12-22-2025, 11:17 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-22-2025, 11:18 AM by danbrotherston.)
(12-22-2025, 10:45 AM)bravado Wrote: I think that if we want nice, reliable public services, they have to be financially sustainable. You should have to pay ~something~ to use a nice and reliable service, or else it won't be that way for very long.
There might be some value in means-testing these sorts of programs, but we really need to get used to the idea of "nice things cost money". Without any means-testing, it's pretty clear: seniors are the wealthiest cohort in Canada (by quite a lot) and getting wealthier faster than all the others. This is a strange proposal to subsidize the wealthy under the guise of accessibility.
As for time of use... even an empty bus needs to be paid for by somebody.
I disagree with this belief. KW has free libraries that are excellent. Parking and roads are also free and vary but at least in the Netherlands are excellent.
I think pricing can be used as a useful signal (ie parking shouldn’t be free Because it’s harmful, rush hour transit in Toronto shouldn’t be free because demand outstrips supply) but isn’t a necessary component of delivering a valuable excellent service. We can pay for these things with taxation instead of fees.
And pricing something isn’t free, the very act of acting pricing ads friction and effort above and beyond the actual sticker price so as a society we should only use it where it makes sense.