u/Olderpostie

A few years ago, while in England, I asked an acquaintance there what church denomination operated a particular hospital with a saint's name. (St. Swithins, I think). He was puzzled as to why a hospital would be operated by a church. But, that is how it goes in the USA and Canada; many churches are religious based, though not limited to use by any one faith.

How about other European countries? Are all hospitals nationalized, or is it a mix of community based and religious ones?

The matter of Canada's "unfairness" to U.S. farmers keeps coming up. But, the dairy business is done differently in Canada, with market shares allocated by provincial dairy boards. There was a small slice allocated to U.S. dairy in the USMCA deal, but that slice has not even been used.

Now, dairy is logically the kind of thing that falls into "buy local" category. Even within Canada there is not much cross provincial dairy trade.

President Trump keeps stating about so many other products that the USA does not need to import from Canada. It is a similar thing for Canada when it comes to dairy. Canada produces all it needs internally.

President Trump is becoming annoying, like the vacuum cleaner salesman who keeps putting his foot in the door as you try to chase him away.

So, just what is the deal with him on this? The Canadian dairy market isn't all that big, and the USA doesn't really need the Canadian market either.

I understand an American bishop has directed priests in his diocese to forbid eulogies by family members and friends going forward. My own thought is that eulogies can be long and problematic if embedded within the Mass. But, why not have them just before the Proper of the Mass, when the priest begins prayers at the altar? I think families want to share memories.

The bishop says eulogizing should be done at the wake. But, at best, most families have a visitation spread over four hours in a room that cannot handle more than 30 or 40 people. Who has wakes anymore?

I was recently in Montreal and Quebec City. What you learn in visiting is that the people there kept their language, schools, churches and civil law after the early New France colony became a part of the British Empire in 1760. Lawyers in Quebec have a whole different curriculum in dealing with matters like real estate, family law and estate law than other Canadian lawyers. Though Quebec joined the Empire, it also carried on in many ways as if it did not.

It seems a parallel would have been the acquisition of New Amsterdam a century earlier. But, of course, practically nobody uses the Dutch language. Was there any concerted effort by the early Dutch settlers to maintain their language, customs, cuisine, etc. after the British took over?

I was recently in Montreal and Quebec City. What you learn in visiting is that the people there kept their language, schools, churches and civil law after the early New France colony became a part of the British Empire in 1760. Lawyers in Quebec have a whole different curriculum in dealing with matters like real estate, family law and estate law than other Canadian lawyers. Though Quebec joined the Empire, it also carried on in many ways as if it did not.

It seems a parallel would have been the acquisition of New Amsterdam a century earlier. But, of course, practically nobody uses the Dutch language. Was there any concerted effort by the early Dutch settlers to maintain their language, customs, cuisine, etc. after the British took over?

I have seen Paula White several times on the news. She is the spiritual advisor, apparently, to President Trump. He has named her to the White House faith office.

But, I have a concern as to her vocation and authenticity. I do not see evidence of her academic grounding. A lot of her personal life also seems problematic as a spiritual advisor. Does the White House staffing department have any say in her hiring, or is the matter strictly in the President's hands? As, I do not find him very good at digging into details. I wonder if the President may be mesmerized in some way by her. In the old days, a lot of revival type preachers had a lot of charisma, but little substance. I wonder if Paula may be of that ilk.

There is an historic curiosity of airline cabin staff being paid only for time elapsed from a flight departure from one airport to docking at the next airport. Yet, airlines tag staff with responsibilities prior and post flight time.

How is this even legal under the federal labour code, if such staff are hourly rated? Can a collective agreement override the basics of the law?

Some countries and U.S. states, notably New York and California, have banned natural gas appliances in new builds.

Is this well thought out?

First off, unless a high share of the electrical generation comes from non-fossil fuel sources, it is actually counterproductive. I don't know if most legislators realize that the generation and electrical power distribution are so inefficient. Delivering one kilowatt-hour of electricity to the home or business most often entails burning three kwh equivalent of natural gas. Even a worse conversion ratio for oil or coal. Furthermore, though electrical appliances are 100% efficient in providing heat for various purposes, natural gas is nearly that too.

Then comes the matter of incremental load on the electrical generation and distribution systems are a time when other loading is ramping up to service data centers and electric vehicles.

Is the shift for appliances thought through end to end, or is it really a guy level perception that natural gas is bad?

Up to the late 1980s, Chev, GMC and Dodge used riveted frames. I see some advantages for the overall manufacturing and logistics of the riveted frames.

But, from a strength standpoint, is there a material advantage to one compared to the other? I have been told that from a dynamic strength perspective, riveting is the better joining method, but I do not understand why that may be the case. Does a riveted frame require a greater gauge of steel in the rails or cross members?

I worked in a truck assembly plant, and the actual labor cost for riveted assembly was not that much, under an hour. From a logistics standpoint, the riveted frames were much better, with less proliferation of large components. A flat car carrying welded frames from the manufacturer to the assembly plant is largely air.

It seems in the news and social media, we see so much of Ms. Joly. Far more than any previous industry minister. She does seem to have a lot of energy, and is well spoken and certainly photogenic. I have noticed her English is now very clear and seems to come naturally to her, unlike ten years ago.

It is not obvious to me how to invest a reserve to be held back by me as executor of my father's estate. He left executor instructions, not a part of the will, to hold back a five figure amount until the CRA issues a tax clearance certificate. This can take many months. Two problems:

1 - If the estate still has the reserve as an asset, isn't it still an active trust? So, how do I file a terminal return for the trust?

2 - Unless I park that significant amount in a chequing account, earning no interest, the estate continues to gain taxable income while the final return is assessed and the clearance certificate issued. My thoughts on that is to consider one of two options -

a). Distribute the remaining funds to my siblings, obtaining a written promise that they will return anything required to satisfy possible CRA claims.

or

b) Keep those funds, but in my name, and after CRA clearance, distribute evenly the original reserve, plus accumulated interest, less income taxes payable by me on such interest income.

I lean to option b) but am not sure if it is ethical as a trustee of the estate.

What do most executors do in this situation?

I am half French Canadian by descent. I did a family tree some years ago, which got me to delve into early Canadian history.

The one big surprise for me was finding that most of my French ancestors, about 1,200, arrived in the early to mid- 17th century. Only two came over in the 18th century. What I learned in turn from history is that the flow of emigration to Canada from France really wound down by about 1690. The French had laid claim to big chunk of North America by then, not just the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, but also the huge Mississippi Valley and tributaries.

Though it laid claim, France did so little to populate the land, and develop its potential. It wasn't that France was short of people; it was the most highly populated nation in Europe. Thus, by 1759, when the British conquered Canada, the colonial population of Canada was just 60,000 compared to 1.5 million in the British Atlantic coast colonies. Obviously, that population base set up the British for success.

So, why wouldn't France have seized its golden opportunity in the New World?

Even following that, it seems the French avoided emigration to Canada and the USA. During the latter part of the 19th century, so many emigrated from the British Isles, Scandinavia and Germany to North America. There were even more emigrants from lowly populated Sweden to the USA than from France! Now, this makes me think that life for the common man in France was good back then, but that contrasts with popular wisdom. I have seen "Les Miserables", and it depicts a harsh life in France for the little people of the late 18th century.

Looking at the ethnic makeup of those carrying French ancestry in the USA of today, it seems there are two sources, both going back to the 17th century. The first are those have ancestors who came as refugees more or less, as Huguenots escaping the religious wars. The second group are transplanted French-Canadians who came between 1830 and 1930, for better economic opportunities. But, few directly from France from the 18th century through today.

Although in Canada, there has been some immigration flow from France following World War II. But, nothing at all like that from Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Greece, Poland or even many smaller countries of Europe.

I recently was in Montreal. I attended a well done presentation of Montreal and Quebec history at the archeological museum there. Considering the small population of Canada, around 60,000 at the time of the British Conquest in the mid-18th century, it is interesting how they were able to keep their ways in terms of culture, religion, laws and language.

It got me to thinking of a parallel event, a century earlier, and 300 miles south, when the British took New Netherlands. Was there any concerted effort by the Dutch to carry on similarly? To get special rights enshrined in the law, for instance. If so, what caused that to fizzle out over time?

I do not live in New York State, but live close to Niagara Falls. That said, though in a way I intellectually know better, if I hear the term "New Yorker", I automatically think of NYC. Though, logically, those from Buffalo and Rochester and so on are also New Yorkers.

When I hear the term "Quebecker", or "Quebecois", I just think of somebody who lives in the province, not necessarily Quebec City.

I recently was in Montreal. I attended a well done history of the city at the archeological museum there. Considering the small population of Canada, around 60,000 at the time of the British Conquest in the mid-18th century, it is interesting how they were able to keep their ways in terms of culture, religion, laws and language.

It got me to thinking of a parallel event, a century earlier, and 300 miles south, when the British took New Netherlands. Was there any concerted effort by the Dutch to carry on similarly? To get special rights enshrined in the law, for instance. If so, what caused that to fizzle out over time?

Just being in Montreal, I see three French words used for "station" in English.

On the Metro, it is a "station".

The VIA rail station is a "gare".

A post office station is a "succursale".

Are there subtle differences?

I read frequently about people being denied flights at the last minute due to their name being on a no fly list. But, we all know names overlap so frequently. It seems like a real bad scene for those involved, and rather ridiculous in this day and age.

Passports have so much in the way of verification potential embedded. Starting with the unique passport number itself. Today there are what are called "biometrics" containing specifics as to height, eye colour and likely soon, fingerprints.

So, if security agencies know of a shady character, it seems it would be possible to screen right down to passport number level, and flag just those possible passports. Not by name.

Today, I heard the President claim that $19 trillion in new investment money is coming to the USA from other countries. He stated that under President Biden, just $1 trillion came in from outside. Are either of those figures true?

He went on to tell a big fib, which I know from following the auto industry. He said Toyota was leaving Mexico. Not true in the least. What is happening is that Toyota will spend $2B to expand a Texas plant to build Tacoma pickups, now all done in Mexico. But, that Mexican plant will stay in production, along with other Toyota plants. The Texas plant will provide supplemental production.