it up that everything from our vehicles to the computers we own use this type of energy to make and use.

Many people commute to the oil sands and work for weeks away from home, the same cannot be done for jobs at refineries?

Strict regulations need to be made in order for pipelines to run to those refineries, oil spills do not need to happen damaged pipes need attention immediately. A government run oil and gas industry could make sure of this.

Creation of these jobs would also create stability in the economy. These jobs would also be higher paying, stable employment…something governments need to be making right now.

With all the jobs lost because of oil companies shutting their doors, this would be the perfect time to say ADIOS to these crooked companies that are only here to make money off Canadas resources and at the same time make Canada look like the bad guys to the rest of the world.

All the profit would come to Canada, it would fix our roads, educate our children and put food on the tables of many people who crooked companies have now laid off.

The Alberta and Saskatchewan governments could put people back to work; these governments could start making money again. They could do it by making the oil and gas industry a Publically Owned Company. They could keep this industry from down turns every 5-10 years by making it a publically owned company. 

They could invest in their government’s future and their constituent’s futures by getting oil companies, that do not care about the workers or the people of this country, out of our country and taking over the production and refinement its own oil and gas.

These companies keep saying that if royalties are too high they won't stay, well...lets call them on that. 

We do not need these companies; yes it may be easier to have them do the work…but is it better? Hard work makes everything more worthwhile. Doing things the easy way, may be easy...but it isn't right.

Obviously it isn’t better to have companies that keep destroying our economy when they feel like it by laying off thousands of people and treating of them like crap only to have the government have to support these people while the market is down.

Controlling our own oil and gas industry makes sense, doesn't it? 

Let's put our oil and gas industry back to work under government run, build our own refineries, creating jobs here in Canada and say good bye to reliance on Companies who sell out Canada when it serves them.

Living on less than $20,000/year in Canada

It is transparency time. My disability is mental; I was diagnosed with Bi-polar disease when I was 28 years old. I worked off and on up until going on disability, which is why I am capable of receiving Canada Pension Plan for the Disabled. I would not be able to receive CPPD if I had not worked.

Here is the breakdown,

From the Canada Pension Plan for the Disabled on my T4A (P) slip my taxable income from them (what I receive for myself) was $6,345.24 for the year 2014.  From CPPD I receive non-taxable income (what I received for my daughter) $2,768.69 for the year 2014.

 In total I received $9,113.88 from the federal government Canada Pension Plan for the Disabled.

On my T5007 slip from the Saskatchewan government box 11 for Social Assistance Payments, which is used for their Disability as well as their Employment Supplement, is a grand total of $2,124.48 for the 2014 year.

The breakdown was $1,556.08 for the year from Saskatchewan Assured Income for the Disabled and $568.40 for the year from Saskatchewan Employment Supplement.

Even though anyone between certain income brackets receive GST/HST and Child Tax Credit, I am going to add the amounts that I receive for them here to give you all the information of what I lived on in 2014 from the governmental offices in Canada as a Mentally Disabled person with one child living with them.

I receive a little more for Child Tax Credit because my daughter was born missing her left hand. She is 13 years old and while she gets along pretty well in life there are daily struggles that can cause extra expenses. As all parents with children who have disabilities are able to receive and qualify for.

Each month from January to May of 2014 I received $523.32, in June it went up to $523.48 and in July I started receiving $528.08. So I received just about as much from Child Tax Credit for my daughter as I did from my taxable income from CPPD. Child Tax Credit grand total for the year 2014 was $6308.56.

Each of us “poor” people gets a check back quarterly called GST checks. Some are GST/HST.

My grand total GST/HST checks each year come to $1,155.00.

We are now receiving the Saskatchewan Employment Supplement because my common law returned to work. Which was difficult for someone with a back that has broken disks, but you take what you can get, so he works a job part time at just above minimum wage; we survive. His wages just cover his expenses, including getting to and from work which is a 1 ½ drive each day, insurance for the vehicle, his bills, etc.

So Taxpayers of Canada my grand total, unless my addition is whacked, comes to $18,701.92 of your hard earned dollars I have had to use to live off of for the year of 2014.

In total, $11,238.36 came from Canada Pension Plan for the Disabled, from Saskatchewan’s Disability program and from the Employment Supplement in Saskatchewan.

I work hard at figuring out which brain altering drugs the doctors put me on which will help me feel “normal” and I work hard at building my self esteem/self worth enough to feel comfortable putting on a smile and greeting you each day at a Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Tim Horton’s or Salvation Army when I am able to return to work.

In the mean time I would like you to know we are also working hard at supplying our own food by growing a garden during the summer, we can and freeze fruits and vegetables so that the funds we do receive can go to purchases we need for my daughters school lunches, purchase ever increasing meat and travel once in a while to see my sons, daughter and grandchildren.

I do not live off the government to “get rich” nor to “stay lazy”. It is not a lifestyle I choose.

I am not just demeaned by strangers but by family members as well, which can make it even harder to build up that self esteem and self worth when chemicals in your brain are not working properly and you start to believe they are right because they are better than you. They are doing better than you, they are successful and they are happy, so why not just listen to them?

What “they” do not understand is that the lack of chemicals won’t allow you to listen to reason; the chemicals only allow you to hear that you are a failure, especially to those who are supposed to be there for you the most.

So when you do start to see a light at the end of the tunnel and someone pulls the carpet out from under you, the fall can be devastating.

While changes have been made in my life and I am back on the tracks I cannot guarantee the wheels will not fall off again, but I can only hope that they will stay on the tracks and while I keep plugging away and gain a forward motion I can only hope and pray I can become self sufficient once again. It would be nice to be able to buy something new without feeling guilt.

It is a struggle trying to live on less than $20,000 a year and much of the time I rely on my credit to get me through the month. 

I thank you for your understanding.

1975 Pay= 2015 Pay

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/minimum-wage-jobs-pay-roughly-the-same-as-they-did-in-1975-1.2708717

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/140716/dq140716b-eng.htm

When our working poor are making the same amount as they did 40 years ago, but the price of everything from homes to vehicles has been marked up at least 100%, how do you expect the working poor to get ahead at all?

My children are making the same amount as their grandparents and great grandparents did in the '70s, They do not have to deal with the cost of a home being $15,000-$30,000 to purchase and rent it isn't $100-$500 a month but having to deal with the housing of $150,000-$500,000 to buy and to rent being as high as $3000 a month.

We have stopped producing low earners. 

This may sound like the stupidest thing anyone has heard, but I began to wonder why someone would have to work 3 jobs. I understand the money situation and that there are that many low paying positions available, but I also started considering WHY?

Baby boomers parents came from a generation where their parents were sometimes having 7 to 20 children. For instance, my grandmother came from a family of 13 children with the loss of twins at the start of the family. That is a lot of workers and while they are retired now, some are still alive.

My grandmother’s generation, because many families grew up with so many children, did not have a lot of extras, so they tried to install in their children how important it was to earn a good wage, not work at those jobs that you are only making minimum wage; which is important. She and grandpa only had 4 children and that was called the Baby Boomer years. Now that is Funny.

So we went from 7-20 children in a poor to middle base incomes to 3-6 children in that same class base.

Baby Boomers, how many children did you have? I believe if you look at the average household of baby boomers that are on the verge of retiring at an income of $75,000+/year at this time in their life they will have 0 to 4 children.

Again, a drop in the procreation of the working poor/middle class, why?

Two things happen when we do this. The first, because the working poor do not make much, we teach our children from an early age that they need to get into a profession that will make them money, eg. Get into politics, lawyer, dentist, doctors, professional sports, a trade…something that is going to support them and their family better than how they lived and how their parents lived and so on.

Because minimum wage is only a quarter of what a lowest paid professional would make, NO ONE wants to do those jobs.

So what happens, many of those baby boomer children and many of those children of the baby boomers become professionals.

We are left with minimum paying jobs that instead of having 7 to 20 workers doing we now have 2 to 4 workers doing, which is actually less because many of those 2 to 4 workers have become professionals and are in the middle to rich classes.

Two…

We know children cost money, so we don’t have as many. We don’t have as many so we are not repopulating the work force.

Those who are living in the working poor are not able to do things like:

·        Pay bills on time many times

·        Buy any type of home

·        Have our cars fixed so we can get to work safely without going into debt or putting aside another bill

·        Save for our retirements

·        Save for a rainy day

·        Go on vacations…which does not bother us, it is just a point I want to make clear that if you can do this, save, and pay bills…you aren’t poor you are middle class.

·        Pay for extracurricular activities for children

My generation, Generation X and the last of the Baby Boomers, have been accused of flooding the work  force with working poor who are now living off the Middle/Rich class taxpayers. If that were true we wouldn't need immigrant workers now would we?

I have 2 children and two step children that I helped support. My older two have a different mother. They are in their early 20’s. Their careers, for the most part, rely on the oil industry.

My daughter has been laid off. She was on maternity leave last year so will get nothing from Employment Insurance, or at least very little. Her significant other has been laid off as well, but they will be making a quarter of their income on Employment Insurance, if not less. That is working poor.

Could they better themselves, you bet, but who will be doing their jobs? And really, Why should they have to? Their jobs are just as important as anyone other persons. A lawyer could not do my daughter or my son-in-laws jobs properly without the training, so why are they paid such a great deal less? Is their job easier? You don’t have to be as “educated”, but that doesn't mean it is easier.

My son says he will be fine he is still working, but I still worry because not long ago he was in a car accident where he was rear ended and he had to live off his savings for a while, which is now gone.

My son, 17, is graduating this year. He really enjoys welding and we have encouraged him to follow that career. It doesn't guarantee he will be middle class, but it does mean he may be one of those higher paid working poor, so instead of making $10 an hour he might make $30.

Will they have children?

My daughter is 13, but she is adamant that she in no way shape or form wants children, which can change, she is young.

But again…This means less people going into the work force if she still feels this way in 10 to 20 years.

Yes, some in these generations have had more children. While I only helped support and raise 4 children, my best friend has helped support and raise 9 in total in some way shape or form. But on average, we are not having as many children.

We are doing it to ourselves.

We are allowing our working poor to live on less because we believe they deserve less.

So those who are the working poor have fewer children to fill those working poor jobs or teach their few children to go for professional jobs to get out of the rut of being the working poor, not a bad thing but still causing a shortage in the number of people working those teaching, nursing, janitor, bus driver, Wal-mart, fast-food positions.

I will give you a hint, if Costco can pay their workers a living wage and benefits and if other countries can make businesses pay living wages…our “democratic” governments can make Wal-mart and McDonalds as well.

What are the benefits of companies like Wal-mart paying living wages and benefits?

Your tax dollars do not go to paying for the working poor living off the system…BONUS!

Those children that my generation and the generations of working poor after me would not need your tax dollars for the basics of life like groceries and utilities so that we can fix our vehicles to get to those jobs without having to worry about the car dying, the furnace quitting or the toilet plugging up if they were paid a living wage.

Your tax dollars should then be put into Canada Pension Plan/Social Security, education, taking care of our military peoples, health care, transportation, job creation, Right?

The working poor are not expecting or asking for enough to take elaborate vacations, $50,000 vehicles or even $400,000 homes.

They are asking for enough not to have to worry about the car, the baby or the house, the food, the utilities...and they shouldn't have to.

Where are You Buying Your Beer Saskatchewan?

When it comes to liquor privatization the "Nay" sayers do not tell you a lot and leave out a little.

The biggest thing they leave out is that they would lose their cushy incomes. It is a government job and a union job so privatizing liquor would take away their high income jobs. Plain and Simple.

They leave out that it would create more jobs. More liquor stores mean more jobs.

They leave out that in Alberta much of the profit still goes to the School system, child protection, roads, long term care. I dare you to compare these services here in Saskatchewan to Alberta at this time or at any time in the past. 

Privatization of alcohol would not affect, it might even help, these programs. When was the last time you heard about Senior abuse in Alberta? It happens, but there are many more complexes in Alberta that handle Seniors. Many seniors from Saskatchewan chose to retire in Alberta, many have retired in my home town of Medicine Hat. They live out their days in peace, not afraid like they are here.

Road conditions in Alberta are 100x better than in Saskatchewan.

The hospitals in most communities can handle delivering babies, not so here in Saskatchewan. Not one doctor in Kindersley is allowed to deliver a baby, women have to travel to Saskatoon to give birth. Are the doctors in Kindersley, or any small town, not qualified to help a woman give birth?

I won’t speak towards your school system, my daughter has only been in a rural school here in Saskatchewan and I adore the school she is in, but the school system in Alberta I had 4 children in at one time and have one graduating from this year has done everything it can to help my children accomplish their goals to the best of their abilities.

Any time I or my children have been a patient at a hospital we have come come first when we need the attention.

What people tend to forget is that there are those who are worse off then us sometimes. Sometimes when we are sitting in a waiting room of an Emergency room we are going to have to sit a little longer than most because our issue is not as severe as the person next to us. We need to decide whether our attention needs to be dealt with immediately, which is what an Emergency room is for, or whether we can wait until the next day.

The Profits that liquor sales bring in benefit all, but when I can purchase the same type of beer in Alberta $7.00 cheaper than here in Saskatchewan, do you really think that is fair to lose the income here?

I personally cannot drink because of my medications, but we know there are those who go to Alberta to shop on a regular basis, we know that they buy their alcohol there. How much money are they putting into Alberta's economy and you are losing because of your higher prices?

The only reason the prices of alcohol are so much higher here in Saskatchewan is to pay for the governmental union workers who sell the alcohol in the store.

Privatizing alcohol in Saskatchewan makes sense. The jobs it would create would be at lower incomes but there would be more of them. The price of alcohol would drop and people would not have to cross border shop for it, taking money AWAY from your schools, hospitals, child protection, roads and long term care.

Tell me, how much money the liquor stores in Lloydminister make on the Saskatchewan side compared to the liquor stores on the Alberta side?

While I keep being told not to compare Alberta to Saskatchewan because “Saskatchewan is not Alberta”, Saskatchewanites seem to do it on a regular basis on Alberta's ill side. The only problem is, they do not seem to have the facts to back it up.

Saskatchewan wants to be like Alberta, but they do not want to study and follow Alberta's example.

Saskatchewan refuses to learn from Alberta's accomplishments and mistakes.
One of those accomplishments was privatizing alcohol sales. Study how they did it, learn from the accomplishments they were successful at and learn from their mistakes.

That is how Saskatchewan can grow to be prosperous. By learning from those who have done it first and learn from the mistakes they have made. 

Alberta is not perfect, they are going through their difficult times as well, but they have some very good examples that Saskatchewan can learn from.

Lower Price at the Pump=Massive Layoffs

The Saskatchewan Government isn't being as honest as it should with its people when it comes to the oil and gas price drop.

In Brad Wall’s televised speech he, of course, did not go into the details of how this down time is going to affect the industry itself.

He talked about how HIS government kept its promise of job creation, which it did…through the oil and gas industry.

You see MOST of those jobs that his government may have been responsible for creating has been in conjunction with keeping up with the boom of oil and gas.

From seeing first hand what happens when that industry slows down, being Albertan, Saskatchewan is in for a big surprise.

Brad Wall and his government are very proud of the fact that they have the “lowest” unemployment rate in the country. That will not be the case if the oil does not rebound immediately.

You will have massive layoffs, not just from the oil and gas companies like Cal-

Frac, Iron Horse, Haliburton, Element and Baker Hughes…these companies rely on other businesses to do the work they do.

Many of these companies sub-contract to other companies who then have their welders and class 1 drivers do the work for the bigger companies.

Companies like Vanko Oilfield Services in Kindersley, SK probably won’t need all their people to do repairs to pump jacks and maintenance to picker equipment, layoffs will happen. While REV Energy Services ltd out of Kerrobert, SK will need to keep some people on, not everyone will be keeping their jobs there either. Welding companies like Gremur Industries Ltd out of Maidstone, SK could have some tough times ahead as they deal with oilfield construction, people there will probably see their time shortened with the barrel of oil dropping to less than $53 as of January 4^th, 2015.

These massive and wealthy companies get their safety equipment and supplies from companies like Kost Fire Safety Ltd in Medicine Hat, AB that have trained personnel to care for this safety gear who make sure this gear works properly so no one will get hurt, they have other work for these people to do, but the money they make off the safety equipment will take a hit if the companies stop drilling.

These are just small companies who will lose jobs and income directly from the drop in the oil price that the Saskatchewan government is not being up front with you about, it isn’t just about their “budget”. There are the other industries that are going to take a massive hit.

Oil and gas companies like Baker Hughes and Cal-Frac spend millions of dollars on hotel rooms, restaurants and fuel themselves for their own workers who travel. 

Those new hotels and motels that are built and/or renovated in Kindersley,SK and elsewhere are going to lose money when road bans are put into place in Saskatchewan and these multi-million dollar companies start handing out pink slips. The restaurants and living accommodations are going to take a huge hit when the road bans are put in place. Rental accommodations are going to lose their renters who move back to where ever they came from because landlords here got greedy, charging exorbitant amounts of money for holes in the ground.

Gas stations are not going to have the company trucks pulling in to fuel up so the workers can head home to see their loved ones, they are already at home living off of unemployment.

Which brings me to my last point Saskatchewan; this has been a boost in your livelihoods. You have never seen this kind of money flowing through the coffers before. Many of your people have gone from making substandard wages to having wealth beyond knowledge. I hope they were smart enough to save and not blow it on huge houses and expensive cars/trucks/SUVs.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/as-crude-prices-plummet-oilsands-workers-find-themselves-jobless-1.2176208

One of the biggest problems people face, especially people who have no experience with money, are that when they get money they want to spend that money. Alberta saw it in the 1980’s.

People lose their houses and vehicles because they do not budget for the price of oil dropping this low. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on building a dream home for their family with a mortgage payment that is outrageous, along with car payments for both adults (sometimes even the kids) and then the layoff happens.

Remember, you only receive 55% of your insurable earnings on Unemployment…BUT, there are stipulations, the Canadian government website http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/types/regular.shtml#much…says, “As of January 1, 2014, the maximum insurable earnings amount is $48,600. This means that you can receive a maximum amount of$514 per week.”  

I hope your mortgage and car payments are not more than $2000 and that you have another income coming in to cover the cost of incidentals like food and utilities…or you are going to be flooding the market with brand new houses and that vehicle is not worth what you paid for it anymore, you now have to take what you can get for it.

So people of Saskatchewan, this is the first down time in the oil and gas for you. Those Albertans who moved here and have gone through this should be fine, if they used their heads. I hope that the Saskatchewan governments’ positive spin on bringing in the industry did not take away the sensibilities of the people.

The one good thing about oil and gas prices is that it can rebound whenever the United States government decides. So when they decide to stop policing the world you may get your jobs and livelihood back, hopefully this will happen before anyone loses their shirts.

Ministry of Social Services Needs overhaul in Saskatchewan

There are some departments in the Government of Saskatchewan that just need to be privatized from liquor to highways to insurance, but then there are those who need huge over hauls in Saskatchewan like the Ministry of Social Services.

While more on site social workers are desperately needed there is a bloating going on at the higher levels, I know my worker could probably use another in her area as she travels to surrounding areas, but the bloating happening at the higher levels where the offices are inflated with people doing the same jobs as the on site social workers who are working their butts off. The on site workers are essential.

When a person has to report their income twice to same Ministry there is a problem. Some of the programs the Ministry of Social Services in Saskatchewan are responsible for are Saskatchewan Assured Income for the Disabled, SAID. (It could take some lessons from AISH in Alberta.) Saskatchewan Assistance Program, SAP. Saskatchewan Employment Supplement, SES. Saskatchewan Rental Housing Supplement, SRHS and there are others but I won’t go on as you can see there are options for help, however the paperwork is enormous and not just at first…but constant especially when you qualify for more than one program, which no one will not tell you if you do or not, so you will live without for months or years living on less than the poverty line only to find out later from a stranger that you would qualify for another program as well.

I am on disability. I receive SAID and if you do not know, you have to qualify for this. My common-law works at a very low paying job as many employers in the area will not hire him because he has broken disks in his back which caused a degenerative disease from his previous job here in Saskatchewan and his union did nothing to help him, so we also qualify for another program run under the Ministry called Saskatchewan Employment Supplement, SES.

I originally moved to Saskatchewan to help him after he was hurt. I love the country, it helps me with my mental disease and I care about my friends enough to help when I can, something has grown between us and we have been honest about this with my worker.

Because of my disability, I receive just over $500/month from CPPD. I was receiving just over $300 from the SAID program before we changed our status. Now I receive $0 to $60/month depending on his wages which are less than $630 every two weeks (aprox. $1260/m take home)…Definitely no where near the average weekly wage of $800 that drew him to Saskatchewan in the first place 8 years ago and no, he was absolutely no where near making that at his last job either before he was hurt…With the SES program we will receive another $190-$250/month…which is basically what I lost from SAID.

We have to sign documents allowing these programs access of information to the other programs we are on, so it confuses me to the extent of paperwork we have to do to please this ministry.

Every month my partner drops off his pay stubs to be photocopied at my SAID workers office so they can decide how much I will receive from them and every month I have to call SES with the GROSS amount he made that month, plus every 3 months SES audits everything.  

This is extravagant governmental waste at its worst. Why make things difficult by making people screw around with departments within one ministry?

Is this just another ploy for the Saskatchewan Government to make things so difficult for the poor and disabled that they just give up and leave the province and find an easier province to live in?

I have it no where near as bad as some people in Saskatchewan but personally, I think it is time someone started speaking up and demanding answers as to why the waste of taxes to pay for so many people punching the same numbers into the Ministry of Social Services files. My family should have 1 file and be under 2 programs in that file. My income and my common-laws income should be entered into that file once a month by one worker. My audits should be done once a year or when my income changes to a great degree. If any income that is not taxable is not be included as income, like Child Tax Credit, then ALL income that is not taxable should not be included as income. What I receive from Canada Pension for my daughter is not taxable, but is still deducted from my SAID checks each month.

It makes it a more positive place to be when you can say there is low unemployment and high paying jobs in the province of Saskatchewan.

Not having unemployed people in your province happens when 1) you refuse to put in low income housing** where there is dire need of workers, like in Kindersley, Saskatchewan for example…and 2) the people on unemployment (whether it be from regular benefits which are A LOT longer than sick/disability benefits…which never really made sense to me), are kicked off but have not found another job yet.

**Low income housing is not $300,000 homes for the new guy in the oil patch; Low income housing is AFFORDABLE to those working those minimum paying jobs you refuse to fill with Canadian workers.

Saskpower Start Doing Your Jobs!

We all know Saskatchewan does not want people who cannot afford to replace appliances that break down, BUT we are here and I am tired of listening to Brad Wall tell the people of Saskatchewan AND the World that this province is prosperous when people are literally breaking their backs trying to replace things like refrigerators, freezers, stoves, dryers, washers and microwaves by going to the dumps to pick parts out of garbaged ones.

I have severely had enough with Saskpower not doing anything about the power surges in our area...and as far as I know across the province, anywhere oil and gas wells are going and more people are building new housing and businesses while older infrastructure is in dire need of replacement.

With the new infrastructure Saskpower is not taking into account the damage it is causing on the older infrastructure and because they are so big and a publicly owned company NO ONE will speak out about the damage that it is causing.

It took them a YEAR to replace the lightening arrestor coming to our house, even then it took them several days to get someone out here to do the work and it took us complaining it was sparking in a severe rain storm.

The times I have been told of refrigerators, deep freezers, ovens, microwaves, radios…the list goes on…going on the fritz and need replacing or a repairman to come work on them because of the power flickering constantly is too often to count.

We personally cannot afford to replace the appliances that have broken down on numerous occasions, but have gone to the Salvation Army to beg for discounted dryers, who have been generous enough to replace two in the last 2 years, it is degrading.

Our refrigerator has been pieced back together by parts from the dumps by fridges that others have gotten rid of because they too have had to replace caused by the constant flickering of power. The Sally Anne doesn't carry fridges. 

In July I bought a cheaper microwave with my GST/HST check as we had been going without for about a month, it crashed and burned after the power flickered on and off several times within a few minutes time, not a serious inconvenience but it was an inconvenience all the same.

I treated us to a newer under the counter radio that cost me around $30 on sale last year and have been waiting for the old one to die. The old one was on its last leg because of the power surging that keeps happening. I put the new one up on Thursday night, last night it was working wonderfully, this morning (Sunday) the power surged once and it is now dead; what a waste. Power bars with surge protectors cost money that those of us who live on limited incomes cannot afford and do not always work for major appliances.

As I said, we are not the only one that has had issues. Extra Foods in Kindersley has had constant issues with their coolers and freezers going on the fritz. The grocery store close to us in Plenty, Saskatchewan has had many issues with their freezers and coolers breaking down and many people have had to replace their appliances in the area…check the dumps across the province and you can see for yourself how many...at least until the government cleans the appliances out of all the dumps to prove a lowly pee-on like me wrong.

These issues constantly happen after the power surging. The power surges and flickering are happening because Saskatchewan is NOT updating the older infrastructure as they build the new or allow more and more wells for oil and gas to be put in all over the area.

You don’t want the poor and disabled in your province. We cannot give you anything, only take, right?

We cannot afford thousands of dollars like oil and gas workers or government workers to replace our older homes or the old appliances they came with and the piddly rebates you offer are just that...dinky rebates that do not help those of us that cannot afford to buy new furnaces, hot water tanks or appliances in the first place. 

We cannot afford to live on the minimum wages and your Saskatchewan Employment Supplement when we have to keep putting out exorbitant amounts of money out for appliances that are needed to keep our food from spoiling or to cook it or to clean our cloths so our children are not teased at school for being filthy. 

When your province is doing so well like you say it is it should be replacing the old infrastructure as it builds new, especially when that new infrastructure is supposed to be bringing in a lot of money…those oil and gas wells along with the people that build and take care of them should be bringing in the big bucks to pay for improving the old and bringing in the new.

You want me to leave like the rest of the disabled, but I think what needs to be done Mr. Wall is someone needs to start speaking out on how the disabled and poor of your province are being treated. 

I am sick of hearing you tell the world how great your province is when there are those in your province suffering worse then myself.

This is not my only issue with your province, I have blogged about your roads and the damage my car has received because of them, from cracks and chips in the windshield that I cannot afford to fix to a dent in the radiator pan from the ruts. How about the exorbitant prices of the internet here in Saskatchewan because Sasktel is publicly owned and decides who is also allowed to offer services to rural customers...who then are also allowed to gouge customers...

But I digress...

My point is Brad Wall and his government need to start making SaskPower update the old infrastructure so these power surges and power flickers STOP happening so people stop having to replace appliances, hot water tanks and furnaces that they cannot afford to replace.