Wonderful Waterloo Archive

This site is maintained by Sam Nabi as a record of the vibrant Wonderful Waterloo community, which was taken offline in 2014. This site is a partial archive, containing some posts from 2009-2013. To read more about the recovery effort and access the data in a machine-readable format, check out the GitHub page.

The Penny

Post #21144 12-14-2010 10:42 AM UrbanWaterloo Moderator	The Penny Produced by the Royal Canadian Mint
Post #21145 12-14-2010 10:43 AM UrbanWaterloo Moderator Kitchener-Waterloo Joined Dec 2009 3549 posts cc LRT Letters to letters@wonderfulwaterloo.com	THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL FINANCE December 13, 2010 \| http://www.parl.gc.ca/40/3/parlbus/c.../13dec10-e.htm Senate Committee on National Finance to Hold Press Conference to Discuss Report on the Costs and Benefits of the Penny Tuesday, December 14, 2010 \| 3:45 p.m. E.T. National Press Theatre, 150 Wellington Street, Ottawa The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance invites journalists from outside Ottawa to participate in the press conference via webcast and teleconference. Details on how to participate can be found below. North America: 1-877-413-4803 \| Participants must quote Conference Identification Number: 4083051 Webcast: http://senate-senat.ca/fina.asp On April 27, 2010, the Senate authorized the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance to examine the costs and benefits of Canada’s one-cent coin to Canadian taxpayers and the overall Canadian economy. Senator Joseph A. Day (Saint John-Kennebecasis, New Brunswick), chair of the committee and Senator Richard Neufeld (British Columbia), deputy chair, will present the report’s recommendations as proposed by the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance at the press conference.
Post #21159 12-14-2010 12:46 PM Greg Moore Urban Issues Moderator Belmont Villiage Joined Dec 2009 223 posts Twitter - @the_g_spot	I'd like to see them kill the nickel too.
Post #21160 12-14-2010 12:55 PM Urbanomicon City Member Kitchener, Ontario Joined Feb 2010 960 posts "Only the insane have the strength enough to prosper. Only those that prosper may truly judge what is sane."	Originally Posted by Greg Moore I'd like to see them kill the nickel too. I would include the dime as well. Really, who cares about change smaller than a quarter?
Post #21168 12-14-2010 01:31 PM markster Town Member Joined Oct 2010 164 posts	New Zealand was awesome. They got rid of the penny and the nickel. And posted prices generally included the tax. There was so little change in my wallet, it was glorious!
Post #21189 12-14-2010 04:51 PM markster Town Member Joined Oct 2010 164 posts	CBC News Penny should be scrapped: Senate panel Canadians are hoarding the coins, not spending them The Senate finance committee is recommending that the federal government remove the penny from circulation and that guidelines be established for rounding off purchase prices for cash-only transactions. The committee also recommends that production of the penny for circulation cease "as soon as practicable" with 12 months notice, until the copper is no longer considered legal tender. Canadians' emotional attachment to coppers gathering dust in their jars, cars, pockets and cans "far outweighs their value," said Senator Richard Neufeld, the committee's deputy chair. "The fact is, the penny is not much use anymore," Neufield told reporters on Tuesday in Ottawa. The report also recommends that the Bank of Canada continue to redeem pennies indefinitely, while banks could choose how long they'd redeem the one-cent pieces. It also called for the federal government to encourage charitable organizations to implement fundraising campaigns that would assist in removing the penny from circulation. P.O.V.: Is it time to retire the one-cent coin? The Bank of Canada says the copper-plated coin has lost 95 per cent of its purchasing power since 1908, when it was first produced in Canada. Cost to make a penny: 1.5 cents It now costs more to produce the penny — about 1.5 cents each — than the coin's actual face value, while items that cost a penny 100 years ago now cost 20 cents, the report said. The Royal Canadian Mint has been forced to sharply increase penny production in recent years as more and more Canadians hoard, rather than spend, their one-cent pieces. The committee recommended that the mint be allowed to decide whether it is profitable to continue limited production of the one-cent coin for direct sale to collectors. The senators estimated that hoarding of pennies amounted to 600 coins per person across the country.
Post #21207 12-14-2010 09:28 PM DHLawrence Town Member Joined Mar 2010 455 posts	Getting rid of the two-dollar note was a mistake. At least they backed off on getting rid of the five.
Post #21213 12-14-2010 10:13 PM Urbanomicon City Member Kitchener, Ontario Joined Feb 2010 960 posts "Only the insane have the strength enough to prosper. Only those that prosper may truly judge what is sane."	Originally Posted by DHLawrence Getting rid of the two-dollar note was a mistake. At least they backed off on getting rid of the five. I'm waiting for the day when tangible notes are a thing of the past, where everything is paid for by either debit or credit.
Post #21216 12-14-2010 11:12 PM KevinL City Member West-South-West Kitchener Joined May 2010 530 posts My Flickr - My Facebook	Originally Posted by DHLawrence Getting rid of the two-dollar note was a mistake. At least they backed off on getting rid of the five. It was a mistake while the penny, and perhaps the nickel, were still circulating. If those had been phased out at the same time, it would have been a much easier transition.
Post #21228 12-15-2010 08:46 AM IEFBR14 Transportation Moderator H2OWC Joined Mar 2010 1021 posts	Don't toss your pennies away quite yet. Emperor Steve I disagrees with move to kill penny Meanwhile the prime minister’s office told QMI the status quo will remain when it comes to Canadian coinage. “We have no plans to eliminate the penny,” said Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister’s chief spokesman. Previous attempts to kill the penny have never received popular support in the House of Commons.
Post #21244 12-15-2010 12:04 PM markster Town Member Joined Oct 2010 164 posts	"No plans" and "We're never going to do it" are thankfully different things. As it says, the Finance Dept will be looking over it. The PM's spokesman obviously isn't going to commit either way.
Post #21250 12-15-2010 12:31 PM elispiro Hamlet Member Waterloo, ON Joined Dec 2010 3 posts	Originally Posted by Urbanomicon I'm waiting for the day when tangible notes are a thing of the past, where everything is paid for by either debit or credit. I'm already happily living this way. Virtually all of my purchases are paid for with VISA, and a bank note will occasionally wander its way into my wallet when someone gives me one (it then takes months to get rid of it). Of course, this only works because I'm careful not to spend more than I have the ability to pay for The Tokyo metro's rechargeable SUICA fare card can be used all over the city, and in some places outside Tokyo, to make quick payments, and it's even possible to get cell phones with built-in SUICA capability. Imagine paying for groceries with your cell phone! Regarding the penny? Let it die. It's a waste of money in production, and a waste of time in exchanging money (for those who do bother with change!).
Post #21255 12-15-2010 01:48 PM markster Town Member Joined Oct 2010 164 posts	Originally Posted by elispiro The Tokyo metro's rechargeable SUICA fare card can be used all over the city, and in some places outside Tokyo, to make quick payments, and it's even possible to get cell phones with built-in SUICA capability. Imagine paying for groceries with your cell phone! My experience in Japan was that despite these cool techy things, it's still overwhelmingly a cash society. And consider that they have a 5 "dollar" coin, and still have a 1 "cent" coin! The only thing that makes it managable was that prices generally lined up to nice even numbers.
Post #21260 12-15-2010 03:27 PM IEFBR14 Transportation Moderator H2OWC Joined Mar 2010 1021 posts	Originally Posted by markster "No plans" and "We're never going to do it" are thankfully different things. The former is simply a more "politically correct" version of the latter. As it says, the Finance Dept will be looking over it. With this government the PMO trumps Finance every time. The PM's spokesman obviously isn't going to commit either way. Nor is he going to say anything substantive until the PM puts the words into his mouth. Look, I'd love to see the penny die. As long as the troglodytes on whom Harper depends to elect the bulk of his MPs have any say in the matter, we're stuck with the penny. And yes, I'd love to be proven wrong in this case.
Post #21278 12-15-2010 06:11 PM markster Town Member Joined Oct 2010 164 posts	I will maintain that they said nothing. They haven't even had enough time to discuss it in caucus. The Conservatives are very calculated, and will form no public opinion on anything until they're certain about its political viability.
Post #21283 12-15-2010 07:53 PM Pareto Hamlet Member Kitchener (Downtown) Joined Nov 2010 7 posts Pareto Energy We turn energy concerns into realistic solutions. Sales, programming & installation of the PowerCost Montior for real-time hydro monitoring. Web / Twitter / Facebook	I would fully support Stephen Harper leaving Canada penniless. At $0.015 cost to Canadians to produce something with the value of $0.01, only politicians could see value in such waste.
Post #21298 12-15-2010 10:23 PM IEFBR14 Transportation Moderator H2OWC Joined Mar 2010 1021 posts	Originally Posted by markster They haven't even had enough time to discuss it in caucus. What they discuss in caucus is irrelevant. The only this that's relevant is what Harper pronounces afterwards. Or as someone observed, in the next federal budget Harper may leave Canadians both figuratively and literally penniless.