Billions and Billions

Would you rather have the convenience of being seen quickly at a local ER that was funded to stay open OR the convenience to buy mixed drinks at select grocery stores? Such a hard choice!!

Our public, taxpayer funds are going to companies outside Ontario so we can get booze easier, sooner. Brittlestar did the best video explainer:

The biggest issue is the money it's costing to open up August 1st instead of letting the contract run its course to December 31, 2025. It just means that supermarkets currently selling beer will be allowed to also sell larger cases and mixed cocktail drinks. It will extend to some convenience stores in September. 

We're looking at our taxes paying about a billion dollars for Ford's stupidity: $225 million to the Beer Store -- a multinational conglomerate not based in our country -- as a payout for breaking their contract, plus up to $375 million (estimated) to the LCBO for discounting retail prices for private retailers. On top of the Therme's plan to cut down 800 trees in order to plunk down a building where people can look at images of trees indoors in an "immersive wellness experience allowing you to connect with nature." Yup, just like Joni Mitchell predicted. The province will be on the hook for at least $400 million - and that was just in the initial plan. Others estimate at least $650 million, and we all know how fast costs rise once they start work. 

All of this at a time when hospitals are cash strapped and people can't even find a family doctor. 

Remember Wynne's gas plant scandal? It was actually McGuinty's -- happening back in 2010 and leading to his resignation in February 2013. Months later, in May 2013, some Conservatives said it was worthy of a confidence vote when Wynne as premier. It cost almost a billion in total to cancel the projects, which may have been resignation-worthy, except the liberals were following the will of the people after many environmental protests erupted and McGuinty had already left the building. 

So that's on par, right? Ford should be resigning, right???

And that's not even mentioning the highway 413, which will pave over farmland and important green spaces in order to save a few people a bit of time on their commute, and which will cost TEN BILLION DOLLARS!! 

Check out the protest happening May 30th:

And check out Frame To Frame Nature for a lengthy series of photos of the greenbelt about to be destroyed. 

ETA: This NYTimes article about the coming spa (possibly later a casino when they can't make as much as they expect at $40 admission):

"What they're proposing just obliterates that balance and puts it behind a paywall that many, many people will not be able to afford."

And my MPP, Cathering Fife, pointed out, 

"The lost revenue for Ontario should be concerning to, you know, the Finance and Treasury Board Ministers. Ontario currently has a projected $9.8 billion deficit plus projected Gross Debt for 2024-25 of $462 billion. And we pay $13.9 billion in interest on that debt."