sbv

“The targets and outcomes for funding available under the agreement were mutually agreed upon in March 2025 through a three-year Action Plan for 2025/26 to 2027/28. This ensures the continued availability of federal funding for Ontario.”

Flack’s office indicated he wanted to reset the relationship with his federal counterpart after a tense year. The latest agreement will prioritize rent-assisted units, according to the Ontario government.

I didn't see an explanation of the action plan in the article. Progress on rent-assisted units is great.

The title says it all. Have there been any announcements about a replacement read-it-later app?

TD isn't fixing its money laundering problem because of Canadian penalties, but because the US regulator wouldn't put up with their shit:

It had become clear TD needed a new leadership team to usher in the sweeping changes required to fix its anti-money-laundering failures, which in October resulted in U.S. regulators announcing more than US$3-billion in fines by the Department of Justice and a host of non-monetary penalties that will carve deep trenches in the bank for years to come.

Money laundering has pushed up costs in our real estate sector and enabled the drug crisis. It's bizarre that we haven't done more to stop it.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-td-bank-raymond-chun-ceo/

The Eight Laws of ~~Robotics~~ Calmness:

1. Technology should require the smallest possible amount of attention.
2. Technology should inform and create calm.
3. Technology should make use of the periphery.
4. Technology should amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity.
5. Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak.
6. Technology should work even when it fails.
7. The right amount of technology is the minimum needed to solve the problem.
8. Technology should respect social norms.

I'm a little suspicious about a certification body that's paid for by producers, but it's fine if they can make it work.

Interesting podcast about the measles outbreaks in Alberta and Ontario. I got:

1. The outbreaks are primarily among unvaccinated Mennonite communities.
2. Heard immunity (thanks to vaccination) among the general population has prevented exposures from turning into infections.
3. Provincial health ministries are avoiding talking about Mennonites because they want to avoid stigmatization.
4. Provincial health ministries aren't holding regular briefings for political reasons.

But it's a podcast (and I'm too lazy to read the transcript) so maybe I got some of that stuff wrong.

Edit: Fixed the link to the transcript. Thanks @[email protected]!

Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page said there isn’t enough time left before the summer recess for the government to produce a full budget with new policy announcements, but he said the Liberals should at least produce a fiscal update before the summer that shows where things currently stand. He said campaign platforms didn’t fully account for the various U.S. tariff moves that have disrupted the Canadian economy.

“They are out of date,” said Mr. Page, who is now president and chief executive officer of the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy. “Parliament will be asked to approve spending authorities without a reasonable planning framework.”

and lil context:

Federal governments almost always release a budget early in the year. One rare exception was in 2020, during the pandemic, when the government didn’t table one.

The absence of a budget would leave Canadians without a clear picture of the new government’s spending plan, or how recent economic events have affected Ottawa’s bottom line.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-new-energy-minister-hodgson-planning-western-canada-trip-as-carneys/

I think Kershaw is trolling in this op-ed, but it's hard to tell. He's saying that the $14 billion planned increase to OAS for seniors will subsidize many people who are already well off. So he suggests younger Canadians (who don't get to participate in the housing market) should get a similar amount:

Millennials and Gen Z deserve a greater share of the $1.5-trillion windfall generated by rising home values since boomers were young adults.

A $1,000 annual payment to every adult aged 18 to 39 would be a start. The simplest way to deliver this compensation would be through a refundable tax credit, claimed when young people file their annual returns. Governments seeking more visible credit might directly deposit $250 every three months into young people’s bank accounts, clearly labelled as a housing wealth dividend.

I know $1,000 doesn’t stretch far in today’s housing market. It may only cover a few weeks of rent or mortgage payments. But over 21 years, that same annual payment adds up to real money that can help with costs.

Of course, there are less spendy alternatives:

Options include eliminating outdated Age and Pension Income tax shelters, which could pay for half the cost. The other half could come from beginning the Old Age Security clawback at $100,000 of household income, rather than continuing to provide the full $18,000 subsidy to retired couples with $180,000 in income.

I think Kershaw is using the $1,000 per year "you were born too young to get a house" tax rebate as an illustration of the amount of cash going to retirees. But maybe he isn't.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/young-money/article-carneys-housing-fix-needs-a-dividend-for-millennials-and-gen-z/

A really fun comparison of some sample hacking/decking/netrunning runs in Shadowrun (1st, 4th, 5th), Cyberpunk (2020, RED), and a couple of systems I'm unfamiliar with.

It's interesting to see the ludic philosophy for each system:

• Shadowrun seems to value stealth for deckers, meaning cybercombat only occurs when something goes wrong.
• Cyberpunk seems to expect netrunners to steamroll everything in the system they're attacking.

I have a personal attachment to the Shadowrun style, and I'm trying to figure out how "sneaking" works in Cyberpunk RED. I think the short answer is it doesn't, and I'll have to figure out what an alarm means in this system and how it should be triggered.

As always, the Fraser Institute is shitting on ideas that could help the 99%, and saying government should rEmOvE ReD tApE.

I really want this to work. But the announcements I've seen for the building plan only address the supply side and ignore the problems on the demand side: people who own houses are able to pump up the cost of new houses; tax law encourages Canadians to treat their primary residence as an investment; real estate is used for money laundering (at least in some jurisdictions); mortgage fraud is a thing (at least in some jurisdictions); renovictions are used to pump the cost of rentals; and rent caps aren't available in many jurisdictions.

Anyhow, here's hoping the investing in modular housing succeeds, rezoning somehow lowers prices, and the feds are able to push housing starts to the moon.

I'm looking for feedback for generic opposition.

Problem

My players have gotten to the point where gangers and bodyguards don't really threaten unless they show up in force (like 2x the number of players). The Solo has made great choices about equipment and IP assignment, so they're dancing around most mooks I throw their way.

I'm trying to create a general corporate "Rapid Response Team" (borrowing from Shadowrun) that can pose a serious threat to the PCs. I plan to use them as reason why the players try to avoid triggering alarms or waltzing into corporate areas guns blazing.

Solution

Rapid Response Teams are deployed when an alarm goes off, or there's a confirmed threat in an area a corp wants to keep safe. They're deployed in groups of 1.5x the party size (6 in my case). One group is deployed at each exit, to a maximum of 3.

Loadout:

• +14 on weapons and brawling skills. They are "Elite" according to the 3 Goon Method.
• MOV 5 or 6.
• Melee
  • Nightstick (heavy melee: ROF 2, 3d6)
  • Karate: hit with nightstick, then hit with Martial Arts attack, then break armour. (4d6 due to linear frame's BODY stat)
• Range
  • Nearish range: <6 squares, Shotgun (ROF 1, 5d6), AP ammo
  • Longer range: 6+ squares, Assault rifle (ROF 1, 5d6), AP ammo
• Grenades
  • Indoors: smoke
  • Outdoors: AP
• Cyberware
  • Thermal optics
  • Linear frame Sigma (Body 12)

Tactics:

• Goal: overwhelming force to flatten opposition
• Move in groups. Take extra turns to stay together. Move silently.
• Cluster at the end of hallways, on their turn, step out to fire then back under cover.
• When entering rooms: cluster at doorway, throw a smoke grenade, then rush in.
• Focus targets - aim for whoever they think they can pick off.
• Fill space with smoke grenades to blind opposition, then use their thermal optics.

Some alternatives

• Flashbangs rather than smoke grenades - they trigger 20 rounds of Damaged Eye/Ear critical injuries. I think I'd rather save those for the next level of operatives tho.
• A ROF 1 heavy melee weapon. I'd prefer to stick with ROF 2 so they can use martial arts attacks when in melee range.
• Give them four arms and shields. Again, I'd prefer to save that for the heavier hitters.
• Other martial arts. I haven't looked at the new Interface, but I'd prefer to avoid choking, since that means a player is just rolling against a DV for 3 rounds.

So, any suggestions or improvements?

London-based Shell owns 40 per cent of LNG Canada. Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas acquired its 25-per-cent stake in 2018. The other participants in the venture are PetroChina and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. (each with a 15-per-cent stake) and South Korea’s Kogas (5 per cent).