Management The Master Plan: Biotech player turned Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk faces off against COVID19

[BatherSeason]

it speaks to his ethics, he doesn’t want to be a part of this community and do his part, he just wants it to make him rich. Even his charity couldn’t stand him

if you have insider info on how he pays his taxes get back to us

I just think that it would be nice if he spoke to the people of Ottawa instead of running to speak to Toronto media everytime he feels the need to be heard, which happens at least once a month.

 

[BankStreetParade]

it speaks to his ethics, he doesn’t want to be a part of this community and do his part, he just wants it to make him rich. Even his charity couldn’t stand him

if you have insider info on how he pays his taxes get back to us

Not an argument we're having. All wealthy people avoid paying taxes. Again, if you think Melnyk is unique in his capability to avoid taxation I would think it would be something for you to prove.

Also, ethics and wealthy people? Get real.

 

[Rand0m]

Not an argument we're having. All wealthy people avoid paying taxes. Again, if you think Melnyk is unique in his capability to avoid taxation I would think it would be something for you to prove.

Also, ethics and wealthy people? Get real.

So because all wealthy people are POS's we should just accept that Melnyk is a POS and take it?

 

[BankStreetParade]

he doesn’t want to pay taxes in Ottawa, he just wants the rest of the Ottawa taxpayers to pay for his stadium and give him free land. He’s what’s they call ‘entitled’

So because all wealthy people are POS's we should just accept that Melnyk is a POS and take it?

There's the original quote that I replied to. Nothing about anyone being a piece of shit, just the simple observation that all wealthy people have tax avoidance/sheltering schemes. There is nothing unique about Melnyk trying to secure a large-scale "public" project using taxpayer input. Happens in some way, shape or form in almost every single major professional arena construction in Canada and the U.S.

I also don't particularly prescribe to the idea that the super wealthy are ethics driven beings. Doesn't mean they're pieces of shit, so I'm not sure why you would conflate those things unless you were purposely trying to change the subject of the discussion.

Just to repeat, again: Melnyk, a wealthy individual, is not unique in his pursuit to diminish the amount of taxes he pays. If Melnyk is 'entitled' so is every person who could be considered rich or wealthy since they all partake in the same type of tax sheltering and avoidance schemes. Your personal feelings about Melnyk don't override the fact that he does the same thing all the rest of those "rich guys" do.

 

[Tuna99]

There's the original quote that I replied to. Nothing about anyone being a piece of shit, just the simple observation that all wealthy people have tax avoidance/sheltering schemes. There is nothing unique about Melnyk trying to secure a large-scale "public" project using taxpayer input. Happens in some way, shape or form in almost every single major professional arena construction in Canada and the U.S.

I also don't particularly prescribe to the idea that the super wealthy are ethics driven beings. Doesn't mean they're pieces of shit, so I'm not sure why you would conflate those things unless you were purposely trying to change the subject of the discussion.

Just to repeat, again: Melnyk, a wealthy individual, is not unique in his pursuit to diminish the amount of taxes he pays. If Melnyk is 'entitled' so is every person who could be considered rich or wealthy since they all partake in the same type of tax sheltering and avoidance schemes. Your personal feelings about Melnyk don't override the fact that he does the same thing all the rest of those "rich guys" do.

that’s just not true, to say all rich people act this way is just a blatant lie. Tons pay taxes, tons do a lot for their communities, tons have good ties to political, charitable and municipal bodies.

tons of wealthy people are well respected and care for their communities and give a ton, they don’t constantly play the ‘I know better then anyone” card as Poo jeans is doing on Toronto radio


And most billionaires pay for the gas in their planes and someone to fly the plane, it’s just how they do it

 

[Rand0m]

Just to repeat, again: Melnyk, a wealthy individual, is not unique in his pursuit to diminish the amount of taxes he pays. If Melnyk is 'entitled' so is every person who could be considered rich or wealthy since they all partake in the same type of tax sheltering and avoidance schemes. Your personal feelings about Melnyk don't override the fact that he does the same thing all the rest of those "rich guys" do.

Every billionaire who earned money exploiting the labour of their employees is a POS and Melnyk seems to try extra hard to make sure everyone knows that. His actions have repeatedly shown that he is in fact a POS.

Every POS billionaire should be called out at every opportunity. If they can't take it, they can go cry in their Scrooge McDuck vaults.

 

[BankStreetParade]

that’s just not true, to say all rich people act this way is just a blatant lie. Tons pay taxes, tons do a lot for their communities, tons have good ties to political, charitable and municipal bodies.

tons of wealthy people are well respected and care for their communities and give a ton, they don’t constantly play the ‘I know better then anyone” card as Poo jeans is doing on Toronto radio


And most billionaires pay for the gas in their planes and someone to fly the plane, it’s just how they do it

All rich people find ways to skirt tax laws. Whether they use "legal loopholes" or dubious schemes, they do it and it doesn't matter if they're charitable after the fact. Bezos just pledged $800 million in grants for climate initiatives. Doesn't mean he or the company that created his wealth haven't run roughshod over tax laws, employment laws, etc. to create that wealth.

Just stop. Stop making a worthless point. Melnyk isn't any different than the rest of them. They all do the same shit, you just happen to hate this one guy. He's like the rest of them.

 

[coladin]

I find the city's approach to Lansdowne versus LeBreton is interesting

I'd say he sidestepped a nightmare with the downtown arena. I do hope one gets built within 10 years that's downtown somewhere

They should rip up Sparks Street and build a Montreal style downtown arena

 

[BatherSeason]

They should rip up Sparks Street and build a Montreal style downtown arena

That is a great idea. Even more downtown that Lebreton too.

 

[coladin]

he doesn’t want to pay taxes in Ottawa, he just wants the rest of the Ottawa taxpayers to pay for his stadium and give him free land. He’s what’s they call ‘entitled’

Luckily, there are 31 other people exactly like him

 

[aragorn]

could be 10 years of multiple Pandemics, you can’t stop building.

I would want to know when fans will be allowed to go back in stadiums/arenas before I put another penny into a new one. What's the point of building a new facility when no one knows what the future holds with this pandemic? Can't stop building homes but more & more people are buying on line which could be the end to malls & stores, we just don't know what the future holds for us.

This city is such a disaster when it comes to conceiving and implementing large-scale developments. What are their signature public projects in the last 30 years? A few KMs of LRT line mired in dysfunction? What a bunch of f***ing losers. I would hate to be an ambitious business person in this city with these doorknobs at the helm.

Well, the Lansdowne development project went pretty well, but the Mayor likes those developers. I wonder how busy those restaurants are when nothing is going on at the arena or stadium? I've been at Lansdowne for lunch a few times during the week & the places had very few people around, I imagine with Covid that there is even less people going these days.

it speaks to his ethics, he doesn’t want to be a part of this community and do his part, he just wants it to make him rich. Even his charity couldn’t stand him

if you have insider info on how he pays his taxes get back to us

I'm not trying to defend the guy, I've been pretty critical of his behaviour for a while now, but it could also be that he doesn't trust this council & this mayor specifically. He & the team as a whole have done quite a bit for this community/CHEO over the yrs & it's only been over the last decade maybe that he's turned into a bit of a dick wad. It's hard to know who to believe when it comes to the politicians in this town or him & his supporters but they clearly don't like each other.

Who knows what we would be like if we had his money & businesses & where we would live & pay taxes? I imagine it's a 1000 times more complicated for billionaires given all the people who want to get a hold of their money & their time. And Watson is still pretty popular in this town & a formidable opponent to go up against or fight against what he wants to do. I'm sure there are two sides, if not more, to every story & issue.

 

[JD1]

All wealthy people avoid paying taxes

This isn't really true

 

[JD1]

Every billionaire who earned money exploiting the labour of their employees is a POS and Melnyk seems to try extra hard to make sure everyone knows that. His actions have repeatedly shown that he is in fact a POS.

Every POS billionaire should be called out at every opportunity. If they can't take it, they can go cry in their Scrooge McDuck vaults.

Wow you sound pretty hurt by other people's success....

How exactly did Melnyk get rich exploiting biovail employees?

 

[Tuna99]

Luckily, there are 31 other people exactly like him

I’ll say Vinik is insulted but I guess every rich person is the same, just like Poo Jeans Melnyck

 

[GCK]

I’ll say Vinik is insulted but I guess every rich person is the same, just like Poo Jeans Melnyck

Serious question. Did you get that Melnyk nickname from a 5 year old. I have no problem with the sentiment but it’s not the strongest effort.

 

[Rand0m]

Wow you sound pretty hurt by other people's success....

How exactly did Melnyk get rich exploiting biovail employees?

I’m only hurt by all my fellow human beings being exploited while these people acquire this obscene wealth that can never even be spent in 5 lifetimes. I’m all for successful owners/CEO’s that treat their employees properly and by paying them properly.

Melnyk the billionaire doesn’t even want to pay his own employees what they are owed or pay for his own jet fuel.

I saw a stunning stat a few days ago, if Jeff Bezos gave every Amazon employee (all 876,000 of them) a $105,000 1-time bonus, he’d still be as rich as he was pre-pandemic less than a year ago.

My point is, if a person can extract such obscene amounts of wealth out of a company, they can pay their employees significantly better.

 

[jhutter]

I’m only hurt by all my fellow human beings being exploited while these people acquire this obscene wealth that can never even be spent in 5 lifetimes. I’m all for successful owners/CEO’s that treat their employees properly and by paying them properly.

Melnyk the billionaire doesn’t even want to pay his own employees what they are owed or pay for his own jet fuel.

I saw a stunning stat a few days ago, if Jeff Bezos gave every Amazon employee (all 876,000 of them) a $105,000 1-time bonus, he’d still be as rich as he was pre-pandemic less than a year ago.

My point is, if a person can extract such obscene amounts of wealth out of a company, they can pay their employees significantly better.

As long as Jeff Bezos isn't taking money from my family, I really don't care how wealthy he is.

Regarding EM, I sincerely don't think he has the means to pay employees until the end of time without bringing anything in.

 

[Tuna99]

Serious question. Did you get that Melnyk nickname from a 5 year old. I have no problem with the sentiment but it’s not the strongest effort.

From his ex.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

All this generalizing about rich people is bad. What is next? Maybe people will begin to generalize that poor people are uneducated and unable to make rational judgements.

 

[GCK]

As long as Jeff Bezos isn't taking money from my family, I really don't care how wealthy he is.

Regarding EM, I sincerely don't think he has the means to pay employees until the end of time without bringing anything in.

Did you see how far Mayor Jimbo bent over for the 2 Amazon fulfillment centres in town. Bezos took money from your family.

 

[Rand0m]

All this generalizing about rich people is bad. What is next? Maybe people will begin to generalize that poor people are uneducated and unable to make rational judgements.

Being “rich” is one thing, being a billionaire is on quite another level though. One thing I can say with certainty, is that if a person becomes a billionaire, they most definitely exploited a non-insignificant amount of people to get there.

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

I just think that it would be nice if he spoke to the people of Ottawa instead of running to speak to Toronto media everytime he feels the need to be heard, which happens at least once a month.

A podcast isn’t Toronto media

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

Being “rich” is one thing, being a billionaire is on quite another level though. One thing I can say with certainty, is that if a person becomes a billionaire, they most definitely exploited a non-insignificant amount of people to get there.

Capitalism is the system that enables the creation of billionaires, and it is also responsible for lifting millions out of poverty, according to the director general of The Institute of Economic Affairs, Mark Littlewood. He recently told the BBC that reducing the wealth of billionaires “won’t lead to redistribution, it will destroy it to the benefit of no one”.

He believes that society should be focussing on “economic growth” rather than “criticising” billionaires.

 

[BankStreetParade]

Well, the Lansdowne development project went pretty well, but the Mayor likes those developers. I wonder how busy those restaurants are when nothing is going on at the arena or stadium? I've been at Lansdowne for lunch a few times during the week & the places had very few people around, I imagine with Covid that there is even less people going these days.

Meh...they refurbished an existing stadium and added a handful of restaurants and a movie theatre. It's not really all that different from what it was before and, personally, I wouldn't describe it as a large scale public project. Certainly nothing like the potential LeBreton redevelopments.

 

[BankStreetParade]

Capitalism is the system that enables the creation of billionaires, and it is also responsible for lifting millions out of poverty, according to the director general of The Institute of Economic Affairs, Mark Littlewood. He recently told the BBC that reducing the wealth of billionaires “won’t lead to redistribution, it will destroy it to the benefit of no one”.

He believes that society should be focussing on “economic growth” rather than “criticising” billionaires.

By capitalism, do you mean easy-to-manipulate tax laws, a lack of government structure to hold companies accountable for abusing employment standards and a massive lobbying agenda that basically helps write the laws the companies they represent would like to see passed?