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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by iaink
Haven't we all :rolleyes:
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmart...s/Norburn.html Canada Bob. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Canada Bob
Aye, I suppose it is an unbelieveable saga Iain, none the less a true one.
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmart...s/Norburn.html Canada Bob. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by mugginflapps
car insurance is expensive, but there is no road tax
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by dormy
Wow! what a 'story', major karma sent your way, followed by major respect!
It was a hell of a bl**dy time, at least they made me the 6 Million $ man ! Odd how they did that, don't tell me that God don't have a sense of humour, I mean, why 6 Million, why now 4, or 2.8 or 12 ??? why 6 Million $'s !!! 5 years that bl**dy lot went on, during which time 13 Canadian F18's crashed, 8 pilots killed, 10 Blackhawks fell out of the skies, and the whole fleet of them were grounded 3 times while they investigated, 52 people died in the Blackhawk crashes... all of these "accidents" could have been avoided, but no one would listen to me until it became obvious that there was a major problem. It was an odd time that's for sure, took me to the limit, and almost beyond it, near drove my car into the Welland Canal that night when my son was beaten up and his arm broken, it was a hellish time. We even had 24/7 protection from the Mounties for 6 weeks, that's how the C4 was found, but no charges were ever laid against the folks behind the conspiracy to murder, that's Governments for you, Brian Mulroney at the time. I could tell you a LOT about what went on at Government levels in those days {and probably still does go on, cover ups etc}. I remember the first time the Defense Inspector Generals Office {a Division of the FBI} came across the border from Buffalo to Thorold then escorted me back to Buffalo, then flew me down to Washington D.C. where I met Casper Weinberger {Secretary of State for Defense} at the time {a great.nice guy} and was shown around the State Dept, and passed Olly North in the corridor ! that's something for a lad from Wigan hey... They had a Senate Sub Committee inquiry re the airplane crashes, and I was the "qui tam" witness for the U.S. Government, that's why the company would have preferred me dead than alive. As part of the inquiry I was questioned by several Senators including, Sam Nunn, Carl Levin, Neil Armstrong {first man on the Moon} and Edward Kennedy ! you've no idea how odd that felt, these were guys that you'd only expect to see on CNN !!! There's a LOT more to the story than you see in that article, it was covered by just about every newspaper in Canada, and even the NY Times, latest thing is, CBC are interested in doing a Docudrama of it, now that the dust has settled... Folks have no idea how tough those times were though, when they sued me for $6 Million they wrote to my mother {still in the U*** and sent her copies of the news paper articles, about me being sued... she read them and had a stroke, she was found by the neighbours the next day {curtains undrawn and all that, milk still on the step}, but she died in hospital a couple of days later. How do you think that feels, mother dead, son broken arm, no money to feed my family because I was blackballed by the company. I was clearing snow from driveways to earn a few $'s, but you can't feed a family of what you make doing that with a spade and a pick axe, so after months of no money, and being unable to claim UIC {as the company said I'd quit the job}, my wife got sick and was diagnosed with scurvy {we were almost starving after 6 months without a wage}, this was how bitter this battle was... Took me a LONG time to get over all that, and what I've said here, is still only the tip of that ugly iceberg... But, nothing to do with Canada {as such}, even though the Canadian Government did it's best to cover it all up, that's just how Governments are, can't blame Canada for that, these were extra ordinary circumstances. I do recall and respect the folks who rallied round when they found out how bad things were for us, it's hard when your in need to tell anyone of your need, we all have pride, but when it got out about Pauline being in hospital with scurvy almost the whole of Thorold rallied round for us. Odd though how {as they say} "I was just doing my job" I was the guy who signed off civilian and military aircraft as "fit to fly" and I knew they weren't but like the Challenger episode {that was going on at the same time, 1986} I was over ruled by Managers with no Engineering knowledge at all. Difference was, in NASA they let them get away with it, and it cost lives, I fought against it for all I was worth, but it still cost lives, what can you say... We all have to face tough times in our lives, my Dad fought in WWII, folks were trying to kill him too, every day for 5 years, if he could stand his ground for what he believed in, then I'm bl**dy sure I won't be rolled back or intimidated at the cost of the innocent end users lives. Ah well, rant over... as you will see {between the lines} it's still a sore point for me. Canada Bob. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Canada Bob
Aye, I suppose it is an unbelieveable saga Iain, none the less a true one.
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmart...s/Norburn.html Canada Bob. Has whistle blower legislation changed any since then? |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Wow CB. That's one to tell the grandweans. :eek:
I left a domestic goods company after 6 hours in the job as they wanted me to sign off materials that were coated in toxic paint with high levels of lead and other nasties. :( Needless to say I told them to stuff it but can't say that they stuck explosives to my car. Well, not that I noticed. :p Life can only get better for you now. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by iaink
****ing hell, you are a bona fide hero! I'll take my rather flipant comment back then, but I'm glad I made it, or I would never have read your story. Respect, My hat is off to you.
Has whistle blower legislation changed any since then? Don't know about bein' a hero, the way I saw it was I was doing my job, I've never worked in anything other than QA in military & civilian aircraft. One thing that made an impression on me early in my career was on a crash investigation scene, where a Lightning Fighter had crashed, and going through the bits that were left I had the misfortune to find a piece of the pilot, his finger, with the wedding ring still attached. Stopped me in my tracks that did, and since then I've been diligent to say the least when inspecting aircraft. The thing is with military aircraft they can usually jump out if things go wrong, try doing that if you're flying Air Canada ! It was my job to ensure that when innocent folks take to the air, that I would make sure they wouldn't lose their life due to neglect, incompetence or criminal abuse by Company Directors et-al. Most folks never realised that when they get in an aircraft their life was in my hands, even though I wasn't there, I could be thousands of miles away, but if I'd signed the 'plane off you could "bet your life" that 'plane was safe to fly. I've literally signed off hundreds of aircraft {and a lot of submarine stuff} in my time, and there's never been a loss of life due to mechanical failure on anything I've signed off. Some folks think that I'm "lucky" that in over 35 years there hasn't been a black spot on my pages, but I know that I never let my guard down, if I did it could cost hundreds of folks their lives. I've had folks tell me I shouldn't be so "concerned" {yea, really} other QA Inspectors !!! I've had them say to me, "well, if the worst come to the worst the F18 pilot can eject", fair enough, but is there any guarantee where the 'plane will crash, could be a school or a mall, and from that kill scores or even hundreds of people, no on my watch... Whistle blower legislation hasn't changed much at all, not in Canada, except if your a Government employee {we have to protect their jobs I guess}. In Canada the focus is {sadly} on misuse of Government funds etc, tells you something when loss of money is of greater concern than loss of lives, but again I don't critique Canada for that, it's not a Canadian thing, it's the wrong type of folks running many of out Countries and Companies, pigs are attracted to troughs World Wide. In the U.S. they have had Whistle Blower Law since the Civil War... Here's the thing on that, after being involved with the US Senators, I was told that whatever they recovered from the delinquent companies, I would be entitled to 10% of it, and in 1999 they were looking to sue for $400 Million ! At the end of the day it was all settled {quietly} before it went to Court, and although I didn't get the 10% that I would have had {hey, who couldn't find a good home for $40 Million}, I was "retired" put out to grass so to speak, sent home to "walk the dog, for the rest of my days", can't tell you all about that, otherwise I'd have to be looking under the car again... Tell you this though, when Mulroney was ousted, I was sponsored {by the Media, certain Politicians and folks in the Legal Profession} to be awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, the highest award a civilian can be awarded in Canada. Got all the way up to the Governor Generals Office, I even had letters advising me of their consideration... but along the way some old enemy put the spoke in, and I got nowt for my troubles, Governments again hey. I might have had a better chance if the C4 has vapourised me, that's what one of the Mounties said it would have done, 6 oz of that stuff is enough to blow a bleedin house down, let alone blow me away... Tough old world out there at times hey, but when you step on a 'plane take confidence that there's other folks out there equally as diligent as I was. As for me, I haven't worked in my trade in over 16 years now ! I consider that a loss to me, and to an industry that would have benefited by me training up other QA guys to hold to the same integrity... Canada Bob. PS... glad you did respond Iain, no offence taken, its not a saga that's easy to believe, thankfully it was an extra ordinary occurrence. Whenever I talk about it I'm always conscious that to some folks it reflects badly on Canada, but I never saw it that way, there's skunks in every community... |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Madmac
Wow CB. That's one to tell the grandweans. :eek:
I left a domestic goods company after 6 hours in the job as they wanted me to sign off materials that were coated in toxic paint with high levels of lead and other nasties. :( Needless to say I told them to stuff it but can't say that they stuck explosives to my car. Well, not that I noticed. :p Life can only get better for you now. As for life getting better, well, that another story, grin... Finished up flogging CK Perfumes into the Grey Market, buying them straight from CK Canada by the tractor trailer load {15-17 Tons} a month, and shipping them to folks like Walmart in the US... made a bl**din fortune ! How odd is this World !!! Don't want to take up too much bandwidth in here, but "the rest of the story" can be found on... http://www.moderngent.com/site/ultra.php read the threads that start from the Ultra Shave thing. If the C4 wasn't enough to cope with, I was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May of 2004, given 6 months to live, hence the move back to the UK. But so far I've beat the odds again, don't know how long this battle may last though... Tell you what, if any of you want to try that Ultra Shave stuff drop me PM and I'll ship some to you, no charge free from me... Canada Bob. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
yes you do but the cost is much less than road tax
Originally Posted by dbd33
You don't have to buy a plate sticker in BC?
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by mugginflapps
yes you do but the cost is much less than road tax
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by alberta_jaycee
I paid just $70 for a year - less than 35 quid....and that's cheap!! No MOT's either (although I do wish they would implement some regulations on compulsory annual vehicle checks - have you seen some of the rust-buckets on the roads here :scared: )
The drivers are too busy talking on their cell phones to be worried about rust on their cars! |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by mugginflapps
The drivers are too busy talking on their cell phones to be worried about rust on their cars!
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by alberta_jaycee
I paid just $70 for a year - less than 35 quid....and that's cheap!! No MOT's either (although I do wish they would implement some regulations on compulsory annual vehicle checks - have you seen some of the rust-buckets on the roads here :scared: )
Emma |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy
Which of course never happened in the uk!!!!
:D ;) :p |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by or4ngecrush
Of course it doesn't they like to map read and talk on their mobile phones at the same time as drive. lol
:D ;) :p |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by or4ngecrush
My Canadian friend says in NS he has some sort of vehicle inspection thing (like an MOT) can't remember the name that he said. Has he got mixed up with something else? Do you really not have a similar MOT thing over in Canada?
Emma Far as I know most Provinces do the same... Just speaking to a buddy in Bedford, Nova Scotia, he's ticked off that gas is now $1.11c a litre ! that's around 50p a litre...98p a litre here in Wigin :mad: Canada Bob. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy
Which of course never happened in the uk!!!!
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy
you forget eat lunch, smoke a fag and swig out of a bottle.
Oh aye thanks Butch for reminding me :cool: |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by mugginflapps
ah! but you get arrested in the uk!
I don't see it sorry. Doesn't seem to stop anyone, oh and where are the police? |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Canada Bob
They do in Nova Scotia, that's for sure, pretty well the same as an MOT,
Far as I know most Provinces do the same... Just speaking to a buddy in Bedford, Nova Scotia, he's ticked off that gas is now $1.11c a litre ! that's around 50p a litre...98p a litre here in Wigin :mad: Canada Bob. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by or4ngecrush
My Canadian friend says in NS he has some sort of vehicle inspection thing (like an MOT) can't remember the name that he said. Has he got mixed up with something else? Do you really not have a similar MOT thing over in Canada?
Emma The safety test is only required when registering a newly purchased used vehicle (which are more often than not sold already "safetied"). Without the safety and a bona fide emmisions test pass you cant (legally) drive it. Of course the cops can prevent you driving an unsafe vehicle, but its the owners responsibility to keep it safe, not the governments. License sticker is $72 here IIRC, a nice birthday present:( Gas may be half the price, but we have to drive 4 times as far to get anywhere in a vehicle with at least twice the engine capacity... but at least we are able to keep moving and cruise control actually has some purpose here. Oh, and we mostly get paid in Canadian dollars at a level lower then we would get doing the same thing in the UK, so really its not worth comparing. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Canada Bob
They do in Nova Scotia, that's for sure, pretty well the same as an MOT,
Far as I know most Provinces do the same... Just speaking to a buddy in Bedford, Nova Scotia, he's ticked off that gas is now $1.11c a litre ! that's around 50p a litre...98p a litre here in Wigin :mad: Canada Bob. Lets see BC-Apparently not AB-if its out of province Sask-Been told not MB-Again been told not Ont-No (thanks Iain) PQ-No (thanks Souvenir) NB-?? NL-?? NS-YES PEI-?? SO as far as I'm aware at most its 40% (50% if you count Albertas out of province vehicle inspections). And PLEASE stop converting our gas prices back to sterling. I know very few who can convert their salary here back to sterling and be earning the same. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by mugginflapps
ah! but you get arrested in the uk!
BULLSHIT You get a ticket and thats only if they can be arsed pulling you |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy
One word to say that claim
BULLSHIT You get a ticket and thats only if they can be arsed pulling you |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy
and PLEASE stop converting our gas prices back to sterling. I know very view who can convert there salary here back to sterling and be earning the same.
http://www.oilnergy.com/1cashpet.htm#gaso I should add that unlike some posters I've never earned less when working in Canada than I would have been paid in the UK. Canada Bob. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy
One word to say that claim
BULLSHIT You get a ticket and thats only if they can be arsed pulling you It was such a chore writing out tickets though as had to put my mars bar and coke down. Would have been puch easier if you could just stop people and say "Saw you on your mobile, that'll be £30 please....yes Visa will be fine" ;) |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Canada Bob
Hey Butch, take a powder, no need to get angsty, wages are regional not just Country to Country, but gasoline is like Gold {in more ways than one}, it is Internationally traded so there's no reason why prices should vary as much as they do, especially when the tax rate in Canada 80% is near the same tax rate as here in the UK approx 80%.
I should add that unlike some posters I've never earned less when working in Canada than I would have been paid in the UK. Canada Bob. I will check again but last time i looked at the pumps the CLAIMED tax rate was nothing like 80%. ;) |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by mjanovitz
I have given tickets out to drivers for using a mobile phone
Sadly I have no idea what a fairly experienced engineer would be paid in the UK now, I suppose its largely dependent on where you are. When I first came here I was offered about 35% more in straight terms than what I was paid in the UK, so it didnt take too long to decide to go for it. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by mjanovitz
I have given tickets out to drivers for using a mobile phone, and I suppose if they refused details or got arsey then the would have been arrested but don't recall that happing over a mobile phone as everyone knew they were being naughty.
It was such a chore writing out tickets though as had to put my mars bar and coke down. Would have been puch easier if you could just stop people and say "Saw you on your mobile, that'll be £30 please....yes Visa will be fine" ;) I was ticketed for using a mobile phone ( the nice officer did however qualify WHY ie 'if you hadnt been turning the corner while on your phone I wouldnt have pulled you'). I have also used my 'cell' here while driving. Its illegal in the UK, it isnt here. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by iaink
Obviously this was in your previous UK life not in Toronto as its not illegal to use a phone and drive here in Ontario, although lord knows it should be!
Sadly I have no idea what a fairly experienced engineer would be paid in the UK now, I suppose its largely dependent on where you are. When I first came here I was offered about 35% more in straight terms than what I was paid in the UK, so it didnt take too long to decide to go for it. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Canada Bob
Aye, I suppose it is an unbelieveable saga Iain, none the less a true one.
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmart...s/Norburn.html Canada Bob. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
While we're on the subject of price compsrisons, can anyone tell me the UK price of Microsoft Office (Professional Edition 2003)?
Oh, and the only thing remotely close to an MOT our car has had in either ON or QC is an emissions check. |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by or4ngecrush
Exactly thats what I originally meant to say. "Butch to the rescue again :p " Off the topic Butch will I see Beaver when I go to Halifax/New Glasgow/Stellarton/Cape Breton in October? ;)
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Souvenir
While we're on the subject of price compsrisons, can anyone tell me the UK price of Microsoft Office (Professional Edition 2003)?
Another example of "rip off britain"? |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Tuppence
Well, I live in NS, so that's one you might spot :D :eek:
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by mjanovitz
Really....where abouts in NS is this Beaver on display.....might be time for a trip ;)
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy
Dont you have enough to worry about with three pussies to look after?????
Yer, and you can't even get yer pussy out in Calgary or they'll fine you! ;) |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy
Dont you have enough to worry about with three pussies to look after?????
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Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by Craftybanshee
Yer, and you can't even get yer pussy out in Calgary or they'll fine you! ;)
We're still trying to find out if you can get your pussy out in ON. :D |
Re: Why move to Canada?
Originally Posted by iaink
I have 4 pussies to take care, but I am always thrilled to see a beaver in the wild.
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