New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

What new policies or ideas have been introduced either federally or provincially since you moved to Canada. Or even what changes did you see if moving one province to another?
I'm thinking 'political' or 'social' ones although they might have cross party support.

But the idea is not to get too political about it and have fights. It's inevitable that a change in the government in power could be the reason for the change but that can be mentioned without reference to which party was responsible.

For example, when we moved to NB there were user fees for calling an ambulance and with a change of government they were abolished. Or it was the other way around, I don't remember which.

Does more change in the province than on a national basis? Genuine change, rather than just tinkering.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

Since I have been in Canada I have noticed two changes:

- Loblaws started selling Ace Bakery products and that greatly improved the availability of quality baguettes

- The increased usage of meth has lead to a shift whereby the sort of shouting at passersby and invitation to fights one used to see only at closing time is now common at all hours of the day. "C'mon ****er, I'll ****ing **** you up" invited a chap at around ten this morning.

Neither of these is a consequence of government policy and neither is of great consequence. One does not move to Canada in the hope of seeing anything of great consequence happen. Dullness and inertia are the selling points for the country.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

Was it from someone on BE?

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

Random cradle. And he didn't choose me, anyone would do.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

When we moved here I kept reading in the paper about NB being one of only 2 (I think) provinces without some sort of catastrophic drug program for people without health benefits or private insurance.

Every change of government resulted in them doing their own study and nothing was done.

Eventually they came up with one but the monthly premium was set quite high and the co-payments were quite high too.

With a change of government the following year, the premiums and co-pays were set at different levels according to taxable income - much the same as other provinces. To be honest the higher levels come with a level of earnings where people are probably getting good benefits anyway.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

The only thing I’ve noticed is that I can buy a beer and walk around the boat show rather being corralled in a so-called “beer garden.” Other than that, the place seems as dour as the day I arrived.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

Doesn't exactly sound dull.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

If it's the first incident it's mildly interesting, particularly if you think blows are about to be exchanged. After a week it's routine.

I mention it because, when I was first in Canada I was surprised at the prevalence of weed. We saw that as a hippy drug, something favoured by people old enough to listen to dinosaur bands. I was stunned to turn the radio on and find that we were in the land of dinosaur bands; Neil Young and the Guess Who came out. Nothing changed in the next thirty years, people still routinely stepped out of the pub for a joint, the radio played the same old song.

In the past five years or so it has become common to hear people who are off their heads shouting at passers-by or at the moon. I assume that people in that condition don't live long (how do they eat once their teeth fall out?) and yet there are always more of them. I think the shift from weed/booze to meth/crack/synthesized opiates is the only change in Canada, since I've been here, that would be obvious to someone who had been gone for a couple of decades.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

You know I think your skills are not being used to their fullest in the software/tech field...you really should be writer for the Canadian Tourism Council.

'Come for the wide open spaces, mountains and forests, stay for the teeth deprived meth heads shouting at the moon or random pedestrians'

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

That's only a tourist attraction to people who come from places without deprived meth heads and, even then, urban misery tourism is a competitive field. New Orleans, Detroit, ESL, Gary Indiana, offer similar scenes and the visitor gains a frisson that they won't experience in a horrible part of Canada. "I survived Detroit's Mexican Town" is just better on a T shirt than "I survived London Ontario".

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

My mother in law says her mother had no teeth and she could crunch peanuts with her gums.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

This weblink can serve those who want to be armchair viewers of urban depravity.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/ even Cumbernauld, Scotland is represented.

I've been to all of your urban hell holes. Camden, NJ, and Benton Harbor, MI should be added.

Speaking of Mexican Town in Detroit, I was in a restaurant there in the late 80's and while we were waiting for a table somebody got shot in the parking lot (where our car was), which made for an interesting evening. Half of the people in the group were from London, Ontario which turned the conversation to 'this wouldn't happen in London'.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

I wasn't aiming at a comprehensive list. My point is rather that, while it's now usual to see people in such a condition, it wasn't in the past. It's also something that used to be restricted to ghastly locations such as Port Arthur or Sydney NS but now is common all over north America. Last week we saw a man wobble off the kerb, wobble back on, take a hit on his pipe and, fortified, walk steadily across the street. In Los Feliz, not in Compton.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

I think I've only just got used to the prevalence of weed.

Overprice the booze and everyone will find something else.

Re: New ideas, new policies; what changes since you moved?
 

The only 'major' federal change that comes to mind was the introduction of the child care tax credit.

And the introduction of the TFSA.