286 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

Unless someone makes it difficult for Canadian workers to cross into the US.

 

Someone has not even remotely suggested making that so.

[Mattjvd]

Live in Canada and work in the states, do you only pay US income tax?

[Nparker]

Someone has not even remotely suggested making that so.

http://foreignpolicy...isa-trade-deal/

[sdwright.vic]

You pay taxes where you work, and have to file in both jurisdictions. When you file in Canada as a Canadian you receive a foreign tax credit for taxes paid in the state's. Negating any take owing in Canada for the Canadian working in the state's. Same spies for perm residents. You have to claim your income in both countries but taxes owing to the home country get wiped out by the tax credit received up to a certain $$ value (about $200k).

The US and Canada also have an agreement about SSI and CPP earned both countries that there is a sharing of contribution values for whenever one collects either or that the get a full benefit of retirement benefits no matter the combo of years worked in each country.

[VicHockeyFan]

Unless someone makes it difficult for Canadian workers to cross into the US.

 

Oh, Canadian workers go over to work in the US daily.  Lol, why would you want that?  Imagine if 1 million US workers wanted to work here every day.

 

I've stated here in the past, for every US person that wants to move/work here, 30 Canadians want to move there.  We are lucky they accept that!

[Mattjvd]

You pay taxes where you work, and have to file in both jurisdictions. When you file in Canada as a Canadian you receive a foreign tax credit for taxes paid in the state's. Negating any take owing in Canada for the Canadian working in the state's. Same spies for perm residents. You have to claim your income in both countries but taxes owing to the home country get wiped out by the tax credit received up to a certain $$ value (about $200k).

The US and Canada also have an agreement about SSI and CPP earned both countries that there is a sharing of contribution values for whenever one collects either or that the get a full benefit of retirement benefits no matter the combo of years worked in each country.

Thanks for the reply, Sd.

Edited by Mattjvd, 28 September 2017 - 05:17 PM.

[sdwright.vic]

^never happen. The US worker coming to Canada would take a 33% pay cut. The opposite direction is a 33% pay increase*.

*sdwright.vic random statistic with no back up except the current exchange rate.

[LJ]

^That's only true for the exchange rate, actual costs are quite different, Canadians will cost the autoworkers employers $27 more per hour in Canada than the US. In the US the UAW signed a contract throwing their new employees under the bus in order to preserve their current job pay/benefits. CAW hasn't done that yet.

Note these are costs, not the employee wages per se.

The G&M

 

However, UAW workers made several concessions in their latest contract, including the implementation of a two-tier wage system.

Under this system, current employees will keep their current compensation rates, but new workers will make significantly less in benefits and wages. These new workers will only cost their employers $47 an hour all-in, while non-assembly line workers will only cost $26 an hour.

In another concession, the UAW will take control of health-care benefits as of 2010, meaning the all-in cost of the workers who were hired before the two-tier system was implemented will fall to $62 an hour.

 

Given these changes, by 2012 the average all-in cost of a UAW employee will be approximately $52 an hour, Mr. Faria said.

In comparison, the all-in cost of a CAW employee will stay fairly stagnant, at approximately $79 an hour.

"So you could be talking a $27-an-hour labour cost difference between Detroit plants in the U.S. versus Canada," Mr. Faria said.

[Fixerdave]

You know.. when I heard that Langford was putting in an Amazon HQ bid, I laughed like the rest.  But, I woke up this morning realising that they could actually be the front-runner.  Seriously.  I just did some research and happened upon this site.

 

Yeah... I laughed, 50,000 more people in the Crawl.  Great.  But, remember, there's that E&N right of way.  There's a recent business plan to make a viable commute out of it.  Just needs a bit of money.  I'll bet the Lanford Council would do ANYTHING it would take to route a loop from the E&N right through the middle of the Amazon HQ.  So, for a relatively small investment, likely at taxpayer expense knowing how these things go, Amazon Execs could have their morning coffee in their multi-million dollar Songhees condos, that overlooks their private yachts in the harbour, then walk down to the station and be at work in 20min.  Their office employees could get from their cheap single-family homes in Duncan to work in about 30min.  Those living in Nanaimo in under an hour... and that's a nice productive train hour, not sitting in a frustrating crawl.  Even if all the tracks and bridges had to be rebuilt from scratch, the land is still there.  That's the important part.  That ribbon of land from Songhees all the way to Comox makes a huge difference. 

 

If you factor in Nanaimo and points south, you get around a million people and LOTS of space for more.  You get public transit to the HQ's door.  You get the best weather in Canada.  You get one of the best countries in the world to live in.  You even get Trudeau as PM which, to an American right now, has to be looking pretty good.

 

Now, think about what else the region has:

• Multiple municipalities break the area up so that Amazon HQ becomes the biggest employer in THEIR district (Langford) by at least a factor of 10.  Whatever they ask for from City Council, they get.
• They get the same time zone as Seattle, the same Cascadia culture as Seattle, the same basic climate as Seattle... just far enough away so that when the earthquake hits, it's not likely to take out both at the same time.
• They get a local airport that just won an award for being the "Friendliest small airport in the WORLD."  Not making this up here.  Look it up.  Quick flights to Seattle. 
• Or, take a harbour to harbour seaplane.
• Or, the Helijet, which would put on a Seattle run in a heartbeat, assuming Langford didn't allow a helijet pad at Amazon HQ). 
• If they wanted to drive, there's the Coho ferry. 
• Want a nice relaxing scenic trip... take the Fastcat.
• Lots of very high-end luxury housing and condos in Victoria.  (Remember who's making the decisions here)
• A trendy small city that's hit the news recently in all the right ways.
• UVIC, Camosun, and Royal Roads.
• Canada has way cheaper corporate taxes than the US.
• Cheap healthcare costs, with a newish hospital 10min down the freeway.
• Canada is fast-tracking tech visas while the US is threatening to shut them down.
• Way easier immigration for talented people overall.
• Choosing Canada is a good way to slap Trump in the face.  This could go either way, depending on the prevailing mood.

And then there's the whole high-tech thing.  Like many, I was surprised to hear that tech had actually overtaken tourism as an economic base in Victoria.  And, I work in tech.  That was a few years ago.  Now, tech in Victoria grosses near 4 Billion, tourism a little over 1 Billion.  Yeah, tech in Victoria now more than doubles what tourism does.  Weird, isn't it?

 

The Langford bid is a lot like that.  Silly sounding, until you actually look at it.

 

There are people saying that it's more than likely the new Amazon HQ will be in Canada.  If the Langford people put all of the above in their bid, they stand a good chance of getting it.  Seriously.

 

David English...

[Mike K.]

Welcome to VV, Dave!

[VicHockeyFan]

At least I'm glad you admit all the tracks, bridges and level crossings would have to be completely rebuilt.

That'll cost $900,000,000.

There are 240 level crossings. The arms alone cost $250,000 per crossing.

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 02 October 2017 - 07:35 AM.

[sdwright.vic]

So, stop thinking about rebuilding crossings and just rebuild as a sky train. This thing should not be ground to begin with for speed.

[Bingo]

You know.. when I heard that Langford was putting in an Amazon HQ bid, I laughed like the rest.  But, I woke up this morning realising that they could actually be the front-runner.  Seriously.  I just did some research and happened upon this site.

 

Yeah... I laughed, 50,000 more people in the Crawl.  Great.  But, remember, there's that E&N right of way.  There's a recent business plan to make a viable commute out of it.  Just needs a bit of money.  I'll bet the Lanford Council would do ANYTHING it would take to route a loop from the E&N right through the middle of the Amazon HQ.  So, for a relatively small investment, likely at taxpayer expense knowing how these things go, Amazon Execs could have their morning coffee in their multi-million dollar Songhees condos, that overlooks their private yachts in the harbour, then walk down to the station and be at work in 20min.  Their office employees could get from their cheap single-family homes in Duncan to work in about 30min.  Those living in Nanaimo in under an hour... and that's a nice productive train hour, not sitting in a frustrating crawl.  Even if all the tracks and bridges had to be rebuilt from scratch, the land is still there.  That's the important part.  That ribbon of land from Songhees all the way to Comox makes a huge difference. 

 

If you factor in Nanaimo and points south, you get around a million people and LOTS of space for more.  You get public transit to the HQ's door.  You get the best weather in Canada.  You get one of the best countries in the world to live in.  You even get Trudeau as PM which, to an American right now, has to be looking pretty good.

David English...

 

Welcome to the forum as well, and your astute observation of the valuable E&N right of way.

However there is a couple of folks on here that say the train will never run and it will cost millions to get it going again, which is rubbish if you only focus initially on the part from Langford to Victoria.

 

More on the E&N here:

http://vibrantvictor...-86#entry399404

http://vibrantvictor...or/page-4?hl= e

http://vibrantvictor...44?hl=galloping

[VicHockeyFan]

So, stop thinking about rebuilding crossings and just rebuild as a sky train. This thing should not be ground to begin with for speed.

 

That's not a bad idea.  And instead of the idea of having 10x 800-person trains, consider that the thing should run 6 or 8-person pods that leave on demand, as needed.  Now it can be a much lighter track.

[Fixerdave]

At least I'm glad you admit all the tracks, bridges and level crossings would have to be completely rebuilt.

That'll cost $900,000,000.

There are 240 level crossings. The arms alone cost $250,000 per crossing.

 

 

The last business plan I saw, done this year, says $5.5M for the run that gets the Amazon exec from Songhees to Langford.  Now, that's probably lowball but compared to the Massey tunnel replacement at $8B, which is probably lowball...

 

Yes, the run all the way to Comox is going to be very expensive.  The run to Duncan would cost as there are some pretty serious trestles to rebuild.  But, it doesn't have to happen all at once and certainly not before they start building the HQ.   And, the number you quote is likely the all-in cost to upgrade to current rail standards.  Our rails are much lighter and not rated for modern freight trains, but we don't really need that kind of weight.  We can go lighter for passenger only.  Most, if not all, of the level crossing to Lanford are already signalled as well.  What keeps killing this is the creeping elegance... won't work, needs to be elevated, needs to handle 100 car, 4-loco freight trains, needs...  No, it doesn't.  It just needs to move people to and from Langford for now, with the extension to Duncan and points north later.

 

Now, I am operating under the following assumptions:

1. That this all started after an Amazon Exec Trump complaint session and one of them pipped up, "why don't we build a second HQ in Vancouver as a 'get out of Dodge' card?"  So, they talked with Bezos and he says "make it a competition so we can extort money from all the levels of government."
2. Vancouver, rather than anywhere else in Canada, because of time zone, weather, and culture issues.
3. When they get the list of proposals, they'll just toss them, except for maybe that Victoria one.
4. it's not going to be 50,000 people, but rather a few thousand to start, if that.  It's the fact that it exists that is important, not how big it is.  The 50,000 is just a carrot to make governments jump.

If the competition is actually between Victoria and Vancouver, then Victoria actually does have a lot to offer.  And, the property cost savings would probably make for a significant contribution to an E&N rebuild, especially the part about it running right through their HQ.  Done right, sort of like Ring Road at UVIC, it could actually be a useful transportation system between buildings at their HQ.  And, really, where would a Seattle executive rather live, Victoria or Vancouver?

 

So, yeah, I think Langford has a shot.  If you consider it's more about executives looking for a way out of the US, rather than being some kind of profit-making functional HQ, then Victoria (and Langford) has a better than even shot.

 

David...

Edited by Fixerdave, 02 October 2017 - 10:41 AM.

[VicHockeyFan]

I love #1 that's awesome!

[Jackerbie]

Now, I am operating under the following assumptions:

1. That this all started after an Amazon Exec Trump complaint session and one of them pipped up, "why don't we build a second HQ in Vancouver as a 'get out of Dodge' card?"  So, they talked with Bezos and he says "make it a competition so we can extort money from all the levels of government."
2. Vancouver, rather than anywhere else in Canada, because of time zone, weather, and culture issues.
3. When they get the list of proposals, they'll just toss them, except for maybe that Victoria one.
4. it's not going to be 50,000 people, but rather a few thousand to start, if that.  It's the fact that it exists that is important, not how big it is.  The 50,000 is just a carrot to make governments jump.

If the competition is actually between Victoria and Vancouver, then Victoria actually does have a lot to offer. 

 

As far as I know there are 3 bids in Metro Vancouver: Vancouver, Surrey, and Richmond. 

[lanforod]

Jeez, why can't they all pitch in on one bid. You can't quite put the actual HQ on all three of them, but you can cover Richmond and Vancouver, and then add a south Surrey Skytrain line.

[nerka]

^^ You are crazy David - but in a good way.

 

That's about the most plausible argument for Langford that I have heard. Still not betting on it though.

[Fixerdave]

^^ You are crazy David - but in a good way.

 

That's about the most plausible argument for Langford that I have heard. Still not betting on it though.

 

yeah... not like I'm heading up to Duncan to buy property either