First off, I can’t imagine a world where I would vote for Harper. There are a number of reasons why he will not get my vote, but to be honest, one of the biggest ones is the use of Attack Ads. I hate them. Its ridiculous. He spends all his effort saying how “bad” everyone else is, and little to no effort saying why he is the “good” one. Come on grow up. This is ridiculous.

So I guess, this post is actually directed at all the other leaders. I know that most of what I am about to post is really just a pipe-dream. I am a realist, and know that you need money for this stuff, but if even a small portion of the following could be put into place, it would certainly be a good thing.

Free Recreation

Forget the current tax write-off limit of $500 for recreational programs for kids. Instead fund these recreational programs and make them free! In reality, this could potentially save money in prevention of health issues. There are obesity problems across North America and Canada is no stranger. If Kids could enjoy sports programs, gym memberships, pool passes, etc for free, they would be more active and healthier Canadians. This would ultimately promote a life-long healthy lifestyle which in turn would help eliminate some (not all) future health issues, saving the healthcare system money in the long run.

Environmental Subsidies

The Environment is a hot topic these days. There needs to be better funding for people to do environmentally friendly things. Big government rebates or tax write-0ffs for things like the purchase of hybrid and electric cars, solar panels, solar hot water systems, and other products that can lessen the strain on the environment. There are some programs for some of these things, but they aren’t good enough – they are no where near good enough to convince someone to go this route on these merits alone.

While you’re at it, why not also extend this to things like bicycles and bus passes. These would help keep people out of there cars for there commute. Free mass transit would certainly convince some people to leave there cars at home.

Right now there is absolutely NO financial incentive to be environmentally conscience, and without that financial push, many people just won’t do it.

Legal Marajuana

First I want to say I am NOT a pot smoker, never have been and never will be. BUT, those who smoke pot are going to do it anyways. Period. And this fuels crime related to smuggling, grow ops, etc. It also costs taxpayers millions upon millions in law enforcement.

Just legalize it already. Then tax the shit out of it. Not only will this SAVE money from the removed policing costs, it will be a huge revenue stream in tax dollars. Then use those dollars to further fund health care or education, or some other worthwhile cause.

0% Interest on Student Loans

Why is it that we have interest on Student Loans? There are several countries out there that grant student loans at 0% interest. One complaint people have is that Canadian talent moves south of the boarder for employment. Not all, but at least some of this, would be due to the insane student loan debt that they need to pay off. A 0% interest rate on these loans would help lessen the burden slightly, keeping some of these people here.

This would also help improve the pruchasing power of recent graduates, which helps to stimulate the economy, so indirectly, the government would still get much of this money via other taxes (HST for example).  We would also have a system with slightly fewer bankruptcies, fewer people needing government assistance etc.

Well, thats it for my rants for now. I will put a Part 2 out there soon!

It seems odd to me. The Canadian government spends countless funds on so called “free” health care. The truth is, no, it is not free. Cheap yes, but free – no. I pay $108 a month for my wife, daughter and I, in MSP (Medical Service Plan) premiums. This is mandatory. In exchange I can walk into any hospital in Canada and be treated without having to ever EVER pull out my credit card.

I admit, that $108/month is a good deal when it all boils down to it.. I am not trying to knock the system, but it certainly is not free.

But I think that that MSP premiums could be eliminated if the medical system could cut costs. Probably the biggest way to cut costs would be to reduce the number of patients. You can reduce the number of patients by having a healthier society. If you want a healthier society, why not offer tax breaks for things that can improve overall health: recreational programs, gym memberships, etc, and tax the crap out of things that are bad for you; Candy, fast food, alcohol, smokes (I know booze and cig’s are taxed like crazy as it is, but tax them more, and make it harder and harder to smoke – I hate that stuff soooo much)

If the government allowed you to write off anything that would improve your health, the money they lose in taxes would be far outweighed by the money they save in health care costs.

I am a golfer. I’m not a very good golfer, but I’m still a golfer. When I am out golfing and the urge to pee comes around, I usually look for the nearest washroom, or if absolutely necessary, find a tree (us guys are good at that you know).

But when I saw this invention I thought, I need to buy that! Wait, no… that’s not what I thought at all, sorry, got confused there. What I thought was; “this is the stupidest thing I have ever seen in my life”. At first I thought it was a joke, then after digging up more YouTube videos on it I have come to the conclusion that the UroClub is real.

Give me a break. (it is still funny though – like something dreamt up by the writers at Saturday Night Live)

These two videos make me think this thing is for real…

I really do find the weirdest stuff online.

Today I came across one of two things. Either it is the dumbest invention of all time, OR it has been setup intentionally as a joke as link bait. (For those of you who don’t know, link bait is essentially creating something for your website in hopes of driving as many people as possible to link to your website for the purposes of increasing site visitors &/or organic search engine rankings)

The invention is – The Treadmill Bike. Part bike, part treadmill, 100% stupid.

If this is legit, I feel sorry for its inventor, if it has been created as a joke / publicity stunt, great job. Until I read through all the copy on their page, I was partially convinced it could be real, then when I saw their video, I knew – nope, so not real. Video is below.