this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2026

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102

Avi Lewis is on to something with his plans to nationalize everything from pharmaceuticals to groceries (www.ctvnews.ca)

submitted 3 weeks ago by yogthos@lemmy.ml to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 26 points 3 weeks ago

His #1 issue is proportional representation. This is a game changer.

[–] patatas@sh.itjust.works 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Lol what an absolute hack job by Mulcair, clearly edited last-minute to tack on some shallow condolences to Avi for the loss of his father.

Also, I wish Lewis wanted to nationalize stuff, but it's not what his policies actually are. The CBC was also trying to frame his call for public options "nationalization", so I guess even the public fuckin' broadcaster is doing red scare stuff around policies not unlike the one that allows their own network to exist

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 20 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I'm kind of hoping Lewis will start taking a more unapologetic position regarding nationalization. If they're going to do the whole red scare thing anyways, why not just embrace it. I don't think it even hits with young people the same way it does with boomers. People struggling under capitalism, who can barely make ends meet, and have to live with roommates because they can't even afford a place of their own, aren't so enamoured with the current system as not to seriously consider alternatives.

[–] tootoughtoremember@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

He has managed to make himself a champion of young Canadians

Only "young" Canadians care about affordable housing, affordable groceries, good-paying sustainable jobs, improved healthcare, and better electoral representation?

Or are millenials in their 40s still "young" Canadians?

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

the media really likes to downplay just how widespread the problems are

[–] ArmchairAce1944@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I am in my 40s and all gen z's and gen Alpha's concerns are also my concerns. Housing, jobs, rent, healthcare, everything. I am living in a very precarious situation with my job and apartment.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 weeks ago

Anybody who's in the workforce right now is feeling the pain.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Poor people 40 and up tend to vote more Conservative. They strike the same angry tone without any of the complicated or uncomfortable stuff.

Actually, poor young people are to the right of affluent young people, as well.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 10 points 3 weeks ago

It's pretty funny how they call crown corporations that would compete along the private sector "nationalization." Truly stuff out of the private sector's major shareholders nightmares. Or their profit-preserving propaganda chests, can't tell.

[–] droopy4096@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago

Mulcair advises ring shallow as we saw NDP contract under him and not thrive at all. I'd love to hear Jack Layton on the subject but alas...

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

He can't nationalize pharmaceuticals. Canada has been under funding biomedical research for 50 years, 99.9% of on-patent drugs come from outside Canada.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Like, radical policies can win, and sometimes aren't even a bad idea, but it just doesn't seem like this one has wide appeal. Unless they win it means about as much as our hot takes on here.

You know how the Conservative party has gotten further and further right to appeal to their own activists, at the expense of appealing to anyone else? There's a similar vibe with this.

[+] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca -26 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Proposing a nationalized grocery store is not going to win votes. A lot of people understand how bad the government is at managing things. Far better would be to tax people less so they can afford necessities. It is insane when the government taxes us, and then we celebrate when they decide to give some money back (sounds like Trump, right?).

[–] patatas@sh.itjust.works 18 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

have you heard of SaskTel? It's a public option for telecom/cell phones, and last I heard, Saskatchewan has by far the lowest prices on cell phone plans in the country, because the big telcos are forced to actually compete, instead of colluding with each other to rip us off.

[–] MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This is the example I think of every time. There are some really great government run businesses out there that you can actually trust to have your interest at heart.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 10 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Another direct example is comparing the nightmare that is private healthcare industry in the states with publicly owned healthcare in Canada.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Doug Ford is doing his best to privatize health care. We waste so much money on temp nurses.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 weeks ago

Yup, also stuff like Lifelabs where they've been quietly moving the work of stuff like lab results into the private sector that hospitals then have to deal with.

[–] MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm not sure Canada has a shining example of good healthcare at the moment.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's not, but it's vastly better than the states. And the reason we're not a shining example is entirely because we chronically underfund healthcare here. I know this from first hand experience having worked in healthcare sector for a decade.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I know this from first hand experience having worked in healthcare sector for a decade.

G-d love you, anyone working in that industry deserves extra appreciation and support.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago

It was honestly the most rewarding job I've had. I was on the IT team that supported the hospital, and we'd get to go the clinics to see how clinicians worked. Then we'd help them identify parts of their workflow that could be automated, build tools, and then see how they'd use them. It was so great to be doing something that directly translated into improving patient care. You rarely see how your work actually benefits people when you work in the private sector. There's really not much past just getting your paycheck and paying the bills.

[–] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca -3 points 3 weeks ago

I have free long distance to Mexico, US and Canada with 50GB for $29 including taxes. (Public Mobile). Sasktel can't come close.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 18 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

If you're so upset about taxes, just wait till you learn how wage labour works and the portion of the value you produce your boss appropriates while paying you a small portion of that as a wage.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 17 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Public options are more efficient than private options see non-profits, healthcare, and education.

When private they all cost more, non-profits you'll see it in administrative fees.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 weeks ago

It's worth noting that efficiency itself is a loaded term because it requires context. The question that tends to be ignored is what the process is efficient at accomplishing. Private enterprise is efficient at creating profit for the business owner, and any social value produced is strictly incidental. It's entirely possible to have an enterprise that efficiently lines the pockets of the oligarchs like our telecom cartels, with none of the benefits being passed down to the public. We pay some of the highest rates for mobile data around the world here. Even if public sector was more bureaucratic, for which there is precious little evidence, its focus on directly providing value to the public is what matters.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

Metrolinx was construction taken from TTC for "efficiency".

At one point, they had >100 VPs.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Government is bad at managing things...morons still buy this bullshit, so keep paying into loblaws $3B profits, and enjoy the efficiency of Metrolinx and Phoenix Pay, while driving on billions of dollars of shitty roads made by two companies.

And enjoy Ontario insurance where the private sector fights each other tooth and nail to give us insurance 30% higher than any inefficient government plan provinces.

[–] Frumple@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

A lot of people understand how bad the government is at managing things.

I wish more people understood how bad private companies are at managing things, just as bad or even worse than governments.

[–] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca -1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

In those cases, the market decides. Just look at Target, The Bay, Eatons etc. With all of those failures, the taxpayer wasn't on the hook for any of it.

[–] Frumple@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

I don't care if the taxpayer was on the hook on it or not.

My point is this narrative that governments are automatically bad at managing things and private companies are automatically good at managing things is bullshit.

You're clearly some sort of capitalist who thinks the free market is going to fix everything (which is definitely not true), so respectfully I'm not going to engage with this any further.

[–] Teppa@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Just look at grocery stores, grocers are down to a 3-4% margins on food, and have some of the most efficient logistics networks in Canada.

Contrast that to the governments involvement, they did the zoning laws for the land Loblaws sits, which they essentially turned companies like Loblaws into REIT which is how it derives most its net profit. Because it was more profitable for them to deal in land scarcity and appreciate from real estate speculation due to government caused shortages than it was to appreciate from selling products.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Just look at grocery stores, grocers are down to a 3-4% margins on food

Bullshit.

According to the company’s 2025 annual results, Loblaw reported a **gross profit of approximately **C$20.03 billion for the full year 2025. This figure comes from the income statement summary showing:

Total Revenue: C$63.903 billion Cost of Revenue: C$43.871 billion → Gross Profit: C$20.032 billion (i.e., revenue less cost of goods sold).

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/quote/L.TO/financials/

[–] Teppa@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Well Loblaws is a REIT as well, and I believe their margins are far higher on that, which raises top line margins.

The REIT does well due to our government zoning policy, which has caused massive urban sprawl and extremely high commercial real estate prices. Likely also causing a lack of competition and higher prices for goods, like everything in Canada it became an oligopoly.

[–] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

Loblaws sells much more than groceries. Shoppers Drug Mart revenue is also included in Loblaws numbers.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Well, the people paying the most taxes are doing just fine.

This specific policy seems like it's trying to alienate people, though. They could have gone with anything besides nationalisation, or at least used a bullshit name for it.