Canada : Ontario is financially much worse...

[enim]

Canada : Ontario is financially much worse...

California has become synonymous with financial dire straits.

In recent years, when discussing the most indebted jurisdictions in the western world, some politicians included California in the same conversation as Greece and Spain.

While that might have been a bit of a stretch, things were pretty gloomy.

Well, surprisingly — or maybe not — a new study by the Fraser Institute suggests that Canada's most populous province is actually worse off than America's most populous state.

The study, released on Tuesday, notes that by any measure, Ontario's debt level trumps California's.

[Mephesto]

Is Vancouver comparatively better?

[ranchhand]

Vancouver is in British Columbia province on the West coast. I have friends in BC and I have heard no complaints about the job situation. It's probably one of the most beautiful cities on the North American continent.

[OllieTSB]

I certainly echo "most beautiful" comments about Vanc. Stand on their downtown streets and look east to see snow-capped mountains, turn around and look at crystal gleaming blue Pacific vistas. Spectacular. Plus, they have the deadliest shops in the world - "Death By Chocolate" cafes. I spend a couple of weeks a year there, but much more time in Wells Gray property and I'm sure every province has their financial straits. Debt may be one issue, but compared to New Mexico and Mississippi, which are so incredibly poor anyway, I'm not sure 'debt' alone is causes the sky to fall.

[Mephesto]

Is Alberta or BC more financially stable? Which is a better province to work in? I heard while Alberta has the lowest minimum wage that most employers pay well above that even for flipping burgers and that while BC has more jobs and higher min. wage ALL of them pay that min. wage.
Is this accurate?

[OllieTSB]

(Days later...)

Meph, I could not answer that as I do work for hospital-groups, wholesale distributors (giant warehousing operations) and the TV networks and film-production houses up there. When we've done construction and physical-plant maint projects, we use local contractors and never lost days to labor issues, so that's as close to 'minimum wage issues' as I've come - not very.

Vanc might be as stable as any bigger city might be, while other, more rural locations may have seasonal fluctuations due to the 'real winters' they have up there. I think it was James Cameron who once said, "In blizzards, no one can hear you scream." Or something like that.

Seriously, there are reports and stats and numbers, but none of them illustrate the willingnes to find good work, nor can they identify good from bad work. Vanc is a big city, sprawling with a lot of neighborhoods and suburbs, and locating the right one anywhere is tough. Or sometimes incredibly easy and lucky. If you're considering a move to anywhere, my best advice is "find some good friends ASAP." Nothing helps like good friends.

[Mephesto]

Nobody considers the big Toronto city more stable than a bunch of Albertan small towns with lots of jobs so that generalized idea doesn't tell me anything.

I'm not considering a move to Vancouver even if there were jobs everywhere and the minimum wage was $50 an hour because that's where I was incarcerated without a conviction exactly a decade ago. I've nothing but hatred for them. I was just curious how they were doing compared to the other provinces.

my best advice is "find some good friends ASAP." Nothing helps like good friends.

Problem is I don't like depending on anyone but myself and I don't accept favors. When people offer, I start looking for ulterior motives. People who live off of other people's efforts are people too worthless to be self-reliant.

About blizzards, they are fun. Nothing makes a simple walk back home an adrenaline rush more effectively than a snowstorm. In January 2008 I reached the second stage of hypothermia when walking back home from work at 6:00 AM in inadequate clothing. It was pitch black outside where the snow was the only thing visible. It was a hell of a rush, I wish every day was like it.