Avi Lewis is on to something with his plans to nationalize everything from pharmaceuticals to groceries (www.ctvnews.ca)

submitted 15 hours ago by yogthos@lemmy.ml to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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[-] tootoughtoremember@lemmy.world 5 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

He has managed to make himself a champion of young Canadians

Only "young" Canadians care about affordable housing, affordable groceries, good-paying sustainable jobs, improved healthcare, and better electoral representation?

Or are millenials in their 40s still "young" Canadians?

[-] CircaV@lemmy.ca 11 points 10 hours ago

His #1 issue is proportional representation. This is a game changer.

[-] patatas@sh.itjust.works 12 points 13 hours ago

Lol what an absolute hack job by Mulcair, clearly edited last-minute to tack on some shallow condolences to Avi for the loss of his father.

Also, I wish Lewis wanted to nationalize stuff, but it's not what his policies actually are. The CBC was also trying to frame his call for public options "nationalization", so I guess even the public fuckin' broadcaster is doing red scare stuff around policies not unlike the one that allows their own network to exist

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml 10 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

I'm kind of hoping Lewis will start taking a more unapologetic position regarding nationalization. If they're going to do the whole red scare thing anyways, why not just embrace it. I don't think it even hits with young people the same way it does with boomers. People struggling under capitalism, who can barely make ends meet, and have to live with roommates because they can't even afford a place of their own, aren't so enamoured with the current system as not to seriously consider alternatives.

[-] droopy4096@lemmy.ca 3 points 11 hours ago

Mulcair advises ring shallow as we saw NDP contract under him and not thrive at all. I'd love to hear Jack Layton on the subject but alas...

[+] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca -10 points 9 hours ago

Proposing a nationalized grocery store is not going to win votes. A lot of people understand how bad the government is at managing things. Far better would be to tax people less so they can afford necessities. It is insane when the government taxes us, and then we celebrate when they decide to give some money back (sounds like Trump, right?).

[-] patatas@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

have you heard of SaskTel? It's a public option for telecom/cell phones, and last I heard, Saskatchewan has by far the lowest prices on cell phone plans in the country, because the big telcos are forced to actually compete, instead of colluding with each other to rip us off.

[-] MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

This is the example I think of every time. There are some really great government run businesses out there that you can actually trust to have your interest at heart.

[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 6 points 7 hours ago

Public options are more efficient than private options see non-profits, healthcare, and education.

When private they all cost more, non-profits you'll see it in administrative fees.

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml 7 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

If you're so upset about taxes, just wait till you learn how wage labour works and the portion of the value you produce your boss appropriates while paying you a small portion of that as a wage.

[-] Teppa@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Just look at grocery stores, grocers are down to a 3-4% margins on food, and have some of the most efficient logistics networks in Canada.

Contrast that to the governments involvement, they did the zoning laws for the land Loblaws sits, which they essentially turned companies like Loblaws into REIT which is how it derives most its net profit. Because it was more profitable for them to deal in land scarcity and appreciate from real estate speculation due to government caused shortages than it was to appreciate from selling products.